California Dump Truck Owners Association (CDTOA) - California Construction Trucking Association (CCTA)

Oh, yes, Christmas is here, my very favorite time of the year. While this joyous season is not as exciting to me as when I was a child anxiously waiting for Santa, it is still a time when I cherish the joys of being surrounded by family, friends, and feeling a general optimism about the future.

I have much to be thankful for, and being a part of CDTOA (we are changing the name to the California Construction Trucking Association) has been one of the greatest experiences of my life. While I can sometimes allow myself to be momentarily jealous of my high school friends who went to work immediately for the government and are now retired (under 60) on sizable monthly pensions and life long health insurance benefits, but I wouldn’t trade careers with them for anything.

Late last month, I was able to check off another entry on my bucket list. I was recently asked to tape a television broadcast concerning CARB. My family and closest childhood friends know that for several years I claimed to have been a Mouseketeer, and in fact, best friends with Annette Funnicello. For you youngsters, she was Walt Disney’s most popular cast member of the original Mickey Mouse Club.

Okay, I lied a little. But now I can say that I have really been in a film and news studio with all that lights-camera-action thing!
CDTOA member Richard Bettencourt and his lovely wife Sally suggested to the San Benito GOP that a topic they might want to discuss and film would be our illustrious California Air Resources Board (CARB), hence my invitation to speak. I was honored by the offer, determined to tell the true story about the rogue agency and their deceptive science, so off I went to the television studio at Gavilan College in Gilroy.

Okay, so it wasn’t Hollywood, but exciting nonetheless. The interviewer told me we would tape the show in three 8-minute segments. I responded that I was used to 3-minute comments at the CARB podium, and that I may ran out of things to say. Not to worry, he said, when editing time came they could insert something else.

So off we went, beginning with the scientific fraud that is the foundation behind all these diesel engine regulations. We covered the rigged SRP panel’s lack of appointments and their designation of diesel emissions as a toxic air contaminant, Hien T. Tran’s academic fraud, the numerous management related cover-ups, the lies, empty promises, and Professor Enstrom’s attempted ouster from UCLA for his lack of political correctness. Then I added some points about what these and other draconian environmental regulations are doing to our economy and employment. Plus, I even managed to bring in the recent DPF filter fires. Before I knew it, my time was up and I still had more to say!

My DVD copy should arrive any day, and hopefully we can post it on our website. Annette would be proud.

With my television debut behind me, it was time to think about the coming Christmas season. Bringing out the tree and decorations, I decided some Christmas music would really set the mood. When the last ornament was placed, I decided to sit down and read the paper with an Andy Williams rendition of “Joy to the World” playing in the background. My own joy was short-lived as the headline, “Putting the ‘Fun’ Back in Funerals,” jumped right at me when I saw the words baby boomers.

The article went on to say that baby boomers have always been organized, so it makes sense that they’re the ones that will be able to do this fun thing. It said that, “We are the savers, the planners of important landmark family events and the organizers of holiday events.”

The article focused on funerals and one funeral home in particular, Gibson’s Funeral Home. Gibson’s customers (who incidentally were dying to get in) ranged from a man who desires a virtual memorial, where friends log onto a website for a posthumous toast, to a woman who’s donating her body to the Mayo Clinic. The article implied that there is a way to “go green into the great beyond.” “Cremation causes CO2 emissions into the atmosphere,” said Mortician Gibson. “If you don’t want a carbon footprint, leave your body to science.”

Holy crap! I thought. Now that’s going to ruin my holiday mood a little. In fact, I grew so distraught over this new bad green news that I had to even shut off the great Christmas music. Yes, the message is to “go green into the great beyond” so you won’t leave a burdensome carbon footprint for the planet and, oh, the children. 

You have to wonder if there is a master list that these people have created of every conceivable “thing” around us and how each event can be tied to global warming and the killing of our planet. You have to wonder if all these absurd claims have become so over-the-top people in the middle are now becoming skeptical. I believe that the enviros creditability is slipping and surveys are showing this. Their outing and end cannot come fast enough for me!

Yes, the global warmist folks are now trying to tell us that this global warming, climate change and now extreme weather events will even follow us to our graves someday.

Curious about the exact number of baby boomers who could help save the planet, I researched it and found an article that said there are “just over 77 million” in the U.S.

Can you believe it? There is an alternative to cremation and warming the planet: Donate your body to research! So, exactly how many of the 77 million can this “research” handle? I wondered. Would this perhaps be more work for our dump trucks, moving all the cadavers and parts around? 

Curious now about this concept of donating your body to science research, I went on the internet to search more about all of it. I did some research using links from the story, and it was all quit morbid, but it told the true and kind of scary facts. When I read through the stories, I was shocked to find out that once all the “wanted” body pieces and parts have been used and after all research has been completed, the remains are—you guessed it—cremated. WHAT? 

I believe that the end-of-life choices are a very personal matter, but the writing is on the wall here is that it appears the emissions police will continue to haunt you, even in death. 

With my Christmas spirit now in shambles (I’m hoping I haven’t put a damper on yours), I tried to uplift myself by reading something that would make me feel better, and I found it. I’ll share:

New studies show that the risk for type-2 diabetes is lower among regular coffee drinkers than among those who don’t drink it. Also, coffee may reduce the risk of developing gallstones, discourage the development of colon cancer, improve cognitive function, reduce the risk of liver damage in people at high risk for liver disease, and reduce the risk of Parkinson’s disease. Coffee has also been shown to improve endurance performance in long-duration physical activities.

Well, I certainly don’t need to improve my long-duration physical activity endurance, as it won’t take much strength to make a pot of coffee and turn the stereo back on. And, what do you know; “Joy to the World” is playing again.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night and future!

Betty

One last Holiday note: It is truly heartwarming watching our membership list expand and grow. Thanks to you, our membership, we have stayed the course, never wavering in our commitments to integrity, truth, education, and professionalism. Hope you all have a wonderful, happy and safe holiday—hope to see you all next year!