They Giveth and then they Taketh Away!

I have mentioned before, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is the epitome of government control combined with utter lack of common sense. This past Wednesday I learned - from a broker I was trying to set-up an account with to haul freight - that our Authority (permission to conduct interstate commerce) had been 'Involuntarily Revoked.' This resulted in me being stranded (sort of) in Jacksonville, FL with-out the necessary blessing of the FMCSA to haul freight.

You may remember, I was in Bowling Green as a monster snow storm passed just to my north thru Louisville, KY waiting to pick-up at least one and maybe two cars going to SC. I was working my way towards the Savannah, GA area to visit my dad who was having an out-patient procedure last Wednesday. I ended up with just the one car. Since Monday was a federal holiday, the banks were closed and the buyer of the second one I was hoping for was unable to make the payment and get the car released.

Monday afternoon I headed east across the Smokies just north of Knoxville. What a magnificent sight it was. There was 4" of snow on the ground but the roads were mostly clear; just a bit wet in places. The stark contrast of the dark limbed, leafless trees against the white snow gave an eiry three-dimensional effect to the landscape. The green limbed pine trees were weighed heavily with the wet snow. Frequently the rock had been blasted away for the road leaving a jagged stone wall on either side as you crested the hill. Apparently there had been some warmer days recently because the snow had melted and then refroze into a solid curtain of icicle's over this rock face. SPECTACULAR! This is why I love what I do - Travel the USA.

So I make my delivery Tuesday in Spartanburg, SC; reload about 50 miles away with a truck going to Jacksonville, FL; and continue on to Savannah in time for dads procedure. His thing went fantastically. We were at the hospital at 5 am; he was on the table a little after 7; and we were on the way home by noon. He was funny afterwards. He said he woke up in a hallway and and asked the nurse how much longer until they start. She told him they were done; he was in recovery. Good drugs!

I spent Wednesday night in Savannah and was setting up a reload for Thursday after I deliver in Jacksonville. SUPRISE! And I had a really nice trip set to take me to Tampa - about 30 miles from my paradise (see earlier ramblings). But no, not this time.

That's been two days ago and the problem is still not fixed. There seems to be a communication problem between our insurance company and the feds. The FMCSA requires - among a long list of other things - a filing from the insurance company verifying certain liability limits are in place. The insurance company says they did it. The feds say they haven't got it. Seems simple enough to me but this is the government we are talking about. Where time is NOT money. There is NO sense of urgency on either one of them's part. Such a simple thing, but obviously not. I have a copy of our declaration Page showing the coverages and dates but not good enough. Why is there such a HUGE dichotomy between the way out government works and the way a business works?

Ninety-nine percent of all politicians give the rest of them a bad name!

Perhaps if we just DON'T RE-ELECT ANYBODY things would improve. I dunno, but I think that is the only way we will ever get any real change in government - change the people like you change your underwear - frequently! (thank you Robin Williams)

I cannot go into detail about what has happened since Thursday. I prefer not to have any written record of whats up. But I will say that I am spending the next two weeks or so back in Treasure Island - Paradise. I have some friends coming down from Illinois - with their bikes - and we will enjoy life.