Black River and the Lake

During Memorial Day, we traveled to Lake Waccamaw and Black River. Our F-150 carried all our coolers, and stuff with no problems. Gas prices hovered around $3.19 per gallon. The truck has around 25000 miles on it now. I have noticed the tires are not balance as well as they should be, because cups in my cup holder are vibrating much more than previously observed. This will be addressed on my nexted scheduled tire rotation and oil change.

God All Mighty- When will gas prices settle a little?

Tomorrow, will this morning, my truck is going to get a wash job. For the past two weekends, family plans have taken priority over scrub brushes and water hoses. I can hardly tell if my truck is white or gray. Gas prices in Columbus County are below the national average. They will probably hop up this weekend and make it above the $3.09 I saw on my way home this afternoon.

I see a ton of S-10 Chevy small trucks on the roads. They are mostly raged out, but folks are driving them. The ones I have driven did not get more than 20 MPG. I can get near that with my F-150. Driving habits are important. Slow and steady acceleration and stopping. Traveling below the speed limit is a good trick. We have a four lane highway that connects Chadbourn and Whiteville. The posted speed limit is 70 MPH. However, I never get over 65 MPH on it. Now, on my way to work, log trucks, freighters, and mini-vans driven by little moms with cell phones tattooed to their ears, run over me everyday. Aggressive drivers waste carbon, and make how highways a scarily place.

I am sure they say, there goes that old fart, always driving slow and getting in my way. I say to them, buy more gas, the oil companies need the profits.

Strawberry Festival Time again!

My daughters are home for this year's festival. It is hard to believe it is time already for the parade. The weather this year is much cooler than average. Last year, it was too hot. I just read the weather forecast I subscribe to from WECT-TV.

It has been a few years since we have had rain on the parade, but unless George Elliott is way off, we will be fine for the parade. Just carry your wind-breaker, baseball cap, and an umbrella.

I will post photos later today.

Greetings from George Elliott at WECT-TV! Here's my outlook...

We need the rain, and although it looks like a weekend event, we'll have to take what we get. Showers will increase across the area today and especially tonight, and most likely linger into the first part of Sunday. Some spots could see an easy half inch, with isolated higher amounts if an isolated t'shower passes overhead.

A complex storm system to the west will transfer energy along the Carolina coast tonight through Sunday, and this will develop a potent offshore low pressure area. In the process, showery weather will spread across the area, and winds will pick up Sunday into Monday as the storm system offshore intensifies and high pressure from the Northeast builds down the eastern seaboard.

Precipitation should end as the storm system moves (but stalls) east of us by late Sunday into early next week. Eventually, the storm center to our east will weaken and will move farther out to sea.

Mostly cloudy with patchy showers developing today; high lower 70's. Northerly wind becoming easterly 4-16 mph.

Cloudy with showers likely tonight; low around 60. Easterly wind 4-16 mph.

"Deer Hunting" with my F-150

On the way home from work, I noticed what I thought was a neighborhood dog walking down the shoulder of the road. I was in a residential area beside the Whiteville Country Club. It had to be a dog...

However, within a second, the "dog" turned and I could see it was not a dog, but a whitetailed deer. Then to make things worse, two or three more stepped out of the undergrowth and crossed the three foot wide shoulder of the round- BAM! I had slowed to almost a complete stop and was trying to slip by the deer as they grazed on the green grass growing on the edge of the road. I glanced in my side mirror and noticed the what looked like a deer staggering in the middle of the road behind me. It was almost dark. The doe had darted into the road and hit right on my drive side door and scraped the side of my new F-150. I knew it was not going to be good. It was just dark enough I could not see the damages on the side of my truck. I was ready to go home, and knew that the since I was the only one involved and no humans were injured, I did not need to call the highway patrol. It was up to my insurance company to pay the damages.

The next afternoon, I drove down to the insurance office. Those folks are so nice. They reassured me that I had been very lucky. The clerk at the front desk told me several horror stories about deer and automobiles. There was an elderly lady sitting in the office, with a walking cast on her foot. She over heard me whining about the deer and my truck and politely interrupted my conversation to tell how she had spent 5 days in the hospital as the result of a big buck jumping into her windshield, causing her to run into a ditch and totaled her Cadillac. She was going to physical therapy to get where she could walk without limping on her broken ankle.

SOME SUGGESTIONS ON WAYS TO AVOID DEER-VEHICLE COLLISIONS

The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission recognizes the growing problems with deer-related accidents in our state. As both human and deer populations continue to grow, some of these accidents are unavoidable. Here are some steps that may help a motorist avoid many of these accidents.

Deer are most active near daylight and dusk and on dark, overcast or foggy nights. Motorists should reduce their speed during these times, especially in areas known to be frequented by deer.

Drive with headlights on high beam when possible. Watch for eyes reflecting in your lights especially at field edges or posted deer crossing areas. If you see deer, immediately reduce your speed, even though the deer may be a considerable distance from the road. Your headlights may cause them to panic and run at any time.

If you see a deer cross the road in front of you, don't assume that all is clear. Deer often travel in groups and one will often cross right behind the other.

Don't place your confidence in "deer whistles" or other "ultra-sonic" devices claiming to prevent deer collisions. We are aware of no scientific evidence that these devices are effective. (My parents swear by these)

Support legal and ethical hunting as a means of keeping deer numbers at levels where they can be enjoyed by all. Please, ya'll get your limit, and help your friends with get their limit too!
http://www.ncwildlife.com/pg06_CoexistingWildlife/pg6a.htm#5