After putting off my first stop this morning I made my way to the yard so our shop could perform the annual DOT inspection on my truck. I made it to the yard about 11:00am. The shop closes at noon on Saturday.
After getting the truck serviced and doing all of the expected small talk with everyone, I made my way down the hill to the bar. At this point the boss was down there and I found a seat next to him. I've always liked Pete and I've had the impression he's liked me as well.
We chatted for a bit, knocked back a few brews (at his expense) and generally passed the time the way two friends pass the time in a bar. Eventually he had to leave to go and spend time with his wife. He really wasn't ready to leave but he had those family obligations and all. (I'm glad to be a bachelor)
I had a pretty good time at the bar. There was a good mix of our drivers and some local people that made for some interesting conversation. At one point there was almost a fight. One of the locals made a few rude comments about truckers and one of the truckers (me) took exception to the comments but in the end decided to cut the local a bit of slack and decided to be a gentleman and not pound his face in. Of course the very nice looking bartender had something to do with that.
Oh, I did win an arm wresting contest with a local kid who thought he was tough. Experience will always win over youthful exuberance. He was so sure he'd win against the "old guy" that he bet a round for the house.
I hope his rent money wasn't riding on that bet.