". . . but I have MILES TO GO before I sleep, miles to go before I sleep." Robert Frost

I should have done my laundry and hit the road a week ago when I got the all clear from the podiatrist, but here I sit a week later hoping the job fairy will appear with an offer I can't refuse!

Got the Mack settled in at the service shop and it will stay there as they do the mechanical work to get it road ready again.

Got my weeds cut back at the LazyB but never got to the wood cutting.

Have a had a couple of days at the fire hall - no excitement but a little bit of work (helping load 5" hose onto our first due engine and this weekend will do hose tests and help load the old 3" onto our new pumper).  Also spent last night as a training officer taking a couple of guys out for drivers training - they need x amount of hours driving under supervision and then practicing pump operations.   Always fun riding shotgun in a full size fire truck at night through the windy, curvy, hilly, narrow country roads of North Dade - not.

Made 2 calls today to other trucking companies, but neither are hiring right now.

Faxed my paperwork back to Schneider to confirm my clearance to return to work so all I need to do is make the final call . . . maybe Monday, LOL!

"Geraldo, is now the voice of reason" :  Jon Stewart 

Oh man, so much crap flung (what else is new?) by the right regarding the planned civilian trial of the 9/11 terrorist Khalid Sheikh Muhammad.
I spent a few hours researching the difference between military tribunals and civilian trials because the rhetoric being thrown around is just so mindnumbingly stupid.
The best article I found is here : cut and paste and put a www. in front of it - no thanks to B&A for fixing this problem after more than a year :           thirdworldtraveler.com/Democracy_America/War_Constitution.html

 

written in 2002.  The conservatives feel so smug using an FDR reference in regard to a military tribunal against several invaders of the US during WWII that resulted in quick justice and execution.  They need to read the article, any article actually, to find that his actions were unprecedented, and legally questionable (the spies for Germany were combatants and international law does not allow trying and executing soldiers of a warring army).

Here is just a key paragraph of the article (the reference to the Quirin case is the WWII Germans who came ashore in Long Island with the intent of destroying infrastructure - the Supreme Court, to enable FDR and his desire for a tribunal, classified their act as "lurking as a spy" to wit, being in or near a military installation).

 

"Contrary to Sunstein's testimony, there is no general exception recognized in American law for war crimes committed against civilians. In fact, since World War II, all war crimes committed by U.S. troops or against American nationals have been federal offenses subject to the jurisdiction of the federal courts. Nor can you make the Quirin argument that jurisdiction over these crimes antedates the Constitution, for there were no war crimes (in the post-Nuremberg sense) at the time and there was certainly no war crime based on attacks against the civilian population. Also, it is worth noting that in the language of the spying statute-which provides the only congressionally authorized military tribunal to date-Congress took pains to bring the crime within the framework of court-martial jurisdiction. The offense is described in the statute as "lurking as a spy" in or around a military facility. This falls within the penumbra of court-martial jurisdiction over military bases."

 

So, sorry boys and girls on the right, 9/11 WAS a crime and not punishable under "war crimes".  We were not at war when it happened, they were not an invading force, and the difference between an attack on a civilian target versus a military target is zero.  Constitutionally (and you KNOW how much the right insists on strict interpretation of that document, LOL!) legal protections to defendants are the same for peacetime as they are for wartime (thus negating any 9/11 was a war time incident argument).
Don't take the above article as fact, spend an hour reading opinion and commentary about the difference in trials.  Watch out for the far left or right spins, and stick to the ones that cite case law and apply it to appropriate circumstances - it won't take long to put the emotional desire for a military trial (desire for keeping secrets, swift punishment, and no legal accountability) aside and embrace what is right, the rule of law on which we not only have here in the States, but also something we agree to follow in international treaties.

But enough of that!  The funniest part is, who else, Jon Stewart.  How he and his researchers can so quickly investigate details and draw together a satirical piece that communicates the idea so well is beyond me, but I'm thankful for the laugh at loud commentary and clips.  Did you see his piece last week and the phony news footage of the smaller demonstration in DC that was accompianied by footage from a larger event months earlier?  Check out his Rudy Guilliani then and now regarding rule of law and American justice.

 

Jon Stewart on desire for justice (he suggested KSM be tied and bound and stabbed repeatedly in the face by Lee Greenwood) :

 

"so we're going to go with living up to our nation's highest ideals?
eh, I was hopin we were going to go a little more 'Old Testament' quite frankly.
A little more, Tarentino, if you will.
But, I recognize we must strike a balance between the rule of law and my emotional need for what I like to call "street justice".
And then of course there is the third, equally valid reaction :
"AAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

 

 

ComedyCentral.com sucks with  some of the webs worst streaming so I wont try to embed the clip from them - here is a link to the 9 minute bit hosted on hulu.com : (again, cut and paste but add www. )

hulu.com/watch/109326/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-law-and-order-ksm#s-p1-sr-i1

 

"I think I can, I think I can!"

With Capt Pangle behind the wheel in full cheshire cat grin the whole way, the '64 Mack fire engine with a serious miss in the engine sputtered, coughed, wheezed and backfired its way up even the slightest inclines. Think Chitty Chitty Bang Bang POP! Bang BOOM!
Bang KAPOW! It crawled up steeper inclines unable to stay in any upper gear so we (I followed in my pickup with emergency flashers on) putted up the hills at 3mph and it took 45 minutes to travel the 12 miles across Lookout Valley and around the mountain to get to the Mack dealership in Chattanooga. But John loved every minute of it, tootin the horn as passing friends, cops, and fire stations and even running the siren briefly as we crested the hill along the front side of Lookout Mountain - sorry, between the bright morning sun and the billowing exhaust cloud I couldn't get a more picturesque shot of her as she topped the hill with Chattanooga in the background.

Have taken all the gear off my fire engine so I can bring it to the Mack service center on Monday. My shed is now full of bunker gear, hoses, air packs,tools, nozzles, axes, extinguishers, tarps, couplings, filters, pike poles, ladder . . . 1600 feet of hose = 1200' supply line, 200' 2 1/2 inch attack line, and 200' of 1 1/2 inch trash line.
My LazyB shed is now officially the Hooker Hose Co. !

What a day.  To go back to work I need a note from my doctor.  Got it.

No, need a note from the other doctor - the one at Occupational Health who sent me on my merry way last week saying it wasn't work related, go see a specialist.  So I go to his office and they rightly shake their heads - our doctor did not clear you to return to work, he dismissed your case - why would they want a note from him?  I don't know, I bitch, but here is my note from my doctor to show to your doctor, proof that I  DID go see a specialist, so can't you just have him write that I saw a specialist as he recommended so I am now cleared to return to work?

Uh, no.  Can you call my company.

They did, and my company is clueless.  Sur-PRISE sur-PRISE sur-PRISE!

So screw em.  Weekend off (hell, I was forced to claim my weeks vacation pay anyway in order to pay bills) and I have an appt for my firetruck for a tune-up and overall inspection on Monday - I'll call my company Tuesday and see if they are ready for me to return yet or if they have figured at this huge mystery of which doctor can/should clear me for work.

 

Meanwhile I went to the body shop where most of the firehall guys work during the day and where the  Mack truck has been kept since we had to get it out of the firehall to make room for a new fire engine.  Spent 3 hours taking off equipment and rolling hose to be put in storage (to prevent theft) while the truck is in Chattanooga at the Mack dealership next week.  Biggest surprise of the day, the old fire hoses (I started volunteering in 1980) are 100' long as opposed to the 50' sections I have been familiar with.  Not only did I have to pull 1400 feet of hose of the Mack myself, but it was twice as heavy, twice as long, and the rolls twice as large as what I am used to!  I am BEAT!

To add some 13th to the friday, back at the LazyB I could get niether my mower nor my chainsaw to start

so I have to get those going to cut back the winter weeds and start cutting the felled tree into sections I can manhandle and drag out of the way so I'll have a place to park the fire engine when I get it back from the dealership next week.  Friday night, gots money, but now I'm too bushed to go out! sucks getting old.

Lab results came back this morning and verified the skin tissue HAS become infected with a fungal bacteria (must be at a deeper level as a skin scan came up negative for bacteria on Tuesday).

The reason this is good news is

A) it means no staph infection 

B) no biopsy of both feet required and

C) I can return to work once the red-tape is out of the way and drive.

I will begin a 30 day treatment of oral and topical medications and hope the skin (which looks better today than it has since the start of the problem) continues to fully heal over while the meds root out the infection beneath.

*breaths sigh of relief that the end is near while doing fungus dance, lightly*

Armistice Day is actually not simply a United States observance but is celebrated in other post WW I nations such as England, France, and Canada.

TWICE yesterday, on facebook (where there is little room for blogging or discussion) I saw comments that were fairly anti-American and completely disrespectful to those in the armed services.  One said something like "too bad the US hasn't had a real war in recent history", and the other was "when is the last time a soldier in the US or Canada actually gave thier life in defense of their country?"

These asshats are no better than that wacko 'reverend' Phelps who blames 9/11 on gays and has been trying to disrupt funeral services for American soldiers for the past few years.  Just how anti-social do you have to be to present an opinion that is not based on any facet of reality?  I ignored one comment (both were on other people's pages) but replied to the second, which no one had responded to in over 10 hours. 

By this morning there were 8 more comments supporting my view.  No one challenged him all day yesterday until I took a stand - people are basically spineless aren't they?

 

Hmm, that was quick - the remnants of Ida drenched us here in the Lookout Valley area for the past 2 days but today is partly cloudy with sunshine - none of the flood warning came to pass, but from the scanner, I heard my brothers at North Dade Fire Rescue keeping busy with a half dozen truck wrecks on the interstate near the junction - none serious, but traffic was a mess.

Feet are dry and flexible this morning, but they seem to be looser every morning I wake up - as if the slowed circulation overnight does something - but, just 2 hours later, its all tightening up and by this afternoon unless I'm extra cautious, I'll again have split skin and will start the whole process over again.  Just sittin' waiting for a call from the doc's office.  Moving my toes into the warm sunshine looks inviting, but I'd probably end up burning them with my luck, LOL!

 

(long gross medical update to follow) :

Ok, fam and friends, here is the latest in my medical merry go 'round.

 

First the good news - I got a check today for two weeks Workman's compensation for time loss - that will put me out of the woods financially and I can meet my bills for another month;

Couple that with a test the podiatrist did to look for a bacterial infection, she found none ( very cool CSI type hand held black light scanner in a dark room).

 

Next the mixed news - the podiatrist does not think this is related in any way to staph.  The podiatrist seems to think it has to do with a contact allergy, the boots, combined with the heat - but, as the WC doc has dismissed it, this opinion doesn't change anything for me in regard to extending my WC claim - that, is over thanks to last weeks appt.  I don't see the value in trying to legally challenge the WC decision given this is not going to be a long term issue nor a permanent disability.  That check for 2 weeks will float me what I need to survive.  Besides, to make it a WC claim again, I would have to stop seeing this doctor - makes sense duddinit?

 

Next the hopeful news - the podiatrist took skin samples from both my feet (not as bad as it sounds, it is simply like peeling a sunburn at this point) and has sent it to the lab to test for fungal infections.  The idea being I DO have fungal issues with my toenails (nothing new there) and if it has infected the skin, an oral steroidal treatment of 6 days should show improvement and guide the rest of the treatment plan.

 

Next the not so hopeful news - the podiatrist doesn't think the tests will come back positive and has told me the next step will be a biopsy of the skin tissue (numb both feet and take a "punch sample" from each) to determine WHAT is in the deeper tissue preventing the healing.  I hate needles, so those that know me, know that even thinking of that simple test is a HUGE stress inducer for me.

 

The remaining questions - I don't know how long the biopsy results will take;

while the nurse spoke of skin conditions such as excema and psoriasis which have symptoms VERY similar to what I am experiencing (rash, dry skin, scaling, cracking, bleeding, then returning to dry and scaly), the podiatrist did not venture a guess as to what she is thinking right now.  The doctor reiterated that the appearance of the rash, the shape and growth of the sore, and the even distribution of it on both feet, indicated contact allergy and not an internal infection though she can't explain the lack of healing as I've been out of those boots and my feet out of the hot work environment for the past 4 weeks.

 

So, stay tuned.  I'm crossing my finger for fungus, YEA FUNGUS! Go Fungus, Go Fungus, GoGoGo Fungus!

If it is that, I will have other treatments also needed which are also not too pleasant (removal of 3 toenails for unfettered regrowth) but that will be something not considered until after the skin issues are dealt with and the toes have all healed.  From that point, regular use of certain creams and possible oral medicine may be required long term. 

 

The doc knows I want to get back to work ASAP and knows I am no longer a workman's comp case and am without pay while sitting at home, so best scenario right now is that the test is positive, the steroid treatment is successful, and next week she can tell me I can return to work while continuing some sort of steroidal regimen until the healing is complete.

 

An interesting experience meeting this doctor - she is deaf.  It is kind of like watching those annoying television news interviews via satellite, with the odd gaps between questions and answers?  and overlapping responses?

I have to speak to her when she is looking at me so she can read my lips (her speech is flawless) but avoid the temptation to refer physically to my feet such as tell her that the sore started here - and pointing at my right big toe.  She is reading my lips and not looking at my hands.  And if she notices my gesture and goes to see what I am pointing at, she is no longer following what I am saying!  So even in our half hour together I was adjusting to speaking to her to explain something, THEN gesture if I needed to, then wait for her to examine me, and then for her to reply.  Or that if she was examining the toes, to realize I couldn't make any comments until she looked up at me.  Very odd.  But she is highly recommended and her manner is excellent so I'm comfortable I finally have someone more than qualified to try and solve this mystery.  It is funny though to now be in a podiatrist office and STILL have nurses look at the feet and go "oh my!" "do those hurt?" (and they don't, by the way).

So, if you believe in Tinkerfungus, clap!!

The reunion is over eh?  Well, how can I miss most of you when you refuse to leave?

I think that some who drifted away, drifted away because this was not meant to be part of their lifestyle, absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Some that left, left with a chip on their shoulder and had the audacity to reappear and expect us to say we were wrong, glad you're back.  Some that came back, I'll be happy to see disappear again.

Others who left, maybe got distracted, maybe had priorities that took them away, and some of them, thankfully, have been given the chance to step back in and find out again what they have been missing.

For that last, I thank Smurfy for this idea - it is what made it worthwhile.

 

So nice to see the return of friends who left not because they had issues, not because they were spurned, not because they found greener pastures (and how could there be?  there's too much BS here for there to EVER be greener pastures elsewhere, LOL!), but because life had them take another path - nice to see them circle back to the junction and take that path less traveled once more.

For me, yeah, I'll still be around, the creepy alumni who refuses to walk away, the rocker who refuses to get the hell off the stage, still occasionally tilting at the same windmills,  but always the one willing to stand his ground and tell it like it is.

 

Now, while everyone is going to their cars, I'm going back in to finish off all those half empty glasses of beer!bb.

 

OK, Dessie, looks like word of your big three oh has reached us here in the nether woods of north west georgia and looks like mindsay has an order out that in your honor we are to bake something special for you - hope you don't mind a few hairs in your brownies - Big "reports of my desmise have been greatly exagerated" Foot - somewhere in the hills of north georgia :

So I just got off the phone with the hospital.
They have been emailing back and forth with my company's W/C division all day over the fact that I did not see Dr #1 but saw temp Dr #2, thus Dr. #1 CAN'T send a letter detailing his review of my two visits as requested by my company's W/C division.
And since Temp Dr #2 was a TEMP, she is no longer there to be able to send a review of my two visit.
So, 2 weeks, later, I am back at square one, I have an appointment tomorrow, NOT with the specialist requested by Temp Dr #2, but with Dr #1 who then will have to re-start the process of getting me an appointment with a specialist.
I wish I had my company W/C divisions email so I could send them disgusting close-up photos of my cracked and bleeding feet.

Got a wonderfully revealing call today from the Workman's Compensation division of my company :

ring, ring

WC foole : "we're just waiting for a letter from Dr. #1 to explain the need for a referral to a specialist"
me : "um, because after 2 weeks on antibiotics my toes still aren't healing? Oh, and by the way, I wasn't examined by Dr. #1"
WC foole : "you weren't?"
me : "no"
WC foole : "well, he wasn't in the office and his assistant was Dr. #2 but he has to confirm the diagnosis/referral decision"
me : "but if he isn't in the office, WHO is supposed to write you the letter?"
WC foole : "well, it may be up to a week before he returns and forwards his letter to us"
me : " oh, ok, thank you very much, I'll just sit here, out of work, while you all pay my salary and my feet bleed on the rug"


click.

who are still visiting the school to see friends and teachers YEARS after graduation, LOL! The shame is that while the people haven't changed, the school is now delapidated and falling apart (as I type on "basic mode" because otherwise I can't post photos on the walls) and the grounds are full of ugly weeds.
Ya know, if the administration doesn't care anymore, why should I? I think that is why many of us no longer hang out here, but go to the malt shop across town. I can't continue to stir debate with the same people I have butted heads with for years, its a waste of time. The jokes are fine, the friendships are true and long-lasting, so I won't abandon it, but there's no longer any new discovery at mindsay.

As for my history here - I came almost exactly 6 years ago shortly after getting out of the hospital where I was treated for a serious case of staph infection. Hmmm, what goes around, comes around, eh?
The early posters that held my attention ran the gamut from JimS and his political commentary, to the truely unique expressions of a couple of high school kids in Knoxville, TN (let's see if I can remember their names - uh, the guy was Luc, very funny, expressive, original in his thoughts - the girl was ... I'm drawing a blank - no, it was Hannah - very valley girl kind of stuff, high school drama, but also very creative in some of the things she posted - I think Luc's family moved to California and she, obviously, graduated, but I'm not sure why she dropped away from mindsay, but it was about a phase in her life I guess, and had nothing to do with the site.
Most of the others, like Jim, are still here - we went through the getting to know you stuff and then settled into on-line friendships - some great stuff - I even had Nomad send me a song for my birthday several years ago and Nomad, if you are reading this, I still remember just how much that made my Mom smile and laugh when I played it for her!
I had a wonderful day and evening with Snuggs. Have yet to meet JimS in person, but am looking forward to it someday - as well as Patchesmom, Sojourner, and just about every one of the people on my friends list.
I'm sorry that I rarely venture out and blurf, as I called it - blog surf, to meet new people, I know I am missing out by keeping to the same, safe clique. But ya know, budget cuts at the school of Mindsay seem to have affected the number of new kids enrolling, and really, its a bit more quiet at that malt shop and easier to drop in and say hi and share news (and photos, and links, and . . .). I walked in the doors of twitter once and never figured out the appeal, not my kind of joint. But I'll keep my FB, its Bruce Brandon Chattanooga if you want to seek me out, and will also stop in here mostly because it is still where a lot of good friends (and teachers) remain.bb.

no little goblins came out to spook people, instead those nefarious little green elve-types invaded CVSs, Rite-Aids, and WalMarts everywhere instantly removing Halloween stuff and replacing it with Santa stuff. So let me be the first : Bah Humbug!

Here in eastern Tennessee we woke to an unusual sight - sunshine and blue skies!
Last night was the first time in 11 days that I went out


- had a pretty good time except for the bar owner who dressed as Brittney Spears in Twenty Years - scary! (pot belly, hooters tee shirt/shorts, and boobies hanging down to his waist (nicely done pantyhose attached to a brassiere with a pair of ?? in them).


And the surprise of the evening was a marriage proposal (that was not surprisingly accepted prompting tears from all the ghouls, uh, girls, present).



I was tempted to drop to a knee and propose myself, but I saw this red riding hood making out with a girl wolf, oh well, gorgeous all the same!



Well, Sunday afternoon already, beautiful day and no where to go, so here I sit.
Got new meds for the skin which is in pretty bad shape and will hope to hear from the hospital tomorrow with an appointment having been set with a specialist.
Lynn and Kim, thanks for the card!

And checkin' it twice
Of all the candy I'm gonna go out tomorrow
And buy half price!

Yesterday's headline : "Investors rush back into stocks as economy grows"



Today's headline : "Stocks plunge amid consumer worries"


as if one day of stock trading numbers mean anything at all.

I have not researched either the law or uses the military is using for the drones in recent attacks in Afghanistan, but saw a report today that the U.N. has warned the
U.S. *shaking in boots* that it may be violating international law in regard to using drones to direct assassination strikes against Taliban leaders in the war.

Without the answers (and of course the news source did nothing really to educate the reader on the topic) my reaction is to shrug - so what? How do you differentiate the moral acceptability of using a drone to strike a singular target for the purpose of killing a specific individual versus dropping a bomb on the same house to the same effect except that the bomb would potentially kill dozens of innocents?

That's all I got - anyone reading care to weigh in?

the article :

updated 8:58 a.m. ET, Wed., Oct . 28, 2009
UNITED NATIONS - A U.N. human rights investigator warned the United States Tuesday that its use of unmanned warplanes to carry out targeted executions may violate international law.

Philip Alston said that unless the Obama administration explains the legal basis for targeting particular individuals and the measures it is taking to comply with international humanitarian law which prohibits arbitrary executions, "it will increasingly be perceived as carrying out indiscriminate killings in violation of international law."

Alston, the U.N. Human Rights Council's investigator on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions, raised the issue of U.S. Predator drones in a report to the General Assembly's human rights committee and at a news conference afterwards, saying he has become increasingly concerned at the dramatic increase in their use, especially in Afghanistan and Pakistan, since June.

He said the U.S. response — that the Geneva-based council and the General Assembly have no role in relation to killings during an armed conflict — "is simply untenable."

"That would remove the great majority of issues that come before these bodies right now," Alston said. "The onus is really on the government of the United States to reveal more about the ways in which it makes sure that arbitrary executions, extrajudicial executions are not, in fact, being carried out through the use of these weapons."

Alston's warning comes as President Barack Obama is weighing how to overhaul the U.S. approach to the Afghan conflict.

Alston, a law professor at New York University, said that while there may be circumstances where the use of drones "to carry out targeted executions" is consistent with international law, this can only be determined in light of information on the legal basis for selecting certain individuals.

"What we need then is the U.S. to be more up front and say 'OK, we're prepared to discuss some aspects of this program,'" he said.

Alston said the U.S. should provide details on use of drones, disclose what precautions it takes to ensure the unmanned aircraft are used strictly for purposes consistent with international humanitarian law, and what measures exist to evaluate what happened when their weapons have been used.

"Otherwise, you have the really problematic bottom line — which is that the Central Intelligence Agency is running a program which is killing significant numbers of people, and there is absolutely no accountability in terms of the relevant international laws," he said.

I don't put vids from my camera to my laptop to a CD/DVD very often, but when I do, one repeated problem I have is that it apparently gets formatted in a way that only a PC can read. I find I can't play the finished CD in a television/DVD player.

Because I don't do it often, I can't recall from one attempt to another what, if anything, I did different. Can anyone give a simple solution for me like making certain a particular format is used? These are .mpg movie files.

that investors are pulling back money after short gains in recent months.
Long, boring industry critique to follow.
One of the two reasons for pessimism regarding the speed of the nation's recession recovery cited is that two railroads gave gloomy forecasts for future earnings.
This is a case of misdirection in my view and here's why :
Railroads increased business during the recession as trucking companies were hit hard by increases in fuel prices. Trucking outfits went bankrupt by the THOUSANDS and that doesn't even include the number of one-truck companies that are one guy, his truck, and his hopeful business. They went under in staggering numbers.
Shippers saw the effect on trucking, and turned to rail. Rail handles about 30% of frieght in this country, and of course not only do trucks handle over 70%, but they also have a slice of railroad's 30% due to the fact that frieght trains don't deliver to the back door of your local grocer, trucks do.

So the article I read is very misleading when an ecomonist points out that rail is an early indicator of economic times; TRANSPORTATION in general is an early indicator, and trucking specifically is the best early indicator (I left work in late mid 2007 in part because I saw this coming but of course Bush still had his head up his . . . oh, never mind).
Anyway, many shippers chose to try something that has been increasing in popularity and that rail has been trying to take advantage of recently (the past 10 years) - its called intermodal transport. Stuff leaves the plant in a truck pulling a container - those big steel boxes you see on trains and in ports. We have special trailer frames so the boxes become instant highway trailers when locked down. But instead of an over the road driver like me taking it to it's destination 900 miles away, the intermodal driver brings it to the nearest rail yard. There it is transferred to a flatcar, shipped to the destination city, then ANOTHER TRUCK DRIVER picks it up to bring it to the store, the distribution center, the manufacturing plant, whatever. This is how I lost my long term assignment with General Mills a few months ago. This is how the numbers for rail looked great last year and the execs thought they had a trend on their hands, that rail was about to increase its share of overall general frieght movement. They were/are wrong. Manufacturing schedules can not be met by rail supply - they are too slow. Urgent orders can not be processed using rail supply - the tracks are just as crowded as the highways and they do not have anything in place to grow any type of 'expedited' movement of goods (where-as a truck company can pull a driver off one delivery and put him on another immediately, or a team can be assigned so the frieght, as on a train, can move 24/7 and be cross country in a day and a half.

* some might say "wait - if he said a train can deliver frieght in a day and a half, where's the argument FOR trucking?". As I said, that freight on a train ONLY travels from point A to point B in that day and a half, it first had to get ON the train, then had to be scheduled to run cross country, then had to be delivered OFF the train to the consignee - I'll match trucking's door to door to rail any day *

So right now, after last year, manufacturers and shippers are learning that though they DID save money by switching to intermodal, they lost as much, if not more, in productivity.
Fuel prices are coming down, shippers are taking advantage of even lower rates in trucking. Part of the reason little outfits are going under is that they can't compete with a big firm like Schneider or Crete - those two have THOUSANDS of trucks completing deliveries every day - they can afford to price their service so that they only make $25 per load - hell, with 4,000 trucks a day, the firm is then still making 36 MILLION a year AFTER expenses! Show me an owner operator who can survive on $25 profit for a load that took him 2 days to deliver.
SO, the fact is, that trucking survived the great oil spike of 2008, downsized, laid off, cut back, low balled, cut corners, and bruised and bloodied, is shaking it off in 2009 with great expectations for 2010. Rail will lose the business they gained and still be hampered by their infrastructure problems. (you've heard of "truck only" toll lanes that some have proposed? it is mostly for safety reason. Rail wants a govt bail out to help them establish more track dedicated to helping them MAKE MORE MONEY.
And that just won't happen and so the execs this week put out negative growth projections for 2010 which for reasons I don't understand, media economists bought hook, line, and sinker as an indicator for the U.S. economy instead of what it is, an indicator for rail. The downturn for rail is not because of the economy of 2009, it is a "correction" as they call it, for the economy of 2008.
I'm not happy with the hits we truck drivers had to take, but I'm a lot more confident this fall than I have been since the spring of 2007. The next windmill to tilt at for us is probably equally unbeatable, and that is to get companies to pay us what we earn, and for the government to regulate pay in the industry and outlaw per-mile pay for driving. Sure, the trucking firms can charge clients per mile, but as an employee, I deserve pay for my time from door to door, not only the time spent with the wheels turning.
My thoughts, and I expressed them back in 2007, is that THIS is the time for trucking to make that change - consumer prices have risen little because trucking cut fees to keep business. Trucking likely will not increase fees even though fuel prices are now down - they should, however, and they should use that profit to restructure driver pay.