Thinking about a Truck Tool Box

Something weird popped into my mind on the way home from a visit to Raleigh this week. As a pickup passed, I noticed the cross bed toolbox and it reminded me of my father's. He owned heavy machinery or land improvement equipment and his tool box as always a mess. When I purchased my F150, I promised myself to never own a cross bed toolbox. It is a status symbol for most truck owners. But I can not get the image of my father's tool box out of my thoughts and recollections.

Now, how can I describe his toolbox? The box was made out of some type of steel. It was wielded together and had a latch. He never had a lock on it. I never asked him why he did not lock the lid. It was the 60's and 70's, but that does not explain anything. Maybe it was because he could not keep up with the key. I have not idea why. He did have lots of stuff stolen over the years.

One time, I remember we drove from Chadbourn to Wilmington to buy a new gas powered chainsaw from some dealer. I do not think he kept it in the toolbox two days before it disappeared and was never heard from again. New tools, like socket wrench sets, seemed to dissolve in that toolbox. He would store motor oil in the old cans with a couple of nail holes in the top. Riding on the dirt roads of the Green Swamp (when it was dry weather) caused the cans to turn over and pour its contents in the bottom of the toolbox. If he ever put a paper bag in the toolbox with washers or bolts, the bag would fall apart. It took an "act of Congress" to find a washer in all that dirt, pine needles, leaves, and oil. The spilled oil was nothing compared to the bearing grease from the leaking grease guns all over everything.

This blog post will never make the search engine of Technorati, but nothing I have done online in the past 5 years has. Who cares.

I know why I won't ever have a butt ugly toolbox- they are nothing but oil, dirt, and beer can holders.

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.