Daily Dose of Sultnpapper 08/29/18> back on the road and not…Life in the Fast Lane.
Have I...Sure I have ...
Have I ever told you I do a lot of driving? Sure I have, upwards of 40 to 45 thousand miles a year, but it wasn’t until Tuesday on my trip to San Antonio that something hit me and another revelation came into my mind.
In the last century...
Back in the mid 70’s of the last century I was fresh out of high school and I knew everything there was to know in life, or at least I thought I did like most young males. It was in 1976 a singing group that went be the name the Eagles released a song titled “Life in the Fast Lane”, I can’t remember just how well that song did but I remember it was on the album Hotel California which I know did extremely well in sales.
Life in the fast lane...
On my trip over to San Antonio on Interstate 10 the speed limits once you get a couple counties west of Houston jumps up to 75 MPH and people use every bit of that 75MPH and then some, but I have chosen to take the slow lane at this point in my life. While watching as I am being passed by just about every type of vehicle that was on the highway that old song, Life in the Fast Lane, came to my mind.
An accurate description...
While I couldn’t remember all the lyrics to that song as I was driving I could remember the opening line which is, “He was a hard headed man, he was brutally handsome.” That line right there was probably an accurate description of me when I was in my late 20’s and early 30’s you would never know it by looking at me today but trust me, I cleaned up pretty well back then and I had all the right lines when it came to catching the ladies.
Lose your mind...
Another line of the song I also remembered but I did go and google it just so I wouldn’t leave a word out or add a word but even plus or minus a word it is easy to understand, “Life in the fast surely make you lose your mind.”
Just how fast...
I see a bunch of people in the fast lane every time I am on the freeways and I am almost afraid now when I drive the freeways that song will keep coming to mind, because I think most of those people may in fact have lost their minds. Just how damn fast does a person need to travel down the highway?
Like I am sitting still...
I do 70MPH in the slow lane and I kid you not, there are people passing me on the left that make me feel like I am sitting still in a parked car. One semi truck on Tuesday loaded with four big coils of rolled steel passed me and he had to be well into the 90MPH range of speed. The air turbulent coming off from his truck shook my truck as he blew by me. I had seen him coming in my mirror so it didn’t startle me but had I not known he was coming, and hauling ass, it might very well have.
Absolute truth...
For that driver, “life in the fast lane surely make you lose your mind” was the absolute truth. I was expecting to see him pulled off on the side of the highway at some point ahead by one of the state sponsored highway robber gangs know as the police, but if anyone ever deserved to be robbed it would be him, I never did see him on the side of the road though.
Can it be taught...
But thinking as I was driving made me realizes one thing that is hard to teach, if it can be taught at all, and that is patience. I used to be a pretty impatient person but as I have gotten older I think the one thing that has grown is my patience. The Papper kids are extremely lucky that they came around later in my life and not back when I was in my 20’s or early 30’s and that probably could be said for the Mrs. as well.
Impatient and a fighter...
Not only was I impatient; I was also one of those people who never let the opportunity of a good fight go by without at least giving it a good go. Sure I got my butt kicked a few times, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t, but I never walked away from a fight out of fear. There were two that I look back on and wish I had, but even those taught me a lesson.
Like I said...
Like I said earlier, I don’t know if you can teach patience but I can see in the oldest boy some of the same characteristics of me when I was younger and I need to work on him more about a couple of those. He is at the point that he knows everything in his mind and so I am challenged with that to begin with, just like I was.
Maybe some lessons...
So I think I will work on teaching him how to pace himself, it seems young folks know nothing about pacing. He is always in hurry, hurry to work, hurrying to the gym, hurry to here, hurry to there, it shouldn’t be like that and so he needs some pacing lessons.
Why all the pushing...
I think one thing that might have something to do with the lack of learning to pace yourself when it comes to kids is that the education system is always pushing them. “Hurry up and get busy with your paper” is something I heard plenty of times coming out of teachers mouths. Instead of encouraging the kids to take their time and think about what it is they have as the task at hand and then going about it in a steady methodical way. How can you write something you haven’t even thought of yet? I know plenty of people who say things they haven’t thought of yet and they usually end up having to go back and straighten up a mess because of it.
The album Hotel California...
Somewhere in that old wooden orange crate that I have all my old vinyl albums in, there is a copy of the Hotel California album from back in the 70’s and I need to see if the old turntable stills works and spin it this weekend for old times’ sake. I might just be sure to play it when the oldest boy is around too.
Let me take this call...
As luck would have it the Mrs. called while I was writing this since we couldn’t have our evening chat outside looking at the stars and the sky so I found the Eagles on You Tube and have it playing in the background as I am finishing up here. The Eagles were a really good group in my opinion, and I was born and raised on country music, so that is something coming from me. Here is a link to the single, Life in the Fast Lane, go take a listen to it now
Final thought...
“Don’t let the sounds of your own wheels drive you crazy”, Eagles.
Until next time,
@sultnpapper
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Geez 70 in the slow lane? Must be wide open space over there. Life in the slow lane will also drive you crazy :music: . Surprising also that a giant truck is doing that too. Well let's see what happens when cars start to drive themselves....
I never gave it much thought to the self driving cars but I can tell you that on the highways in Texas the will flat get run over if they aren't equipped with a program that takes into account the fact the most people speed on Texas highways , people like me who actually drive 5mph under the limit are pretty rare, but the truck I drive is over 200,000 miles and I just don't trust her anymore at over 70mph.
There's a great deal of wisdom in these words, and I for one, could probably do with a good dose of slow down. I'm not the fast around, but I do tend to rush from one thing to the next. I think teaching does that to you sometimes. It's such a fast paced job. Yes, I'm also guilty of being the one pushing students to hurry up on their paper.
Thanks, @sultnpapper for taking the time to write this. I thoroughly enjoyed reading every last word.
Thank you Steve. If life has taught me anything it has been to slow down, when I went from being a cowboy and working cattle and on ranches into "city " type work it sped me up way faster than my natural comfort level. I been working on getting back there but it has been a slow process when everything around you moves at a "break neck" type pace.
This reminds me of a saying "slow and steady wins the race" and what are we racing anyway? Life. Not really racing but the metaphor stands. Always running and going fast with no stopping and enjoying is not really living, is it? People are always so focused on achieving 100 different goals that they fail to realize they forgot to enjoy the journey to those goals. There is nothing wrong with wishes, wants, plans, I always encourage those but I also encourage people to slow down and smile once in a while.
Thank you for such an interesting read, I enjoyed it. Stay safe on the road and do have that talk with your son about it too. Much love 💚
Thanks @zen-art that old saying is very familiar to me and it is exactly what "pace" is all about and fits perfectly. Thanks for putting that in your comment and sharing it here, I love old sayings and I am surprised at myself for failing to use it in such a fitting application.
Welcome to the #steemitbloggers community! So glad you're there now! 😊
Thank you Kitty. I see a lot of familiar folks and a bunch of new ones I am eager to get to know better.
I remember that song by the Eagles; my favourite was take it to the limit once again
The Eagles had plenty of great music, Take it to the limit is definitely on that list.
The Eagles are definitely a good one
They were/are one of my favourites from back then
I wish you the best reaching through to your son
I guess we have all been there, youth makes one feel invincible 😊
Thank you @kaerpediem for the best wishes, he listens when I am able to corral him long enough to visit with him. I am on the road a lot during the week and so it is harder once they get where they are also mobile and free to move about without the parents needing to take them places.
Youthfulness does have a way of making one feel invincible, a good butt kicking every now and then helps keep that in check though.
hahaha
Yes, a good butt kicking helps put things in perspective,
at least for awhile
Then it's to rinse and repeat (that's for mine) 😊
So much great thinking during a drive. I must say you have spoken so much wisdom to us readers. I tend to be impatient sometimes but I will remind myself before reaching the destination that the process matters as much as the destination. Thanks for such great sharing, @sultnpapper :)
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When the radio in my truck quit working a couple months ago that was a good thing and I am glad I haven't fixed it, gives me a lot more time to think about things and not be influenced by the talk shows I used to listen too.
That's a wise decision itself! I love thinking in my car when I'm driving. It's like suddenly I can hear myself clearer.
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I thought I would miss it, but I actually love it now. I don't need Rush telling me how I should think about things and that went on way to long, I would bet he is still talking about the "Russia " investigations if I had to guess, at least once or twice a week.