A bunch of useless crap
Published on December 13, 2011 By MasonM In Blogging

This morning finds me in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Yesterday I delivered two stops in Houston and then made my way here so I could put off my final stop first thing this morning. The weather here is pretty comfortable right now. Not too hot, not too cold.

I spent the night at the Corpus Christi Truckstop. The place is very old and looks like a dump, but the waitresses are friendly and the food is quite good.

After delivering three trailer mounted generators this morning I returned to the truck stop to wait for dispatch to find me a reload. I had a very good egg and chorizo taquito for breakfast. That and coffee cost me a whopping $3.25.

I sat around at the table just reading a book until a little after 11:00. The people from the refinery across the street started filtering in for lunch so I cleared out to make room for them, and returned to my truck for some Spanish language lessons.

I recently picked up a copy of the Rosetta Stone Level 1 Spanish software. So far I have only had time to go through lesson 1 and a couple of the activities, but I think their reputation is deserved. In a single lesson I have learned, not memorized but actually learned, the Spanish words for man, woman, he, she, boy, girl, eat, drink, cook, run, read, and swim.

I like the way it is taught by visual association instead of just translation and memorization. I am looking forward to working my way through the rest of the course as I frequently come across Spanish speaking people in my work and it would make my life a whole lot easier if I could better communicate with them.

Learning it this way will probably take a while, but it does seem effective and if nothing else gives me a practical project to work on in my down time. The biggest hurdle for me at the moment is pronouncing the "rr" sound, or rolling "r". I am really struggling to figure out how that sound is made properly.

I found some seemingly good exercises posted on the web to develop the ability to do so and downloaded the instructions to my iPad so I can practice it. So far I haven't managed to make the proper sound but I suppose I just have to keep at it. Who knew such a sound was so hard to make?

Ah well, it gives me something to do anyway.


Comments
on Dec 15, 2011

Howdy Mason in Texas.  Good old Corpus Christi where I lived for 23 years!  Of course you never got down there until I had moved along or I just didn't know about it.   Glad you got a good breakfast there.  I love a good Mexican breakfast.  I do miss the food there,  as nothing has that taste here.  Enjoy your stay, visit the beach and find some sand dollars.  Winter is the best time to find them from my experience.'

Hope all the aches and pains are better by now.  What will be your landing spot for Christmas?  Way to go with the Spanish lessons and I am sure you will  sound like a native soon.  Have a good one.  

on Dec 15, 2011

notronaj
Howdy Mason in Texas.  Good old Corpus Christi where I lived for 23 years!  Of course you never got down there until I had moved along or I just didn't know about it.   Glad you got a good breakfast there.  I love a good Mexican breakfast.  I do miss the food there,  as nothing has that taste here.  Enjoy your stay, visit the beach and find some sand dollars.  Winter is the best time to find them from my experience.'

Hope all the aches and pains are better by now.  What will be your landing spot for Christmas?  Way to go with the Spanish lessons and I am sure you will  sound like a native soon.  Have a good one.  

 

Thanks. I have been to Corpus Christi several times in the past few months but before that it had been several years since I had been there.

I agree about the food down that way. Any time I am in Texas I just have to get some Mexican food.

I am working on the Spanish and, thanks to some very good information I found on the net I have finally learned how to make that "rr" sound, even if it does still sound a bit forced. Practice should help that.

I am in Oklahoma tonight and had dinner at a little Mexican place. I suprised the waiter by placing my order in Spanish. I only flubbed up a couple of words and even managed to roll my r correctly. The guy could tell I am just learning and complimented my pronunciation and even corrected the couple of words I messed up. Nice kid.

The aches and pains are, well, ok right now. The back is feeling a whole lot better, but the general arthritic aches are there but managable.

on Dec 16, 2011

Another good method of learning - living with spanish speaking people!  I picked up "pero" very quickly (not "perro" = dog, pero = but).

on Dec 18, 2011

Dr Guy
Another good method of learning - living with spanish speaking people!  I picked up "pero" very quickly (not "perro" = dog, pero = but).

Yep, that does help but I don't think I'll be hauling any Mexicans around in the truck with me

on Dec 19, 2011

MasonM
Yep, that does help but I don't think I'll be hauling any Mexicans around in the truck with me

Yea, kind of tight in your "house".

On a side note, I heard this morning that "Mason" is the 3rd most popular boys name this year.  You are making an impression!

on Dec 19, 2011

Dr Guy


On a side note, I heard this morning that "Mason" is the 3rd most popular boys name this year.  You are making an impression!

No kidding? I think that's a bit odd really. I never thought it would be a popular name at all. It's rare for me to meet another person with my first name.

 

Ok, I'll take the credit for it

on Dec 19, 2011

MasonM
It's rare for me to meet another person with my first name.

Unless you are running for office and kissing a lot of babies, you probably will have to wait a few years to see the fruits of your leadership.

on Dec 20, 2011

on Dec 23, 2011

Sew again the burning question is where are you hanging your hat for Christmas out of the many invites i am sure you have received.  How can Santa possibly find you if we have no clue.  Running out of time here man, running out of time.

on Dec 23, 2011

notronaj
Sew again the burning question is where are you hanging your hat for Christmas out of the many invites i am sure you have received.  How can Santa possibly find you if we have no clue.  Running out of time here man, running out of time.

I am back up in Wisconsin now. I have an oversized load heading for Houston. Since oversized loads can't move on the holiday weekend I will be staying here until Monday morning.

on Dec 23, 2011

Well then, hope you get a nice room, a great meal, a good pipe, lots of good libations and a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS to you this year.  

on Dec 24, 2011

notronaj
Well then, hope you get a nice room, a great meal, a good pipe, lots of good libations and a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS to you this year.  

 

Thanks, Judy. I hope you and yours have a Merry Christmas.