Drifter Radio

Drivers forget to realize that driving is one of the most dangerous activities people do on a daily basis. Awareness of the road is the most important skill to cultivate for safety. Many people are unaware of the world around them if they are distracted, younger, or their senses are getting old. As a driver, you need to look-out for everyone.

The most important driver safety rules:

1. Keep a space-cushion of at least two seconds with the vehicle in front of you. If you are driving a semi, it takes longer to come to a stop, so this cushion should be extended beyond 2-seconds. 
2. You can figure out how far back you need to be by picking points on the side of the highway; when the car in front of you passes this point, start counting how long it takes for your vehicle to go past that point. If you pass that point before two seconds, then you need to back off from the vehicle in front of you.
3. Continuously check all of your mirrors and space on either side of the cab. Driving situations can change in seconds especially if you have people driving faster than the speed limit.
4. Look 10-seconds down the highway instead of right in front of the vehicle. Not only is it easier to drive straighter down the road, but you will have ample time to react to situations.
5. Use your blinkers to signal your intentions. Give other drivers time to react to you.
6. Don’t drive tired, drunk, on certain medications, or with a full bladder.
7. Don’t drive distracted and have both hands on the steering wheel.

Driving is one of the most hazardous activities people engage in daily, yet many often overlook the inherent risks. Maintaining a high level of awareness on the road is crucial for safety. Distractions, youth, or aging senses can impair a driver’s ability to stay alert. As a driver, it’s essential to remain vigilant, not just for your safety, but for everyone around you.

*More tales from truck driving 20-years ago. New book should be out this summer.

Police Standoff in Michigan

One thing about trucking, you will see some crazy stuff on the road especially in the country and the rough parts of cities. While delivering parts to a large auto-manufacturing plant in Michigan, I find myself in a surreal situation.

As I am driving by this massive building I need to deliver auto-parts to, and wondering where all of the workers are at, I realize there is a group of squad cars parked down the road with their lights on in one of the four lanes of this city street.

I wonder what happened?

I slow down and maneuver over a lane to pass by the clustered squad cars. As I pass by the cruisers, I realize that all of the cops are behind their cars with guns pulled on a house. 

Here I am. Just rolling by. With a front row seat of an armed stand-off.

One of the cops looks at me like I am crazy and gives me a hand signal to keep my head down. I do my best to duck-and-cover while driving. They didn’t teach this maneuver in truck driving school.

*I am working on my next memoir that includes being an over-the-road truck driver in 2002. This is an excerpt from the 1st draft. Enjoy!

The first time I get behind the wheel in driver-training the truck does not have a trailer.

We are “bobtailing.” 

Bobtailing changes the braking dynamics significantly, as there’s less weight over the rear axles, leading to reduced traction and longer stopping distances. I discover this the hard way when I approach a freeway on-ramp cloverleaf too fast. As I navigate the tight curve too fast, a police cruiser pops up around the bend ahead of me. 

My adrenaline kicks in as I realize I am closing the gap too quickly.

Instinct kicks in, and I slam on the brakes, feeling the tires screech and protest against the pavement. The truck skids a bit, and I fight to maintain control, desperately trying to avoid a collision. 

The sensation of the rig sliding without the usual weight of a trailer is unnerving, and the distance between my bumper and the police car’s bumper evaporates in a heartbeat. 

Miraculously, the truck comes to a stop just inches from the police car’s bumper. 

I nearly hit a police car within minutes of getting behind the wheel for the first time on the clock.

I expect that the officers will pull me over.

But they don’t. Perhaps, they too, are happy that there was no-harm done. 

Today, the planets aligned.

“Six planets will align in the sky and become visible to space-lovers in the Northern Hemisphere in the the early morning hours of June 3. Jupiter, Mercury, Uranus, Mars, Neptune and Saturn will all appear to line up with each other around dawn Monday.” – Starwalk.com

Here is to alignment!!!

I think this is a sign to talk about interplanetary drifting and real estate.

This past week The Current out of Twin Cities tuned me into this song as I was driving around Savage, Minnesota.

The audio-engineers did well. Loving the drums….can’t tell what is being said, but it has a good cadence.

I crank it up and jam it as I try to imagine the storyline of the artists. They are releasing a new album called “Romance” in 2024.

When I get home from my commute, I look up Fontaine DC on YouTube.

Watch and listen to the non-music video first.

Then, see if what you imagined lines up with the official music video.

“Make people around you better!” is a great mindset I have tried to emulate for decades.

I feel like that is one of the best mindsets to navigate life and teach foosball.

To clarify, I’m not talking about being a “grammar nazi” (unless they are a writer). I’m not talking about how you should totally rearrange your life. (Unless that’s what you are looking for.)

I’m talking about helping humans maximize themselves in areas such as energy-level, positivity, communication, foosball skills…etc.

I’m talking about helping beings with whatever skills, talents, and background they have been blessed or cursed with.

I’m talking about helping people be a little bit better than their former self.

1. Help people stay “loose.”

While some people need to tighten up their world perspective, it seems most people in our world of stress and anxiety, need to loosen up a bit.

2. Demonstrate your own excellence.

The way humans learn is from other humans.

Try to bring your best-self. Human excellence, in any skill, is copy-able by other humans. Give people your best. Push your own limits and share.

People love a good example of excellence because it helps them conceptualize a high level of awesome that they might not able to discover on their own.

Human minds love excellence (or even a higher level of goodness). If a person is paying attention to your excellence, it can help pull them up a level.

3. Don’t preach unless you can be preached to.

Communication is a two way street. Regardless of what is trying to be communicated to me, excellent advice or not, I try to learn something while also trying to communicate.

Many times the message spoken to you is for you.

Sometimes it is not.

Sometimes a person needs to just vocalize thoughts in their head just to hear it themselves.

Know when to listen. Know when to preach.

It makes the conversation more dynamic and educational for all parties.

4. Humor as strategy

This goes back to thought #1.

A well placed word/idea in a stressful moment is gold if it teaches and helps someone get into their zone of excellence.

I am from both a family of grave diggers and US Army infantry.

Death has been a part of my background probably more than most. As such, I recognize one of the paralysis’s of the human mind and non-excellence is centered around “death.”

Non-excellence can happen because of non-action (aka thought-paralysis).

It seems that both the grave digger community and the infantry community use humor to help combat this paralysis. Humor is part of the strategy to keep marching on.

Humor can help get a person beyond mind paralysis.

Existential-humor is a tricky art however, so I recommend using family-friendly humor in foosball.

5. Reaffirm the Goal

Why are you here? What are you trying to achieve?

How do we achieve it? What do you need to know?

Downside of Making People Better in Foosball

One of the problems with helping people get better at foosball is that they will probably start kicking your ass. Minor problem, but worth noting.

It is a small price to pay however. You demonstrate excellence. They learn. They kick your ass.

The next question is: what’s the next level for myself?

“I went to California with only the clothes on my back.” Wali-G (2003)

After hitchhiking to the $250,000 Warrior Foosball Tournament in Las Vegas, sponsored by Brendan Flaherty, I was offered Hollywood recording studio and real estate-drift.

No pay offered. No time to get my backpack from my aunt in Las Vegas.

Made sense on the foos-journey.

Just the clothes on my back. Head to California for the next drift.

“Yep. Sounds good.”

Tip #1: Don’t bring much along.

What is the bare necessity for drifting?

If you can’t physically carry it over many miles, you probably don’t need it.

Tip #2: Stay light with the stuff you need.

Be materially-minimalistic with your journey.

Your back and knees will thank you.

Tip #3: Plan for the Terrain

“If you are heading out into the wildness,

you are going to need more than just a spoon.

If you are headed to the city,

they have spoons.”

Wali-G

Also important when drifting North America: the elements and time of year.

You don’t want to get stuck walking 7-miles down a highway in Colorado in November…..

…in the middle of a snowstorm…wearing a wool blanket that you brought to sleep-in.

Perhaps the “foos poncho” will never be fully appreciated by people if they have never walked through snowstorms in November in Colorado on the side of the highway,…

If you do find yourself in this situation, as you hitchhike to Las Vegas, I would put your foosball number and/or name on the back of your travel wear.

A black marker is all that is needed to brand your foos-poncho tech.

Embroidery or screen printing recommended.

Foos-poncho tech offers multiple benefits:

1. Light because it serves multiple purposes. Sleeping system, snowstorm gear, etc.

2. Visibility-safety purposes: “don’t run me over; I’m on the side of a highway in a snowstorm.”

Tip #4: Tourist and Curious Vibe

When drifting the world, to places and experiences unknown, bring a childlike-discovery mindset, but with an adult-sense of wonder.

Tip #5: Host

Bring peace to wherever you stay.

The Las Vegas Hall of Fame Foosball Tournament is going on this weekend at the West Gate hotel in Sin City. Tune in to catch some livestream foosball action this 4/20/2024 Saturday afternoon.

Open singles will be kicking off this afternoon at 1pm PST. Finals at 3pm PST.

The livestream is broadcasted by Modern Foos on Twitch:

https://www.twitch.tv/modernfoos

Check out the foos flyer for the event at:

http://ifptour.com/tournaments/2024/halloffame-classic.html