Day 328 (A Day In Little Rock)

Today, Tikvah and I took a trip to Little Rock, about an hour and a half from our home, just to hang out and do stuff (for the record, we did not subject ourselves to the Black Friday madness - though the crowds that were out for that purpose were unavoidable). We did, however, make a stop for coffee at Starbucks. Our meal consisted of using the Outback gift card our oldest son gave us for an anniversary gift, which (in my opinion) was slightly above mediocre at best. It was a long day, stopping at Bed, Bath & Beyond, Guitar Center, Old Navy, and Target... just to name a few of our stops.

We also drove by the location where the Occupy Little Rock movement has set up their dwellings (a.k.a. tents). It was a pretty mild day, weather wise, and the traffic wasn't as insane as I would have expected. We are at home now, tomorrow is the Sabbath. I hope the evening finds you in good spirits, and recovering nicely from the self-imposed tryptophan-induced coma that many of us sentenced ourselves to yesterday. Actually, I may partake of the leftovers shortly.

Day 318 (Farewell, Oregon)

Doyle and I made our two drops in Portland, OR this morning, then finished out this load in Eugene. While we made our way there (we were actually just a few miles north of Eugene), we were pre-planned on our next load. This load will have be a good run (a.k.a. good miles).We will pick up tomorrow by 1200 (MT) in Jerome, ID - about 500 miles from Eugene - then we will deliver it, probably on Monday, in Lebanon, TN. The weather in Oregon has been pretty mild, a bit rainy, and crisp, cool temperatures.

When we got into Eugene, we actually missed our turn (6th Ave.), so I had Doyle go one block, to 7th Ave, to make our turnaround. As we made our way around the block, we passed a park that appeared to be more of a campsite. It didn't take us long to figure out that the park was the "tent city" for the "Occupy Eugene" protesters. One thing I've noticed about these protesters of the "Occupy" movement, is they don't seem to want a hand up, but a hand out. The same people who are unemployed, yet if the manager of a fast food joint walked up to them and offered them a job that they could start the next day, would probably expect a starting wage of $15 an hour. In these economic times, you have to start at the bottom and work your way up.

For example, when I first began driving a truck (in the mid to late 90's). my starting pay was 25 cents/mile. That may not sound like much, but when you consider that a truck driver covers several hundred miles per day, it adds up. I did my job the best way I knew how. But - as I tell my students today - whether you were with a trainer for 3 weeks or 3 months, you could never cover every possible scenario you may encounter out on the road... NEVER. However, if you persevere - and work hard - your pay will increase. As of right now, when I'm not training a student, I make 40 cents/mile... with a student: 44 cents/mile - for ALL miles covered. 25 cents to 40 cents is a nice jump. The thing is I worked hard over the years: making pick ups & deliveries on time, being professional and courteous... even looking professional. I may not be wealthy, but I am blessed to have a job, and able to pay the bills. I haven't asked for a handout, and I don't expect to get something for nothing. I am driven by excellence. I've applied myself to provide for my family.

It's time for these protesters to wake up, smell the coffee, and realize that those organizations that are "donating" to their "cause" see those protesters as nothing more than useful idiots... dread-headed, mindless fiddles being played by socialist orchestrators who could even care less if a protester dies from pneumonia brought on by living in a tent at a park - as long as their ideologies have the fodder for which they can gain further political posturing. {*deep breath*}

Day 282 (OWS = Socialist Inaction)

For a couple weeks now we have seen this Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement playing out in the media... kind of. For the most part, what has been publicized about this "protest" is the police brutality. What is talked about were these cases of brutality, mainly from videos posted on YouTube, but how much credence can we really put into such videos? With current events being what they are, even YouTube videos that "document" social unrest have to be taken with a grain of salt. Keeping that in mind, U2's Bono was way ahead of his time when he wrote, "when fact is fiction, and TV a reality" (from the song "Seconds" on the 1983 album War).

Though the OWS movement doesn't have anything "official", they do, however, have certain "proposed" list of demands that some would like to see met. An acquaintance of mine, whom I know through Twitter (now no longer an active account), Facebook, and the posts on her website, Jillian gave her view on yesterday's post, which, unlike most of those actually taking part in the OWS "protest" in NYC, was thought out... well thought out.

However, what makes me shudder is how OWS - should they succeed in whatever it is they want - will affect the Dagny Taggarts, Francisco d'Anconias, and Hank Reardons of today... even more chilling is how the work of Ayn Rand has become almost like an outline or a blueprint for this "new and improved" society which they have envisioned... only for them to (once they get what they want) propel it to one that's an Orwellian perversion. Though we have a plethora of media sources (not just network news) to refer to, we must still scrutinize most of what we see. For example, yesterday there was an article in the U.K.'s Daily Mail which tells of how OWS has created such an increase in the accumulated waste on the streets (it was Sunday, so sanitation workers and garbage trucks will not be running), even showing images... to include a picture of a "protestor defecating on a police car." Is this a legitimate story? Are the pictures authentic, or have they been "doctored"? Too many people take what is in the print media, or on the evening news as fact... If you don't believe me, try arguing the existence of UFO's with someone who gets their news from the magazines found in the check-out isle at Walmart. What has become fact is that a large portion of the news that is "fed" to us has some sort of slant or bias already "pre-loaded" (at this point, you may have those words of Bono's echoing through your head). When we lost the likes of Walter Cronkite and Edward Murrow, we also lost true, unbiased reporting. I could still take issue with this, but I'm going to leave this picture at face-value:













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