It was Christmas 1965...and I was riding to school with my two older sisters.  We lived about ten miles from school and each morning my oldest sister would drive us all to school.

My sisters in the front seat...me perched on the edge of the back seat leaning forward so I could be part of the conversation. (no seat belts back then.lol)

As my sisters talked about what all they wanted for Christmas...I listened...taking it all in.  They asked me what I wanted Santa Claus to bring me...

I said, "Well...I don't really need anything...but I hope Santa Claus brings a little girl in my class a new coat."

Wanda was really poor...and she wore a coat with holes in it...that came almost up to her elbows.  The other kids made fun of her and I felt so sorry for her.

My sisters both started crying...and I did not really understand why at the time.

I'd forgot all about this until a couple years ago...when my older sister mentioned it.  She ended up Principal over a large Middle School in North Carolina.  She told me how she had shared this teachable moment with many people over the years.

My sister told me how I'd snapped both of them back to reality that day.  While they were all caught up with the material wishes of Christmas...their little brother (me) had made them realize that Christmas is really about the Joy of Giving.

Wanda got a new coat...and the mean kids just figured out something else to make fun of her about.

Me...I spent most of my childhood defending kids like Wanda and putting bullies in there place.

Actually...not much has changed.  I still can't standby and watch anyone abuse someone weaker than them.

I hope each and every one of you has a Very Special Christmas this year.

Bill "Hardcase" Gillen

Tags: Life

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When I tell people that I see God...they look at me like I'm crazy.

But...I do see God whenever I have the desire.

Would you like to see God?

I'll tell you how to do it...

Whenever I see a smile on a childs face...I know it's God.

Whenever I see a rainbow...or the wind gently moving the trees...I know it is God. 

The beautiful sunrise...the awesome sunsets...a violent storm on a dark night...it is God.

And I love every moment of it....

Peace to all...and Praise God always and forever!

Tags: Life

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I still remember my Mama...standing at the kitchen sink pumping the handle of the old manuaal water pump filling pots to heat on the stove.  We did not have running water in the house until I was about eight years old. 

Mama would bring an old metal tub in that leaned up against the back of the house all week...but on Saturdays she brought the tub inside and placed it in the middle of the kitchen floor.

She'd heat the water on the stove...and we all took a bath...one at a time.  The washing order was the youngest to the oldest...and after all of us kids had bathed...my parents had their turn.  We all washed in the same water and by the time it was my parent's turn...the water was pretty dirty.

That's how it was back then...parents took care of their kids first...then they took care of themselves.

We were considered rich in the little town I grew up in...because our outhouse was a two seater.  The outhouse sat about 150 feet in back of the house and when you got up in the morning you'd have to brave the cold to just go to the bathroom.

Many times I sat next to one of my other family members...my parents or sisters...and took care of my business.  With my head turned sideways reading the Sears catalogue nailed to the side of the wall for toilet paper.  The wind whistling through the cracks in the walls of that outhouse.

My favorite toy...was a double barrel shotgun that shot darts.  It came with two rabbits and a duck that you'd wind up and let go.  They'd race across the linoleum floor in the kitchen and I'd take aim like a big game hunter and shoot them.

Yes...my favorite childhood toy was simple and cost very little...I'd gotten it for Christmas and played with it for years.  Toys like that are made of plastic now and not metal...they break within the first few minutes of playing with them.  lol

When I was ten years old...under the Christmas tree was a brand new 20 gauge single barrel shotgun.  And I carried it daily...and hunted daily.  I was always hunting something...and didn't worry about whether it was in season.  it was just part of life growing up in West Central Illinois back then.

When I was twelve years old...under the Christmas tree was a brand new 22 semi automatic rife.lol

Hunting...fishing...it was a way to put meat on the table.

Could America live like that again?  Could we survive if things got really tough?  I don't know about the rest of the country.  I guess the city folks would get used to eating the dogs and cats...but the country folks would survive.

My Dad taught me to hunt and fish...as he'd grown up in the Depression and he always thought that if this country ever suffered another Depression it would be important that his family could survive.  He made sure us boys could hunt and fish...and that the girls understood that whether it was squirels, rabbits, coons or ground hogs...it was all meat and you could prepare it to taste good and survive off of it.

My Dad was funny like that.  He'd go to town and buy cow tongue...baby calf brains or pork brains and come home and cook it up... He did it for a reason...so we would be prepared for the worst if need be.

Oh well...my ramble is over...my trip down memory lane...lol 

If your young...you better learn how to grab root and growl...because we got some tough days ahead of us in this country.  Hope for the best...and prepare for the worst...I learned that from my parents.

I hope each and every one of you has a very Special Merry Christmas this year.

Tags: Life

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I rolled out of the Los Angeles area and headed east. 

At the scales south of Barstow the DOT decided to put me through an inspection.  This happens often in the trucking industry...we are scrutinized by the law on a daily basis...everytime we cross a state line and sometimes several times a day.

I fought a hell of a storm crossing no man's land in Utah...and had to chain up to cross the Rockies in Colorado.  80,000 pounds of weight pushing me down the mountain..

Stopped and changed a ladies tire in Kansas...while she sat in her warm car...I changed her tire.  A State Patrolman passing by as I did the job...and he just kept on going.  She was nice enough to roll her window down an inch and shout a thank you before she drove away. 

It was an ice storm across Illinois...the ice four inches thick...and I could barely keep my truck in control.

The cargo was important...it needed to be to the store in time for the last minute Christmas shopping.

A storm over the Great Lakes dropped two feet of fresh snow on Ohio and Pennsylvania...and I continued on.

I had not been given the middle finger but maybe 3 times coming across the country this trip by unhappy motorists that hate us slow moving trucks.

When I landed in New York...and walked into the Receiving Office...the clerk said, "What the hell do you want?"

I told him, "I got a load of freight for you....get it off my truck or I'll take it back to where I picked it up at!"

Fighting the law...the weather...the extreme elements to get their load to them...and not a thank you one...just.."What the hell do you want?"

It's too close to get a load back west for Christmas.  I've got my trailer empty and I head to the truck stop.  Passing all the homes with their Christmas lights on...families all warm and cozy in their nice homes.

My own family 2000 miles away and we miss each other dearly on these holidays.  I'll share their joy over the telephone...listening to them opening the presents I bought for them.  Hearing their squels of joy...with tears running down my cheeks...but not letting them know that I'm crying.

A knock on my cab door...a homeless man about froze to death...so I take him in the local Waffle House and buy him a Christmas Dinner...my companion for this special dinner...a homeless person in need.  Then I give him a ten dollar bill as we part company...and head back to my truck.  I'd listened to the conversation of the few people in the diner...they talked about the "Ice Road Truckers" that they'd watch on the TV.  Hmmm...where were those ice road truckers when I was being pushed down the Rockies with 80,000 pounds behind me?

This is my life...and trucking is a rough life...a brutal life...and this is a story of a Christmas in my past. 

This Christmas will be only my 2nd Christmas I've been home in the last nine years.  It is working out I'll be there...at least it's looking like it anyway.  And I'll cherish every moment of it.

This year my friends...if you see somebody you know give a truck driver the middle finger...ask them not to do it...as truckers bring everything you need...and without truckers...America stops.

Merry Christmas to all...and to all a good night...

Tags: Life

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The Leftists...the Liberals...the Progressive/Marxists hated the movie Forrest Gump!  Why?  Becaue Libtards don't believe anyone can achieve greatness or be successful unless the Gub'ment does it for them.

Let me tell you of a few real Forrest Gumps I have known personally.

My cousin Sammy...who is dead now...but Sammy could not speak...he stuttered so bad you could not hardly understand him.  And Sammy worked every day of his life...eventually owning his own farm...and the Gub'ment never gave Sammy a thing...and Sammy never expected or asked for nothing from the stinking government.

My nephew Curtis...who was born with cerebal palsey...and has been an inspiration to me his whole life.  Little Curt did not want to play baseball on a team in a handicapped league.  He wanted to play on a normal team with normal kids.  Am I being politically correct here?  Not hardly...but Little Curt strived to be normal all his life.  He drives a car..a 2010 Camaro...and on crutches has worked as a bouncer in night clubs...he's owned his own business in the past...has girlfriends and has done well enough he plays professional poker and still works forty hours every week at a normal job.  The stinking government has never given Little Curt anything...and he don't want or expect anything from the stinking government.

These are real Americans...Real life Forrest Gumps who did not let anyone tell them what they could or could not do...they just went out and did it.  And if anybody tried to tell them they couldn't...they told them to get the hell out of they way and they did it anyway.

I watched my Uncle Van who drank himself to death by the time he was 65 years old...he was an alcoholic...a functioning alcoholic...and was very well respected for his sheet metal work.  When he walked into his shop in the morning he had a half pint in his back pocket...and when he came back from lunch he had a new half pint to replace the empty one from that morning.  He worked 7 days a week.  He went to work when the sun came up and did not quit until the work was through...usually after the sun went down.  Uncle Van did not want nothing from the stinking government...and he'd have been insulted if they'd tried to give him something.

I could write about people like this til the cows come home...as my life has been one of observing people for what they are...and not for what they are not. 

I respect all people...but I only honor those who deserve it.  And these are the kind of people I honor.  I honor them for their determination...for their work ethics...and for not expecting others to do for them or give them something...they did it for themselves.  They had self respect and never gave up.

May God Bless America Again...

Tags: Politics

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Life is not fair...it is just life.

Life is full of pain and sorrow...much work and toil...life is full of frustration and sadness...

Life is just life...90% of life is work...blood, sweat and tears...and every once in a while...maybe 10% of the time we get to laugh and enjoy ourselves.

Life is just life...it is not fair...it's often filled with injustice and fear...anger and bitter disappointment.

Life is a wonder to cherish...but it is not fair...it is just life.

We need to teach our children this...or they will expect what is not reality.

The schools teach our children they have "Rights"...Freedom of Speech...and then they grow up and get beat down in the street for speaking against the Government.  Our kids are taught by teachers who tell them we are all equal...and then they read about Ted Kennedy getting away with murder and Charlie Rangle getting away with tax evasion...and they watch the working men and women prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law.

Our Legal System...The poorer you are the more severe your punishment you receive in our courts...Why?  To set an example..."Punish the poor to keep the rich man in line."

Teach your children reality...that life is just life.  That getting your hands dirty and coming home tired after a hard days work is something to be proud of...and to beg is something to be ashamed of.

Teach your children that they are your direct representative in every step they take in life...that if they do good...then people will think good of you the parent...and if they do bad...they bring shame upon your family name.

This is life...live it...live it every minute with all the passion you can muster.  And when it is over...and you sigh your last breath...you'll pass on to the next world with a smile on your face...because you have lived a good life.

Tags: Life

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So...as a cab driver in one of the largest cities in America...I'd like to share something with you.

First off...the cost.  It costs me $137 a day to lease my cab.  The cost of fuel is about $3 a gallon.  I must wash and vacum my cab at the end of each day...that's another $5.  If I take a credit card...the cab company gets 5% for their trouble.

Here is the kicker...I am required to transport people who are on the Gub'ment Health Care...and I've never had one of them give me a tip.  But I also have to accept the reduced Gub'ment rate.  A $40 fare is reduced to about $30.  And often it is much worse...as the cab company negotiates a flat rate fare for short runs...like $7 to haul somebody 5 miles.  A 5 mile fare would normally pay me 12-15 dollars depending on how much you have to wait in traffic at lights and such. 

It sounds like a real money making deal...huh.  Let me explain.  Often you go to pick somebody up on the Gub'ment Health Care and they meet you at the door and say something like..."I don't feel like going today...I'll call my social worker and tell them."  I've just spent 20 minutes of my time and about 3-4 dollars of gas to get there and find they are not even going.  I get zip for that...not a dime and it cost me money.

You go on the next Gub'ment call and it's somebody that say's they were not suppose to be picked up for another half hour...but they'll try and hurry and get ready.  While you're waiting you confirm by radio they are lying their asses off...and you sit outside and wait for some ungrateful wretch to finish smoking his dope or snorting his crap so you can drive them to a bullshit out patient rehab that is just part of the stupid game that's not working.

Are they all bad?  Nope...some of them are on time and ready to go...they are on fixed incomes and can't afford a tip.  I want to tell you something...I love the elderly and it keeps me doing what I do.  I help them to the cab...put their walkers or wheel chairs in the trunk...and they are amazing people that really appreciate a good cabbie.  The elderly are not my complaint here...it's the younger people taking advantage of the system that piss me off.  They are ungrateful...rude...and think the world owes them something.  They are usually lazy...inconsiderate...useless wastes of a social security number...as they'll never use it for work at anytime in their life.

When it's all said and done...I've worked 24 hours straight... The cab company gets their cut...the Gub'ment forced me to haul people at a reduced rate.  I've risked my life moving around in areas of the city that would scare the Hell out of most sane people...and on average I'll make about $140 for my trouble.  I'll get about 4 hours sleep during the night...so I work 20 hours for $140...that's $7 an hour. 

I'm not complaining about the job...or the money...it's the young people taking advantage of the system that make my job hard.

The Gub'ment is not just taking advantage of cab drivers...they do it with Doctors too...and anyone else that they force to provide services to people.  Doctors receive a much reduced rate for the Gub'ment patients they must see.

As a cab driver...you are considered part of the public transportation system.  You cannot really refuse service to someone unless you feel it is either unsafe for you or the passenger.  I've refused to haul a few people around that were too drunk.  My rule is...if they are too drunk to stand up and get to the cab on their own...they are so drunk they might do something stupid...like open the door of the cab and fall out while you're driving. 

The people I'm talking about expect these services...they feel that just from being born in this country they are entitled to take advantage of everyone and everything they get near. 

I'm part of the Baby Boomer Generation...and I guess this new young blood breed of Americans will be called "The Entitlement Generation" because they feel they are entitled to everything for free.

Tags: Politics

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There is 60 trillion dollars in the world...and we are in debt 15 trillion. 

The Democrats have spent us into insolvency...are you happy now?

What should we call the new nation we will be forming? 

The New Progressive America?  Or how about Amarxica?  Maybe The United States of Marxism?  Hmmm...much to ponder...much to ruminate.

Hey...maybe The United Socialist States of America!  Since they are masking this Communism by claiming it's Progressive Socialism anyway.

Are you happy America?  You people that are collecting money from the Gub'ment that has been confiscated from hard working Americans in taxes.  I'm talking about the people that are collecting disability when there is nothing really wrong with them.  I'm talking about the businesses that continue to rape the American tax payer by demanding more and more in stimulus. 

Merle Haggard said it best when he sang, "We're rolling down hill like a snowball headed for Hell" in a song from the 70's.

Whatever name they end up calling the New America...it will not be honest.  It will be a name that will try to hide the truth...the truth that we are no different than any dictatorship around the world.  We have a Government that does not protect its citizens...but rather robs them off their hard earned money.

You...you Democrats...have destroyed this country.  You Marxist/Progressive Democrats have spent this country to the point of insolvency.

Now...you can form that nation you dreamed of 150 years ago.  You can enslave the citizens with economic slavery and not create a pesky Constitution.  Only the Rich and Wealthy will have Rights...  You can continue to take from the poor and give to the rich...with stimulus & tarp programs. 

You...you Democrats make me sick.  How do Democrats sleep at night?  It took Bush 8 years to get us 5 trillion dollars deeper in debt...and it's taken Obama 2 years to get us 5 trillion dollars in debt.  It took Osama Obama only two years to increase our debt as much as Bush did in eight years.  And you Democrats support this kind of Government?

YOU MAKE ME SICK!

Tags: Politics

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People need to understand...the reason the Democratic Party wants to destroy America dates back 150 years.

The Civil War was not fought between just the North and the South...it was fought between the Republican North and the Democratic South.

Abraham Lincoln was the first Republican elected President.  If you read the History of the Republican Party, you'll find that the GOP was formed for one reason...TO END SLAVERY.

If was Democrats that owned the Plantations in the South...and they took up arms against their fellow countrymen.  Why?  Because they wanted to start their own country...and they failed.

So...the Democrats were so upset at losing the Civil War...they started the Ku Klux Klan...pushed all the Jim Crow Laws off on the rest of the country...and have been working hard for the last 150 years to destroy America...so they can start their new country...a country without a pesky Constitution...so only the rich people will have Rights...and we will all be nothing more than economic slaves.

The giving to the rich continues...with the attachments to the Bush Tax Cuts Bill...with almost a TRILLION DOLLARS being handed out to rich people.

President Borat Insane Obozo and his Insane Clown Posse (Congress) are trying to bankrupt this country.  They are using Capitalism to defeat Capitalism....by spending money so fast we become an insolvent nation.

The Democratic Party has deep ties to the Unions in this country.  Go back and study the Labor Movement in America...it was funded by Communists.  Teamsters Union...Soviet Union...do you see any words there that are alike?  UNION...as in Communism.

We have a President who proudly proclaims he is a Progressive...which is a Marxist!

Yes...the Democratic Party wants to destroy America...and if you support Democrats...you are on the wrong side of History.

Tags: Politics

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