[tim60]

ha , nope bacon is still the number one topic Sandy



---------- Post added 2nd Mar 2019 at 04:49 ----------

dont get me started. poly ticks would ve my rapid downfall

'Polly ticks': noun: insects that bite or come out of pollyticians.

[tim60]

Been to Booneville many times back when I was driving Monstro.

"Daniel Boone was a man, yes, a big man" and he wore a funny hat with a long tail. Saw him on TV for a about five minutes. Enough for me.

[tim60]

Man, those look uncomfortable...

Thanks, I needed the defence. Someone with whom to form a ruck.

[tim60]

(A bit of a Rupert story)

Monstro and I hauled some large radiators for those huge transformers used in electric power substations from the port in Tacoma, WA to Saskatoon, SK. Crossed into Alberta at Sweetgrass, MT.

Going to Canuckistan:

1. Where are you from?
Seattle, WA.

2. Where are you headed?
Saskatoon, SK.

3. Papers?
I hand over the bill of lading and customs paperwork.

4. The nice Canada Customs man stamps all the documents quickly, then hands it all back to me, and says, “Have a nice day, eh?”

They are such nice people, those Canadians.

Eh?

I stop overnight in Medicine Hat. The next day I run up to Saskatoon, deliver my load, and make it back to Medicine Hat where I spend another night.

Since the carrier I drove for couldn’t find a load for the return trip I headed back home, crossing back at Sweetgrass the next day.

I pull up to the booth at the border crossing.

1. Where are you from?
Seattle.

2. Where are you going?
Seattle.

3. What are you hauling?
(Keep in mind I am pulling a flatbed trailer, it is unladen, even an old lady with bad eyesight could see that, and with cameras that see everything this dope already knows that)
I reply, “Sailboat fuel.

4. What?
Knowing better than to continue with sarcasm I reply, “I’m empty sir.”

5. Bill of lading and customs documents please.
I repeat, “I am empty sir.”

6. This Mensa member now asks for my passport, birth certificate and operators license.
I hand him my Washington State Enhanced ID/Commercial Drivers license. It has everything he asked for and more, all he has to do is scan it, or enter the license number.

7. Dimwit repeats the previous request.
Again I offer my Washington State Enhanced ID/Commercial Drivers license.

8. He takes it, looks at the front, turns it over and examines the back, then tries to hand it back to me and repeats the original request a third time.
To which I repeat myself again, explaining that all he seeks is right there in his hand.

9. Hmmm . . . . never seen one of these before.
What a maroon.

10. How long have you been in Canada?
Three days.

11. Where did you go?
Saskatoon.

12. Where is that?
In Saskatchewan.

13. What was the purpose of your trip?
To haul a load of freight to a customer.

14. What were you carrying?
Really?

15. He gives my Washington State Enhanced ID/Commercial Drivers license and slip of paper, points to a building and tells me to proceed to X-ray.
What? You’re gonna X-ray an unladen flatbed trailer?

*sigh*

16. (at the X-ray station) Another Mensa member explains the process. There is a signal light ahead, and one behind. When the light turns green, I am to drive my truck and trailer slowly through, and when the signal turns red I am supposed to stop.
OK, sounds easy enough.

17. The light turns green.
I ease the clutch out and let the truck idle slowly ahead. The light turns red. I stop, even though my truck has not cleared the X-ray machine.

18. Mensa member number two runs up to my truck, screaming why did I stop?
I politely explain that when the light turned red I did as instructed.

19. I am directed to pull around and get back in line for another go.
Now when I first arrived at the border crossing mine was the only truck there. Now there were at least a dozen other trucks, all waiting to get X-rayed. Great, now I will have to wait.

20. After considerable waiting it is finally my turn at the X-ray machine again. Mensa member two explains the process yet again, as if I hadn’t just been through it an hour earlier.
This time the light doesn’t turn red until my trailer was clear of the X-ray machine. The guy hands me a slip of paper that has a magnetic strip on it, but gives no explanation.

21. When I ask for explanation I am angrily told to proceed to the next station. These guys must get training on how to be jerks.

22. Since there are only two routes, and I have already taken the return lane, I follow the other. It takes me to a gate, where there is an unmanned booth, and a fat (seriously this guy weighs about 500 pounds) US Customs officer sitting in a pickup.

23. I look at the fat guy, hold up my slip with the magnetic strip, and give him a quizzical look. He points to a pedestal next to the gate. Apparently he is too fat to take the slip and open the gate, and I am expected to get out of the truck and insert it into the slot.

24. I set the brake, take the truck out of gear, unbuckle the seatbelt, climb down, walk over and insert the slip into the slot.

25. The gate opens. I can taste the freedom that is about to envelop me as I finally return to my native land. I climb back into Monstro, buckle my belt, depress the clutch and engage the transmission in gear, reach up and press the brake release knob, and start to ease out the clutch.

26. The gate closes.
I look at fatso, and mouth the words, “Get your fat lazy ass out of that pickupand open the ******* gate, or I will knock it down!”

27. Fatso begrudgingly gets out of his pickup and waddles over to the gate controller and makes the gate open.
I ease the clutch out and as we part company I stick my hand out the window and give them all the one finger salute.

Now I know my final hand signal was not a polite or professional gesture, but these idiots had just taken two hours of my life away because they suspected I might have been trying to smuggle something into the US in an EMPTY TRUCK.

Although the description here of that particular border crossing sounds extreme, it is typical of every return trip I made after hauling loads to Canada. Without exception returning to my own country was always more difficult than leaving it.

They were looking for packages of fine chemicals for delivery to motorcyclists hidden in the frame members of the trailer. Obvious.

[tim60]

911 rules instituted on the american side ( and required of other countries by the US) make it passport or other specialised document

Without a recent photo how would they know you had not bought someone else's birth certificate from the registry office, after all, all the birth certificates we mere mortals actually carry are just copies of the real birth record in the government office.

[Parallax]

Thanks, I needed the defence. Someone with whom to form a ruck.

Ruck.
Had to Google that one.

[Racer X 69]

They were looking for packages of fine chemicals for delivery to motorcyclists hidden in the frame members of the trailer. Obvious.

I would never sell my freedom for some losers, just to earn a buck.

[Racer X 69]

Without a recent photo how would they know you had not bought someone else's birth certificate from the registry office, after all, all the birth certificates we mere mortals actually carry are just copies of the real birth record in the government office.

I don't know how they make it all happen, but before you pull up to the booth, they already know the answers to all the questions they are about to ask.

[Racer X 69]

Thanks, I needed the defence. Someone with whom to form a ruck.

Ruck.
Had to Google that one.

Ruck:

noun ~ the great mass of undistinguished or inferior persons or things.

noun ~ a group of competitors who are well behind the leaders at the finish

noun ~ people who are followers, not leaders.

noun ~ (rugby) a loose scrum that forms around the ball when it is on the ground

noun ~ (Australian Rules Football) the three players, two ruckmen and a rover, that do not have fixed positions but follow the ball closely

noun ~ {slang} a fight(short for ruckus)

verb ~ (Rugby) to try to win the ball by advancing over it when it is on the ground, driving opponents backwards in the process(meaning "heap of firewood"): perhaps from Scandinavian; compare Old Norse hraukr rick1

Interesting word, eh?

Awesome the wealth and breadth of knowledge here.

We should be referenced in Wikipedia.

[robtcorl]

We should be referenced in Wikipedia.

Bert did that once, but it didn't stay long.

[BigMackCam]

The pet parade on Sunday's before Mardi Gras would be more our speed, but I don't like crowds of any type.

Me neither. I can handle being in a crowd, but I never enjoy it. Weird, considering I lived most of my adult life in or near London, and worked there every day.

I mostly like solitude, but with a little social interaction in the mix (the kind where I can pick and choose). Some of my favourite vacations were on Lundy, a tiny island in the Bristol Channel, facing out to the Atlantic. Days spent walking, with barely another person in sight. Then, in the evening, a couple of hours in the tavern for dinner and a few drinks, before retiring to my accommodation to sit and read. No cell-phone signal for the most part. Phones, tablets and computers banned in the tavern.

I'd love to go there again, but since I moved back home to the North East, getting there is a pain... 400 miles to the heli-port or ferry terminal from where I live. I could do that for the outgoing journey, due to excitement alone... but coming back would be a hassle. That kind of drive at the end of the vacation, when all the fun's been had, isn't something to look forward to... Still, I don't know. I'm kind of tempted...

Lundy Island | The Landmark Trust

[Parallax]

.....

[eddie1960]

Without a recent photo how would they know you had not bought someone else's birth certificate from the registry office, after all, all the birth certificates we mere mortals actually carry are just copies of the real birth record in the government office.

they wouldnt but until 911 my wife passed into the states many times with just a birth certificate and her credit cards. she doesnt drive and the old healtg card were just a number and info no picture never expired . i always had my drivers licence . and birth certificate so i could come home lol . we got our passports in late 90s to travel further than usa



---------- Post added 2nd Mar 2019 at 17:12 ----------

.....

hrrm looks familiar. youve been using that post for years

[Parallax]

hrrm looks familiar. youve been using that post for years

Well, you know how much I like to avoid conflict or controversy.

[robtcorl]

Some of my favourite vacations were on Lundy

I can see why Mike, my kind of place!
We need to set up a meet and greet there for folks from this thread,
I must add, the working stiffs would need to pay the way for non working stiffs.