I hate faulty equipment!

During a recent delivery my tailgate broke down.

Well actually the fluid which allows the tailgate to go up and down started to squirt of of the pump and onto the customer's driveway.  The problem is that I didn't have a spill kit, but we used the owner's bags of kitty litter to help clean up the mess. I was lucky because the tailgate did work enough times for me to unload the 5 skids of his magazine before it almost lost all fluid and I would have had to drive back to Scarborough from Guelph with the tailgate down!

The pictures is what's left of the mess my tailgate made on the guy's driveway. At least the guy doesn't blame me.

People I wish I could talk to.

I have many questions for My Great, Great Grandfather for example. He and Ambrose Small must have had some falling out before Ambrose disappeared. Not sure if that's what broke up the family,  but whatever happened, I was never told by my grandfather since he never told his son's what happened. All I know is that my grandfather was raised by his Dad's cousins. And it was because of that Aunt that my Dad grew up going to the same school as my wife some 30 years later.

Strange how our histories are so intertwined.

People are just asking for it.

I saw this minivan from a distance and once able to be beside it @ a red light I saw what they were hauling.
They had strapped a 47 inch LCD tv to their roof rack! They were even using the strapping which you bundle wood together with, but they had tied it down with only 1 piece of the stuff. One quick movement from the driver and the TV would have been on the road. Plus it had just finished raining and the box was soaked and starting to come apart in the heat as it dried. The Box clearly shows that the contents need to be upright and not on its side.

But the best part was that inside the van were 4 people and a huge tv stand.

Lefthanders?

I am not sure if this is a problem only found in the Toronto Area or if its wide spread.

Let me explain:

There are two lanes or more on a stretch of road. Say the road is 4 kilometers between a stop sign or set of lights. All the cars will be in the left hand lane when I approach them. The funny part is the 1st car in the line will not be doing to the speed limit. So I have to pass them on the right side which is easy by doing the speed limit. The best part is that when you get to the next light, none of them is turning left.

This is most common when there are no driveways or other street entering onto that stretch of road.

Since when did the left lane become the passing lane.

When gas jumps should you freak out?

The quick answer is NO. Yes this past week the price went up 6 cents over night and then another 2 cents the following day. Why did so many people freak out? 98% of life is how you react to when happens. I was happy that I had bought gas on the weekend and so didn't need to pay any fuel till the Friday night and at the same price as I paid on the Sunday when I bough a full tank of it.

I guess that if you had to pay that $139.6 a liter you would be mad that you hadn't fueled up sooner. But there lays the problem. I personally fill up my car to the top each time I get gas. I don't like going to the gas station every other day. I do drive about 600 kilometers a week. My car can reach about 550 kilometers per tank and a tank holds about 40 liters of fuel. So its not amazing on fuel, but much better than my larger station wagon.

But the better question is why are their unregulated speculators allowed to play with the price of gas? Why are gas companies being allowed to play a part in that speculation? Why are gas prices even traded on the stock market? We don't buy milk, water, wine, beer or even Apple juice like that. Why are we buying gas based on the price in the stock market?

My trucking company doesn't pay the going daily rate for diesel fuel. They pay a rate based upon the amount they consume as decided on. So then the price for fuel stays the same for the length of the contract. Lets say a year. So for 365 days the price stays the same. Then after the year is up, they find a new rate for the fuel. Why can't the private consumer do the same? Why can we sign a contract with a station say Esso to buy their gas for the year based on how much fuel we consume in a year for a static rate?

I would love to have a diesel powered car and then take advantage of their rate! Mmmm not a lot of options: Smart, VW, or some truck.

Better yet! Remove the unregulated speculators from playing with the price of fuel. Remove the guessing of where prices will be and allow the people buying the gas to decided what they are willing to pay. If station "x" is selling at $140.0 and station "y" wants to sell @ $100.00 then station "y" will get my business.

Windy enough for ya?

During the end of April 2011. It was just a tad bit windy. So much so that the Burlington Skyway was closed to truck and car traffic during the day. They even closed the US/Canada border at the Peace Bridge to all truck traffic.

So one my fellow truckers were driving up to the closed border to drop a trailer @ our yard and then go back to the customer for another trailer. About 5 min before he got to the yard, a HUGE gust of wind pushed him and his trailer over on their side and they slid into the ditch!

Yes, the driver is OK. But the truck and the trailer are toasted.

Does your insurance cover "Act of God"?

May the Fourth Be with you?

Yes every May 4 is Star Wars day for its fans. We are only looking to celebrate and fun with Star Wars, no Star Trek etc. Yes,  I did remember the day and had some fun with it. But I stopped short of watching one of the movies since well, I just don't have to kind of time during a work day.