“Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is planning to nearly quadruple the size of his $12-million California beachfront manse. Romney, a former Massachusetts governor and nominal frontrunner for the GOP’s 2012 presidential nomination, is planning to bulldoze his 3,009-square-foot home facing the Pacific Ocean in La Jolla, Calif., and replace it with an 11,062-square-foot home”, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. The Romney’s sold their $3.5 million 6500 sq. ft. Belmont, MA home and their 9500 sq. ft. ski villa in Deer Valley/Park City UT. They’re going to keep their vacation home in NH and their Boston townhouse.” Isn’t that special?
Over where almost everything we buy is manufactured, The Washington Post reports, “China’s newly rich love luxury products – imported French handbags, Italian sports cars – and even more, they love to show off their bling. That seems to be creating headaches for China’s communist rulers, who after three decades of exhorting their subjects to get rich are facing growing discontent over a widening income gap.
Officials now talk about making sure wealth is more evenly distributed, and how to get the rich to tone it down. “The government is facing a conflict,” said Michael Ouyang, representative of the World Luxury Association in China. “They don’t want to promote luxury because they are worried people who cannot afford it will see the advertisements. But they don’t want to limit luxury products because it’s good for the economy. So they’re facing a dilemma.”
The New York Times reports “The Obama administration flew about 150 people to Martha’s Vineyard: Secret Service agents, military aides and staff members – from Mr. Brennan down to the handler who walked the Obama family dog, Bo, onto Air Force One. (Neatly trimmed for his Vineyard romp, Bo sneaked in by the rear stairs, ahead of the press contingent.) Some staff members are housed in bed and breakfasts, with ruffled bedspreads and gaily painted shutters. Others are at a hotel in Edgartown, a stylish port known for its stately homes built by whaling captains. The first family is renting a 28-acre waterfront estate, Blue Heron Farm, which has horse paddocks, a boat house and an apple orchard.
In the real world, there’s an approaching hurricane “threat” to Florida. It’s Sunday. I remember, when I was OTR, the calls from home asking if there was anyway I could get a trip back to help with things. Remember, in trucking, when you need or want to get home, you won’t get home. On Friday, there’s the message from your driver manager that they’re working on finding a repower for you. That’s lie #32 in the how to BS drivers and customers handbook.
#2 is, “he had a flat and will be there as quickly as possible.” #1 is there is an accident and #4 is the bad weather lie. Saturday night your headed to Chicago, not Tampa, with a load of steel that delivers Tuesday. At headquarters, the skeleton crew is on and they can’t deal with anything but emergencies. You might get home, but when everything has blown over. Hopefully, you’re the roof is still on your house.
When we woke up this morning, my wife said “gee, I’m sure glad your not on the road this time.” An hour later I was in the store stocking up on bottled water and canned food, just in case. Further South, my brother, who runs his own trucking company, was in the office making sure the backup generator was working. My neighbor, who is an owner/operator and transports cars intra-state, moved his rig right next to the Harley Davidson dealership’s building down the street. The Harley folks don’t want truck parking on their property, but they’ll make an exception when a storm is looming.
There are others who experience life on the road, and aren’t truck drivers. The manager of my eye glasses store hasn’t seen her husband for months. He’s somewhere in Mississippi helping to repair the levees. She says he’s not the talking type, preferring to send he texts throughout the day. I asked if she Skyp’d. She knew what it was, but said she had no clue how to use it. I understand. With it being hurricane season here in Florida, couples that are separated, would prefer to be together. Also, with the 10th anniversary of 9/11 approaching, families feel the need to be close.
New subject – rarely do I find something written about trucking that is worth your time. There’s a piece I’m going to give you the link to by a Ricky Gooch. Yes, Gooch. I don’t know if it’s his real name or not. He posted a piece called “CSA is is the kill or the cure” at Justice for Truckers. They’re a “cause” on Facebook. Check it out and if you agree, please support them. Gooch/LOTR/JT is the link. Here’s a sample:
“The FMCSA has taken a divide and conquer strategy. Pour billions of dollars into America’s rail system building intermodal facilities in every heavily populated area in America. Spending billions on redesigning and reducing over the road trucking as we know it today and turning the majority of all trucking traffic into intermodal serving rail interest.
Removing all remnants of the drivers and carriers in the trucking industry today that knows and loves the trucking industry of yesterday. Yep fellows, if you love what you had and knew, you have to leave with those feelings. There is no room for you in the new age of Ray LaHood’s transportation plans. Might as well leave now and save yourself some skin, don’t sit there and shake your head it’s not going to do you one bit of good.”
And finally – something else I’d like you to read when you have some downtime on the road. As someone who has had his share of negative comments about what he writes, opinions and suggestions are always appreciated, within certain limits. Here’s the link: WP/LOTR/Comments.
“What is all this about? Shawn Parry-Giles, a professor of political communications at the University of Maryland, said several factors are at play. At the most charitable end of the spectrum, this is about people feeling powerless, anxious over economic downturns and in need of an outlet to vent, she said. This echoes the thoughts of Mark Twain, who frequently defended cursing: “There ought to be a room in every house to swear in. It’s dangerous to have to repress an emotion like that.”
Technology also plays a role. “Before the Internet age,” Parry-Giles said, “you read a newspaper, you reacted, but you had to get out pen and paper, write it down and stick it in the mail. That was cathartic enough that sometimes people wouldn’t send it.”
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