Of Short Hauls and Long

I was asked recently if I'd ever lived an adventure?  Who hasn't eh?  Taking a couple of rides with Pancake's dad in his rig comes pretty close.

Sometimes Pancake would have a "tricky back".  He'd limp around holding his lower back and screwing up his face. His back would get real tricky if his father asked him to come along on a haul.  I'd get to replace him; for me it was a treat.  Pancake's dad would swing by in his rig, hold his box of cassettes out the window and ask me if I could help him make a delivery.

Pancake's dad did a few little short hauls of food, but he also did some longer trips as well. 

The short hauls were fun because he new everybody.  You'd meet some real characters at 3 am in a grocery story loading bay.  Once we pulled up and four guys were singing "we are the walrus you are the egg man koo koo ka choo".  They sang it over and over again as they unloaded eggs.  One guy was singing it through the store's PA system.  They sang that every night when the actual egg man pulled up. 

The best part was the challenge.  Pancake's dad would challenge me to play any song and he meant any song, and he would name it and give you the artist to boot.  Bruce Fish would try to help.  He found this case in the dump and gave it to me for a trip down to Toronto. 

I'd bring my tape case as well.  We once drove to Sudbury and back and he got 174 in a row.  I'd be amazed, but he said  "it is no trick, just 25 years a driving truck".