Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Hello, Oklahoma Oil-Driller, Let Me Thank You For Your Time. You Work a 40-Hour Week for a Livin', To Move This Convoy on Down the Line

On our way back from Oklahoma, there wasn't much to see. That's because there's really not all that much IN Oklahoma. Though I'm sure people who live there would beg to differ. Funny how I rode with The Pony, chatting with him the whole 9.5 hour drive, not paying much attention to the landscape...and glanced out my window just in time to see that same billboard with the ladybug crawling on a guy's finger. The one I saw when we took The Pony to his orientation camp back in June. Quite the coincidence.

The trip back home was under overcast skies. While sitting at a stoplight (not sure why these are even necessary in Oklahoma) we saw a really, really long train of tanker cars. I managed to catch the tail-end of it.

That oil train was not nearly as creepy as the two convoys we saw farther across the state. If I was a conspiracy theorist (which Genius says I am, although I contend that I only READ ABOUT conspiracy theories) I might think something was afoot.


There was a convoy of more than 20 of these trucks in Oklahoma, before we got to Joplin. And another convoy of more than 20 between Springfield and Rolla. I know that Fort Leonard Wood is near Rolla. But I used to take classes at the fort for my Master's degree, and I'm not sure they have room for that many trucks.


You might think these are different pictures of the same truck. But you'd be wrong. One has a light on it. And different stuff on the back.



I wasn't fast enough to get a picture of the truck convoy in Oklahoma. I thought there was just one truck. Then another. But by the time we'd passed over 20 of them, I kind of wished I'd had my phone ready. These are from the Missouri convoy, though they were both just alike.


I wish I had taken a picture of every single truck. I know how fascinating you must find them! Alas, I only got these four. But they were almost never-ending. Like clowns getting out of a tiny car. Just when you thought you were seeing the last one, there was another! And another!

If I was a conspiracy theorist, I might think these trucks were scarier than clowns. But I'm not a conspiracy theorist. I'm not even afraid of clowns.

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In case you're not a country music fan, the title refers to this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-G2J3RzURA

6 comments:

  1. Too bad the Chrysler and Ford plants left St. Louis... otherwise, I'd quit teaching and apply at a car plant. Those auto workers sure have fun--dancing and singing and carrying on...

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    1. Too bad they're so surly and complainy when their plant shuts down and they make 90% of their pay for two years for DOING NOTHING except contact their union hall about work once a week, and are given free training in another career if they want it.

      Oh. Excuse me. For a minute there I was back in the unemployment office on on South Broadway, doing monthly in-person interviews.

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  2. Interesting. For the record, I have never liked clowns.

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    1. I will make an addendum to let the record show that. And now, for the public service announcement...

      Just like avoiding the Steak n Shake in Joplin, MO...be sure to avoid the dentist in Festus, MO next time you have a root canal. Especially if you have never liked dentists, and ask for the laughing gas. You won't be laughing, because that gas comes out of a shoulder-high canister disguised AS A CLOWN!

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  3. Hey, the BRD (Beautiful Rich Daughter, in case you forgot) lived in Tulsa for 20 years or so. You coulda stopped in and visited. Except she moved out to Arizona to be close to her Momma a decade or so ago. Oh well. You woulda missed her saying, in that sweet Okie manner, "who the hell are you?"

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    1. Dang! We were only 10 years or so too late to experience that Okie hospitality!

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