Fellowship, drivel and education in polish

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Precious at Guilty by Association edit (800x602)

Well, we’re officially show veterans. The Precious was in the Guilty by Association show – she didn’t win anything, but she was there and she looked good and I don’t care if anyone voted for her at all. It was an experience I won’t forget.

I learned a few things about getting a truck ready for a show. Mostly, you need liquid and unspoken-for money. Our truck probably could have looked better if we’d had the tanks cut and polished, but letting go of that $300 for the sake of being pretty was something we just couldn’t afford – especially since we’re saving for the in-frame that’s looming.

We scrubbed her and put shiny new quarter flaps on her – it made a huge difference just doing that. I found that Murphy’s Oil Soap is absolutely the bomb on leather seats and walls. It smells divine and leaves the leather supple and shiny. Also, WD-40 works wonders for cleaning and polishing rubber seals and floor boards.

The night before the show started was almost as much fun as the show itself. We parked at the Petro and Buddy (Baggy Eyed Bob) met us. There were all manner of trucks being worked on, getting ready for the show, and the fellowship was fantastic. The boys wrenched on things and talked about their trucks while I scrambled around inside, scrubbing like a maniac. People were loaning tools and tire shine, and passing on information only truckers can pass on to one another. It was great.

One thing in particular stands from the rest of the learning experience.

While I was focusing on getting the dash clean, I noticed gross, sticky coffee residue on the gear shifter. (Side note: Hello, Freightliner. Could you please make the cup holders in your trucks fit normal-sized cups? I’m not sure what metric atrocity you use for the model now, but I’ve yet to find a cup in the history of mankind that fits properly in the cup holders of a 2004 Coronado. Thanks.)

Anyway, I finished q-tipping the dash (alcohol on a q-tip removes the scuzzies from around the displays) and began to attack the gear shifter. Here’s where the learning experience comes in: It was dark outside, I had the doors open and the lights on, so I could see the dirt, but did not realize I was on display for the entire parking lot – like a zoo exhibit. I grabbed the gear shifter and started scrubbing the shaft of it – using my mixture of alcohol and water to cut the grime and raise the shine. About four seconds into the furious cleaning display, I realized it had grown unusually quiet outside, so I glanced up, only to see a group of fairly mesmerized truckers watching me clean the gear shifter. They all looked like this: O_O

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I wanted to die from embarrassment, but instead, I melted into the floor and crawled back into the safety of the dark bunk.

So here’s to the learning curve. Remember, Murphy’s Oil Soap for the seats, alcohol on q-tips for the dash display, and just buy a cover for the gear shifter – or clean it in the privacy of your own cab.

(Today’s trucking tip was brought to you by the Queen of Drivel. Enjoy.)

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