Cayce, SC

Rewind to Friday. I'm not sure what they're putting in the water over in Alabama, but it appears to be causing old men in little cars to play chicken with young men in big trucks. The shipper in Cherokee is in an isolated industrial area with very little traffic, so when I leave I usually pull over in the center turn lane to do my paperwork and slide my tandems. Like I said, very little traffic. As per usual, I put my four-way flashers on and began slowing to a stop in the turn lane, only this time I see an oncoming car approaching in the same lane. Mind you, there is nothing back here except the paper plant which the road dead ends into, so there is no place to turn. The car is simply driving in the turn lane. Well, I'm big so surely he'll see me and get back in his lane. He's probably just playing with the radio. Any second he's going to get back in his lane. Any second now. Holy crap, he's going to run straight into me! As I was reaching for the air horn, he slows abruptly and cautiously moves back into his lane, then proceeds to drive by my truck at 5 mph like it was a police car with it's lights on or something. It was then that I noticed he probably grew up with Herbert Hoover. I'm thinking his field of vision only included whatever was 30ft in front of him, because that's about when he apparently saw my truck and decided he didn't want to play chicken anymore. The rest of the trip was much less exciting, fortunately.

Until today. I'm almost ashamed to tell this on myself, but hey, I'm here for your entertainment, so enjoy. I got to the truck today and was going to start it up before I put all my stuff in it. Hmm, that's interesting. The key is in the on position. Hmm, that's interesting. Nothing happens when I turn the key. That's because the batteries are dead, dead, dead, and dead (there are four, ha). An attempt to jump-start them from another truck was fruitless, so a wrecker was called in to perform a pull-start. For those unfamiliar with vehicles with manual transmissions, it is possible to start their engines by getting the vehicle rolling and releasing the clutch while the transmission is in gear. It's a great idea, but if your vehicle has air brakes and no air pressure in the tanks to release the parking brakes because it's been sitting all weekend, the process is a bit more challenging. Fortunately, that's why the tow-truck driver gets the big bucks. He was able to hook a hose from his truck to my tanks to get them pressurized. Next, he hooked a chain to the front of the truck to pull it with. My job, as he explained, was to release the brakes, put the truck in gear, and release the clutch after the truck started rolling. Oh yeah, and not to run into the back of his truck after the engine started. The trick worked like a charm and I managed to avoid trading paint, for which the tow-truck driver shook my hand. Apparently, he hasn't been so lucky in the past.

I was able to drop my load Sunday night and made it to a truck stop a few miles down the interstate, which is where I now sit. I don't have another load yet, which is fine by me - I don't have to set an alarm for the morning.