Apparently I am too old.

So yesterday I was stuck behind this guy on my entire 10 mile journey home from work.  No doubt you have seen trucks like this in your lifetime.  And you have probably been stuck behind one at one point or another.  You know the type; lots of reading material on the back, the dual (not to mention massive) antennas sticking out of the bed of the truck...something I have never understood, and the best part of all...the extremely loud exhaust, lack of muffler, or whatever you want to call it.  Now I am not one to get all uptight about things like loud cars or trucks--they can be super fun. BUT when you are behind one for ten miles and you have your windows down and can't even hear your radio without practically blowing out the speakers in your car, it can be a tad annoying.  Also throw in the fact that you at one point have to roll your windows up because of the rancid stench that is coming out of the dual exhaust.  As I got up closer I read a few of the stickers.  A few were military stickers (kudos to them for having a son in the military--I totally respect that), some were weird symbols that I could not even begin to guess at what they stood for, and then I spotted the classic "Loud Pipes Save Lives" sticker.  I am sure this is a true statement in more ways than one...A., even the deafest of deaf could hear this truck coming down the road and would be sure to get the hell out of the way if he or she should happen to be in the middle of the road and B. I would be willing to bet this truck is a gas guzzlin' hog so he is sure doing his part to keep the oil companies in business which in turn keeps their employees employed and thus keeps food on their table to keep them alive! 
That second one was a stretch but you get my point.
And then I spotted another sticker that read "If it's too loud, you're too old".  It kind of made me depressed as I had just been silently ragging on this obnoxious truck, but I soon got over it.  Apparently I don't care if I am too old.

The Gas Station Chronicles

 Have you ever stopped to wonder what really great stories the walls of gas stations could tell?  Or what stories the workers of gas stations could tell?  Especially in small, up north towns.  Of course the 'up north' I am referring to will only be familiar to the Wisconsin and Minnesota readers.  If you happen to come across this blog from another state, your version of 'up north' may be something completely different.  I recently read (or heard somewhere) that Up North to Minnesota is like the Hampton's of New York.  Going up north for the weekend in the summer around these parts is kind of a 'thing' and can be a big deal.
Anyway, back to my point.  This past weekend my two uncles and I packed up and headed up to Bayfield for some more sailing.  We did our usual bathroom stop at McDonald's in Superior on the way up and on the way home, we usually stop at the Holiday gas station in Superior.  As I made my journey into the Holiday bathroom, I got to thinking that I've never once set foot in the Holiday bathroom that's a mere 1/2 mile from my house yet I've been in this one, 168 miles away from home, probably close to 10 times.  Does anyone else think that's weird?  And most of the time, I don't buy anything, I just mozy in there, still half sleeping from my nap in the car and mozy on out.  I usually feel bad for not buying anything but then I realize that especially up in that neck of the woods, I am sure the workers are used to it and they couldn't probably care any less.  Do you think it's in the handbook when the employees are hired that they have to keep the bathrooms tidy because... as said in an 'up north' dialect: ..."you know, we get a lot of drive-in traffic in this area, you know with all those out of towners coming to and from Duluth and the cities, ya know."
I would love to be one of the gas station workers, just for a Sunday when the pit stops are at their peak.  Maybe even in an even smaller town at a small, family-owned gas station.  The kind where you just swing in because you missed your opportunity in Superior because you "didn't have to go then". You casually walk in, trying not to be super obvious and of course there is the lone cashier with no customers standing at the counter...silently judging you when you casually look up and around to find the bathroom sign.  You walk in, try not to touch anything but yet be as quick as possible and pray as you exit that there will be a customer to distract the lone guy at the counter, but no luck.  You still feel slightly bad for not buying at least a scratch off (which, side note: I am usually a sucker for an out-of-state scratch off...I always think I will win but never do) but then you figure that you will probably never see that kid again...well, at least not for a few more weeks when you may miss your opportunity at the Holiday in Superior.

Change in progress

So I've changed the look of the blog a bit.  This is not final-- just so you don't think I am wacko when it changes again whenever I get around to it.  I was so sick of that argyle pattern, it made me kind of want to vomit.  Not really, but kind of. 
For the one person out there who wanted to be able to get these posts sent to them via email, I added a little spot for you to do so.  Hopefully it works...I haven't tried it.  I also added my Instagram feed in case you guys cared.  All the cool kids are doing it on their blogs so I thought I'd hop on the bandwagon.  Plus, I really love Instagram.  If you aren't on it, at least you can have the pleasure of viewing my pictures by visiting the ol' bloggy blog.
Summer hours have started at work which I am super happy about!  We get to work four nine hour days and then a half day on Friday.  Tomorrow is the first half Friday so I am pumped!  I really don't know why I felt the need to let you know that.  Oh well, now you know!
Have a fantastic weekend!