A Summer at Hines Truck Stop

 

I saw that they recently tore down the old Hines Truck Stop. It had been derelict for years and it was overdue to be demolished.  I spent a summer working there when I was in high school, I would have been 16. I cleaned the floors and restrooms (Ugh) and was a fuel jockey.  This was back when no one pumped their own fuel and all the gas stations and truck stops were full service.

So the truck stop was situated on Route 40 which at one time was one of the main routes East and West across the country. When interstate 70 was built, that really slowed down the traffic to Hines.  It was about a mile from the interstate, but a new truck stop was built right there at the exit and so there was little incentive to go the extra mile to Hines.  Which was probably why Angelo, the owner, got it for cheap from the Hines family.

Angelo was a character.  He was Sicilian and there was speculation (never proven) that he was with the Mafia.  The Godfather movies had come out around that time, so anyone from Italy or Sicily had to be affiliated with the mob.  He had 2 Doberman Pinschers and I recall one time that he brought them into the kitchen and grabbed a couple of steaks from the walk in cooler and casually tossed them on the floor for them to eat.  If the health inspectors had known about this, they would have had a heart attack.

I can recall that there were some slow shifts where only 10 to a dozen trucks would stop by to fuel up.  But I remember also that some of the drivers would ask me about white crosses (amphetimines), pornographic tapes, etc.  I did not know anything about this stuff and I mentioned it to his son-in-law who helped run the place. He would just brush it off and told me that if anyone asked, I don't know anything.  Somehow they made enough money to keep the doors open is all that I know.

The son in law was always good for a joke and was a prankster.  The Ohio lottery was fairly new and they had scratch offs.  So he got a razor knife and rigged up a ticket to look like a winner. So a regular would come in order like 10 scratch offs.  They would all be losers generally and I would walk up and say I would like to try one - "I have never played the lottery before."  I would pretend to scratch if off and then act all excited when I "won."  It was all fun and games until one of the customers knew my father. My Dad came to the truck stop all excited and I had to sheepishly explain that it was all a prank.

One of my jobs was also to repair truck tires.  Back in those days they had the dangerous split rim tires. You had to inflate them in a steel cage because there was a danger of the split rim popping off and hitting a person. I had no encounters of this sort, but unfortunately this happened to the son in law years after I left.  My understanding was that it hit him in the head and he never was quite right after that.

I did learn the value of getting it right the first time.  It was common for drivers to come in and say," give me $50 of fuel"or sometimes 50 gallons of fuel.  You had to listen and get it right. Of course one day I got it wrong. The driver and Angelo got into an argument about it and the driver would not pay the difference. So the only thing to do was syphon out the diesel from the fuel tank.  Angelo got me a hose and a couple of 5 gallon cans and told me "You messed up, you are going to do this."

I had never syphoned fuel before and I had a hard time getting it started.  So finally I inhaled hard and it came fast! I swallowed some of that diesel and it about turned me green.  We syphoned off the fuel and got the dude on his way.  I was pukey for the next 24 hours and had to work the next day.  But that was the last time I made that mistake.   

And as long as we are on gross topics, there is one last story to relate.  This is back in the day before landfills.  There were dumps scattered around the county and everyone would just dump their trash there.  So every Saturday one of my jobs was to take all the trash that had accumulated during the week into the back of the pick up truck and haul it to the dump and unload it.  It wasn't too bad, it got me out of the truck stop for a bit.

One week the truck broke down and it sat in the hot repair bay for a week waiting for a part - with a week plus of trash in the back.  By the time it was repaired - it was ripe.  As you can imagine there were little white crawly things and the odor was horrendous.  The mechanic must have had a clothes pin on his nose when he finished work on it.  

So unloading that mess was bad enough.  But when I got back Angelo had one more job for me.  The truck stop had these enormous grease pits.  Instead of lifts like you see in some garages, the truck stop had concrete pits where the mechanic stood and worked on the truck above him.  Well the pick up was parked above the last grease pit.  My last task was to get a garden hose and spray all the stray maggots that had fallen into the grease pit down the drain.  Needless to say, I took a long, hot shower when I got home that day.

The truck stop limped along after I left and it finally closed.  It has been empty for decades, it will be interesting to see if a new business goes in there or what will finally happen to the property.

Some final thoughts on Uncle Vaughn

 It has been about 10 years or so since Uncle Vaughn passed away.  By happenstance I stumbled across some notes that were saved at the time of his passing.  I think we put this together to share for the funeral.  I thought that I would post them here for posterity.

Joe’s thoughts on Uncle Vaughn:

He was like Santa Claus in this respect - (Me: Uncle Vaughn - Santa Claus??)  he knew if I had been

naughty or niceHe knew many of the local principals, superintendents, and teachers.  So if I messed up,

he knew about it and let me know.  He always seemed to know what we did.  It was his way of keeping

an eye on us and letting us know that he was watching. That is a part of my childhood that I will miss.

Chelsea said that Uncle Vaughn reminded her of the coach from the Bad News Bears - Walter Matthau -

a curmudgeonly, but loveable guy.  He had that gruff attitude and if he didn’t care for you, he would just

listen to what you said, but not give any real feedback.  But if he liked you, he would give you feedback

and advice. He was a straight shooter and always told you what he thought without trying to cover things

up and making it nice.  

Me: One of my earlier memories is being a batboy for his softball team. And for the longest time Uncle

Vaughn was my supplier of Sports Illustrated magazines - until I went digital.  But that was our common

connection - sports. We talked about the local high school teams and how they were doing.  We discussed

Red’s baseball and Bengals football.  He is one of the few guys that would go to a track meet just to watch. 

I would be covering a meet for the paper and would sometimes see him at the fence and say hi.  He followed

Vanessa’s track/cross country career and went to many of her meets.  I know she appreciated him being there. 

I remember being tickled as a youngster by Uncle Richard when I was growing up.  And now I think I know

why - Uncle Vaughn used to pin him down at times and tickle him mercilessly. Uncle Richard was the youngest

and so he had no one to pick on in turn - that is until I came along!  I also remember the walleye that we got

from uncle Vaughn when he went on fishing trips to the Great Lakes and I remember fishing at the lake when

we were growing up.  

I was grateful that he kept tabs on the kids as they grew up and shared advice.  Sometimes when kids hear

things from another adult they will listen to them instead of their parents - even though we are both saying the s

ame thing.  And just like the kids, I was surprised sometimes by the things that he was able to find out about

them from his contacts at South. 

In many ways he was a very social guy - a member of a lot of clubs and organizations.  But in other ways he

was a very solitary guy.  Looking back, he did the things he wanted to do and he lived his life on his terms. 

There is something to be respected about a man who can do that. 

Little Green Men? Or Wright Patt?

 This would have happened in the late 1970's. My car broke down after dropping off my girlfriend around midnight. This was before the age of cellphones. So I started walking home. I lived out in the country and it was a long hike. I was about 2/3 of the way home and suddenly up in front of me I see an orange light shining down. Like a cone or a spot light. It looks to be a few hundred feet above the road maybe a half mile away and is moving slowly my direction as though it was following the road. I don't hear any engines - no sound at all.

I stop and it is getting closer. So at this point I am getting nervous. There is enough moonlight where I can see a telephone pole so I jump down in the ditch and go to hide behind it. The object stops - almost like it had just spotted me. The orange light turns off and it suddenly starts flashing red blue green colors. But it is stationary and has stopped moving.

It darts off to the North and goes like a mile or two and is now a little higher in the sky. I see two other flashing lights with the same red blue green colors flashing and they are at the same height and equal spacing apart. Suddenly they zoom up and out of sight.

To this day I do not know if I saw something extra terrestrial - the last spot that I saw them would have put them close to a power company sub station. Or maybe something the military was working with - I am not far from Wright Patterson Air Force base. But it was definitely something odd and to me at least, unexplainable.

Graduation Letter to Elaina Deeter

 

Congrats upon your graduation. You are the first of the first – the first child in your family and the 1^st grandchild. I remember when you were born. We got a call that you were on the way and we drove to Louisville in the dark of night. There were flashes of lightening and rumbles of thunder in the hills of Kentucky as we made our way to the hospital. We were all overjoyed to finally see you that morning. It was quite an entrance to the world.

I understand that you plan to major in astrophysics and go work at NASA. I would remain flexible with both of those options. Keep an open mind as you take classes, you could find another area of interest that excites you even more. And I would bet that SpaceX will make it to Mars before NASA, so they could be the more exciting employer – particularly with Elon Musk at the helm.

One area where you must remain steadfast is your decision to go to Ohio State. With the recent decision of the ncaa to pay athletes, they need your money to pay for that football team. Sacrifices are needed to keep those athletes happy.

It has been a long, dreary slog to get through school. I am sure that you are happy to have this phase of your life in the rearview mirror. New adventures, new experiences, new friends await. I recall your mother saying that you are leaving the Buccs to become a Buckeye!

Now it is time for advice. To quote Shakespeare – neither a borrower nor a lender be. People have a habit of not paying you back. And credit cards are so easy to use, but so hard to pay off. Be cautious of rich kids, they have nothing to lose. My 1^st roommate had rich parents. He stayed up all night and had a good time. Did not study at all. He flunked out of course, but then there was no repercussions for failure – his parents could take care of him. Most of us do not have that luxury.

Well I have rambled on for long enough. Enjoy this day as you have earned it after 12 years of drudgery. More importantly there is money enclosed – spend it as you wish!

The Grandparents Tilton

Graduation Letter to Gabe Bieker

 

Congratulations – you did it, you graduated. It was 12 long years of the grind – wearing upon the mind and soul. Hopefully the experience did not scar you too much. And the lessons that were learned - if you are lucky maybe 10% of that you will be able to put to practical use. A lot of drudgery for so little reward. But yet you got your certificate, so that is an accomplishment.

I have not heard if you plan to pursue your education beyond high school. If you do not, I could almost see why based upon the experience that most people have in their first 12 years of school. But there is something to be said about having some sort of certificate or degree. That will put your resume to the top of the stack when you apply to jobs.

And education at the next level is different. People want to be there, in high school the majority of students are there because they have to be. But at a college or trade school, students want to be there and they are paying money to do so. They are not just putting in time, they actually want to learn. So you will be around motivated people who are actually paying attention (and tuition).

Here is some more boring advice -so try to stay awake. Keep an open mind with your career. People make changes all the time until they find their groove. Your 20's are your ramp onto the highway. Try a career or 2 or 3. You are young enough to try and fail, or start all over again from the bottom rung if need be. But by the time you are in your 30's you should be on the highway of your chosen career. This will be your peak earning years as you get into your 40's and 50's.

Ok, enough of this drivel – more importantly there is money enclosed. So spend this as you will – have fun, enjoy the freedom while you can!

Your Great Uncle and Great Aunt Tilton

graduation letter to Lilly Powell

 

Young Lilly,

Sorry that we could not make to your graduation party. But Congratulations upon your 2^nd graduation and as I understand it – there will be a third graduation in a couple of years or so. All of this with the end goal of working at a zoo. Some would say that being on campus at the University of Tennessee is like being at a zoo – so that should give you some experience. However, I don't know that I would put that on my resume.

Now you are leaving the walls of academia where all things are possible, and preparing to enter the real world where yeah all things are possible I guess – but not very probable. I recall one of my college professors stating that you will only use about 10% of what you have learned at school. And I found that to be true. College does give you a good foundation of knowledge, but more importantly it teaches you to learn. So you will be learning how things operate in the real world of zoo's or whatever fauna based endeavor you choose to pursue. Academia will get you so far and get your foot in door, but once you get that 1^st job, your real education begins.

Now I have given thought to your goal of working at a zoo. If they offer you the job of working with tigers, I would decline that – no sense losing an arm or a leg. And elephants – cleaning up after them would be hard on the back. I would offer to the zoo that they allow you to set up Lilly's guppy world. No chance of being bitten or stomped on and the clean up is easy. And no artificial limbs or back braces in your future!

But seriously your 20's are your on ramp to a career. It is easy to start, stop, and try something else. You may do very well with your original goal, but keep your mind open. Lots of people start in one career, find something more unique, more challenging, or let's face it – something that pays better. So be ready to switch if an opportunity presents itself. Your peak earning years are in your 30's and 40's, so by the time you are 30 you should have locked in on a career path.

Also I would do apartments and rent so that you are flexible. You may start at some little outfit in say Wisconsin and then a job opens up at the San Diego zoo. So you want to be nimble so you can take advantage of an opportunity when it presents itself. Also you can try different areas and find places that suits your style. Once you get the right job in the right place, then you can put down roots.

Well I sure that you will treat this graduation letter as you did your last one... gone forever I am sure. But also enclosed is a check – enjoy.

A Good Age to be

 Mr. Wolf was our gym teacher.  He was a retired Marine instructor who served during the Korean war. So he could be intimidating, particularly when we were in junior high. I recall him teaching us how to stand at attention. Thumbs along the seams of your shorts, heels together, feet pointed out at the right angles, eyes fixed straight ahead - do not move your eyes when he walked by...  Quite scary for a 13 year old.

But I learned to like him - he was my gym teacher all the way through high school, he was tough but fair and from time to time would share words of wisdom.  Some of this I even remembered (imagine that!), and even shared with some of the players I coached.

So one day at the beginning of the period he asked us what we thought was a good age to be. We gave some numbers and he began to give us his take on the subject. My memory is a bit fuzzy after 50 years or so, but here is what I recollect:

Everyone at your age wants to turn 16 and drive. And that is great at first getting your freedom and being able to drive around.  But after a few months that is going to get old.  And 18 - you graduate from high school so that is a milestone.  You get your first taste of being an adult.  21 you can drink, but like driving you will get used to that, but you are still searching, still trying to figure things out.

And you will do this during your 20's, you're working, trying to get a career going.  You are probably in a relationship and getting that stabilized.  But around the time that you are in your 30's and into your 40's you begin to figure things out. You know where you've been, you know where you are going and you begin to develop your own philosophy of life.  You should be deep in your career and your relationships have stabilized.

When you get into your 50's and 60's you are still mentally sharp, but now your body begins to let you down. You don't heal as fast and that health you had as a young person is starting to fade.  Your family will be important to you, and you will have strong relationships.  Then as you age past your 70's, you get to a certain point as you age, you will change mentally and that will also fade.

So what is a good age? The sweet spot is in your 30's and 40's - you have things figured out, you have a philosophy on life and you still have your health.  The reason I tell you this now is that you are young teenagers, you are anxious and are searching.  I wanted to let you know that things will make sense as you get older. As you age, remember this little talk and see if it isn't true.