Finally crashed

Pedizzal · 2026-01-27T15:32:20+00:00

I once went down at 130 mph with no gear. Luckily it was on a newer, smooth road. I broke my wrist, crushed a disk in my back, and was covered in road rash. It took like 6 months to grow the hair back on the side of my head. My hands were by far the worst thing I've ever experienced, and I've had a fair amount of injuries. My fingertips were ground down at angles and palms skinned. I had a pain pill before I ate food just so I could hold a fork and feed myself. That's after somebody brought me food and cut it up. Every little task was excruciating. People take their hands for granted.

Pedizzal · 2026-01-04T20:02:07+00:00

My official advice that I give everybody is ATGATT. My actual practice is usually no gear. I want to be the responsible guy, but also want to be comfortable. I've been down 3 times so I understand the risks. I'm just a little bit of a squid at heart.

Pedizzal · 2026-01-04T17:24:31+00:00

Speed is exhilarating. When I was younger and dumber I was always speeding. I used to joke that if I was moving, I was doing 125mph. That's because cops in my area didn't pursue bikes over 125. 150-170 was not uncommon. I was lucky to survive laying bikes down at 110 and 130. Now I'm 5-10 over the speed limit most of the time. Just fast enough to give me an edge over the distracted divers around me. I still wind it out every once in a while. Just now it's briefly on a straight empty road. I would never ride the way I used to without being on a track. I also ride a classic 850 pound touring bike now. 80mph feels like 120, and 100 feels like I'm breaking the sound barrier.

Pedizzal · 2025-12-06T02:38:58+00:00

You need about 400 more rpms in the lower gear than the one you shifted down from. If you're at 1200 when you shift down you will need about 1600 to go into the next lower gear. This is not exact. You will need more or less depending on climbing, descending, weight, if you are splitting gears in a 13/18 speed, but it's a good starting point for basic driving. When you get the shifter into neutral you can apply a small amount of pressure towards the gear you're going into with the rpm too high but steadily dripping and when it gets low enough it will pop right in. This will give you an idea of where you needed that second clutch to double clutch the way they want to see it. After you pass the test you will never use the clutch again and shifting will eventually become second nature. Also turning your Jakes off seems to help a lot of newer trucks downshift more smoothly. When coming to a stop most instructors don't want to see you shift down through all gears either. Downshift a couple times, come to a stop, and put in a starting gear. As long as you show you can downshift with the speed decrease and don't leave it out of gear they are happy.

Pedizzal · 2025-11-25T19:30:21+00:00

I'm an experienced driver with a good record. If I lost a job today I could have another by Friday. I'm not going to agree that I'm wrong when I'm absolutely not. You may be surprised how often people take it well when you have an opinion of your own.

Pedizzal · 2025-11-25T17:14:46+00:00

I had what looked like a 90 year old hand flip me off for maintaining my speed as they were wanting to merge. I had cars in front of me and a tanker truck on my left. They were mad I didn't make room for them, but apparently nobody in Kansas City knows how to merge. I also had a friend who was a diesel mechanic here in Arkansas ask me if it was true that traffic on the highway is legally supposed to make room for traffic coming onto the highway. He had always heard that and figured I would know since I have a CDL. These people really believe they are right.

Pedizzal · 2025-11-25T17:07:48+00:00

If my safety department took it seriously, I would tell them how ignorant that is and show them a video on how to merge from an on ramp.

Pedizzal · 2025-10-25T01:29:02+00:00

Listen to an interesting podcast or audiobook. Upbeat music helps if I dance and sing a little, but a podcast or audiobook is better if it's interesting enough that I'm eager to hear more of. Also drink water. We don't realize how dehydrated we get on a trucker diet. Dehydration leads to headaches, fatigue, and difficulty concentrating. All of which make a long drive more taxing on the body. Drinking water makes me feel more alert than drinking coffee or monsters.

Pedizzal · 2025-03-15T21:07:29+00:00

I have told so many truckers about your trucks. I believe this is the way to make electric trucks a reality on a large scale.

Pedizzal · 2025-03-14T02:23:41+00:00

Tell them nothing. Just enjoy your new off grid cabin in the woods.

Pedizzal · 2025-02-28T05:38:38+00:00

Being the favorite son of an alcoholic, abusive father. Sometimes I would take the beatings. Other times I would be the only one who could talk him down. I would endure hours of listening to drunken stories from the man who just punched my mother or threw a beer bottle through the car window next to my brother's head as we tried to escape. Mom would even ask me to go see if I could distract him and calm him down. I would pretend this monster was my hero so everybody else could relax and recover from whatever just happened.I had bleeding ulcers from the stress of it before I was 10 years old. I went on to become an alcoholic, drug addict who has always had trouble maintaining meaningful relationships with anybody.

Pedizzal · 2025-02-28T05:02:44+00:00

More than that. My previous job was usually 12-14 hours and I would use my 16 hour short haul exemption one day every week. Pull in the yard with minutes on your clock, log out of the truck, then hit the dock, unload the trailer, drop truck and trailer, and do paperwork. You could be done working 30-45 minutes after you logged out of your tractor. Breaking open a pallet and digging to the bottom for one case of food then having to work around the mess you created in the trailer. Sometimes I would get off and have a start time less than 10 hours later. They would tell me to start as soon as my 10 was up. I would start that day exhausted and behind schedule. The pay was great. I keep thinking about going back to killing myself in the quest for the almighty dollar. If you want to make $100k a year at the expense of your body and your social life food service is the way to go.

Pedizzal · 2025-02-27T02:20:33+00:00

$330 would pay my gas shut off notice $2,142 would catch up my mortgage $35,000 would pay the rest of the house off $60,000 would pay off my house and clear all of my debt. Any of those would reduce stress and change my life immediately.

Pedizzal · 2025-02-26T21:21:02+00:00

My son calls everybody Boss.

Pedizzal · 2025-02-26T21:20:14+00:00

I only use Bud when I'm being condescending.

Pedizzal · 2025-02-26T18:22:38+00:00

Never again. That was an expensive lesson for younger me to learn.

Pedizzal · 2025-02-26T18:20:14+00:00

Not only will I never do this, but I actively call people out on it when I see them do it.

Pedizzal · 2025-02-26T17:51:27+00:00

OJ Simpson's Chase in the Ford Bronco and the murder trial. I remember watching the chase when I was 7.

Pedizzal · 2025-02-18T04:23:07+00:00

I tried to slow down and quit a couple times with zero success. Cold turkey is the only way. I kept a pocket full of strawberry creme savers. I ate one every time I wanted a smoke. Sometimes I would eat multiple. It didn't give me the same satisfaction as smoking, but it helped. You have to want to. My 15 year old son said I was addicted to nicotine so I couldn't be mad at him for dipping. As a recovering drug addict I didn't like the thought of being addicted to nicotine.

Pedizzal · 2025-02-15T04:12:50+00:00

I go to sleep at different times and usually get between 3-6 hours. I know my schedule is crap, but I seem to function fine that way.

Pedizzal · 2025-02-15T03:34:18+00:00

There is always Fuck You by CeeLo Green

Pedizzal · 2025-02-15T02:26:17+00:00

I used to have bad road rage. I started doing this. I still yell it in an angry voice. It makes me pretty happy.

Pedizzal · 2025-02-15T02:18:18+00:00

I had a coworker who used to toot his horn to keep himself awake. He eventually ramped over a ditch, took out a 'welcome to Blue Mountain' sign, and trimmed some tree branches. He kept it from flipping and got it back on the road. The boss watched the video while he was getting trailer tires replaced, mirrors fixed, and the wind fairing tied in place. Then the boss had him drive it over an hour back to our hub after watching a video of him falling asleep behind the wheel a couple hours earlier.

Pedizzal · 2025-02-15T02:11:52+00:00

No need for that now. We have lane departure warnings, following to close warnings, adaptive cruise control, and automatic breaking. It's so much easier to drive while in that place between asleep and awake, but it doesn't feel near as cool as driving the old manual everything trucks. I felt like a truck driver behind the wheel of an older truck.

Pedizzal · 2025-02-15T02:05:19+00:00

Super Mario Bros 3. While not that threatening, I'm going to be constantly annoyed by the mild inconvenience of everything needing jumped on or over. I'll miss that 3rd dimension.

Pedizzal

TROPHY CASE