Truck surfing and breaking wind

Ozzie and I drove across Iowa and Nebraska in two days—about 19 hours of driving over the weekend. And in Nebraska, we learned a new skill, which we have named truck surfing. The highways there are almost completely flat, so we were expecting to get really great gas mileage what with gas prices, but what they don’t tell you about is the wind. The speed limit was 75, which despite the trailer, we have no trouble reaching, but with the strong wind, we were unable to get above 55 with the gas pedal to the floor!!! So, we discovered a little trick. Every time a semi (sema!) would come along, we would downshift into fourth gear, turn off the air conditioning and press the pedal to the floor to gain speed. Then we would swing in behind the tractor trailer, into its wake, and ride like the wind, using about half the gas. Every once in a while, the truck would be going too fast and we would get pushed out of the wake and we’d have to wait for the next truck, which was frustrating, but inevitably, another one would come along and we’d scream “hee-haw!” and ride that train…and ride it. So, all in all, Nebraska was pretty boring, if that’s all I have to report, but one doesn’t understand the exhilaration of truck surfing until it has been experienced. A person just can’t understand. Adding to the rush is the constant possibility of impending death if the truck driver decides to slam on the brakes.

A pit stop at a Subway near Lincoln proved culturally interesting. Oz and I were the only ones in the place until this 19-year old boy came in. mouth overflowing with explatives. He seemed to know the girl behind the counter and proceeded to woo her with his endless babbling about his "f-ing cool car" (which turned out to be a four door Oldsmobile Alero, circa 1999—hot damn!). He professed that he was doing quite well at his job, “making $10/hour putting stickers on glass and attaching it to a piece of medal,” which was enough to pay for his insurance and his car, especially impressive “considering all of the modifications” which looked like perhaps a spoiler and a few window tintings. All and all, this kid could have been from my home town of Hagerstown. I’m certainly not railing on this guy and his job, but there was something funny about the way he figured his rantings to be irresistible to the Subway girl. He told intriguing stories about how he would skid his car into the high school parking lot and when confronted about it by an administrator, would aggressively rebut, “What the fuck are you going to do about it?!” Soooo dreamy. If only I were a few years younger. Even funnier was that during this time, Subway girl was handing him pieces of broken cookie out of a large plastic bread bag. It was too cute. She seemed to giggle at all the right moments too, providing exactly the reinforcement he needed. She said like four words before he made his grand exit and sped off in said Oldsmobile.

On a different note, I feel compelled to recognize what happened in New Orleans just as Ozzie and I were leaving DC. Is it just me or do the words and actions of Bushie Bush in the past week prove once and for all what a turd he is? I just read the following quote from him as he arrived in Alabama:

"The good news is -- and it's hard for some to see it now -- that out of this chaos is going to come a fantastic Gulf Coast, like it was before. Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott's house -- he's lost his entire house -- there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch. " (Laughter.)

You can read the entire speech at http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/09/20050902-2.html

The article I read justly points out that Bush seems to pick an odd example of loss and devastation invoking the name of an extremely wealthy and powerful political leader, rather than the thousands of poor and relatively helpless. Poor Trent. In the end, though, I suppose none of this will matter to the President or other leaders in the government. It just seems strange to me. The US spends an incredible amount of money and energy battling the impending and constant threat of terrorism, when the chances of any of us dying by terrorist attack are extremely low, yet when a powerful category 5 (what was thought to be, at least) is barreling down on the coast, sure to cause massive casualties and destruction, virtually nothing is done. At least sure up the oil rigs, I mean come on, don't you people have a heart?