Abandon all hope, ye who enter here- Dante
Big Truck Double Clutching - Why And How
[Thu 10 Feb 2022 02:37:46 PM CST -06:00:00 UTC] Although the industry is making automatic transmissions for heavy trucks, the majority are non-synchronized. For this reason it is necessary to double-clutch when shifting gears because the transmission gears have no syncronizers. The truth is you can, but shifting a truck or any non-syncronized transmission without the clutch, Is not recommend and not everybody can do it.
The trick, which is no trick is you must match the crankshaft and trans input shaft with the tranmission output shaft and road speed using the proper gear selection that matches the engine's RPM range. Example, you wouldn't shift from first gear to fifth gear because it would be outside the engine's power band range. A typical Cummins engine power RPM band is 1600 RPM to 2100 RPM, at 2100 most engines are governed to go no higher than 2100 and don't pull at 1500. So as you speed up you run that particular gear up to about 2000 RPM then pickup a gear. You need to do this before you lose road speed and the next gear is below 1700 RPM, that would be lugging the engine. This is all very simple if you understand what does happens and what needs to happen. Considering that RPM power band, each gear is going to be about 400 RPM apart. Okay, that said let's understand more about how the clutch needs to be used.
Many drivers out there are not aware of the Clutch Brake.
I prefer to call it a shift brake, when you push that clutch to the floor, if the clutch is properly adjusted the clutch brake applies braking to the main transmission shaft. The nearly exclusive time to use the clutch brake is after you start the engine in neutral with the clutch disengaged which takes some weight off the starter motor, once running and still in neutral you let off the clutch nice and easy. Let the engine warm up. Now you're ready to go, you choose the gear you want (first gear preferably) and you push the clutch to the floor, with the shifter you will feel the transmission gears come to a stop, now the shifter will slide right into gear. Do it right and no grinding occurs. Release your air brakes and let the clutch out nice and smooth.
Now comes the upshift double clutching. The biggest mistake at this point for the uninitiated is not paying attention to RPM's, the tachometer. As you approach 2100 RPM you're about to upshift one gear, you ease into the clutch to facilitate coming out of first gear then back off the clutch, now the tranmission shaft syncs with youir road speed, within a second or to you let the RPM drop some the depress the clutch again and slide into the the next gear. If you didn't lose road speed and chose the proper gear your tachometer should be a about 1700 RPM, and you can get back into the gas.
As for down shifting, as you approach 1700 RPM push the clutch in and get out of that gear release the clutch for a short second as you pass through neutral, with the RPM picked up, then the second depression of the clutch slip into the next gear. Do NOT put the clutch to the floor. For all of this to work best with the least wear and tear keep the clutch adjusted. You should have three inches of free play in the pedal, meaning three inches of no pedal resistance before the clutch actually does anything. Be aware that RPM values can vary, Detroit engines rev a bit higher, Cummins and Caterpillar engines are typically the same. All of them can be altered, but I won't go in to tha in this article.
Things New Truckers Need To Know
[Tue 08 Feb 2022 04:16:02 PM CST -06:00:00 UTC] I never attended trucking school, but I've seen posts from alleged truckers that were patently wrong. One post that made me laugh was that your dispatcher will tell you where low overpasses are and what route you must take. The latter may be true and I would never work for a company that did that. Here's the thing, you're a truck driver, you are supposed to know what you are doing. Don't rely on GPS to tell you where big trucks can and cannot go. You can buy expensive ones that do, but I still would not trust them. Buy and carry the latest published Rand-McNally atlas, read every damn road sign there is to be seen, and know how tall your trailer is, 13 feet 6 inches is the national limit of vehical height, I don't like anything over 13 feet. There are a plethora of things you need to know and it's on you to know them. As the Department of Transportation's manual for commercial carriers states,You Are The Captain On The Road.Act like it. I will mention some critical things to be aware of.
Rule 1) Never Panic! 2) Know your equipment, know your gauges, know adjusting brakes and clutches, if your company does it for you, get it done. 3) Have a CB radio, it's not a toy, it is safety equipment. 4) Have your mirrors adjusted properly. 5) Buy a top shelf padlock to lock your trailer, the American Lock A700 is pricey but worth it. 6) Check your tires every time you stop, I thump them with a meat hook, the sound will tell you if you have a low or flat tire. 7) Inspect your truck often. 8) Log books, this is a bit of a moot issue, trucks now have computers that weigh stations or DOT guys can check anytime, so you really can't cheat any more, but you still need to turn in legal logs to the company to get paid. Knowing rules on hours is on you. And last for now but not least is 9).
Make damn sure your trailer is hooked solid before you crank up that landing gear, if you're pulling tankers the rule is you never drop loaded tankers, the landing gear isn't designed for that much weight. So that is a few of the many things you'll learn, hopefully not the hard way. Happy Trails. Addendum: You will have air brakes, they are touchy. On your dash board you should have two qauges, one primary and one secondary. They should read 120 psi. At 60 psi an alarm will sound, the DOT will check that, below 60 psi your parking brakes will setup, you may not even have any brakes. If you hit the brakes and you have nothing Pull The Buttons! That cuts off air to the tractor and trailer and the parking brakes set. Hopefully they stop you. There is a yellow and a red button, older trucks may have a blue one, pull them all. The red buttom should be out if you're bob-tailing, meaning you have no trailer. It's surprising how many drivers don't know this. Good luck out there, it's not easy.
A Night On The Edge Of The Everglades
[Wed 12 Jan 2022 03:38:59 PM CST -06:00:00 UTC] During a overnight lay over waiting for pickup instruction in Miami and Homestead Fl., just 15 miles from Miami I had my truck and trailer parked at a spot I often frequented called Dade Corners. It sits at the corner of 186th Avenue (Chrome Avenue) and US HWY 41 also known as Tamiami Trail. I hang out there because I may be sent to farms in Homestead or Miami businesses the next day to pick up stuff bound for the Chicago Water Street Market.So it's still daylight and I've got some beer and my guitar, my trailer was backed up facing some fairly deep woods. I'm sitting in the trailer, doors open, drinking beer, playing guitar and killing time. Suddenly I see and hear something in the woods, a jeep comes poppng out of the woods. Two guys on a beer run ask me if I want to party, naturally I say certainly. We get beer, I lock up the truck and we go back into the woods, about a hundred yards in, blazing a trail right over three, four inch trees. I'm bracing myself for impact and the jeep just goes right over them. So we abruptly break into a clearing and there is about 20 people there. It's a huge clearing with a pond in the middle, no alligators in sight surprisingly considering it's basically a dry swamp. Anyway I meet a bunch of cool people, drinking beer, and riding ATV's. These locals were really cool guys, then they told me something I knew had happened. We were at the very spot where something like eight DEA agents were found dead a couple years earlier. This was truly Cartel Country. Thet told me it was never solved, and some what covered up. The place seemed a bit strange from the beginning. Just a small example of the variety of people you meet trucking America.
Snowbound on The Cross Bronx Expressway
[Fri 26 Nov 2021 11:04:32 AM CST -06:00:00 UTC] It was a Friday afternoon in New York years ago when a serious snow storm hit the area. I had delivered my load of beef that morning in Manhattan. I spent most of the day looking for a load going back to the midwest, Friday is typically the worst day of the week to find anything going anywhere. That afternoon, my dispatcher found a load of lead ingots going to Wisconsin, pretty close to my home base. The load came out of Brooklyn NY. I loaded as fast as I could as the snow started to come down fast. I headed toward the Cross Bronx Expressway which is a six lane highway named Interstate 95, i-295, and highway 1. By the time I got on the Cross Bronx there was already serious snow piled up and tons of rush hour traffic.I made it to within 3-4 miles of the George Washington bridge to New Jersey, when traffic just stopped, It was 6pm and absolutely nothing was moving. This was the first time in my career in which I was snowbound on the road. That storm stopped everything in the New York, New Jersey, Connecticut area and Pennsylvania. Everything was shut down down, even trains and subways. It was noon the next day before we where moving again, turned out to be twelve inches of snow in a matter of hours. Thankfully I followed one of the first rules of winter driving, which is keep your fuel tanks full or you're going to freeze.
Winter Driving
[Sat 13 Nov 2021 12:05:08 PM CST -06:00:00 UTC] It's that time of year when the snow starts flying and the amateur drivers seem to have to learn how to drive in snow all over again. I personally like driving in the snow, it does slow me down, but it's part of living in the northern tier states. When it snows in southern states where drivers are not used to it, well it's a recipe for disaster more or less. Regardless of where you live, if it snows you need to take into account many things. The road surface, your speed, the wind, the weight of your vehicle and condition of your vehicle, tires especially. That said, practice makes perfect. If your vehicle starts skidding or sliding, that in NOT the time to know what to do. Find a safe empty parking lot and purposely make the car slide, learn how to recover control, not to mention learning how to avoid it in the first place. Most importantly, never panic. If you are scared to drive in bad conditions just don't do it! Safe driving to all.Rule of the Road
[Wed 27 Oct 2021 04:03:46 PM CDT -05:00 GMT 2021] There are many rules of the road that all too many people are unaware of. This is a common, unambiguous road sign that 11 per cent of people in the US get wrong on a simple drivers test. It means what it says, Keep to the Right.
I constantly see drivers riding in the left lane when there isn't another soul on the highway. This is stupid and selfish not to mention it causes accidents. On four lane highways you use the right lane unless you are passing, with one exception I know of and this is when there is a disabled vehicle or a cop on the shoulder of the highway, it is common practice for good truckers to slide into the left lane momentarily to give whom ever is on the shoulder some space. This is pure courtesy and appreciated by any policeman or woman. Naturally this can only be done if it is completely clear of traffic. Road signs are there for your own good, read them. Do what they say.
My Favorite Car
[11:51:59 AM CDT -05:00:00 GMT 2021] The picture on the left is a 1970 2nd generation z28 Camaro. I found one of these ninety miles from where I live
in a used car lot. I checked it out and drove home immediately to get some cash, came back and bought the car. With the exception of the rear spoiler mine was identical.
The split bumper and the three piece rear spoiler were optional. Mine had a one piece spoiler and full front bumper. What really got my attention on this car was it had
a genuine LT-1 engine. That year only the corvette and the z28 got the LT-1.
The car ran great but after about six months, I pulled the motor to check bearings and freshen it up. I found exactly what I expected. It had a matching set of GM part numbered TRW forged aluminum pistons, matched set of forged connecting rods, perfect main and rod bearings, and a forged GM never been ground crankshaft. This engine was rated between 360-370 horsepower. It also had a factory Weiand aluminum intake manifold, Holley carburetor, high performance cylinder heads, 2.02" intake valves, screw in rocker studs, which I replaced with aftermarket, push rod guide plates, also added 'perfect circle' valve seals, and 1.5:1 Crane roller rocker arms. This was possibly the best 1st generation 350 CID engines Chevrolet built. It also sported a 12 bolt posi-traction third member rear end. I could go on about this car, but I won't. If you find one in restorable condition, grab it!
Keeping SSH Sessions Alive
[Sun 26 Sep 2021 07:46:03 PM UTC -0500] On my daily treks across the Internet I still run across people having difficulties keeping SSH connections alive. To any sysadmin and casual user, ssh is essential. My simple and time tested solution is not the TCPKeepAlive directive in my sshd_config file, although that may work but things in the kernel need to exist which I won't go into. What I do is extremely simple and effective. First of course is have ssh installed. Second is to create a file namedconfigin your home .ssh directory. This directory is hidden hence the dot. You need two simple lines as follows:
Host *
ServerAliveInterval 120
That's it. Every 120 seconds your client will send a minimal amount of data to the remote host. Any host, probably just a ICMP ping. I stay connected regardless of what I am or am not doing. You can chmod this file to 600 octal which results in this permission
-rw-------.Chown as your user/group. Hope that helps!
What It Takes To Be A Truck Driver
[Wed 15 Sep 2021 04:36:18 PM UTC -0500] When I was in high school the last thing I thought of doing upon graduation was driving a long haul truck. In my exquisite naivete at that time, I considered truck driving and drivers to be less than interesting. Depending somewhat on the type of trucking you aspire to do this was incredibly shallow of me to think of this line of work as insignificant. It is the life blood of the country. Everything consumers purchase get there on a truck.
That said, it takes a special breed to do long haul trucking. Back in the day, drivers like myself had to endure severe heat, cold, fatigue, and horrible weather.
It isn't an easy profession to explain. It is far more complicated than most people are aware. With today's rules, drivers cannot bend the rules like we used to do.
The rules dictated by the Department of Transportion and partially enforced by mandated onboard computers installed on all trucks makes outlaw trucking
virtually
impossible. This makes many products you buy more expensive. Drivers cannot get away with running beyond their log book rules. This costs time, time is money. People may
think drivers just sit in a comfortable cabin and drive, not the case. Things break, you fix them regardless of weather. I always drove new equipment, things still go
wrong.
As to the finer points, you must have a CDL, Commercial Drivers License. By law you must go to school for that, I never did, I learned by the seat of my pants. You will need to know the laws in every state regarding weight, bridge formulas and permits. You will need to shift 10, 13, 15 speed non-syncronized transmissions. Most people find that particularly difficult. Depending on who you drive for, yourself or a company be prepared to go to some nasty places, and back up into incredibly tight spots. You can make serious money in the business but it isn't easy. I was able to get home every week with west coast trips as an exception. With today's rules don't count on that. Trucking and marriage do not go together for that reason. You can meet a lot of people, see many places, and get paid for it. Be aware, no company hires drivers with no experience. If you make it through school there are companies that will hire you, but don't expect royal treatment, you earn that. You can always drop $150,000.00 USD on a nice tractor and $50,000.00 USD for trailer, buy authority for whatever non-exempt commodities you haul, and permits for every state you run in. Doesn't that sound fun! It is, good luck and happy trails to you.
A Secret To Accident Free Driving
[Sun 12 Sep 2021 05:04:11 PM UTC -0500] This is something a wise man told me once that made a lot of sense when it comes to driving anything. The only connection between your vehicle physically and the surface you are driving on are your tires. People may underestimate the importance of tires. Such a simple but taken for granted item that is 100% responsible for keeping you safe. The tip is this,Keep Your Tires Happy.Think about it, if you skid or slide on any surface, you may be on the verge of catastophe.
If you have ever been involved in a motor vehicle accident, chances are your tires were NOT happy prior to whatever collision happened. Pay attention to tires pressures, tread condition. Be situationally aware. Expect the other guy to do the unexpected. Don't push your tires beyond what they are capable of. You do this and you will likely avoid trouble. This may sound trivial, I assure it is not. Happy motoring.
Big Trucks And Tourists
[Sat 28 Aug 2021 08:59:31 PM UTC -0500] Now I have nothing against tourists on the highways in particular, except for the fact trucks are out there on business, not pleasure. We basicaly live on highways, tourists are often taking the longest and seldom taken trips. Apparently they follow trucks to avoid cops. Maybe they think we know where they are, or they just follow (too closely). As a trucker, or the tourist this is dangerous for a few reasons. 1) They cannot see what is in front of that truck and decide to pass precisely when I need to. That's a problem, they suddenly see why I slowed down and stay in the left lane along side me, then I'm locked in the right lane. This is inherently dangerous. 2) By following trucks too closely, the car is getting their paint and windshield hammered with dust and rocks or whatever the draft from the truck is stirring up or heaven forbid, get a blown tire off the truck through their windshield. 3) It's just a stupid thing to do. If you have a radio, at least talk to the trucker so he or she knows whats up. In my experience a great majority of accidents happen from following too closely. Just don't do it. If you do, keep your distance.Afghanistan - 20 Years For What?
[Tue 17 Aug 2021 04:01:59 PM UTC -0500] It's my belief that the U.S.A. has left Afghanistan in better shape than we found it, but it was an exercise in futility. I don't blame President Biden for pulling out. It only took the Taliban two weeks to take Kabul and Kandahar which means they essentially own the country. Women and children are in hiding for fear of their lives. The U.S. Air Force is flying out hundreds per day in C-17 cargo planes. The 82nd Airborne is protecting what civilians we still have there. In summation, it's a fucking mess. My heart goes out to the Afghans that want nothing but freedom to go to school etc. The Taliban are radical maniacs, we will have to see what happens. The U.S. can't be country building, we did what we could, we had reason to be there, twenty years is enough.Combustion versus Explosion
[Wed 04 Aug 2021 05:06:51 PM UTC -0500] I write this article because I am hearing too many engine builders, racers, et cetera call what happens inside a gasoline engines' combustion chamber anexplosion.It is NOT an explosion, it is a carefully designed and fast moving flame ignited by a spark plug which ignites an air/fuel mixture and travels evenly across the piston and combustion chamber causing the expansion of gases to force a piston into it's bore. This
flametravels at approximately 88 feet per second (ft/sec). This is relatively slow combustion compared to actual explosives.
Lets compare 88 ft/sec to an actual explosion, take TNT for example (Trinitrotoluene), it expands at 8800 ft/sec. Pretty big difference right! So it irritates me when these professionals call combustion an explosion. Semantics perhaps, but a huge difference. Being a gearhead and having built engines myself and tuned many there is a stark difference in the two. Just wanted to clear the air on the subject.
Covid Delta Variant
[Fri 23 Jul 2021 05:01:57 PM UTC -0500] There are currently 4 Covid variants in the United States, as defined by the
CDC - Center for Disease Control. They are as follows:
B.1.1.7 (Alpha), B.1.351 (Beta), P.1 (Gamma), B.1.617.2 (Delta). The Delta variant is 50% more infectious than the original Covid-19. This is no joke, Delta is
spreading at a phenomenal rate. Get Vaccinated - NOW. This shit is no joke. The vaccines contain no covid whatsever. They merely use messenger RNA, mRNA to
instruct your immune system to fight the virus. None of the vaccines give you the virus. This country is going to go into another lockdown if people keep spreading
the virus to non-vaccinated people even though they themselves are vaccinated. A virus is a living organism, it's prime directive is to survive, it is mutating to
accomplish just that. The side effects of the shots are typically mild, for me, none. Getting the actual virus is sometimes mild, but often critical.
A brief summary of Post Covid Conditions
Trucking Hazardous Materials
[Sun 18 Jul 2021 04:03:34 PM UTC -0500] During my trucking career I usually pulled refrigerated trailers hauling meat, produce etc., which I've
previously
mentioned. During my years trucking I spent approximately five years pulling tankers. Albeit extremely dangerous, it paid very well. Among the products hauled
consisted of gasoline, diesel fuel, propane, toluene, anhydrous ammonia among others. Without going into boring detail I will say anhydrous ammonia (NH3)
is argueably the most dangerous. Although the stuff isn't flammable it will burn the hell out of you despite it being -200f below 0 degrees. The vapors alone will
kill you, one whiff of vaporized anhydrous and your lungs literally lock up, you cannot breath it.
If you can't escape the white cloud it turns into when it's exposed to atmospheric pressure, you will die. Propane also pays well but as with all hazardous materials extreme caution must be taken or you die and probably others also. So if you're thinking of getting into that business, be prepared for a steep learning curve. Also I failed to mention with gasoline and diesel fuel the driver is resposible for loading and unloading product. With compressed gases and chemicals, the place you load at is done by the plant operators, unloading is up to the driver alone. Your hoses cannot leak, you can't over fill any tank, and must calculate the expansion of the product due to temperatures. Any mistake at this point can be deadly.
Total Disaster
[Wed 14 Jul 2021 10:54:05 PM UTC -0500] So, a couple weeks ago, I trashed my system and didn't have a backup snapshot to restore the system so I rebuilt everything. The backup files I had were a bit dated so I lost some articles. Good lesson for me to keep better backups. Anyway, that said I'll try to get writing when I finish ironing out the final touches on this machine. I still have some fine tuning to do. Mostly security stuff. It's amazing when you see the system logs of all the script kiddies trying to hack the box. That's what they do after all. More to come.
Memorial Day
[Mon 31 May 2021 11:55:30 AM CDT] In the United States of America today we honor the men and woman who have given the ultimate sacrifice for their
country. I personally thank all those who have died in the defense of life, liberty, and justice. There are no words that adequately describe the bravery and
fortitude in which our fallen heroes have given so much with firmness of mind and will in the face of danger and difficulty. They will not be forgotten.
The Freenode Debacle
[Mon 24 May 2021 15:50:22 AM CDT] As I have mentioned in a previous article I have been a 16 year member of the Freenode IRC network. Last Wednesday, the 19th of May it was made known that a hostile takeover had occurred. Many of
the
Freenode volunteers handed in their resignations. Apparently the network and it's user database was transferred to Andrew Lee, a Crown Prince of Korea. Lee has created
Libera.Chat. This has been a debacle since it was announced. There has been much disinformation,
Freenode volunteer operators have quit en masse. At this very moment there are 71,790 users on Freenode, on Libera.chat there are only 15,737,
a number that has climbed drastically in the last few days.
No one has any idea how long Freenode will continue to exist. It may go down any day, nobody knows. Meanwhile, Libera.chat is growing daily. Many people
are not happy with this hostile takeover.
I will miss Freenode as will many others. The name Libera
happens to be the Roman Godess of Fertility in
mytholgy. Both networks endorse FOSS. which stands for Free and
open-source software.
At the moment I am on both networks, we will see what happens. IRC stands for Internet
Relay Chat.
Dubuque County Fairgrounds Speedway
[Mon 17 May 2021 11:50:22 AM CDT] The picture on the left is a picture of a very good friend's race car. The car is a IMCA Modified, racing at a county
fairgrounds 3/8th mile high banked dirt track. I was fortunate enough to work on the pit crew for this car and a couple pro stock cars the gentleman in the picture
built. I dont care to use the man's name on the Internet, but I sincerely appreciated being part of his crew at the tracks he raced at.
I learned a ton of things working on his race cars when I wasn't on the road. At the time this picture was taken the racetrack was under NASCAR sponsorship, Racing for NASCAR points and money was really exciting, although NASCAR purses were smaller than other tracks. With NASCAR cash is king, so racers make less but the prestige makes up for smaller winnings. After all, it's about racing, and not completely money but the money helps. Its a damn expensive, time consuming sport. Click on the picture for a better view.
Ransomware - The Big Money Hack
[Thu 13 May 2021 11:01:17 AM CDT] One week ago Colonial Pipeline was hit by an alleged Russian hacker group known asDarkside.It seems ransomware is the popular thing these days. There is more money in it than the usual and also prevalent password, credit card number hacks etc. A great majority of these hacks would not happen if the target networks and computers were not so woefully insecure. Colonial Pipeline was penetration tested, security audited in 2018. Colonial was advised of 328 issues, but apparently did little to correct it. It is very very rare than one recovers from ransomware. Once a network is penetrated due to poor administration, code is injected, files are encrypted by very strong cyphers which are invariably impossible to crack. The only options are pay the ransom in bitcoin or restore from uninfected backups. I find it curious that no one has revealed the ransom amount, which I'm relatively certain is in the millions.
The same hacker group claimed three more networks today, one of them in the US. The number of american networks victimized by ransomware are many. The majority of these are reluctant to admit they were victims, and they pay the ransom in bitcoin which is virtually untraceable and hope the perpetrators send the key to decrypt their files. Most if not all of this can be avoided by proper security precautions, up to date software, and competent computer and network system administrators. We pay for that now or pay twice later. That is the bottom line and ransomware will continue as long as companies don't secure their systems.
Nice Job China
[Sat 08 May 2021 08:58:06 AM CDT] Hey China, learn how to fly rockets would you? About 12 plus hours from now, one of your booster rockets is tumbling out of control and doomed to enter the atmoshere and hopefully burn up, however that 60 plus tons of booster will likely hit the surface of the earth between 41 degrees north and 41 degrees south. You've done this before! Perhaps you need to steal more technology from the United States. After all you have been doing it for 60+ years. You want to build a space station? Do it right.The Police and the Public
[Thu 16 Apr 2021 12:50:21 AM CDT] It is an unfortunate fact that in most if not all societies in today's world need law enforcement. That said, it is incumbent on society to be aware of the fact that when a city or state hires a police department that society and or populace agrees to abide by the laws dictated by city, state, and federal law. This includes in no uncertain terms that when a peace officer gives you an order or command you, the citizen must comply.Should an individual feel the order or command given is unfair, or illegal, you have the right to argue that in front of a judge, but you do that later. In the meantime you follow those commands like it or not. Argue it later, it's your constitutional right. It is NOT your right to ignore or disregard orders given by a peace officer. I am painfully aware that some officers can be overzealous or use excessive force. HOWEVER, this rarely happens when one complies with the authorities. Police officers have a very difficult duty to perform, their life can be and is on the line daily. If you don't want trouble, make those authorities comfortable, don't argue, do not make them uncomfortable because they will respond and probably not in a nice way. Do not ask for trouble.
These are things the public seems to have lost sight of. The majority of schools and universities do not teach civics and government. Ignorance of the law
is no excuse, although it seems today's me
generation culture is unaware of the fact that the people hire police to do their job and you have directly or
indirectly given authorities permission to give you orders. This is a fact whether you know it or not. Be cool, they will be cool. Remember this,
the police have to recruit from the human race, they are not infallable. I'm no angel,
I've had experiences with good and not so good cops, but when I treat them with respect, they return in kind. Your mileage may vary.
Internet Relay Chat - IRC
[Tue 13 Apr 2021 05:51:21 PM CDT] Most people don't know about IRC, it predates Facebook and all the other social media sites. I started on UnderNet.Org where I learned about everything I know about computers. Now and for years I hangout on Freenode.net. Freenode is a world-wide network as undernet is but it is mainly a tech network but there are many social channels as well. IRC networks allow you to create, register if you wish, your own channel, and control who gets in and who doesn't. IRC has a rather steep learning curve for the un-initiated but there is much to learn. A friend of mine in Tunisia hosts a small network where I hangout and who I've learned a lot from. You can try his network from this website, http://Tchat.ZIDnet.ovh. Pay no attention to a warning your browser may give you, it is perfectly safe and easier to use than an actual IRC Client, of which there are many. By the way, be prepared to speak French.The Trial of Derek Chauvin
[Sat 03 Apr 2021 12:00:01 PM CDT] After a week of testimony from the prosecution's witnesses things don't look to good for Officer Chauvin. I saw for myself the body cam footage of an overzealous cop detaining George Floyd. It's been my opinion from the beginning the police used excessive force resulting in Floyd's death. The more I see and hear from witnesses, the more I'm certain Chauvin is guilty, of which charge? I'll leave that to the jury.Does Instagram Leak Phone Numbers?
[Thu 11 Mar 2021 07:12:19 PM CST] Answer: I think so, here's why. I signed up with Instagram yesterday using my phone number instead of email. I did this with two factor authentication in mind. So I get a code via smartphone to login. Less than 24 hours later I get about five robo-calls, which I don't answer, but two numbers left voice mails telling me,We will be forced to take legal action if you don't call this number.Well, this isn't the first time I've had these these calls, few leave threatening voicemails though. So, their numbers are blocked, but I do not think this was coincidence. Instagram seems to be leaking numbers. I don't do social media of his sort although I do use IRC. This is one reason why I don't use these services, they aren't to be trusted. I joined strictly because my daughter is on it. Just a word to the wise, join social media platforms and give up your privacy. This is just an example.
Department of Motor Vehicles
[Tue 02 Mar 2021 02:38:13 PM CST] TheDMV,the place where everyone dreads to tread. So I pull into the parking lot pulling an empty gasoline trailer, I hauled chemicals and fuels for years but that's not the story. I walk in and I see every chair in the place was taken, probably about 20 to 25 people. I thought, damn this may take forever. I was just there to renew my license. So I stroll up to the desk, turns out my license was 31 days expired. In my state they give you 30 days grace period to renew or you take the written tests over again. Despite my plea to cut me some slack they of course refused, so I said okay I'll need these tests. I need operator, chauffeur, motorcycle, tractor-trailer, tankers, and hazardous materials, (Haz-Mat). Everything but double-trailers I told them.
I wasn't aware of the one computer terminal in the front of all those people still chewing on their pencils. They told me to use that, and they would send all the tests to it. Great I thought, I don't want to wait for an empty chair. I walk over to the computer and start ripping through the tests. I finished in maybe twenty or thirty minutes. Still, nobody sitting had finished what looked like one test on their desk!!! Amazing, anyway, I go to the counter and tell them I'm done. I passed everything with about three wrong answers. I looked at my mistakes and realized I hadn't read the questions properly, I did know the right answers. Well, I do the eye check, get my picture taken, pay them and they hand me the license. Walking out of that office, the SAME people were still working on a test. Amazing in a scary way. That's who you share the road with, awesome right!
China - Friend or Foe?
[Tue 23 Feb 2021 10:42:47 AM CST] I would personally like the U.S. to get along with China, and it would seem we do. The U.S.A. does a huge business with China. China literally floods our markets with cheap, poorly made products. Nearly all the things you buy sayMade In China.The biggest reason for this in my opinion is China employs sweat shops, has nearly no pollution standards, among other reasons. I'm am no expert on the subject and I think the Chinese population are fine people. The problem is their Communist Regime are controlling the show. Speak out against the Chinese government and you will probably
disappear.That's what Communists do.
So, why this sudden tirade? Yesterday this server got hit with a 985 line hack attempt. The source address was Beijing, China. Not the first time but the biggest one, it lasted 8 minutes. Each log line was a seperate attempt at hacking known vulnerabilities. They failed. What bothers me is that the Chinese state sponsors and promotes hacking U.S. networks. This article will likely invite more. Anyway, the Chinese have been stealing intellectual property from us for decades. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but China is planning for world domination. That is their end game. I won't bore you with more details, but our powers that be are aware of this, if they aren't they need to be.
Block IP Addresses With Linux Nftables
[Sat 06 Feb 2021 04:23:10 PM CST] As an avid Linux Operating System user, I recently migrated from an iptables firewall to the more recent packet filtering and firewall software tonftables.I tossed my old firewall rules and started fresh. The only stumbling block was to figure out how to block entire ip addresses, with or without a bit mask. Turns out after much googling and finding nothing but cryptic documentation the answer was simple. Here's how, I load my firewall configuration from /etc/nftables.conf, Instead of using the userspace
nftbinary, I simply added my rule in the incoming packet chain above rules that allow specific traffic. Reason being, rule sets are processed in the order they appear, so you want this rule above and before rules allowing packets in, such as http, https, ssh protocols etc. First, as root (or using sudo) open your configuration file with any non-formatting editor of course and add this line:
Where xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx is any ip you do not want past your firewall. In this example there are two addresses which are blocked from all 65,535 ports
saddr
is
the source address. Curly braces seem to be required for more than one ip. Also use one tab indentation on that line. IP's are separated with commas. At the end is
the verdict, which could be one of many but we want to drop the packets on the floor. As in iptables the drop directive is case-sensitive.
Save and close the file and run systemctl reload nftables.service
Then check your ruleset with nft list ruleset -a
as root.
Rules will be listed with a handle number which the kernel assigns automatically. The handles are used when you use the nft command from userspace,
which we just conveniently by passed.
For complete details check out netfilter.org.
Nftables are awesome in my opinion, forget iptables.
There are ways to translate iptable rules to nftables, but I hear that can be somewhat buggy. I hope this helps.
Newport, Rhode Island
[Fri 29 Jan 2021 10:22:20 AM CST] Located on the shores of Narragansett Bay, south of the capital of Providence and 75 miles south of Boston,
is one of the most beautiful cities on the east coast of America. The bay is full of sailboats and yachts, it has a long history as summer homes of US
Presidents. Needless to say I really enjoyed getting loads of nursery stock out of Newport. I'll spare you the details, but the stuff paid well and
usually went right back to Chicago. Perfect for me, I would leave Newport with a load and a check in hand for roughly $1000.00. Nursery stock is also an
exempt commodity, meaning no Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration authorization needed. What is a exempt commodity you ask?
In general, exempt commodities are things that have not been processed in any way such as fresh produce. Authority costs money.
Typically I would layover
one night before loading in the morning. What would I do? Right down on the water front at One Pelham East, is one
of the many great clubs I've known. They always had super good bands playing, and it is a great club. The name of the club is the same as it's address, One
Pelham East. I highly recommend visiting Newport.
We Have a New President
[Wed 20 Jan 2021 03:20:54 PM CST] Congratulations to President Biden, and V.P. Harris. Today you are the leader(s) of the best country
in the world. I have but one major worry, as we know from the history of the world, great democracies have been overthrown from the inside, not the
outside. I see it happening. From Antifa to the Communist Party itself along with the radical left there has been events in the last decades that
are directly indicative of tactics proposed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels to overthrow democracies to Socialism and ultimately Communism.
This was instituted by Lenin in Communist Russia. It ultimately failed of course, but exists in China thanks to Mao Tse Tung.
The Communist Manifesto
and related papers describe techniques to divide a democracy by increasing and exploiting the divisions between the Bourgeoisie and the
Proletariat. Meaning basically the
haves, and the have nots. This includes methods such as initiating and increasing friction between races, business owners versus the working class et
cetera. This country has already been infiltrated by Communists and Socialists, we need to be vigilant they do not succeed. Democracy works,
Captalism works, we need to keep it.
Twitter-Verseas a medium to boost his capacious ego. In summation, the tragic events of 2020 has ominous similarities to political and economic theories of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, in short Socialism and ultimately Communism. What Joe Biden does is unknown to me, but it worries me. More on socialism and Marxism in upcoming articles. It doesn't belong in this article.
Shame on you Mr. Trump
[Fri 08 Jan 2021 09:29:26 AM CST] I voted for Trump, twice, I believe he did some good things during his tenure as president, but he is a poor leader. The world is in the midst of a pandemic with not much light at the end of the tunnel. Even if the U.S. Government manages to deliver vaccines to the population many people are intending to refrain from taking it. As if that wasn't enough to proliferate the spread of Covid-19, there are the viral mutations we will need to address. No one knows how this will all turn out. Let's get to the proverbialBottom line.Businesses are failing and will fail due to lack of revenue and their employees will follow. I can't imagine the tough times people are in trying to survive, to keep a roof over their heads. This is bad, it's the perfect storm. Our government was in tremendous debt to begin with. Can we as as a country survive this? The negative effects will haunt us for a long time. I don't have the answers, but if we avoid social and economic breakdown, we will survive. That is a big
if.
South Water Street Mkt, Chicago
[Mon 28 Dec 2020 09:15:08 AM CST] South Water Street produce market Chicago, was probably one of the the biggest produce markets in Chicago since the early 1920's. I had delivered produce to customers there hundreds of times. Being such a crowded place, a Chicage cop would conduct traffic after daylight. It was a tough place to get a truck and trailer in there. I was there in the late 70's and 80's, I carried a .38 caliber revolver hidden in my sleeper berth as I did in New York City also until Mayor Ed Koch instituted a mandatory one year sentence at Riker's Island located in the lower East River, NYC. if caught in possession of a illegal firearm. I carried it in Chicago too, thankfully I never used it, but the market was a dangerous place. They closed this famous market in about 2001. You can see pictures from way back in it's early years HERE .2000 Miles and No Sleep
[Sun 20 Dec 2020 10:54:03 AM CST] It's not unusual to run 1500 miles non-stop, but I hadn't expected this trip. I had been running Omaha to New York City for two weeks straight. I got home on a Friday afternoon, I got a decent night's sleep that night but the next morning at 6am my dispatcher calls and asks me if I would hook a trailer that someone didn't show up for. It was Saturday morning and the load was due in Richmond, California Monday morning. This meant I was going to need to run it wih no sleep, just a couple fuel stops. So I haul ass, no pills, just caffeine, I get to Reno, Nevada, I'm dead tired and I start climbing Donner Pass Interstate-80, this is a 25 mile stretch of death, but the weather was good. It was late Sunday night when I reached the summit at Truckee, California. This is where I messed up, my brakes hadn't been adjusted for two weeks and my trailer was brand new, with adjusted brakes. I
should
have
stopped and adjusted the tractor brakes but that's a dirty job and it was cold up there and I was dead tired so I started down the Humboldt
which is
about a 6 per cent downhill grade for miles. I could tell I had a tailwind, it's called the Diablo Winds
they blow from the mountains to the ocean, in
southern California they're called the Santa Ana winds. I had no jake brake to slow me down like most west coast trucks have, so I started down in seventh gear
using as little braking as possible, but my 78,000 pound truck was speeding up fast, I had to pick up gears to keep from blowing the engine up due to overspeed
and laying on more brakes. Well, the trailer brakes were doing all the work, I hit 90 miles per hour and the trailer brakes start billowing smoke, using as
little brake as possible, I'm sure I was doing over 100mph. Finally got to the bottom but the smoke was still thick, but no fire. I'm coasting trying to cool
them off but
they were still hot by the time I hit Sacramento. I made Richmond at 3am. Just another day at the office, but my dispatcher was happy, as was the customer.
Never under estimate Donner Pass.
Slipping and Sliding in Illinois
[Sat 28 Nov 2020 3:35:44 PM CST] It was an extremely cold night heading north in Illinois on I-57. A blizzard had passed through and left a few inches of ice and snow on the road, it was still snowing and blowing as I was coming out of Forida to Chicago. I was taking the long way to Chicago due to conditions that night and I kind of knew I wasn't going to make it, so I was aiming for the truck stops in Effingham, Illinois. Everything was going well considering the snow plows and everyone was off the highway. I was making good progress, running 50 mph maybe when I catch up to five freight haulers running about one truck length apart. The right lane was rutted with ice and snow so those boys were just easing on up the highway. I put my truck in the fast lane and passed them all naturally. About twenty miles later, and maybe five miles short of safety, my engine loses a lot of power. I thought, oh man, my fuel is gelling up, so I eased onto the shoulder ever so careful and got out to close up mywinterfront.A winterfront is a sheet of vinyl that covers the air inlet to the radiator. I got back in the truck and prayed it was enough to warm up the fuel, the throttle was still lazy so I waited a few more minutes and sure enough, here comes the freighthaulers. They all went by, not a word on the radio, no surprise there. I seemed to have some power now, so it was do or die to get to the truck stop and pour some additive in my fuel tanks. I pulled back on the road and get to the interchange of I-70 and I-57, and what do I see, all five of the freight wagons were scattered in the ditches. They all looked okay but going nowhere, I was desperate to keep my truck and reefer going, so I run into the truckstop, bought a few quarts of fuel additive and dosed up the engines with it. It would have been foolish to keep going, it was 2am and the roads were basically closed so I found probably the last open spot to park and went to sleep. It was a close call. On the rare ocassions that I actually stay at a truck stop in terrible weather, is that the place will be full of trucks but ONE spot will be open because nobody has the balls to back into it. I can always count on that and I took it. Those guys in the ditch could have walked to safety, so I didn't worry about their fool asses. I had Georgia fuel in the tanks and should have known it would gel, but I didn't know it was quite that bad up north. Next morning I hauled ass to Chicago, unloaded and went home. Another successful trip.
Miami, Florida
[Tue 10 Nov 2020 12:36:25 PM CST] Among the many cities and places in Florida, Dade County, Miami is probably the place I spent the most time in. For three years running I had a regular run from Iowa to Miami, back to Chicago and then home. I typically did this in four to five days, every week. There is one person I miss in particular, his name isBlack.Black was a very good friend of mine. He was a
lumper,a lumper is a guy that hangs around places that get a lot of truck traffic and ask drivers if they want help loading or unloading their trucks. Black was my man in the 12th avenue market in Miami. I saw him nearly every week when I would pick up produce for my customer in Chicago. For a slight but fair fee, Black would count and load my trailer with whatever I was picking up. Black lived on the street, a street person and a swell guy. He lived in a vacant lot in the back of a straight truck box. I could trust him to load the trailer and watch my truck while I got something to eat or grab some sleep. He was a big guy, nobody messed with Black. On occasion, I'd hang out with him, I got to know him very well and I miss him.
Where I live in the midwest USA, people complain about the heat in the summer. OMG, they don't know real heat and humdity like Dade County. I spent New Years Eve one night in Miami, drinking beer and polishing my truck in a bad neighborhood parked in front of a cold storage place on 72nd street. My last pick up before heading to Chicago. It was 95 degrees at midnight. So humid there was a fog over the city, normal for Miami. I remember that night because a cop stopped and asked me if I knew I was in a bad neighborhood! I said, yes sirs, I certainly do and they smiled left. That's Miami for you. A shout out to my cousin the Professor at U. of Miami. I spent time with him whenever I had time, which was rare. Anyway, those are some memories of Miami.
New York, New York
[Thu 05 Nov 2020 11:54:08 AM CST] A city so nice they named it twice. I have a special place in my heart for NYC. I delivered beef to a great customer on 14th street west, between 9th and 10th Avenues. I also loaded off ships at the east side piers along side the East River. I can't express how exciting New York really is. It has an energy about it, anauraif you will. Nowhere in my experience have I ever been to a more exciting place than New York City. The city that never sleeps, there is always something to do, always places to eat 24/7/365. So many famous people have walked those streets, and still do. The rumor is the New Yorkers are rude, thats not true. The people mind their own business but they are very friendly once they know who are. A fair warning if you ever visit Manhattan, do not look like a tourist, stroll around like you own the place, if you don't you'll be targeted by con artists, thieves, and what not. Don't look like a
mark.