Midnight in the Diner: Tales from the Road

[WeinerInHand]

I just listened to your 2 latest tales from the road and I thought you might like my idea for coffee guaranteed to be consistent anywhere, or at least as part of your emergency supplies. Space Coffee - yes, the brands they have been drinking in space for coffee for the last 50 plus years in the various options (black, with cream, with sugar and cream with sugar) Except they have had to settle with it only at about 120°F.

If you have one of those cigarette lighter water heaters, bring the water to just short of about 180°F and it will mix perfectly.

I know that a lot of people like to have my ratings on truck stop coffee but I usually use instant because it is less time consuming to pull onto an exit and make a cup myself than to pull into a truck stop and wait in line.
I have storage space under my bunk so I will stock up when I can. Coffee, pickles and peppers for my diet, and some cereal to satisfy my sweet tooth so that I may avoid too many pies!
My favorite instant coffee is Nescafe Clasico Dark. The flavor is great but I like it because it dissolves easily at room temperature.

[Metron]

I was driving US80 westbound through Columbus, Georgia and I had just crossed the Alabama state line. Dusk was creeping in and as I reached the top of a hill, I noticed a terrible accident in front of me.
A pick up truck left the road and struck a guard rail head-on, forcing the engine onto the driver.
It turned out that the driver only had one leg and that was the one that the engine was on top of.
We couldn't get him out and there was gas and all kinds of other fluids pouring out onto the ground.
I went to my truck and grabbed my fire extinguisher, a legal pad, and a sharpie.
I sat down in the passenger seat of his truck and showed him the extinguisher and told him that I wasn't going anywhere until help arrived.
He calmed down a bit and so I started taking down his medical history and contact information and gave it to the medics once they arrived.
I overheard the fire crew saying that he died on the way to the hospital. I cried that day...

You have incredible presence of mind and calm to have reacted thusly.  There's a reason drivers came to be known as the "knights of the road" and with that simple yet poignant tale of human dignity and compassion you have refilled my spiritual fuel tank with the octane of blessed fellowship.

I am honored to have shared electrons with you here Weiner, you just made cyber real.

God Bless.

[Metron]

I can't find now but some years ago I bought a CD of German trucker songs.  Simply becauae amazed existed. At the time,  or some years prior, the trucker craze hit Germany. So CB style songs etc and they already liked Westerns etc. Weird stuff. Like kraut Red Sovine. Interesting Euros were big on American stuff like jazz, blue grass, C&W and made good recordings.

Wow, German Red Sovine you say, mein Gott!

Fire up Phantom 309....

[Metron]

You've hit the nail on the head.
They should be regulated -- not overly so but there needs to be some training.
Just today I had one come into my lane when they were passing me.

Have to agree with you 100%.

I've driven class C, A, trailer, 5th wheel, etc.

Each one was learn as you go. I still get a little nervous when passing a big rig and that slipstream suction happens, not sure if that's the right term but you probably know what I mean, there's a dead air pocket that you get sucked into it a wee bit.

Maybe that's what happened to you today?

[Metron]

The portions are much smaller. Large drink sizes are an American medium at most. They also don't salt their fries enough or usually have enough black pepper on their food. Mayonnaise is the main condiment here.  Pizzas main topping is cheese, corn and mayo. And there's usually a soft boiled egg on the food somewhere. on  burgers, pastas, vegetables... Fish also have faces still and scales. That part freaked me out the most.

They really are obsessed with the mayo there, huh?

Do they use it as a dip for fries like the Belgians do?

[Metron]

THAT was a surpise. MAYO. While I like it or some things didnt know popular there. A result of new EU/Jap trade deal to have on fries? Ha, kidding. The egg also is good, but I like at least cooked a bit. Lots of the Oriental (and again places in Low-Countries n France do the raw deal as a topping.) Not good.

Their not so close neighbors the Koreans have an egg thing to.

Bi Bim Bap is a staple there:

visitors can't see pics , please register or login

[Metron]

I'm too scared to try squid and octopus. The locals laugh when I cringe away from things with tentacles. I'm not into wiggly things!

All ya need is to grill or fry them up:

Calamari (squid):
visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Grilled octopus - Greek style:

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Anything that's wriggling = no go for me either.

[Metron]

And yakisoba (fried buckwheat noodles) on a bun is largely popular:
visitors can't see pics , please register or login

So no protein at all in that? Just noodles in a Philly bun?
 
Weird...

[Metron]

I got some bad karma, not that I believe that Asian stuff, but appreciate our Christian teachings (hey I'm stirring it up) one time when a particular obnoxious friend of friend (ended up being some client type of deal under a pretext as friend, buddy who figured out pretex. Guest for fun time of fishing and hunting got a burger with a Copenhagen seasoning.) I and nobody else knew but he self-policed. Disappeared beore morning. Alive, because other contact later.

Oooh...nasty!

 

[Metron]

I will give them credit, they have super cute desserts, especially around Christmas!

Those look amazing!

I think we've bled the food porn thread into this one, lol.

[Metron]

My tale from the winter road. I often drive winter roads, many of the same ones that you may have seen on Ice Road Truckers. Not in a semi, but in a half ton. The days are long and the roads aren't usually as flat as in the video. Sometimes you don't see another vehicle for many hours and sometimes the locals just won't get out of your way!

I came upon this group of caribou that would not let me pass. I finally had to get serious, put down the phone, get both hands on the wheel, and squeeze past them. They did not want to leave the road and I did not want to run them to exhaustion. Jumpy buggers were all over the place. Pick a lane!

Wow, two things "jump out" at me.

1. They're moving at a pretty good clip.
2. The hood your truck is super clean - no melt to worry about?

Great video, tnx for sharing.

[albrecht]

I know that a lot of people like to have my ratings on truck stop coffee but I usually use instant because it is less time consuming to pull onto an exit and make a cup myself than to pull into a truck stop and wait in line.
I have storage space under my bunk so I will stock up when I can. Coffee, pickles and peppers for my diet, and some cereal to satisfy my sweet tooth so that I may avoid too many pies!
My favorite instant coffee is Nescafe Clasico Dark. The flavor is great but I like it because it dissolves easily at room temperature.

Agreed. Nescafe Classico Dark is the best instant coffee. About 2 decades ago Nescafe tried this weird deal. Not sure if ever sold here but in Scotland they had this can that used some mechanical/chemical device so that you could pop it and it would heat up the coffee. It "worked" but never really got super hot but did get warm. But it was waaay to milky for my tastes. A weird thing though and hilarious commercial that is not politically-correct.

[WeinerInHand]

You have incredible presence of mind and calm to have reacted thusly.  There's a reason drivers came to be known as the "knights of the road" and with that simple yet poignant tale of human dignity and compassion you have refilled my spiritual fuel tank with the octane of blessed fellowship.

I am honored to have shared electrons with you here Weiner, you just made cyber real.

God Bless.

Thanks Metron! It's been a real pleasure to have met you, my friend. Hahaha - I still get a kick out of when I told Bart that I wasn't worried about someone messing up my thread because you'd run them off!

[Dyna-X]

I know that a lot of people like to have my ratings on truck stop coffee but I usually use instant because it is less time consuming to pull onto an exit and make a cup myself than to pull into a truck stop and wait in line.
I have storage space under my bunk so I will stock up when I can. Coffee, pickles and peppers for my diet, and some cereal to satisfy my sweet tooth so that I may avoid too many pies!
My favorite instant coffee is Nescafe Clasico Dark. The flavor is great but I like it because it dissolves easily at room temperature.

When it comes to coffee, you are loaded for bear. The sweet pickles and peppers are a great idea to avoid the pastry belly...its amazing the things I am learning on your thread.

[WeinerInHand]

Have to agree with you 100%.

I've driven class C, A, trailer, 5th wheel, etc.

Each one was learn as you go. I still get a little nervous when passing a big rig and that slipstream suction happens, not sure if that's the right term but you probably know what I mean, there's a dead air pocket that you get sucked into it a wee bit.

Maybe that's what happened to you today?

It could be a number of things: wind, vacuum, roots in the road, debris in the road, going too fast for condition. What do I think is the most common cause? People are too focused in their mirror so that they can swing right in front of you as soon as they have clearance - they are no longer paying attention to lane control or even what is going on in front of them.