10-4 Magazine July 2024

10-4 Magazine / July 2024 55 honored as heroes, and possibly even called upon to lead our youth. None of us start out our day with the idea of being heroic. Most of us just want to finish every day with a positive outcome. I came across a quote in the local newspaper that got me to thinking on this. The statement made a lot of sense to me when I thought through the process. “We are not makers of history... we are made by history.” This quote is attributed to Martin Luther King Jr. – he did not set out to become world famous or the leader of a movement, it was the generational misuse of a minority group that led to the actions he followed. It is the historical record that documented his contribution. He was not the first to fight for equality and he won’t be the last, therefore he didn’t make history, it was history that caused him to do what he did. He has become one of the best examples of history making the person. The same goes for all those who contribute to our society. Someone has already walked our path or worked hard to accomplish our ends long before we start down that road. It’s our own self-interest and ego that lets us believe we are the ones making history. Now that we are marking the anniversary of our founding, let us take a moment to think back on the founders who risked their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. They sacrificed everything to change the path of history. This still begs the question: did they make history or were their actions just a reaction to historical events that preceded them? If we follow the logic of Dr. King’s argument, they didn’t make history, but they did drastically change the trajectory it was headed towards. Thus, we now have freedoms even they could not have envisioned. Fortunately, in the modern world, we no longer have to gamble or roll the dice while taking up arms against the mother land (Great Britain) to see the changes we expect. We do, however, still have to stand on our principles and be counted to have our wishes and demands addressed. There, now I have finished my rant. Let’s get down to this month’s subject... tools! Each month I find myself fixing something. It is not always truck related, but still fixing broken items. As I have said many times, not all tools are located in the toolbox. At times we (the person) can become the tool. Someone in the back wants to know how that can be. It’s simple – by not doing anything we are counted as the opposition. Back to that voting thing, then I will move along. If you prefer a given candidate, regardless of party, but don’t cast a vote for them, then the opposing party will get to keep the vote you would have canceled out. That makes you the tool and, thus, makes you feel like a fool. Okay, now I am really done. Back to truck things. I needed to repair the suspension on my old reefer trailer. The bushings for the trailing arms aged out and then I damaged them trying to move the trailer when it was frozen to the ground. Yah, how could I be so dumb, right? In my defense, I will say it was Minnesota in the winter, where everything freezes, if you give it enough time. Last year I lost a motor in January while on a trip to Washington State. I needed to drop my wagon and re-power it while I bobtailed back to Michigan to my shop for repairs. The load was delivered, and then my trailer was returned to its point of origin in Minnesota. Unfortunately, I didn’t get back to pick it up for a while. By

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