Anticipation Trumps Reality

Being a "little" OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) has it's upsides, my friends! If one is going to be on a road trip for thirty days, 5,000 miles from home, in a truck camper with two of your children, and you are hard-wired to be a boot-strapper with a fierce streak of Scots-Irish independence, then you attempt to anticipate every conceivable mechanical dysfunction (non-mechanical ones I wash my hands of). For example, what if we accidentally lock ourselves out of the truck somewhere up in Nome, and it’s 20 degrees below zero! I’ve got FIVE key back-ups. Each of us carry one in our wallet, and I’ve got two concealed on the exterior of the truck, that with a hefty stone that is capable of breaking things, will expose two more.

The anticipation is ramping to the point that I’m up at 2:00 a.m. frying eggs, hoping they will act as a soporific. I have a daily check list that I go through. Every time I eliminate one item, I replace it with two more. For example, the weight on the rear-end of our 2500 Dodge 5.9 litre Cummings 2007 truck with 103,000 miles is such that I’m concerned my headlights on low beam will be the equivalent to headlights on high beam. To address this, as road conditions may vary, I purchased a Tork 20 wrench (never heard of that before) which enables us to make our own adjustments on the fly. I had never been in a Napa Auto parts store before. In the last two weeks I’ve been in countless times for spare bulbs, tire-repair kit (we have a 12 volt air compressor that plugs into the cigarette lighter), and other odd-ball items. Now Joe, (Anna’s husband) suggested I get a “bra” for the front of the truck. A big diesel macho truck with a bra?! Yea, right!

This spotting GPS unit (click the link on this blog) that plots our every move is a little intimidating for those of us that are slightly paranoid. I’m having a business lunch with a couple of friends two days ago when I get interrupted by my son Paul with an e-mail wanting to know what I’m doing at a Bob Evans in Wadsworth, Ohio in the middle of the day!

One of the coolest things our people came up with is a QR Code. Don’t feel bad if you don’t have a clue what that is. I didn't know either. I would describe it as a bar-code on steroids. It is square, rather than rectangular. With your smart phone (only works with smart people) you can download an app that allows you to take a scan of the code which then opens up the website connected to the code. Restaurants are starting to use it on their menus. In Japan they are putting them on tombstones. Now Mary (my graphic designer) wants me to get a tattoo for my China trade show in October that will enable customers to scan my forehead, and open up a link straight to PGD! The QR Code will be mounted on the back, and each side of the truck, along with the URL of our blog. Whip out your smart phone, scan us, and you’ll get these updates! (or type in the URL if you’re old school).

The foregoing are things I can prepare for. What I'm incapable of prepping for are the dynamics of two alpha males, and one alpha female cooped up in this pickup truck for a month! Do stay tuned. If there are no misadventures, we will all be disappointed. It is the unexpected things that go wrong, and how we respond to them, that will make the memories of this trip indelible.