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Olympics

pops401pops401 Member Posts: 616 ✭✭✭✭
edited February 2002 in General Discussion
Obama is getting ready to head out to lobby for Chicago. Are we really sure we want the world to see how really screwed up we are.

The next news feature after this Showed the Kid killed in front of school. That really sends a message.

Sure it will bring in Jobs to the area, but how much will be lost thru the corupt system they have.

Lastly can we really protect those all those people from other countries. When they cannot even protect children in school.

What will they do move the poor out like China did.
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  • pops401pops401 Member Posts: 616 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Anybody else watching the games and the board?
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  • pops401pops401 Member Posts: 616 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    My Grand daughter skyped me from her hotel at the olympics last night.She is a manager for Mcdonalds and has been sent to the McdonalDs at the olympics venue.Aparently it is the largest in the world.She said people are lining up for up to three hours to get in.Who in their right mind would line up for three hours for a mcdonaLDS BURGER.
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  • LowriderLowrider Member Posts: 6,587
    edited November -1
    Sorry. Couldn't care less about the Olympics.
    Lord Lowrider the LoquaciousMember:Secret Select Society of Suave Stylish Smoking Jackets She was only a fisherman's daughter,But when she saw my rod she reeled.
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  • Big Sky RedneckBig Sky Redneck Member Posts: 19,752 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    No olymics for me, I see enough of trucker special olympics when I'm on the road, you ever see a J.B try to pas a Swift truck or either a Scnieder try to pass a Werner.
    If you want my guns you will have to kill me first. I was born free and to take that from me you better be ready to fight.
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  • pops401pops401 Member Posts: 616 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Now that you mention it, the Mack bulldog does kinda look like some of them Ruski wimmin speed skaters.
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  • salzosalzo Member Posts: 6,396 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    The US should get out of the olympics, as they should get out of the UN
    Happiness is a warm gun
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  • offerorofferor Member Posts: 8,625 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Hey, 7mm --Why is it that so many truckers who are clearly being passed by faster cars look at us in their side mirror and pull into the left lane anyway and cut us off to creep leisurely by some other truck? They're not exactly out of control and in danger of rear-ending the vehicle in front of them (I assume). They could touch the brake and let you complete your maneuver. In fact, in this state, when you're being passed by another vehicle you can't even INADVERTENTLY speed up to avoid it. They do it anyway. I usually make a big show of finally passing one of these guys way out on the left berm with my caution lights flashing just to show I consider them a road hazard. Oops, now back to guns.
    "The 2nd Amendment is about defense, not hunting. Long live the gun shows, and reasonable access to FFLs. Join the NRA -- I'm a Life Member."
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  • salzosalzo Member Posts: 6,396 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    the worst is when you are on a two lane highway, and two truckers decide to drive side by side, not allowing anyone to pass.
    Happiness is a warm gun
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  • salzosalzo Member Posts: 6,396 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    the worst is when you are on a two lane highway, and two truckers decide to drive side by side, not allowing anyone to pass.
    Happiness is a warm gun
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  • salzosalzo Member Posts: 6,396 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    the worst is when you are on a two lane highway, and two truckers decide to drive side by side, not allowing anyone to pass.
    Happiness is a warm gun
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  • offerorofferor Member Posts: 8,625 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    pops --I'm watching some of the Olympics, partly just to enjoy a new TV I bought. But I like some of the events. Takes a large investment of time to give my full attention though, so I'm often doing 2 things at once. USA, USA....! I'm interested to see that Skeleton event and watch these people rocketing along on on their bellies on a sled no bigger than your kiddie's model, nose first. As with some others in this country, I usually like the summer events better as a whole.
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  • offerorofferor Member Posts: 8,625 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    salzo --Even worse is when a truck (or car) sees road work ahead and traffic will be merging to one lane on a 4-lane highway, so decides to play traffic cop and straddle both lanes two or three miles in advance of the construction. I've seen that nearly come to wrecks or violence. Makes me wonder when, exactly, the use of your vehicle for a purpose other than just driving becomes 'assault with a deadly weapon.' Certainly, it seems to me, when you direct a ton or more of rolling metal at another driver for any reason, you are crossing out of bounds. Last time I looked, traffic control was the cops' job. For anybody else, it might just be reckless driving.
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  • salzosalzo Member Posts: 6,396 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    ...worse than that, sign tells drivers "left lane ends 2000 feet", and rather than getting into the right lane when the sign is seen, the drivers in the left lane decide to ride in the left lane until it is no more, even though there is a sign every 500 feet reminding them that the lane will soon dissapear. Then you have people slamming on their brakes at the bottleneck, others not knowing whether to slow down or speed up, and others who come to a complete stop, shutting the system down.
    Happiness is a warm gun
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  • salzosalzo Member Posts: 6,396 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    ....but my all time favorite, is when there is a long line of traffic exiting off the highway, with little or no movement. I always get in at the end of the line, but you always have drivers who decide to continue on the highway, and try and "cut" the line, and hop off right at the exit. "Yeah right. Ive been sitting on this line for a half hour, trying to get off, and I am going to let you just cut ahead of me." I do everything I possibly can do to prevent that "line cutter" from getting in front of me.
    Happiness is a warm gun
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  • Big Sky RedneckBig Sky Redneck Member Posts: 19,752 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Untill you spend some time in a truck don't question how some things are done, it is like sarah brady telling you how to use your gun. Granted there are some butt wads driving trucks. If you have ever been in a truck, got caught behind someone slow, out in your turn signal just to have a cluster bomb explosion of cars jump out beside you you would understand that sometimes you gotta go when the spot is there. You may only deal with a few trucks a day depending on how far you drive to work where we truckers deal with thousands of cars every day and I guarentee I get cut off and brake checked by ignorant fools with no common sense at all more times in a day than most will get in a month. The average truck on the roads today average between 75-80,000lbs, think about it, 80,000lbs, your car wieghs maybe 3,000 to 4,000. truck weighs as much as 20 cars, depending on what for power you have it can take a mile or better to reach 65 mph, it can take 2 football fields to stop it. Have you ever seen what a Peterbuilt can do to a Ford Explorer? I have, a woman with her husband and 3 kids in her Explorer pulled off of a shoulder in front of a truck doing 60mph, theyre dead, instantly, all of them. Please please, do not do something stupid in front of a truck, like I said some guys shoudnt drive a horse and buggy let alone a truck but why on earth would you do something as STUPID as trying to force your way arond something that could kill you in a flash?? Many truckers end up being aggressive because after dealing with non driveing retards who think trucks should not be on the road and feel like a superhuman in their car do nothing but make life miserable for us. We dont own the roads but 1 truck pays more in fuel taxes each year than most people make! Maybe I'm arrogant about this but untill you pay $1500 for my license plate, $3000 a month for my insurance, $2200 for my truck payment, $350 for 1 tire, $150 for an oil change, $100 toll money just to go to brooklyn and all the other crap I gotta pay, only then can you judge my existance on the road. I try to be as courteous as possible but after getting slapped around by every single person I deal with each day I drive by the rule if you want to mess with me, you want to ride beside me and box me in, you want to pass me on the right side, you want to give me the finger fo4r just being there because you think that my existance is on the exception that I must stay out or your way, you need to go home and get a bigger toy. I do not condone road rage or violence but I will tell you this, if I am cut off or somebody puts me in a position that I'm going to wreck I'm gettin some evidence, you will wreck with me. BTW did you hear about the idiot trucker on I 83 in PA that pushed a car for 15 miles, literaly pushed him after he hit him hard enough to stall the vehicle. While that trucker should spend alot of time in jail it should make people think twice about playing rambo with their cars. Listen, it sucks being on the road. I am mearly a visitor to my house, I live in a truck. It's hard on a person but this all I can do, I'm stuck driving. If you only knew and understood what is is like out here maybe you could cut us a little slack. That truck is quite capable of running just as fast as a car, mine will run in excess of 100mph, we can all live together on the road in peace, we just need some room to breath. if we get boxed in behind somebody tapping the brakes may not be an option, like I said it can take 2 or more football fields to stop. Thats all we need is some room to breath. No hard feelings ok? I just get a little spouty when it comes to trucks, god knows we put up with alot of bull and it can get to a fella. Salzo, usually when you see that some body needed an attitude adjustment. I know we shouldnt do that, it's unprofessinal but it can be funny too. Sometimes we encounter one hell of an aggressive drive that just needs to slow down, or in Ohio when we know the cops are just up ahead of us we will pick out the fastest car, block him in to get him really ticked and then turn him loose just before the cop, bear bait we call it. On behalf of the trucking industry I apologize for any inconvience or agravation we may have caused you. If y'all cut trucks a break sometimes you will be real surprised to see that most of us will gladly return the favor. In the meantime, be SAFE out there, as most walmart DC's have a sign that reads, " BE CAREFULL , YOU ARE ENTERING THE MOST DANGEROUS PLACE IN THE WORLD, THE PUBLIC HIGHWAY"
    If you want my guns you will have to kill me first. I was born free and to take that from me you better be ready to fight.
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  • salzosalzo Member Posts: 6,396 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    7mm- I can see how that (blocking the speeders) could be lots of fun. If I was a truck driver, I would probably do it all of the time.Do you get to "write off" those exspenses that you mentioned?
    Happiness is a warm gun
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  • Big Sky RedneckBig Sky Redneck Member Posts: 19,752 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Most of it we can write off, but it's sickening when you get your form at the end of the year, find out that you made $120,000 and only netted $15,000, after all the truck taxes now you gotta pay income tax on what's left.
    If you want my guns you will have to kill me first. I was born free and to take that from me you better be ready to fight.
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  • reb8600reb8600 Member Posts: 1,110 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I am not a truck driver but I can tell you that I have more respect for them than I do for people driving cars. Most truckers will treat you good if you treat them right.
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  • offerorofferor Member Posts: 8,625 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Having been a driver since about 1965, I think we can all agree that truckers used to take more pride generally in their road etiquette than some do now. Some are still just as courteous as ever, and probably taught that way. I have made road trips to California and back and enjoyed the mutual respect long-road drivers develop with each other, signalling, blinking lights and such. I haven't seen as high a regard for that sort of thing these past few years, sadly. I'm fully aware of all the rationalizations codified above. I buy very little of it, not being one to cut off trucks short of their stopping distance or race trains at the crossings, either.I'm not talking about radical behaviors by anyone. I'm just talking about what seems like a frequent absence of courtesy with truckers eyeballing you in their sideview mirror while they're cutting you off in the middle of a legitimate passing maneuver. I think we've forgotten what being passed is. We have a tendency to want to speed up and "not lose our place in line" (whatever that is), which in my state is against the law. Speeding up while being passed, that is.As for the truck that pushed a car 15 miles, saying we should learn from that not to be Rambo is the same as the Arab prince trying to give the mayor of New York a 10 million dollar gift while telling him he hoped we should learn from Ground Zero to think more about the Arab point of view. The behavior excludes the right to make that argument. I assume something quite different: common sense dictates we should all have our vehicles under the driver's control (duh) and keep safe stoppping distances knowing our vehicle's limits. I can't buy any theory that relies on this not being so. I think the BMV calls it "always leaving yourself an out." Or defensive driving, maybe. Or courtesy to other drivers. That would go for a 2 ton car, an 80,000 lb rig or a mile long train. We're not talking about RR crossing runners. We're talking about everyday driving, mostly. I'm just saying that when anybody outright assaults you with his vehicle, the case can be made for assault with a deadly weapon, which would justify fearing for your life and the use of reasonable self defense in the face of a possibly crazy person, at least until you could get a cop on your cell phone. Having been once run off into the grassy median on a superhighway by a trucker who eyeballed me in his mirror, turned on a turn signal and pulled over while watching me in the act of passing his trailer, I don't have much sympathy for the "It's the weight of the rig" theory. I think maybe it's frustration, but the cops might call it road rage too. I can understand truckers' exasperation, particularly when cars pass on the right without even giving trucks a chance to get back over after passing a specific vehicle. It's the cruisers on the left that worry me more. The ones that aren't actively passing anyone, in particular. The cruisers on the left with vehicles that, as soon as they get caught by a red light, have everything on wheels passing them on the right while they chug back up to the speed limit.The driving manual I learned from has an interesting paragraph -- it says that when a vehicle is in the left (passing) lane and will not move over after you have "flashed your lights or sounded your horn, then pass them on the right, but cautiously, because you are dealing with a poor driver." That's a direct quote from the Indiana manual, printed 1966, that I learned on first. I've read many manuals and taken many tests since, and I can assure you that language has never been contradicted in newer versions of the pamphlet for obvious reasons. Common sense supports it.I realize truckers are supposed to move left in some states near cloverleaf on-ramps, but I can't think of a single reason to change lanes and cut off a faster car in the act of passing on a stretch of open, largely unoccupied highway other than what's called exhibitionistic driving or maybe trying to "play cop" if they think a car is going too fast -- which again is often not so -- they may just be going faster than the truck -- not a crime last time I checked. If you're passing a slower vehicle and they either speed up or cut you off in mid-pass, what's left to debate?Once a stranger takes a special rude interest in messing with me specifically on the open road, what am I supposed to think? He's only kidding? He's harmless? He feels indestructible in that little bubble over there? Or am I going to set a gun in my lap and dial my cell phone for a highway cop? I'll give you 3 guesses -- and an example:Last truck that tailgated me on Highway 30 coming into Columbia City at 2:00 a.m. -- after coming up way too fast on the highway and then just riding my bumper for no reason I could figure -- I had my Glock out until I found a cop. Put the Glock away, flagged him over; he called for backup, pulled us both over to compare stories. I went home, trucker went to jail for drunk driving. We all have horror stories and business expenses. There are no "entitlements" conferred by any of it. Everybody gets issued a full set of problems in life. The things I was talking about in my previous post were not behaviors that were caused "in response to" bad driving by somebody else. Mostly, it's just somebody trying to play traffic monitor or assuming that passing is all about everybody staying in a line and creeping along mile after mile, and "you can wait on me." I long for the days when they used to have all those signs posted: Trucks and vans use right lane except when passing. Personally, I'm certain the country went screwy when people started buying minivans and pickups to drive like sedans and sports cars, with very little success. But that's yet another subject. Bigger engines do not a performance vehicle make. You have to talk cornering, acceleration, braking distance, blind spots, and a lot of other elements that cars are just better at as a rule. We have lots of rolled over SUVs and semi trucks tipped over or jack-knifed on cloverleaf ramps to prove the point that when tall heavy vehicle drivers have the mindset that all they have to do is match cars with bigger engines for highway cruising speed, they're bound to just create traffic problems most of the time. And I haven't even mentioned pulling trailers, which is of course worse. Dumbest commercial currently on TV is the one that has the big pickup pulling a long trailer and passing Lamborghinis. I'd call it performance envy, if you get my meaning.Sorry to come off so righteous on this, but sometimes you just have had too many real life experiences at a given age to have much doubt left to offer. Next time you're in the right lane at a green light pulling away from whoever you've been watching diddling in the left, think about that goofiness as the tip of the iceberg. It's the passing lane, after all, or used to be.
    "The 2nd Amendment is about defense, not hunting. Long live the gun shows, and reasonable access to FFLs. Join the NRA -- I'm a Life Member."
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  • idsman75idsman75 Member Posts: 13,398 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Sooo...anyone else watching Britney Spears on the Tonight Show this evening? Just kidding. I think I'll be heading to bed before she is on. Had to move the television a bit today. Making room in the living room for the new oak gun cabinet that will be arriving tomorrow. Yeah, I said oak--not steel. Stir stir stir.
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  • Big Sky RedneckBig Sky Redneck Member Posts: 19,752 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I was not condoning the silly actions of cutting off other motorist. We can get into a long discussion about highway manners, but I dont want to get into an argument. Here is the deal, you know right from wrong, I know right from wrong. But there are way too many instances where sometimes if you don't fight back youre dead in the water. As for cruising down the left lane around traffic lights, if traffic is heavy and I'm in an area I don't know well and I have to turn left on a certain street but I'm not sure where it is, bud I'm getting in that left lane and I aint movin till I find my street. "I long for the days when they used to have all those signs posted: Trucks and vans use right lane except when passing. "is it ok for you to be in the left lane but not me? Like I said before, I can probably pay your annual wage with my highway fuel tax, I have to keep track of each and every mile I drive on each road, I'm paying more money than you can imagine to run that road. I'm not saying trucks own it, but we have the EXACT SAME RIGHT TO THAT ROAD AS YOU! Infact if you study the history of the interstate system you will find the actual designation for the interstate system was not made for daily travel. Like I said there are some numbskulls driving trucks today, you can thank the big companies and Uncle Sam for that. Some of your tax dollars go to the big trucking outfits to get fresh meat behind the wheel. These guys will cut you off, they will cut off other trucks, they don't care. I think the thing of eyeballing you in the mirror is somewhat of an exageration, we dont do that. Like I said get in a truck if you want to see what it's about, you have no idea why some things are done untill you climb in. You would be sick to see how things work. Most of the people in cars just simply do not want trucks in front of them, just like the post about the jennings .22, things get exagerated to get attention, to alot of people if a truck merges in front of them it's a "cutoff", thats how people see it, as long as we stay in the right lane they dont care, just dont let that truck in the hammer lane. The comment about the guy who pushed the car, the point I was trying to make is if you think you can win a fight with a truck youre wrong. OOIDA published the hearing about that, the guy in the car was mad because the truck was in the left lane, he passed on the right side , cut off the truck and hit his brakes "to teach him a lesson" the trucker snapped, rammed him, disabled his car and pushed him down the highway at the speed limit, sure the trucker need some time to think about it in jail but the guy who started it is considered the victim, in my opinion they both need to go to jail. What do you do when you see a truck put on his blinker? I'll tell you what 80% of the people do, they spped up so the truck cant get out and ride beide the trailer. I can picture these people sighing a sigh of relief saying "that was close, truck almost got infront of me". Then these people ride alongside of the truck, WHY IN THE HELL WOULD YOU DO THAT??!! HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A TIRE CAP COME OFF? IF IT GOES THRU YOUR WINDSHIEL YOU ARE DEAD! If you watch what happens on the road and pay attention to the cars you will see we are not the only ones causing problems. Like I said before, nobody likes trucks, don't want them on the road, don't want them in front of them and just thinks the trucks have no right being there. I think some take it personaly to have a truck pass them or get in front of them. Why? Whats the problem? As far as the "traffic cops" I like the idea of blocking the closing lane, I have parked many cars at the barrels, they think they are better than everybody else, they cant wait, so they pass the crowd and screw everthing up. Do they care? Nope because they are in front of you. After ample warning the truck drivers say hell with it, ride side by side and shut them down. If that offends somebody , tough crap. Follow the rules and we won't "shut 'er down". Tail gating, I do not want you to think that I think this is good practice but here is a couple of possibilities for it, maybe it will help get away from him. Alot of companies restrict the truck speed, maybe he cant pass you. Not an excuse to tailgate at all but that is why alot of them do it, and that is also why it sometimes take some time for some trucks to pass. Next time you get tailgated try speeding up, or get into the left lane and slow down, let him pass you on the right, get the truck number and company name and call it in. Don't call those stupid #'s on the back, they are on there soley for insurance purposes. Call the company. The number is easy to get off the net. It is a rough life on the road. When a trucker has a bad day it can get deadly and there is no need to be stupid. If you encounter an idiot in a truck, get away from him. Don't hang around to get even. Remember the guy on 83? Your best wepon against a trucker is the telephone. Don't try to be a hero. Getting out a gun is BAD news. If I encounter somebody who I believe is being stupid and when he pulls along side of me to show me his gun, guess what happens to him, if I feel threatened I guarantee him a quick ride in the grass, if I think he is just trying to scare me, I got a phone too, the dude with the gun just lost it, and his permit too. And dont think about shooting off the tires on the truck, for someone to drive along side a truck and shoot the steer tire, well how do I say this? STUPID!! Think about it.80,000lbs out of control, who is to blame when he crosses the median and kills somebody? Simple rule, I stay out of your way, you stay out of mine. Your car accelerates faster than my truck, it handles better than my truck. You will be long gone, at home eating supper while I'm still truckin. If I take too long to pass, dont get mad, I'm doin the best I can. BTW, while your enjoyin that meal, enjoying you tv, your guns and everything else you got, think of the trucker that got it there.IF YOU GOT IT, A TRUCK BROUGHT IT. Little game for ya, think of 10 things that you own,excluding pets and children, that was never ever in its entire life been on a truck. Either as a raw material or finished product. 99% of everything you own, is there because of us. I don't mean to sound stuck up but we truckers run America, we stop, you stop. There is alot of talk about a nationwide strike. Been taling about it for awhile now but due to some bad rule changes and states giving us the high hat, we are running out of patience. If Julie Cirrilo gets her little proposal passed, y'all better head to the grocery store and stock up because we are going to completely bring this country to its knees. We will stop. Think about this, we have a power you just can't imagine, we stop, wall street is done, the economy is done, the stores dry up, the gas pumps dry up, everything dries up. Then we will be heard. We want laws to protect us from the people, they have too many laws to protect the people from us. We have had our rights violated long enough. It must stop, now. Things can get better, it can start when you go to work tomorrow. help make our job a little easier, show Julie and the gang that we aint as bad as Barbara Walters makes us out to be. we need your help, not your anger because you dont want me in front of you.
    If you want my guns you will have to kill me first. I was born free and to take that from me you better be ready to fight.
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  • offerorofferor Member Posts: 8,625 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    A nice oak cabinet with glass front makes a much nicer presentation -- thought of getting one myself when I can -- but of course not for security, for a tasteful exhibit. Glass breaks. Before I conclude my rant, one more factual bit of data: I was ticketed in Los Angeles around 1975 for changing to the left lane with proper signalling. Why, you ask? Because apparently I caused a car behind me in the left lane to touch his brakes when I moved over. Yes, I said "touch" his brakes. That's the word the cop used. It is against the law in California to change lanes if it will cause a car in the lane you enter to decelerate. I never saw the car to my left, thought he must have been speeding to get behind me so fast, so when he hit his brights I gave him the "hi sign." Then the red lights came on. It was LAPD. The cop educated me about when one may NOT change lanes --> when you cause someone over there to touch his brakes. Sense, or nonsense? All I know is, I paid the ticket.Here's a riddle: What's the most dangerous blind spot in any car? Answer: the tall SUV, van or truck that just pulled in front of it, obscuring proper viewing distance of the road ahead and reducing your reaction distance for braking from several car-lengths to about 10 feet. Solution: pass as soon as safely possible to clear the view through your windshield so you can see several sets of brakelights ahead of you. What's the other situation in which visibility is suddenly reduced to 10 or 20 feet? Dense fog. Frequent result? Chain reaction collisions, dead people. This isn't really a rant, just a vent. Aimed at no one, just one man's version of truth which obviously needed to get out. Sorry to elucidate at such length on the gun board, and the Olympics thread no less, but hey, what's the Olympic thread doing on the gun board, come to think of it? Never mind.... Sorry for the adrenalin. I just feel sorry for any guy who feels untouchable on the road these days in ANY size vehicle. Hey, I used to live in L.A. and it was open season there. Yes, that oak gun cabinet should be nice. I'm envious. Now back to your regular programming.
    "The 2nd Amendment is about defense, not hunting. Long live the gun shows, and reasonable access to FFLs. Join the NRA -- I'm a Life Member."
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  • Big Sky RedneckBig Sky Redneck Member Posts: 19,752 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I wasnt trying to direct anything at you personaly and if I offended you I apologize, just like the gun lovers verses the anti gun people, each side is always right, all I'm doing is trying to defend trucks, lord knows we get the short end of the deal alot. One quick thing, I can't remember who did this but it is kept hush hush alot. A study was done in 1995, it found that truck related accidents was caused by the car 85% of the time. It is fancy lawyers and big mediea that turns it around. Same as gun owners, we have bad apples and they are the ones who get expoited on tv. Thats where the bad name comes from. Just like guns, truckers are judged to quickly by the average citizen, and stories get exagerated. Thats what the media tells them to do. p.s, I forget something, you mentioned earlier about trucks haveing to move left for merging traffic. NO WAY. I've been in all 48 states and not one has a law like that. There is a merge sign at the ramps for the traffic on the ramp. not the vehicles already on it. And the deal with the cutting off, don't forget, most people in cars do the exact same thing, but when a trck does it it is a bad thing. Too much double standards today on the road and that is what pisses me off. It is ok for Joe blow to do something is his car but god forbid a truck does the same thing. Bring out the firing squad!, The cowboy trucker messed up! The poor guy in the car was late for work so we can excuse what he did, kill the trucker! Double standard. 2 words describe all we both are saying.
    If you want my guns you will have to kill me first. I was born free and to take that from me you better be ready to fight.
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  • beachmaster73beachmaster73 Member Posts: 3,011 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Yeah ...I'm watching the Olympics. This seems like a much better Olympics than we have had in a long time. Best thing though is that I'm watching it on the Canadian television CBC station from Windsor, Ontario. The Canadian coverage is about 20 times better than NBC's. I'll switch to CNBC for the biathalon which is going to be covered this year....talk about politically incorrect! Beach
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  • offerorofferor Member Posts: 8,625 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I read your whole post. I understand your problems. I don't agree that it's ever a smart or funny idea to give in to the impulse to teach anybody any lessons on the road. I think it's foolish for the person who does it these days. Times have changed. Some people are off the charts now. If you come at them with an 80,000 lb. baseball bat, are they going to stop and ask your intentions, sit meekly by after you run them into some water barrels? Unless you read minds and have X-ray vision, I'd rethink the harmlessness of that. As for the road signs I quoted, it's not about what I think, they were there for years. The left lane, at one time, was posted as being primarily for passenger cars and not slower vehicles. It's still the passing lane, for faster traffic, though we often forget at rush hour. In some cities you'll still see places where trucks must use the right lane only, and some interstates have lower speed limits for trucks than cars by 5 or 10 miles an hour. That's not my opinion, it's just a matter of data. We used to have those signs on the Fort Wayne bypass, and I miss 'em. There's only one left, as a relic. 'Trucks use right lane.' I guess they wore out. Who knows?As for the drunk trucker, I was driving my Supra at the time; the guy was speeding. I gradually increased my speed but when he kept accelerating at 85, I gave up and slowed down to legal going into town. Then he slowed down. A drunk is a drunk. I guarantee I know enough about proper gun handling not to "brandish" a weapon at anyone on the road. That would be criminal, immature, and justifiably earn me a trip downtown, perhaps a felony and forfeit of my gun rights. Trust me, if anyone were to endanger my life, the first he would know of a gun is just after it discharged in defense of my life and well-being. I don't telegraph, and I'm not a gun-waving nut on the highway. The trucker I was passing met my eyes in the mirror, and seemed to make a decision that even though I was already signaling and passing him, that once he turned on his turn signal I should let him go first. That's not the law. When you're being passed, the manual may even encourage you to slow down on a two lane road to make it easier for them to get on around. Certainly not turn on your own signal and suggest "I meant to pass too now, so I'm coming over ahead of you." Remember, my old manual said if you even inadvertently speed up when being passed you could flunk your driving test. Never been rescinded, as far as I know, because it wouldn't make common sense to contradict that bit of advice. As for the rest, we have to disagree on some basics. Truckers aren't the only ones making a vital contribution to the fabric of American life. That's either silly, or arrogant, I'm not sure which. I'm going to understate that and let it go, but it's patent ego to believe your on the road for a more important purpose than anyone else is. I know it's a popular debating point among truckers. Trucking is an honorable job, when done within the law. Nobody said different. But that's all. They pay more taxes because heavy loads tear up the roads quicker. That's also one reason why there are weighing stations. The highway taxes thing has been emblazoned on signs on the backs of semis, but even then it is not to suggest special rights, merely to point out the truck's right to equal tolerance on the roads. Some people get impatient. I agree with the tolerance thing too. As for the 'hammer' lane, apparently that's a trucker's term. The left lane is needed for left turns, and for passing grey haired grannies, and no one would object to that. But it's really a passing lane, not a cruising lane. Hammer lane suggests putting the hammer down and just cruising over there -- not a good idea in terms of good relations with the natives or with the laws of most states, probably. Even a well trained sedan won't sit over there and "hammer down." I wish I could say fewer car drivers did it, though. But the truth is of course that left lane cruisers are objectionable whether they're trucks, cars or Amish buggies, if they're not actively engaged in doing something specific. I repeat, it's a fact that the left lane is often intended and sometimes even reserved for cars, not trucks, except when passing, and there may be as much as a 10 mile per hour difference in the posted speed limits to underline the difference. Haven't you seen "Cars 70, Trucks 60" in your travels, or something similar? My Supra Twin Turbo, which I no longer own, and which could do 0-60 in 4 seconds, corner at 1 g. like a Ferrari without ever even breaking the law, and supposedly top out near 160 mph, simply underlined the disparity for me in performance among vehicles. That was a very efficient driving machine, more efficient than any road I traveled. Now I drive a six cylinder Grand Prix and it's still far more nimble than the "box" vehicles. I'd say the bottom line is to avoid at all costs the temptation to get in each other's way, and we'll all be fine. Soon as we start using our vehicles to control each other's behavior on the road or god forbid teach a lesson, we're the bad guy -- using them like battering rams, inviting who-knows-how-dramatic-a-response, and that's when the court says our righteous behavior goes wrong. I've heard of guys getting jail time for following and challenging someone on the road just to "see what that guy's problem was." Which is a euphemism for looking for a fight, so when they got into one, the judge ruled that they chased it, contributed to it, that it wouldn't have happened otherwise. It's hard to be on the right side of the law once you've stopped just driving and started using your vehicle for some other purpose. The funny thing is, people who do this sort of highway monitoring are usually interfering with someone who IS just driving, or trying to. You wouldn't believe how many times I've read letters to the editor indicating that people believe that when drivers come up close behind them in the left lane, it's rude and they vow they'll stay there as long as possible in retaliation. Uh, that's not what the book says. It says, basically, get over, you're impeding traffic flow. In fact, remember the days when slower traffic was directed to pull off to the side of the road every so often when a line of cars develops behind your slower vehicle? I sure do. That's not a popular thought any more either, even in the mountains, unless there are plenty of signs saying so.Heck, if I take my 1966 driving manual's advice and turn on my left turn signal to pass, flash my lights or honk my horn behind someone to signal my desire to pass the car ahead in the left lane, I wonder what kind of reaction I'd get these days. Do you think? But the driving manual recommended that, when I passed my driver's test. No I wouldn't do it now very often, but I haven't forgotten the principle behind it.
    "The 2nd Amendment is about defense, not hunting. Long live the gun shows, and reasonable access to FFLs. Join the NRA -- I'm a Life Member."
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  • Big Sky RedneckBig Sky Redneck Member Posts: 19,752 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I don't want to argue, I can totally understand from your posts that trucks are not on your favorite list. We have ways of doing things you would never understand in a million years. No we don't want anybody getting hurt but most of us are sick and tired of being bullied from dock workers, dispatchers, cops, people on the road and the stinking D.O.T who claim saftey as their blanket for harassing us. Name one job that you get penalized and tossed in jail for doing a good job. I'll tell you now, we drive under rules defined by the teamsters in the 50's, we have to drive under STUPID union rules, we don't belong to the unions and most of us never will. It is the unions that bash us to the politicians and the media back that theory to the public. I live on those roads, most people drive to and from work, spend time at home. I live in a box that is smaller than a jail cell. I have to put up with truck haters every single day. It makes me sick. You say I'm whatever for feeling the way I do about the importance of trucks, tell me one other profession that can send this country into poverty in less than a week if they don't work. sure there are other jobs that are important to this countries well being but we can starve this country in less than a week. i said this several times tonite and I'll say it againUNTILL YOU GET IN A TRUCK DON'T JUDGE HOW WE DO THINGS. we are not out there purposely looking for someone to hurt, we do not travel in gangs looking for helpless victims. You are wrong to think we want to hurt everybody we see, you mention drunk trucker as if truckers are the only ones who drive drunk, pal, my family has been victim to a drunk driver, and he was in a car. You want dopuble standards, you want signs to restrict us so we can't get in your way, you want split speed limits. You are allowed to have that opinion but mark my words, you will only knock us down so far and the entire country will pay for it. You are no better than I and I'm no better than you but yet you insist on double standards. This is exactly like the gun debate, truck haters want us restricted into non existance, same as Sarah Brady wants guns restricted into non existance. I'm on your side, are you on mine? We cant have double standards, it's not working. Road rage sucks, nobody wants it, the politicians make laws to prevent road rage but on the other hand they make laws to push a group of people into bad situations where somebody is going to snap. It has already been proven but the media won't tell you that we are not the problem, split speed limits, restricting lanes, closing roads and all the other discrimitory laws against truck makes people think it is ok to be agressive around trucks. You think split speed is good? You think restrciting trucks for what the bozo's in their cars do is a good idea? As far as the rule book, what can I say other than I dare you to get in a truck for one year, if you last that long, fact- 8 out of every 10 new drivers quit in 6 months because they cant handle it. get in that truck for a year and find out what it's like. I belong to several trucking groups, I have been in 7 protest convoys, been to D.C twice in protest. I send emails like crazy to law makers every week, I went to 2 different hearings in front of Washington big shots over the hours of service proposal. Know what I learned from all of that? They don't care about us, nobody does untill the truck is late. Whenver the truck driver got a royal screwin at IBP and showed up late at Krogers with the load of steaks, then they cared. After that, back to imposing more discriminating double standard laws. THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA DOES NOT INCLUDE HOLDERS OF A COMMERCIAL LICENSE. WE HAVE GIVEN UP OUR RIGHTS TO DRIVE A TRUCK. THIS IS THE THANKS WE GET. DOUBLE STANDARDS AND PUNISHMENT FOR WHAT THE OTHER GUY DOES. YOU SCREW UP IN YOUR CAR AND A TRUCKER PAYS FOR IT. WE CONTRIBUTE MORE MONEY TO THE INTERSTATE HIGHWAYS THAN ANY OTHER GROUP OF PEOPLE AND YET WE ARE RESTRICTED UPON THOSE ROADS WE PAY FOR. HAVE A NICE DAY, I WILL GO CLIMB INTO MY TRUCK THAT COSTS MORE THAN THE AVERAGE HOUSE, GET INTO THE RIGHT LANE AND NEVER LEAVE IT. I WILL NOT DRIVE OVER 55 MPH. I HAVE NO RIGHTS TO THE ROADS SO I WILL SIT AND WATCH THE CARSHAVE THEIR WAY WITH NO FEAR OF REPRIMAND FOR THIER ACTIONS BECAUSE ALL THEY HAVE TO SAY IS ONE WORD, "TRUCK" AND THEY ARE OFF THE HOOK.
    If you want my guns you will have to kill me first. I was born free and to take that from me you better be ready to fight.
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  • Big Sky RedneckBig Sky Redneck Member Posts: 19,752 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Ya know? I'm not real happy with the way my life is going lately. Society seems to be falling apart. Take right now for instance. I am heading to work on what should be a 15 minute drive, yet I have been driving for a half hour and am only half way there. The traffic is lined up bumper to bumper on both sides of me but I know I could get done a lot faster if I could just get around this stupid semi that is right in front of me..Those things shouldn't be allowed on the road..Okay, that's it, next break I am going to get around him if it KILLS me. Here we go, the car next to me has allowed a space of 6 feet between him and the car in front of him so I'll just force my way in here and work my way to the front of this truck. "Hey buddy, don't shake your head at me, your the one who slowed down. If you wanna take a pleasure cruise, do it on your own time. I've got to get to work."Finally! Now maybe I can work my way out of this mess. Look, just like I thought. That stupid truck driver has about 120 feet of space in front of him. Oh great, almost there and now the cars ahead of me are going to slow down so I can't get in front of him.. Just one more,, foot, got it, mash the gas,,!!Ha, look, that stupid truck driver just swerved over and hit the car on the other side of him. Probably fell asleep at the wheel. Well it's just like I always say, those stinkin' trucks shouldn't even be allowed on the road.. I am going to write a letter to my congressman. If they can't outlaw them all together, atleast they could get a little better control over them.Ah, work at last.. Hey Joe, why aren't those lines running? You know we've got to make that deadline! Get those people to work!!! Sorry Boss. the truck hasn't arrived yet and we're out of widgets. WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE TRUCK ISN'T HERE YET! I TOLD THAT IDIOT HE HAD TO BE HERE AT 7:AM!!!!!! He isn't here boss, maybe he got caught in the traffic or something... I don't want to hear excuses! I want my freight! You get that drivers' dispatcher on the phone and find out where he's at! Also tell them I am going to tell the shipper not to use them anymore, they are to undependable!!!!Hey boss, I talked to the dispatcher. He said that truck was involved in an accident this morning. I guess some car cut in front of him and he hit another car trying to avoid running over the first. The truck driver is in the hospital not expected to live and the guy in the other car is dead.. Well call them back and see how soon we are going to get those widgets. I have a deadline to meet.. Also tell them I am going to bill them for the wages I have to pay while my production line stands around waiting for parts...I know, I know, This sounds just as ridiculous as my last article. Well guess what? It happens every day.. Maybe someday we will have a transporter and can just beam you your bread and milk. Until then try to remember,,,IF YOU'VE GOT IT,A TRUCK BROUGHT IT!!!c November, 1995 by Keith A. Hamblin You see, people like that man in that story is what we deal with everysingle day.stupid semi, shouldnt be on the road, I hope he chokes on his dinner.
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  • Big Sky RedneckBig Sky Redneck Member Posts: 19,752 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    true story, no not meAbout 5 years ago I was traveling Westbound on I-80 through Wyoming. The snow was falling hard and fast and the visibility was so bad that I kept wondering at the wisdom of any driver who would be out there no matter what the dispatcher said. The roads were covered and at times it was hard to tell where the road ended. In places I had to navigate by the reflectors along the road.Somewhere around Rawlins I had just started down a fairly steep hill and though I had slowed down quite a bit I knew I was still traveling too fast because my fingers were cramping and my knuckles were as white as the snow outside. I didn't dare change speeds any faster so I just kept my foot off the gas and let the truck slow itself down as much as it would. Before I could get slow enough to relax my knuckles a little white mini-van came flying up beside me so fast that it scared me. As it came by my side I tried to see who was driving so I could 'advise' them to slow down. Just as it got to the front of me it cut back into my lane so close that I was sure it clipped my bumper.My heart stopped and the only way I could keep from hitting it was to grab a little brake. Instantly my tractor jackknifed. I was pulling a load of whiskey and was very near 80,000 pounds. The weight of all that whiskey kept pushing me right along. I could no longer see the mini-van so I had no idea if I hit them or what. The trailer was pushing me steadily toward the median and as I looked down into that deep ravine I knew without a doubt that I was going to die right there under 46,000 pounds of whiskey.The funny thing was, I really wasn't scared. At that moment, which seemed like hours, I just knew that my time was up and this was it. I remember thinking how weird it was to be travelling westbound and be looking eastbound over the hood of my truck. I even thought it was funny that I could have reached out the drivers window and touched the very trailer which in a matter of seconds was going to be crushing me beneath it. At the very last second and seemingly as if my body was moving without the permission of my brain, my hand reached up and pulled the trailer brake, at the same time my foot was pushing the clutch to the floor. It was almost as if I was a spectator instead of a participant. Thinking back now, I'm not so sure I wasn't just a spectator. Whatever the case, it worked. Miraculously my tandems caught just enough traction to slow them down and my tractor snapped into position just as if I had planned it that way. I hadn't realized I was being watched but even as I was pulling over to the side of the road I was being cheered over the C.B. by Eastbound and Westbound drivers who had seen the whole thing and thought me just as dead as I had.I finally got the truck parked and jumped out to inspect the damage to my tractor. Luckily the road was so slick that the jacknife had only mashed the drivers side cab extender. Just then I thought of the mini-van and ran to the back of my truck to see what had happened to it. They were off the side of the road and nearly windshield deep in snow. It was obvious that they were not going to get out under their own power. About that time I felt all the blood drain from my face and I went into a bit of shock at the memory of what just happened and the realization of how close I had come to dying. Then I felt the blood come back into my face, boiling. I became so mad I wanted to hit somebody and I headed up to that mini-van with exactly that in mind.When I reached the back of the van I could see in the window that there were three or four kids in there. All were crying and the eldest two were looking at me. My temperature dropped a few degrees. I reached the drivers' window and found a young woman who was also crying. My temperature dropped further but I was still mad enough to yell, though not hit. I tried to pull the door open but it was locked. I knocked on the window but she shook her head indicating that she was not going to open it. I guess I still looked madder than I felt. By that time a couple of other drivers had stopped and walked up to the van. Between the 3 of us we finally convinced her to open the window. In a short time we got her calmed down and helped get her back on the road. By the time we got her out the lady could tell that I had calmed down and she had begun appologizing to me. I snapped that what she had done was very unwise even on dry pavement let alone snow covered roads. She said she knew but had been distracted by the kids. We finally talked everything out and she headed down the road. I thanked the drivers who had helped me and then we headed down the road too.I have thought many times about this lady and the kids in that car. There is no way to describe the emotions I went through that day. Both from the fear of my own death and the fearful thought that those kids and their mother came just as close to death as I did. The thing that bothers me most about this is the fact that so many 4 wheelers have no idea of what they are dealing with when it comes to tangling with a truck. On a daily basis we have cars merging onto the freeway next to us without even bothering to look in their mirrors, let alone over their shoulder. Also every day we have people hurrying to cut in front of us then immediately slowing down once they have the lane. With some of them it is obvious that they do it on purpose because they think it is fun or just because they don't like trucks or maybe they feel we have slighted them in some way. Too many others are obviously just ignorant of the dangerous game they are playing. How can we convince these people that they are playing Russian Roulette with their lives and ours.It has become obvious to most of us that the lawmakers in this country refuse to accept the fact that 99.9% of us are professionals who care about the lives we touch and conduct ourselves accordingly. To them we are just some dumb truck driver who can't do anything else but drive so they make ridiculous laws and restrictions which absolutely make us far more dangerous than most of us would be if there were no D.O.T. and no unfair special laws just for trucks. Somehow we must convince this country that we are here to stay and that we want safe roads too. I would love to see a transportation secretary who was a truck driver but since to my knowledge this has never happened yet, it is up to us to do everything in our power to convince the public and the government that the answer lies in education and not restriction.As I said last month I wrote to the lawmakers in Utah. All I have seen in return so far was one form letter saying that this politician does not have time to answer E-mail but if my name and address was included in the E-mail, he would write to me personally when he got time. Guess he hasn't had time yet. The others did not even bother to send a form letter. The danger in this is that I might give up and say, "Oh well. I tried." In truth the answer is to drive these idiots nuts with more letters and phone calls. If it takes a squeaky wheel to get any attention around here then by damn it is up to you and me to squeak so loud they will forget every other sound they hear.. I hope you will join me.. Keep 'er between the lines and try to educate a 4 wheeler today.....
    If you want my guns you will have to kill me first. I was born free and to take that from me you better be ready to fight.
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  • pops401pops401 Member Posts: 616 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Are the Olympics over? Who won? I got to readin, and I think I missed em.
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  • Mom MomMom Mom Member Posts: 169 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    salzo: one thing I didn't see mentioned: you reference "two trucks driving side by side so no on can pass". This isn't neccessarily to "block speeders for fun". The so called rolling roadblock is a form of protest over split speed limits, i.e. 55 for trucks and 65 for cars. Many of the things you and other have described, pasing trucks, lane changes etcetcetc are the result of a split speed limit. If everyone was allowed to drive the same speed everyone, the passing changing etc wouldn't be neccessary.Some states have already gone to uniform limits; others insist on the split due to the erronious notion that trucks are somehow so much more dangerous than cars. Of course, the fact that smokey likes to hang out at teh state line waiting to nail the unsuspecting passer-through, the proceeds of which fund fact finding junkets for laughable politicians has nothing what so ever to with it. No, not at all. It's just to protect the good citizens of the state from those evil drivers in their big scary trucks.
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  • salzosalzo Member Posts: 6,396 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Is it true Truckers cant use radar detectors? One time I was driving at a cool 15mph above the speed limit, side by side with a trucker. My radar detector started screaming, but I did not slow down because I was driving side by side with the truck, and knew the truck would prevent those radar beams from hitting me. I saw the trooper for an instant,I got in front of the truck, and watched the trucker get pulled over in my rear view mirror.
    Happiness is a warm gun
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  • 218Beekeep218Beekeep Member Posts: 3,033
    edited November -1
    WOW!!! Some long posts!!...but nothin` about bees. .218
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  • 218Beekeep218Beekeep Member Posts: 3,033
    edited November -1
    Do ya think they`ll ever use bees in that try athalon deal...or whatever it`s called? .218
    Did somebody say somethin` about bees?
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  • offerorofferor Member Posts: 8,625 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    7mm --It was a late night. I did so much writing I found you were responding to my posts before I finished posting. A bad way to converse, not getting the feedback until it's too late. Let's just say we had a nice informative debate and let it go at that. As far as I'm concerned we both made some valid points, and I think looking at the whole discussion very few of our points are mutually exclusive. By the way, I've had that "calm before dying" feeling myself (I won't go into it) and I know what you mean. Mom Mom probably missed my comments about split speed limits. In any case, the so-called protest by driving slow in both lanes is a really DUMB idea, and very likely to get somebody in a truck more than they bargained for. Say I'm rushing my injured dog to the emergency vet. Am I going to fall into line and join the protest? Or am I going to go around two idiots who are performing an illegal impedence of traffic on the hard shoulder of the road? WHether split limits are "erroneous" or not is very debatable. Lawmakers are likely to solve that non-problem by making everybody drive at the slower limit, and that's not going to help our traffic problems a bit, nor the truckers. But I'm not going to bite again. That's somebody else's idea of a problem. Re-read my posts about the differences in vehicle performance for more info on why top speed is one of the least important factors in performance of a vehicle. No doubt we both stand by the points we made, and I salute 7mm for a worthy discussion of a tough topic. Again, I think the answer to almost every point made is simply to keep out of the other guy's way, no matter what. We're not on the roads to exhibit, and as I said, there's an infraction called "exhibitionist driving" in some parts of this country. We're there to drive ourselves as efficiently and safely as possible and get where we need to go. Passing is not illegal, nor is passing a left-lane cruiser on the right, in my state. We both agree on what bad drivers look like, and neither of us wants to be one, or encounter them if we can avoid it. I repeat an earlier general comment that applies to human problems from terrorism to road etiquette: We're all issued a full set of problems of our own in life and I believe it is selfish and naive of someone to try to force his or hers on another party, as if they were more important. God issued me enough of my own, thank you. Hasta la vista, 7mm. Be well out there.
    "The 2nd Amendment is about defense, not hunting. Long live the gun shows, and reasonable access to FFLs. Join the NRA -- I'm a Life Member."
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  • beachmaster73beachmaster73 Member Posts: 3,011 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Only on Gunbroker do you start out with the Olympics and end up with a near Master's thesis on truckers and their social interaction with 4-wheelers......you just have to love this place. Beach
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  • 218Beekeep218Beekeep Member Posts: 3,033
    edited November -1
    Yeah,and don`t forget about bees! .218
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  • mudgemudge Member Posts: 4,225 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Beach....ImwichuWatched the opening of the Olympics. Thought it was pretty cool, except for the "native american" crap.Ya' had to love the part where "Dubya" goes into the stands with the US team and sits with 'em for the rest of the ceremony. Did you see the bit where the girl sitting next to him, handed him her cell phone? You could read his lips telling whoever was on the other end "This is the President". Great stuff. The man is just "Mr. Everyman".Mudge the impressed
    I can't come to work today. The voices said, STAY HOME AND CLEAN THE GUNS!
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  • Big Sky RedneckBig Sky Redneck Member Posts: 19,752 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    offeror, no prob. I tried not to get insulting and didnt want a fight over it. one thing, I get real touchy over trucks. It's one of those things that gets under my skin and then some. Driving is my life, I'm 31 and have been doing it since I was 18, I've seen alot on the road. Ive had some good times and some bad. Funny story, I used to take my wife to the west coast once a year for a "vacation". On this one trip she kept saying she wanted to see a big convoy, after listening to me tell her about some of my trips across Texas and a few other states breaking every traffic law imaginable she wanted to see what was so fun about it. We were heading east on I80 in Nebraska when I hooked up with a couple of other trucks, as we got close to Lincoln we started picking up the pace. We crossed into Iowa and never let up on the gas. after about a half an hour we had over 30 BIG STRAPPERS with us, definately a pretty sight at night when you get some big 'ol chicken trucks in a line. By the time this thing was in full motion we was running well over 100mph, tailgating each other at less than half a truck length. I was the 3rd one back from the front door and when we did a lane change it looked like an amber bull whip behind us, cars would see us coming and they pulled over! The wife was getting nervous, like I said we kept it tight, if somebody tripped it woulda been disaster but we all knew what we were doing and had an excellent front door, when he said "kick it" the line moved, when he said "back it down" we slowed like a train, for the ones who never done this it looked DANGEROUS but we all knew how to do it. When we got to Des Moines this thing was BIG, we slowed down to around 80mph going thru town, wonder we never got nailed. we rode this high speed chicken train all the way to Gary In, non stop trailer truckin. Goin across Il we started having fun on the cb with playing the "convoy" song and havin a good ol time. Next thin we are all riding side by side, on the air horns having a total blast. Wife got scared, went into the bunk crying saying we was all a bunch of looneys and we was going to die! its hard to describe the feeling in a convoy like that, it is a rush. it gives a feeling of brotherhood with the other guy. Almost brings tears to the eyes. A group of grown men having fun like a bunch of teenagers, nobody is fighting, we are looking out for oneanother. Some of the best times i've ever had has been doing just that. Dangerous? Yeah, extremely. I can probably compare it to some miltary exercises, where you life depends on the next guy. if the front door goofed we woulda been dead, simple. 30+ trucks in perfect harmony traveling at over 100mph, bumper to bumper with NO cars allowed in the pack, Thats what trucking is. It's not a job, its a lifestyle, we do things the public don't understand, we have our own code of honor, we look out for each other, like the military, its a family. Certain rules get broke, we do things most would deem as stupid and dangerous, to us its not. We have done our time in the saddle, we can handle it. Like I was told when I started, sure you can be a cowboy, but ya gotta learn how to ride the horse first. If you get caught in a "blockade", alot of times there is a reason, it may not be right no it may not be. But there are alot of things that happen on the road that are not cool. We live on those roads, we have unwritten rules that we follow and sometimes somebody will challenge our existance there. It does from time to time get personal. Not right but it does. before you blast a trucker think about what maybe he has been thru today, look at how we are degraded, to some it is a never ending battle. Try to be patient, we do not cutt off cars for the fun of it, sometimes in Ohio we may get oinery and piss off somebody just to get some bear bait but we do not intentionaly put someones life in danger, we know what we are doing. Like the girl in the minivan, 90% of the people on the road drive their cars, but the driving is not what they are focused on. They talk on the phone, read books or newspapers, play with the kids, or just not paying attention, they take it for granted that the car will do what it's supposed to. You have to know what is happening around you at all times. Too many times I have seen people make stupid mistakes around trucks because they simply do not know what they are doing. They expect a truck to do something and when it don't do it, now the trucker is the * hole, most will ride beside a truck and put him in a bad spot and then get upset when now the trucker has to take evasive actions. Pay attention to what is hapening, dont sit there and say I dont care what happens as long as he stays in that right lane. There are times when we need to make a quick lane change, you will never understand why unless you are in the truck. A truck is far different from a car, the options you have will not work in a truck, some say, why dont he just slow down and wait, not always possible, sometimes you need to take the hole when it's there or you will never get out, nothing against the guy in the car. And the cars do it to us all the time. i don't know how many times some butt head cut me off for a ramp or just to get in front. The list of stupid stuff can go on and on. Salzo, that wasnt nice! letting that poor trucker get the ticket, that was mean! LOL No we can't have radar detectors in trucks, it comes down to the double standard. It is ok for the car to have one but not the truck. if you are ever in a truck stop, go to the store and find one of those little green books. In that book is all the crap we must know and follow. It would make you sick to see what we have to do. read it and learn, it is truly sad. The comment I made about the constitution is true, read the book. In the eyes of the lawmakers, we are not equal.
    If you want my guns you will have to kill me first. I was born free and to take that from me you better be ready to fight.
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  • pops401pops401 Member Posts: 616 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Did somebody say something about.... Olympics? ;( ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
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  • Big Sky RedneckBig Sky Redneck Member Posts: 19,752 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    LOL, sorry for ruining your post pops, all I did was make a joke and look what happened, got myself all worked up.oopsy
    If you want my guns you will have to kill me first. I was born free and to take that from me you better be ready to fight.
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