Barney

Thursday, July 16. I met the owners, Pat and Wes back at the Petro, off I-285 in Atlanta at 10:30 AM sharp. It's a huge complex and the trucks fuel up in what seems like a mile from the restaurant up front. No normal, everyday people beyond the checkpoint in this place. You have to have a Commercial License to get in the back of this place. Truck after truck pulls up in the fuel islands and the nozzles come out like six guns on either side to pump into dueling tanks. The smell of diesel is commanding. They have a large section for cab air...a big yellow, dryer-like hose that hooks up to a truck's window. It offers hot or cool air conditioning, electric, cable TV or high speed internet. They do that so a driver doesn't have to run his truck for lengthy periods of time to get air and power on layovers. The costs vary, but it's around $10 bucks a night.

My truck isn't new. But, it's new to me. I now have a Freightliner Century Class. It's a few years old, but in nice shape and it runs well. The air blows good and cold it has all the basic necessities that a dude like me needs on the road. My satellite radio sounds good in it. The clutch is a wee bit temperamental. But, she's strong and muscular with a big fat Cat diesel motor. I like the Cat. (Ain't that ironic :-)

When I saw what color it was, my lips kind of puckered like I just bit into a fresh lemon. Yellow would have been hip. Red is a great Georgia color, Bull Dawgs and all. Nah...everybody's got a red one. I had a white one. White is good in the heat. Black is H E double toothpicks to keep clean. Silver, too boring. I would have liked tan or light brown, but I'm not driving for CRST. Drivers refer to them as the "Crash and Roll Stunt Team". No thanks. Orange is reserved for the Schneider National hot shots. I've only seen green on one company. Well, the first thing I said when I stood in front of it for the first time was "Streisy is going to love the color of this truck." It's her favorite color. Hands down. Two things came to mind when I saw it for the first time. It's a beast....and it's Barney! Yes, my friends, it's p u r p l e. Dam. I had visions of easter...and baskets filled with lots of dyed eggs placed neatly around fake grass. I thought of Welch's grape juice. I imagined myself holding my breath and what color I would turn. Oh, man, I'm the pretty boy on the block now. Crap. With all I've got to put up with, idiots on the road, bad weather, traffic, tight travel and delivery times...and now I get to do it in a purple dinosaur that sings "I love you, you love me..." The Truck gods have surely frowned on me.

Pat reassured me. Just drive it for a while. We'll have a Peterbuilt for you soon. OK, where do I sign for it? So, I got it home and pulled it into the driveway and up near the barn. Streisy came out and clapped her hands with a goody, goody...a PURPLE truck, a PURPLE truck! I nailed that part. She couldn't wait to climb up into it like there were Christmas presents inside. In the end, if Streisy is happy, I'm happy. I'll drive this thing thinking of her delight in the presence of purple. I'm glad she doesn't like pink better. In fact, I did see one pink one out there. The biggest, meanest looking trucker mamma climbed out of that one at the Flying J in Omaha. She had Arnold Schwarzenegger biceps. All the guys watching, kind of turned away and pretended they weren't paying attention, when she climbed out walked toward us. This woman would have broken any one of us in half.

Me and Barney go into service tomorrow. Maybe another trip to Colorado? Purple mountain's majesty? This might be good :-)