$9000.00..... awesome.....

i heart paying the Texas Department of Transportation. in the past 7 days i've worked 112 hours, and driven close to 2000 miles. i'm so messed up with days right now, but i think this happened on saturday. i'm riding along the highway with a trailer full of stuff that blows up. the weight of this stuff is such that my vehicle requires placards, so i put them on. in this day in age, this is equivalent to putting a bullseye target on my truck for any cop. large orange diamonds with large black letters saying "stuff that blows up" on a white truck and a 40' red trailer. think i stand out?? anyway i'm just cruising along at the speed limit because i know i stand out..... look in my mirror.... mr. policeman is at my back door. i pull over, he starts going through a roadside DOT check. he goes through and checks a list of about 150 things including, but not exclusive to:
hauling papers, pre-trip inspection paperwork, my hourly log book, fire extinguisher, lights, blasting permits, "stuff that blows up" manuals, corporate licenses, tire pressure, brakes, 4 inspection stickers, 3 safety triangles, 2 registrations, and a partirdge in a pear tree. you get the point.
this process took over an hour. generally, if a DOT cop pulls you over, s/he WILL find something wrong. if they can't find something, they make things up. in this case, he found 9 items not in compliance:
2 dangling wires, 4 placards present but not properly placed, driving past the 14th hour after coming on duty that day, a cracked cover for a running light, & a missing inspection sticker for the trailer.

these items compared to the rest of the checklist are BS items. dangling wire?!?!?! but there's no arguing with a DOT cop cuz it's like the judge handing down "contempt of court" for each time you open your mouth.

each DOT violation = $1000.00 x 9 violations = kyle's down payment
i will never again bitch about a $100 speeding ticket.

merry kylemas

merry kylemas everyone!!

"play wheels on the bus and get the hell out of my sight"

driving to work this morning, i passed a school bus. a stopped school bus. it had its red flashers on and stop sign out. yes i am a rebel without a cause. actually the bus was off the road. there's this pre-school that has a semi-circle for a driveway and the bus pulls in to stop at the front door of the school. it had it's flashers on dropping off kids, but it was a good 20 foot off the road. do i stop?? what are the regulating legislative details in regards to this example?? i figured the law said, "Slow to 5mph, look around for police officers, look at the bus for childen and squeek by", so that's what i did.

band o' the month

the new band i'm into is Fighting Instinct. Think .38 Special/Molly Hatchet mixed with Soundgarden and the Foo Fighters. their debut album does not come out until june 27th, but i'm sure the handicapable of you can find their songs on the intarwebs. killer tunes, enjoy.

helping the cause...

moose is trying to start the phenomenon (see moose's blog). i will of course do my part:

new dubs

this is my new ride:




my back is finally somewhat normal again, and i can now ride sans pain. trails in OK are good, trails in Denver will be better!

knowledge is power

"STOP THROWING OKRA AT MY FOREHEAD!!" - yelled at me by my roommate as $1.00 beer night at opening day of Redhawks baseball culminated.

now prior to my moving to the south, i was for some reason under the impression that okra was some sort of crustacean, much like a crawfish. as it turns out, okra is in fact a plant, and though it is still consumed by humans, i was disappointed to find out that it had no shell. this clearly became fodder for anyone in the south who became aware of how mistaken i was. my only comeback this time to the jeering was to throw things like a child. some of us never grow up.....