TROUBLE
     "Hi, I'm Dick. I drive a truck. Today hasn't been my day. Flat tires, fuel leaks, air leaks. You name it, if it can go wrong it has today. To top it all off, its colder than blue blazes."

     "Anyhow, I finally make this truck stop that has a mechanic on duty. If I were a fleet driver all these woes would be no big deal but I'm not. I do it the hard way. I own and operate a small freight company, consisting of me as the only employee, owner, operator and general jack of all trades."

     "Man! Looks like you ran over something," the mechanic says, while scooting around on a creeper beneath my rig.

     "Got the crossover." (That's the pipe that transfers fuel from the right to left fuel tank.)
"And caught your airline on the trailer. Didn't do to much damage just messed up a coupling. I can have it all done in an hour. Why don't you go inside and have something to eat while I work in her. She's an old bird but plenty of life left in her. Always loved these old Petes."

     "I took his advice and moseyed inside. The place was nice and warm. I was frozen stiff so it really felt good. The hot cup of C the waitress plopped down in front of me couldn't have looked any better if it had been in a solid gold cup. I dived in."

     "Having a rough time," the waitress asked nonchalantly. She could have probably cared less what kind of time Dick was having. But conversations usually resulted in tips so she was all ears.

     "Yeah, if it can go wrong, it has this trip."

     "Well dear. Lets fill your belly and see if you feel better. Right now you are about as sociable as a Rattle Snake." She ambled off to wipe the bar while Dick looked over the menu. He mentally took note of what was in his wallet. He didn't want to get into the plastic. That was for emergencies. The Damn truck was going to be one hell of an emergency.

     "I'll have the sirloin with a baked potato," he said, eyeing the shape of her rear as she bent across the service window to place his order with the cook. The place was deserted this time of the morning. Oh did we forget to mention that bad luck always comes at two in the morning. At least for Dick it seemed that was when it always struck.