Some random notes, observations and questions

[WV Sawmiller]

    I just completed a 742 mile trip today. About 730 miles of it were from returning to WV after dropping my 94 y/o mom off about 40 miles from Pensacola. The rest were in  Charlotte NC picking up my wife I'd left at our daughter's place. Sunday we left WV and overnighted in Charlotte to break up the trip for my mom and have dinner with the kids and grandkids. Along the way I heard and saw a few items of interest. Such as:

1. I got behind 2 trucks loaded with chickens and I began to wonder how fast you'd have to drive to blow the feathers off them and if would be a cost effective way of picking them?

  Would the chickens all have to facing against the wind?

2. If you did so in the winter could you deliver "Fresh frozen, dressed (Well at least plucked) chickens to your buyers?

3. In Prattville Ala (Near Montgomery) a local school had to go into lockdown mode because of a "Bigfoot" sighting. Per safety/security protocol the outer doors were locked and the kids were locked in their room. A brave and diligent Resource officer captured the offending creature (which turned out to be a parent in a Sasquatch suit playing a prank  on his child). It made me wonder - Has anyone seen Robert lately? (May actually be a little out of his range but you never can tell as it does look like it is on the way to the coast for a fishing trip.)

  BTW - Is it a crime to impersonate a Sasquatch in Ala?   

4. I stopped at the Love's Truck Stop at Exit 104 (Poston territory) on I-85 om South Carolina for fuel and found that Greyhound buses stop there apparently for a bathroom and snack buying break. The clerk said apparently Greyhound likes their large, clean bathrooms. I never thought about it but assumed Greyhound buses (And Trailways I guess) only stopped at their own bus terminals.

5. My truck hates my wife. The A/C and heat work fine for me unless she gets in and then it starts blowing hot air instead of A/C or vice versa on her side only. (May be a bad Actuator valve somewhere or it may just be mad at her from some past comment she made about it).

6. I heard on a radio station Ala just passed an anti- squatter law making Squatting a crime and making it easier for owners to boot them out. I know Fla recently passed a similar law which may be the model for Ala.

7. FWIW - I love Indian food and we had a great Indian dinner in Charlotte Sunday night but my Mom tried it for the first and. she said. last time. (I guess I got my culture genes from my Dad's side of the family .)

    I may remember more astute observations later but it has been a long day so I'll leave it at this  for now.

[doc henderson]

Loves is our favorite when going long distance, especially with the camper.  they now even have hookups for campers.  We often sleep there or at a Walmart.

[Southside]

Back when Flying J wasn't owned by Pilot there were a very good stopping point.  The restaurant was excellent and the place was always clean. 

[SawyerTed]

Sasquatch-parent is lucky not to have been shot. 

Just to add to WV's questions, have any archeologists found Sasquatch remains?   

Whee do old Sasquatch/Sasquatches/Sasqyatchi go to die?

Just how old do Sasquatch get? 

I don't believe in Sasquatch...

[WV Sawmiller]

  I used to think Truck Stops were a good low cost place to stop and eat when traveling then I drove a truck for a while and they were the only places I could stop and I realized they were not the great bargain I had previously thought. You are paying for that big parking lot. Some, as Doc mentioned, are clean and convenient. I had not thought about campers staying there but it makes sense. I did know some Wal-Marts allowed overnight stays.

    When I was driving a truck and we were out west I'd stop at Burns Brothers because they took our company fuel card and so I could get a Bison Burger.

    I am a little chagrined nobody picked up on the mobile chicken plucking suggestion. I figured the design committee would note some enhancements I missed in my foggy, tired and sleep deprived brain last night. Thinking of the chickens reminded me of the tale of the chicken canon which went something like this:

    The US Gov't commissioned Boeing to make new fighter jets for them. Part of the contract was to build a windscreen that could withstand a bird strike from a 7.5 lb bird in flight at speeds of up to 600 mph. Further they had to develop a suitable protocol for testing. Boeing engineers came up with the "chicken canon" which would fire a 7.5 chicken at a velocity of over 600 mph. The US gov't inspectors concurred that would be suitable proof of concept and properly test the quality of the windscreen materials.

    Boeing built the first windscreen and it tested satisfactory so they sent it with a chicken canon to the government inspectors. The gov't inspected and returned the shattered windscreen saying it failed the test. Boeing tested another and it worked fine so they sent it to the government who returned a second shattered windscreen and a failure notice. Boeing hired an independent test agency from Charlotte Vermont to test their screens and resolve the issue. The independent agency tested the windscreen successfully several times then turned it over to the gov't and set up a time to watch their testing. When they did the windscreen failed again.

    The independent test agency wrote up their findings with the following suggestion "Prior to testing, take the frozen chicken out of the freezer several hours in advance and let it thaw to room temperature instead of firing frozen chickens in the chicken canon."

[SawyerTed]

Plucking live chickens would have its public relations drawbacks...

Factory processing dispatches the would be chicken fingers prior to plucking.  

[Bert]

I pride myself on making good time on road trips. Last time, I was pumping gas before taking my 8YO daughter to the restroom. Mid refuel, a bus load of senior citizens disembarked and headed towards the convenience store door. 40 minutes later we were back in the car.

[doc henderson]

As I get older, when I got to go, I got to go.  Something about pumping gas gives me the idea.  often, I start the filling then my wife watches the pump while I go (she goes first).  run back to the camper, and do not leave the pump unattended.  

[WV Sawmiller]

I pride myself on making good time on road trips. Last time, I was pumping gas before taking my 8YO daughter to the restroom. Mid refuel, a bus load of senior citizens disembarked and headed towards the convenience store door. 40 minutes later we were back in the car.

WARNING - make rude comments and implications on the FF about Senior Citizens at your own peril! Jeff removed the age from ready view (although I think it is still available) but I bet most of us are eligible for AARP membership if not Social Security! I could easily have been in that group you are talking about.

[Bert]

I mean no disrespect!    

[YellowHammer]

We have Sasquatches and UFO's everywhere here in North Alabama, according to Discovery Channel.  If you look up the scientifically accurate and irrefutable BFRO (Big Foot Research Organization) on the inter web, you will see that there is Class 3 sighting only a few hundred yards from our farm, many years ago.  I keep finding matted hair and bones in my bream pond, so all I can figure is they lean down to drink and Wham! my genetically engineered, ridiculously over size copper nose bream take them down like a croc taking down a Wookie.

I think I'm going to stock some Giant Snakeheads in the pond, also.  With their ability to walk on land and eat people, (I saw a show on YouTube, so it must be true) I'm pretty confident I can wipe any Sasquatches that my bream don't get. 

 
   

[WV Sawmiller]

Robert,

   Why don't you skip the snakeheads and go straight to piranhas or pacu (The big fish in South America where you have to wear a steel jock strap).

[YellowHammer]

I've tried the piranha, but they didn't survive the bream.  I saw the pacu on one of Jeremy Wade's shows, I wouldn't want my Squatches to have to deal with that.  

I remember one of the funniest things I'd ever seen was when I pulled up next to a semi tractor trailer sized chicken truck traveling down the Interstate, loaded with thousands of live chickens in the big box cages, and when I got even with the fifth wheel, I saw a handful of live chickens standing there, feathers ruffling in the wind, right between the cab and the trailer, not in the cage, just standing there with their feathers fluttering but mostly protected from the wind by the cab.  They had this look that was hilarious, I could just imagine them thinking, "Uh, now what?  Should we make a jump for it?" 

[WV Sawmiller]

Robert,

  Are you sure they weren't the "Judas chickens" used to lead the others into the pens, ride to the packing plant, lead them through the line then catch a ride back home?

  I heard they used to have steers that led the herd from Texas to market then they'd put them in a wagon and haul them back home to use again next year. I think some made several drives then at the end of the final drive they'd look around and ask "Where is my wagon?"

[21incher]

When I was in college we took a trip to Pratt and Whitney in Connecticut and I got to watch the chicken cannon fire a frozen chicken into a 747 engine cranked up on the test stand next to the concrete  bunker we were watching  from. It was to simulate a seagull getting  sucked into the engine at takeoff. Well that chicken  sure  made a mess of the engine.  The power of that engine mounted to the test stand was unbelievable.  I asked  about getting the job firing the cannon but was told there was a long line already.  That is an expensive  way to pluck a chicken. 

Back in the 1980s we were on a motorcycle trip with 2 other couples going down I95 and we saw our first chicken truck. We were amazed some of the cages were open and kamikaze chickens were trying to fly out. We saw one hit a car grill that exploded like a feather  pillow and a couple  more bounce off the road. The driver never stopped and it was scary following behind on motorcycles for a couple miles just to watch. He just was laughing looking in the mirror when we drove by and I bet he opened  the cages for entertainment.   

[Old Greenhorn]

I've tried the piranha, but they didn't survive the bream. ....

This brings to mind what my Grandmother used to say "ALL fishermen are Liars, except me and you. But sometimes I'm not so sure about you."

[YellowHammer]

Not me, I never "exaggerate" about fishing, but I do remember the time that I caught so many fish that the lake level dropped so much that I was worried I might cause a drought.  So I decided that it would be good for me to let all the fish go back into the lake.  When I did, the lake water level went back up so fast that I almost caused some flash floods in the nearby town.

That's when it got so bad that the chickens were seen running to hitch rides on local chicken trucks, because chickens are not real good swimmers.  Don't believe me?  Have you ever seen a chicken swimming in a lake?  Nope.         

[SawyerTed]

Mr. Milton, THAT story is good!  Rancid Crabtree and Howard Green have found some competition! 

[Ianab]

5. My truck hates my wife. The A/C and heat work fine for me unless she gets in and then it starts blowing hot air instead of A/C or vice versa on her side only. (May be a bad Actuator valve somewhere or it may just be mad at her from some past comment she made about it).

Smart keys?

Lil's car will set the radio to whichever key unlocks the car. Others will adjust the seats etc , so setting climate control to the last preset might be a thing too?

[Machinebuilder]

Observation

Why do so many people leave their car at the pump after filling up, then go into the store /bathroom etc and take forever to come back.

Is that why Buccees has 150 pumps?

[Chuck White]

Gas station attendants in this area get excited when they see a driver get in the car after filling up, thinking they might drive off.

So, the customers behind them just need to be patient.

[B.C.C. Lapp]

BTW - Is it a crime to impersonate a Sasquatch in Ala?   

In Ala that's okay as long as the sasquatch is no closer related to you than second cousin.  In Mississippi its okay if your first cousin to a saqquatch.

[SawyerTed]

My cousin married a Sasqua...

My cousin confronted me and said my brother and sister said I told them his wife was a Sasquatch.

All I could say was, " I don't know how they found out but it wasn't me who told them."