Rut-Ro Raggy

To wit

To what

To why?

I don’t know why I just typed that or what I’m doing, it just popped into my head….

So, I pull into a truck stop on this beautiful morning somewhere in the Midwest, to get my new breakfast combo;

Egg white Omelet w/salsa….

Lots of salsa, there seems to be nothing to chew in egg whites.

1 cup of Steamed Broccoli w/dash of Parmesan cheese.

1 slice of wheat toast…no freaking butter

Banana….

I’m going to kill myself again.

Or, I’ll live longer.

I have to decrease my blood sugar, my blood pressure and my epicurean heresies…

I will no longer be able to drive a truck if I don’t get these things under control.

The government has put guidelines on truckers that are unfair, infantile and nonsensical.

One of these so called upcoming guidelines is that if your neck is over 17” in circumference, you will have to undergo an expensive sleep apnea test, that you have to pay for, not to mention the expensive equipment that you have to have with you at all times while on duty.

It will be on your license that you are a non-sleeping, fatigued, fat bastard with a fat neck that should be monitored every 3-6 months to see if you are complying and will be allowed to keep your CDL drivers license so that you can make a living and feed your family.

What about passenger cars?

There are approximately 3 million trucks on the road, not all at once mind you, and there are at least 10-20 times more passenger cars at any given time, and that’s just a guess!

Anywho…

Before I go off on a tangent that I don’t really want to get into right now, I’ll continue to tell you what happened at the truck stop this morning….

I park my truck and get out, brimming with excitement and anticipation to experience my first low-carb breakfast…on purpose.

As I walk towards the truck stop, I notice lots of vehicles with multiple antennas, satellite dishes and decals pronouncing “Twister Tours” “Texas Storm-Chasers” “Weather Channel” and “TVN” (aka Tornado Video Network) plus dozens more with similar decals and communication gadgetry.

I stop…..

I look into the sky….

The sky is blue….

I see one cloud, and it doesn’t look angry.

I stroll up to a group of these chasers huddled up around a big van.

I have never met a stranger in my life, plus the fact that I don’t care what people think about my seemingly being at ease with myself with anyone, be it president or plumber.

We all gotta squat sometime….

“So what’s up, should I be worried?” giggling as I ask the closest chaser person.

Yes, I giggle…

Shut up.

Anyways…

She turned and looked at me and said “We hope not”

I looked at the sky again.

She looked at the sky.

I guess she noticed the look on my face, the doubt in my eyes and added “Our storm models indicate that due tothe science- it is early mid-June and it is hot and humid. The temperature is approaching 90 degrees and the dew point is 70 degrees. Surface winds are out of the SE at 25-30 knots, pumping up rich Gulf moisture, veering and strengthening with height, and pressure is falling. There is a surface low in SW Oklahoma, an attached warm front running along the Red River, a dryline extending south into west central Texas, and a strong, protruding cold front extending from the low southwesterly, back behind the dryline. “

I think that’s the jist of it, I lost her at “storm models”

Overly technical Science jargon tends to shut my brain down.

I look back at her and say “So, the caps gonna break…”

She smiles and says “Uh…well, yeah”

“I watch the Weather Channel and have a storm chaser app on my phone” I explained

I continued “I drive a truck 600-700 miles a day, I am in lots of different weather within mere miles, I like to know what I’m driving into, and what you guys are doing out here helps us truckers a lot”

“I’m Tanya” I think she said, offering her little hand.

“I’m Reed Timmer” I said grinning shaking her hand.

“No you’re not, I know Reed and he’s in the shitter” she said in sailor lingo.

A few chasers listening nearby laughed.

I knew it…..We all gotta squat some time.

Reed Timmer is probably one the most visible chasers out there and basically one of the most popular amongst truckers.

I told about twenty of the chasers some tales of tornadoes that I had either; driven thru, shit my pants in or seen the aftermath of over my years as a truck driver.

Some of them had been in Joplin, Mo during that terrible tornado the same time that I was.

I saw a truck stop flying thru the air….semi-trucks…cars….houses….trees….it even sucked the asphalt out of the cracks and potholes on the interstate.

A couple of them had been at the El Reno, Ok storm site as I had driven thru about 2 hours after a few of their fellow chasers had been killed by a direct hit from the EF5 twister.

I told them that all of us truckers appreciate what they do and that they save a lot of lives and to never forget that.

“We want to save everybody” Tanya said, looking at her feet.

“One day” I said….then added “One day, the way you guys are going, we’ll have earthquake chasers” [Giggle]

(I’m soo gay sometimes…)

A voice behind me said “We’re working on that”

Reed was out of the shitter….

I shook his hand.

They were all young people….smart people.

Sadly….They won’t be able to save every one…..

But…

They’ll figure it out, I know it.

The reason I wrote this post is that in the timeframe of 3 hours I have seen a clear sky go to shit…