I was sitting in a truck stop yesterday and had my laptop open calculating some mileage and drive times (I'm a trucker). As I was working a couple of old guys walked by my table and I heard one of them say "...those high tech hippies are everywhere today..."

This just cracked me up. High Tech Hippies. Ok, well, my hair is a little shaggy and I do have a full beard. And I do love my gadgets.

I've adopted that as my new CB radio handle. The High Tech Hippie. LOL

LoL, i'm just amazed you use the laptop for such stuff what with all the pressure on your hands from driving.

Pressure on hands? What? I don't know your driving habits but I sure don't grip the steering wheel as if I was riding a roller coaster..

Lol, i knew it, someone was going to.... well nevermind, for God's sake, he's driving a TRUCK, a what 18 wheeler? all day long man. However comfortable he may be, but its a prolonged exposure and tend to take its toll on the hands.

I was under the distinct impression that 18-wheelers had autopilots.

"High-tech Hippies" is oxymoronical. I was on fringe of the hippie culture (yes, I'm old) and I never saw one that had the first clue about anything technical (or often about anything at all).

Of course it is, that's why it struck me as so funny when he said it.

As for the driving stuff, yeah I drive an 18 wheeler, but it's something you adapt to over time. I have over a million miles in so far, and a little over 10 years. To me a ride of a few hundred miles is about the same as a ride across town would be to most of you folks.

You should have dived on in. You might have encounterd me ... In those days playing with programmable calculators. Ooh, those numbers used to encourage my spinning head. Took Accunting at the local community college in a drug induced enlightenment. Started maintaining a mainframe data entry system, and became an operator/programmer on a PDP 1170 with my head still chemically altered. About 1981, paid $600 for my first Commodore 64. Thought I'd died and gone to heaven. About that time whatever "hippyness" was left was fading fast, but mainly because that was about the time I started raising kids. Many of my friends from back in those days also grew into technical careers.

There were then, and remain, a plethora of "high tech hippies."

"High Tech Hippie" is actually pretty funny - at least the guy didn't call you a 'dirty filthy sandal-wearing Linux hippie' (and to quote Seinfeld, not that there's anything wrong with that

Perhaps OT, but masonm, since you drive a semi I've always been curious about a couple things:

1. Why do they call it a "semi"? Seems to me it's a full truck, not a half truck. Where does the term come from?

2. Just out of curiosity, what's the most unusual/bizarre/unbelievable thing you've seen while on the road? I commute to work everyday on California freeways and have seen things I never thought would be possible (eg, cars on fire, ladders in the middle of the road, sofas that have fallen off the back of a truck, etc) but I figure that's got to be the peanut league stuff compared to what a real driver has seen. Got any war stories you'd be willing to share?

I am not a trucker but I had one or two strange things happen.

In Colorado we where driving on the Interstate (rural)on a misty winter morning and there was a particulary hazy area you could see for a couple of miles ahead - turns out that was a bunch of cowboys driving cattle on the interstate.

On the same interstate we saw a strange vehicle coming on from the opposite direction - the form of a truck or something else square but too small.Turned out it was a trailer running by itself downhill.

Yeah - I know - still can't believe that stuff myself either.

One thing that helps out on the long drives is those big trucks are really comfortable. Big upright seat, not the lean into the back seat to keep from hitting your head little car. Also not having rack and pinion steering helps to isolate all the road bumps, I hate driving my wife's car, the extra road feel from the rack and pinion just wears my arms out.

There is sort of a small high tech hippie sub culture, one of the names I have found is 'technomad'. There was a recent news story of an employee of an apple store in some city where the price of housing is crazy so he lives in the back of his pickup truck, he just parks somehwere that he can get a connection.
There are people who live full time in RV's and such and don't have a permanent address who still remain connected to the world. I always though if I were single I would do that, work 4 10 hour days and sleep in the parking lot and then on my three days off go somewhere else.

My dad drives trucks right now for a living, never has problems with his hands. It's mostly just being on the road for days and weeks that gets to you, but then again, no family at home really, kids all grown up and no wife, it can be enjoyable for some.

It's probably a lot like being an IT guy: you sit on your arse all day and stare straight ahead. That would explain the similar physiques too.

JW:

As for question 1, the name semi as applied to the rig is actually a misnomer. It actually applied to the trailer. They are semi trailers due to the fact that they only have rear wheels, and rely upon the tractor to supply the front wheels.

As for question 2, I could write a book. As a matter of fact, I am writing a book LOL

One truly odd sight I saw last year was a camel walking along a road that ran beside the interstate. That in itself was a little odd, but the fact that there was a donkey following it just added to the surreal aspect of it.

enine is correct with regard to the trucks being built for comfort. They have air ride suspensions, air ride seats that are infinitely adjustable, adjustable steering columns, power steering, and cruise control.

I have a few shots of the interior of my rig.

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c5...1/IMG_0257.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c5...1/IMG_0258.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c5...1/IMG_0264.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c5...1/IMG_0261.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c5...1/IMG_0259.jpg

And one of the outside

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c5...1/IMG_0254.jpg

Those pictures look simply AWESOME (intentional caps, sorry ^_^). I so would love to do what you do mate...