Monday, April 28, 2008

Trucking as Retirement

TRAVEL

had a chat w/ Leonard of Beco Inc. New Salem ND. Truck#1569. His truck was a loaner, with his usual truck in service, after meeting with a suicidal deer. He's pretty nice. He has a lot of money, enough to retire comfortably, but chose trucking instead of being couch potato. Pretty smart, I say. He has energy of someone half his age. I guess that does mean that retirement should be seen as freedom to be active, not as an excuse to be couch potato.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Trees

TRAVEL

I see many different trees in my travels. Would you believe cherry blossoms in Tennesse? I probably should check it out. I also saw a specimen of money tree in Battle Mountain NV.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Meteor Crater NM

TRAVEL

I stopped by a rest area in New Mexico just off I-40. It's called Meteor Crater Rest Area. Pretty cool, eh? Lots of rock formation. The sign severely warns that no graffiti is tolerated. It makes me wonder. Does that mean Utah was hit by a meteor also?

There's not much out there. I guess if Meteor Crater is a major attraction, then there really is not much out there. New Mexico is not without its charm, though. I remember passing through just after a snow storm hit the desert. It was just like in a winter wonderland, with crystal trees and glassy dunes. Very pretty!

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Source of Happiness

ZEN THOUGHT

You know. I just realized that I don't want to get too comfortable. I guess life as couch potato doesn't suit me. It's funny, because most people who worked can't wait to retire and do nothing. I'm just the opposite. I can't wait to retire and do twice as many things.

Human body adapts. A day without working is a day without eating. I'm not comfortable doing nothing, unless it's my job. I guess I'm just the restless type.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Maximum Tune 3

TOYS

I was playing this game, Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune version 3. I spent $20 on it, upgrading my car to decent 600 HP level. The game itself is nice. Well balanced, I think. Except roads are very much congested with traffic. I swear I bumped into more cars here than any other version.

Anyway, a fellow gamer by the name ROC, that was his handle, asked to play against him. This after I have spent all my money. So I was reluctant to do it. Fortunately, the system has a GHOST MODE, so I told him to just play against my ghost. And his car was maximized. I chose the Hakone route, since my car was a Mitsubishi Lancer. At first, he did well, but then after scraping a few walls, he panicked, and scraped a few more, whereas my run, I scraped a few walls early, but as I got used to the course's turns, I got better. And what do you know? My ghost won! It was eerie watching my car moved by itself. It scraped all the wall sections I was scraping. Incredible! Certainly a good way to compete without spending too much money! I didn't think I would like the system, but I do now!

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Night terror

ZEN THOUGHT

So I was reading this newspaper article about night terror. That is when a person would wake up screaming in fear and have trouble sleeping. The writer said that taking 1 mg of melatonin helped. I wonder about that. Night terror is different from nightmare, but isn't there another way other than taking medicine? What if the supply run out?

"Why do you fear death so much?"

"Because I don't want to die."

"All living things that are born will eventually die. That is our fate to be. Think not death as punishment, but as destination. In this journey of life, where have you been? What have you seen? What have you done? Life is merely temporary. Memoir will last as long as time flows."

Stitch

TOYS

I spent $4 on this Stitch doll from Lilo and Stitch. Also $7 on 2 Mickey Mouse Dolls. Pretty good harvest so far. Of course, I can't get them everytime. At $1 per try, I still think it's expensive.

Friday, April 11, 2008

This natural world

TRAVEL

A lot of times, we go from one place to the other and see only the road. We don't stop and think that there is more to the city than asphalt. However, nature is elusive. Sometimes you can find pleasant things in unexpected places.

I was just wandering around in mud path in Kentucky. Derby City South Truck Plaza, to be exact. I saw this red robin puttering around. It saw me and flew into a tree. I can see it just fine, it being red and the rest is green. The tree doesn't have too many leaves in it, in any case. It was raining and I have places to go so I didn't stay there long, but I do know that the people is nice.

Actually, it's not much of a truck stop. Just a restaurant, truck repair shack, and a cigarette shop at the back. No junk food sold here. I'd have stopped and sample their food had I known this. As it is, I already ate a full breakfast and no more room for another meal.

I need to lay off all these junk food for a while. Too much sugar in my system.

Anyway, a drive through Kentucky is a welcome change of pace after traffic jam North Carolina and Construction Packed Tennessee. I swear people there like to stop in the middle of the road, blocking traffic. I'm exaggerating, but that's how it feels like.

Conservatives' view that nature must be preserved notwithstanding, it can sometimes be cold and windy, wet and muddy, not just green and browny.

Some pictures here including the mud path I was treading. Turn it into a wall paper or something.

Monday, April 7, 2008

Darwin Award

TRAVEL

True story. OK, may not be all true, but it is based on a true event.

A male squirrel and a female squirrel were on the side of the road. The male said, "I'll cross this road right in front of THAT speeding truck!"

"That is dangerous, you could get killed!" said the female squirrel.

"I can do it. Watch me do it!" The male squirrel took his position right on the line on the side of the road, while the female stood a little farther back. When the time is deemed right, the male squirrel ran across the road, right in front of a speeding truck.

It didn't make it.

It could have made it, had it made a mad dash across the road. Unfortunately, it kept glancing at the truck with each hop, thus slowing it down. One more road kill.

I didn't see the female squirrel's reaction. It happened in about 3 seconds, and yes, I put in the dialog, but that's how it came across.

Moral of the story: when you do something stupid, there's every chance that you'll get a Darwin Award, given to those who died because of their natural stupidity. Natural selection at work.

Iowa Harvest

saw this on a rest area in Iowa off I80. I think it's nice that they are trying to make rest areas nicer. Some of them also have free wireless access for 30 minutes. I've never tried it, though.