Goodbye Cowboy
Today I realized just what I have left to look forward to for the next few decades of my life and I think I need to find a nice way to take myself out.
At work today (I work for a trucking company, for anyone whos just tuning in) we had a guy retire. The guy (everyone called him Cowboy) was one of the first people that the owner hired when he first started the company.
Cowboy worked for the company for 37 years and put on over two million miles. The first truck he was in was #24, and now were on #220 something.
In a way I kind of looked up to him. No, not because I wanted to be known as Jr. Cowboy, but because he was the best driver we had. In 37 years of driving, he only had two accidents. Although a guy was killed in one of them, neither were ones that were chargeable and in both cases it was determined that he couldnt have avoided them without causing serious danger to other vehicles. He was always in early so he could make sure that his trailer got loaded right, he always had his paperwork done right, he tried to do everything by the book.
Since this Saturday is my four year anniversary, I was doing a little thinking of what the next 33 years holds in store for me, assuming I retire after 37 years and assuming that my weekly duties remain the same the entire time.
With that in mind, during the next 33 years I will;
– Put on another 1.9 million miles
– Spend another 77,880 hours on the clock
– Spend approximately 15,576 hours stuck in traffic (if congestion levels dont get worse like theyre expected to)
– Burn up 389,400 gallons of diesel fuel (woohoo! Global warming, here we come! Quick, call the environmentalist whackos!)
– Have to hand unload 4,290,000 pounds of diapers for the old folks home (Thats a LOT of shit
)
– Haul roughly 233,640,000 pounds of freight
– Do 15,576 inspections on my truck
– Go through 31,152 bottles of Aquafina (the 24 oz. Size)
– Be on the phone with my dispatcher for 124,608 minutes
– Have 147,972 pickups and deliveries to make
– Deliver 2,145,000 pounds of dehydrated human shit (Its sold as all natural, organic fertilizer. It comes in bags and is more expensive than cow manure)
– Go through 3,150 gallons of oil
So yeah, looking at things like that is a tad bit interesting, but mostly just depressing. Do I really want to do all that? Or should I just kill myself now and make the old folks carry their own damn diapers?
*
As I ponder my
Thoughts and fears and life
I stand tempted to throw it all away
So I sit and I
Slowly lose my mind
Look for signs of you
Just to feel it again
*
Need to find my way back home again
A place where I can feel myself again
Leave the world behind and start again
Need to find my way back home again
*
As I gather my-
self I know that I
Still stand tempted to throw it all away
So I sit and I
Watch the world pass by
Look for signs of you
Just to feel it again
*
Another lonely day
As the sunlight turns to haze
Im calling you to say
I miss you, Im ok
Its hard for me to say
I feel so far away
Soon one of these days
Ill be back home to stay.
*
Earshot</MARQUEE