7/21/07

Back on my usual five and a half hours of sleep today, I feel like a million bucks. I got up in the morning, checked the truck and trailer over, and hit the road. I stopped for a delicious Subway BMT with double meat at lunchtime. The sun has been shining all day. I had the fortune of seeing several bikini-clad young ladies along the route. As far as easy drives go, heading north through Iowa and into southern Minnesota on a weekend has to be right up there among the easiest. There is hardly any traffic, the speed limits are 55-65 for the most part, and the roads are smooth and straight. It really doesn't feel like work at all sometimes.

I had planned to stop in Cannon Falls at a place listed in my truckstop directory, but circumstances changed my mind. I stopped in at a gas station here in Racine, MN to use the restroom and grab a soda. I wound up talking with a guy inside about the local racetrack that I passed, right down the street. He invited me to join him and some friends for tonight's festivities. While I'm about as far from being a race fan as one man can be, a chance to break up the routine is always welcome. So... a night at the races for me. I'll have a couple of hours to drive in the morning, but Sunday mornings are pretty mellow for the most part.

I added a feedback link to the bottom right hand side of the blog. I noticed that the blog has received quite a few clicks, but no comments, so I thought people may occasionally have questions that they prefer not to ask in public. The feedback form that pops up is spam-proof, which is why I chose that format rather than a direct link to my e-mail address. I actually received a question from a fella named Tony this afternoon. Tony provided me with a phony e-mail address, but it really makes no difference to me. The only reason the e-mail address is requested is so that I can respond to any questions if you ask me to. Tony's question is probably not all that interesting to most people, but it gave me a reason to take a little trip down memory lane, which is always fun.

Tony wondered what is up with the 'Godfather' handle, since it's no secret that I am of Irish descent and not Italian. Since he addressed the question to 'Vito,' and my name is Joe, I can only assume that he came upon the blog through some of my postings on one of the message forums related to trucking. The two that I frequent most often are classadrivers.com and cfidrivers.com, both with the screen name vitocorleone99. Okay Tony, here's the story...

I am a hell of a cook and I always have been. Back in the day, I would invite a group of people to my home and entertain them with various delectable dishes, most of which involved some form of pasta and a hearty red sauce. I would get the typical, "Are you sure you're not Italian? Chuckle, chuckle."

Then, on my wedding night, I sat back in my chair with a glass of red and in my well-tailored tux, just observing the guests having an enjoyable time. One friend quipped, "Look at the Godfather here." Again, chuckle, chuckle. Then a few of the other guys started playing along.

During that time I was running an entrepreneurial enterprise (for entertainment purposes only, of course) and would occasionally rub elbows with certain undesirable elements of society. At one point (in '99) a friend of mine was in a jam. I talked to a guy who talked to a guy who handled the situation for me. So my buddy was deemed 'Sal' (as in Tessio) and he started calling me 'Vito' (as in Corleone). From that point on it has always been a good little laugh between us.

So, story time's over. My ride to the races should be here shortly, so goodnight to all, and to all a goodnight.