Trucking Company Sues Amtrack Over Crash???

The lawsuit story is here .  The crash story is here .

Being an OTR driver, I have to say John Davis Trucking's accusation that Amtrack and Union Pacific failed to adequately warn drivers of oncoming trains is no excuse for the driver failing to stop in time to avoid crashing thru the signal gate, killing 6 people and injuring 20 others.  Since the land in the area of the crash is flat with no visual obstructions,and both the highway and railroad are straight for miles, there is absolutely no excuse for the driver not seeing the train.

DOT regulations require a truck driver to operate his rig safely and legally.  This requires, among many other things, making sure his equipment is functioning properly, looking far enough ahead to react, and driving no faster than he can safely respond to unexpected changes.  There are also specific procedural requirements for railroad crossings.  The company is also required, again by DOT regulations, to ensure all drivers are properly instructed in safe driving techniques.

If the driver crashed thru the gate, he failed to follow one or more safe driving protocols.

According to DOT regulations, the driver has primary responsibility for safely transporting his load and the final authority to determine how he accomplishes that goal.  I have, on several occasions, told my dispatcher I was deviating from the recommended trip routing because I could not safely, and therefore legally, drive my 40 ton load thru sections of it.

In this tragic accident, both the driver and his company are without excuse.

Differing weights and measures...

I don't buy cereal very often and when I do, it's usually the "healthy" stuff like granola or tree bark.  I was in Wally World the other day buying groceries when I suddenly got a craving for some healthy cereal.  Had the money, so I indulged.

Later that evening, I opened up my new box of Nature's Path, USDA organic, excellent source of Omega-3, Organic Flax Plus Maple Pecan Crunch cereal...

...and was immediately ticked.

I paid almost $4.00 for a box of 60% air!!!  This is worse than potato chip bags!!  Of course, the box had the "sold by weight, not by volume" disclaimer which supposedly nullifies any wrong-doing on the part of the manufacturer, but this kind of deceptive packaging is inexcusable.

The cereal was good - both bowlfuls - but I will never again purchase Nature's Path products, even though they have recently started using smaller, less deceptive packaging.  The suits should have figured that out beforehand.

"Divers weights and divers measures, both of them are alike abomination to the LORD."  ~  Proverbs 20:10

Latest Experiment...

One of my favorite drinks to make is a gallon of iced coffee once my milk gets down to about a 1/4 gallon.  My recipe is:

2 scoops coffee (decaf)

1 scoop Stevia in the Raw (about a cup)

1 qt whole milk (non-homogenized when I can afford it)

several handfuls of ice

Make coffee the usual, coffee-maker way.  Add stevia to the pot before putting it on the burner.  While waiting for the coffee to brew, add ice to the milk.  I love ice-maker ice;  it's the perfect shape and size for adding to jugs.  After brewing, dump coffee in the milk jug, top it off with water and shake like crazy.

I'll usually finish this off by bedtime as I typically drink between 1 and 2 gallons of water/coffee/soda/tea a day.

Today, wanting something a bit healthier, I tried adding 2 scoops of whey protein to the pot with the stevia.  BIG MISTAKE!!  I discovered that protein powder plasticizes when subjected to heat.  (well, DUH!!  Protein powder's made from whey) Had to strain the coffee to get the icky chunks out.  I didn't think to take pics to show ya'll the mess it made.

Next time I'll wait til after the ice has melted, the coffee has cooled down and I've drunk about half before adding protein.

More Stifling News

If ya hear on the news that it's stifling in ATL, that's mostly embellishment.  While it's pretty hot out here (100+ heat index), there is a little bit of a breeze and it's not nearly as humid as other places.  Nothing like the hot, hazy, sticky, stale-air days in IN or OH.  Even tho I have CAD, I can still breathe and ain't crawlin' up hills like the weather service warns about.  I would have probably thot it stifling 5 years ago when me ticker was clogged.  Drinking plenty of water has been the biggest help.

Excuse me while I go drink a breath of air.  :)

God's Plans...

One of my cousins is going thru one of those days when life itself seems worthless.  As soon as I read his post, I could identify with him, even though I don't know the details of his situation.  I wanted to encourage him so I prayed for God to give me encouraging words.  This is what He gave me:

"I don't know what yer going thru, cousin, but I know exactly how yer feelin.  I was there almost three years ago.  What do you do when everybody's telling you to "grab yer bootstraps, pick yourself up and keep going"?  I couldn't because my bootstraps were broken.  I wanted nothing more than to go to sleep and never wake up.  But God had other plans for me...  I got professional help @ Grady Hospital that allowed me to open my up my personal baggage and deal with it.  It helped me discover things about myself I had buried deep inside; things I hadn't dealt with in decades.  I also re-discovered the faith I thought was lost.  I've still have some rough days, but at my darkest moments, when I can't see past the next mentally and emotionally exhausting step, Jesus is beside me, quietly supporting me and sometimes carrying me."

Well. I reckon it was a good thing for me to get stranded here in ATL.  Ain't God good?  I wonder what other unrevealed plans He has for me?  Hope this also encourages ya'll as well.

Tryin' to Storm... and Other Random Thot's

Just had a couple teensy storms out here.  Kinda like a toddler gets when he wants to impress you with how intimidating he is.  Lotsa noise but not much else.  Hmmm... sounds alot like most of the BadBoyz out here in ATL.

Glad I ain't in Detroit; they don't strut and chest-thump like here in ATL, they just pounds on ya to make their point.

Anyways, last night (this morning really) I had my second dream in a month about tornadoes.  Even in my dreams, I can't get a picture.  :P

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Not enjoying the phone part of my new Android.  Keypad locks up within seconds and I haven't yet figgered out a way of turning it off.  Maybe that's a "feature".  A real nuisance when I call a computer-b4-person number.

I do like the Apps section of my phone, tho'.  Especially the reader.  NOOK for Android is great.  Can't wait to listen to some tunes.  Bought a new set of earphones just for that.

Headsets are still a problem.  The one I bought is not much better than a decoration.  Can't afford a custom molded phone so it stays in.  I'll just have to go to a truckstop and buy one of those on-the-ear headphones.

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It's been quiet around here lately.  New neighbors are quiet.  Life is good.

Random thots is dun fer now....   :)

Wilting in ATL??

Saw a headline today about how horribly hot it is - "sweltering" was the word used.  With temps mostly in the low 90s, the headline tries to conjure up visions of sunbaked cattle bones (altho' here in ATL, they would be zombie bones), desert grass and circling vultures.  The author obviously hasn't been to Laredo, TX where 100+ temps are normal and 95 is considered almost sweater weather.  (I miss taking loads down that way.)

I love the way marketers try to sensationalize everything.  My frozen pizza is no longer hot when it comes out of the oven, it's "delicious and hot".  So I have to wait 5 minutes before eating.  Hmm...  I reckon other brands are hot but unsavory.

My all-time favorite is the stoopid advert about smartWater when it first came out.  The label literally said the water was "engineered" to go directly where it was needed in the body.  I can see it now, MHT's (Molecular Hydration Teams) using ATSD's (Advanced Technology Sensing Devices) to determine where the body is most dehydrated, then advancing toward those coordinates at size-equivalent speeds exceeding those found at Bonneville Speedway, these MHT's deliver their refreshing, rehydration product before the subject succumbs to catastrophic hydraulic depletion!!

And you thought you were just drinking a bottle of water.

(That's funny...  this blog started out as a fun poke at the news about how hot it's been here in ATL.)