Tannishblog

It was nice to get away from the News on my run North. Thanks to my new Creative Zen Jukebox (MP3 player), I tuned out the world. Driving a noisy truck and listening to the radio gets annoying fast. This new toy enabled me to just plug my ears and drive 940 miles in two days without contact from the world outside. I’m a bit leary about not being able to hear a siren, but sitting in the cab of a diesel cab-over design is quite noisy, so I might not hear anything anyway. I know I can’t hear my cell phone when it rings whil I’m driving (a collective sigh of releif from the peanut gallery) A nuclear blast could’ve happened, and if not too near, I wouldn’t have known until I got home. I had a chance to switch on the TV in the hotel but, for those who don’t know me yet, that’s like asking me to dance on a highway - naked. No appeal there - for anyone!

Besides, I just discovered the book “Cluetrain Manifesto“, and I’m liking it! So here I find myself in a strange town reading in a restaurant with earbuds in. How strange is that? Have you seen anyone do that lately? Outside of midterms in a college town, reading in public is not generally done. People my age don’t usually walk around plugged in unless they’re on a treadmill.

Also, there are logistical difficulties in trying to eat a double cheeseburger while reading a fresh book. the burger is too big for one hand, and the oversized paperback is too big to comfortable read with one hand, so to avoid getting grease smeared on the book, I either read six words per bite, or I eat very slowly. At one point, I had the book wedged under my thigh to hold my place between bites. Must have looked comical.

But then I’m used to being the odd man out. I had fun and got the job done, coming home safely. that’s what matters.