The Motel Life & Those Bruises by Brett

Hey everybody, I would like to share with you some new music from my old college friend Michael Paul Escañuelas and his band The Motel Life. They’ve recently released their new EP Those Bruises and the album has left my ears anything but bruised, my ears are now the opposite of bruised, whatever that is.  The Motel Life is an indie rock group from Ontario California. I didn’t grow up in Ontario, but I did grow up in Corona which is basically the same thing as Ontario. Both cities are a part of the massive expanse of suburb covered hills Southern California known as the Inland Empire. The Inland Empire is kind of similar to Waco and McLennan County in that there isn’t much to do but a cool city is just a short drive away.

This is the Motel Life’s 3^rd EP. I’ve been a casual fan of them since I was invited to join their Facebook page by Mike a few years ago.  I’ve seen them live a few times in Pomona too. Admittedly I was not initially blown away by their music. To be honest, I wrote them off as another one of my friend’s bands that I would halfheartedly support while deep down having no real interest in their success and a feeling that they would inevitably fizzle out and into mediocre obscurity. Oh how wrong I was to think this. After listening to their new EP I was surprised  to find myself enjoying it and listening to it over and over with a big grin on my face. What I was listening to was different than what I first heard in 2010.

True Trucker Diaries Entry#4 by Lisa Hathaway

It was an early windy morning at the Fifth Wheel Truck Stop in Cornwall, Ontario. My  ex roommate and I left the General Motors in Boisbriandt, PQ plant the evening before with a load of empty automotive parts racks.  We drove separate rigs thank God because we would have probably killed each other along time ago if not.

I chuckled as I wrote that last sentence.

She took the lighter of the loads and pulled away quickly from my neutered truck. Bare with me for a moment and allow me to explain what I mean by neutered. It means my truck had a speed governor on it. It would only go 60 MPH and 57 MPH with the cruise control set. So it offered little power to me, especially on take off.

Picture this. I have just entered the highway. I am fighting the headwinds, with a neutered truck and I have the heavier load. I could see my ex roommate a ways up in front of me. I am not sure how long it took for me to catch her in my eyesight. I believe we were near the town of  Gananoque, Ontario

I will call the ex roommate “Callie”.

I was probably 1 half mile away from her. Callie was in the passing lane.  She rounded the curve and went out of sight. I noticed what I thought was dust from shoulder of the road. I radioed up to her in a sarcastic manner. I can still remember the exact words. ” Took that curve a little fast didn’t you?”

I never received a response, which was a bit odd for Callie. I rounded the blind curve which also included an on ramp. Then I saw the unthinkable, at least to me it was. My stomach sank.

There, rested in a jack knife position, in the ditch against,  against a rock cliff was Callie’s truck. I was utterly shocked and immediately brought my vehicle to a halt along the shoulder. I ran back to her truck. I never even saw or noticed the red car resting against the median guard rail or the passengers inside. I was  only focused on one person and that one person was  Callie. It wasn’t until later that I discovered someone else was also involved in the accident.

As I ran to the truck I wondered what I would find. I nearly tripped over her JVC stereo that lay on the berm of the road. It must have been thrown from the wreckage upon impact. I crawled up the steps of the rig and took a deep breath. I saw her lifeless body slumped over the steering wheel. I clung to the rig with one hand on the side handle with another hand tugging at the door. I couldn’t get the door open. I fell off the truck. I wasn’t sure what to do. I thought to myself,  ” Was she dead ?” . Is her neck broken? I had heard a story of a similar situation from another friend in which this other truck driver wrecked and passed away due to a broken neck injury.

Then I could smell it. I could smell leaking diesel fuel.

I used to watch a lot of television before I began driving for a living. Every program I have ever seen with a car or semi truck leaking fuel always exploded. SO..you can only imagine the thoughts running through my head.

I was the weaker out of the two of us. I normally played the roll of the “damsel in distress” . I know. Right ? Hard to imagine, but true, none the less.

I knew I must at least get her out of the truck before it explodes.”But how much time do I have before this would  happen?” I wondered.

I saw three girls run across the highway to me and one ask if everything was alright.

I said “I don’t know. She’s not responding.”

Then I warned the girl away from the area because I thought the truck was going to explode.  Then I climbed back up onto the truck and kept talking to Callie. I told her the truck was leaking fuel, she needed to wake up and get out.

Finally, she started moving and gradually gained her bearings. She tried to open the door but it was jammed from her side as well. She then exited the vehicle by jumping out of the window.

I later found out, according to the police officer that arrived on the scene, the probability of the truck exploding was very low. According to him, diesel does not ignite as easily as gasoline. I certainly felt like an idiot after finding that out,  but at least the story does not end in tragedy right?

True Trucker Diaries- Entry #3 by Lisa Hathaway

So… where was I ?  Oh, I remember. I bet you might be wondering what happened to the motorcyclist. Did he live? The answer is YES. The man must have been a cat because he seemed to have nine lives and he used one of them that day.

I climbed down from my rig, leaving it in my lane with the four-way flashers on. I ran toward the man laying on the pavement and, to my amazement, he stood up as though nothing happened and walked over to me and hugged me. He said to me “Man, that hurt”. I stood still for a moment and measured in my mind the distance between him and the front bumper my truck . I began to shake but not noticeably. It was sinking in just how close I was to running him over.

He told me he was tailgating the other driver because he was running low on gas and the trailer blocked the wind for him. I notified him that the other truck driver called the police and that we should wait. He said  “I have to go. I have been drinking” and he walked over to his bike and rode away.

He left me standing out in the middle of the highway. By this point, I can’t believe any of this happened. I can’t believe this guy is alive. I can’t believe I didn’t run over him. I can’t believe he stood there and told me he was drinking. I can’t believe his motorcycle was even road worthy. I CAN NOT believe this man just rode away as though nothing happened.

I notified the other truck driver that all was well. He said he would stay until the police arrive. I decided to roll on to the next service plaza and call my dispatch to let them know what happened. I was a bit shaken up because I almost ran over some damned drunk fool.

As I continued to truck on to the next plaza, I drive by an OPP car with a motorcyclist pulled over. I thought to myself  “It’s that idiot again!” I pulled over, grabbed my flashlight and started walking the long quarter-mile stretch between myself and the police. By this time I was extremely tired, stressed out and highly pissed off at this motorcyclist. I was about to let the air out of his sails.

I arrive at the police car. There are two officers. I see that same motorcyclist in the back seat of the squad car. When the cyclist saw me,  his facial expression was that of one that had just seen a ghost.  I said to the officer with approval in my voice “I see you caught him”. “Caught who? What are you talking about?” responded the officer. I raised my voice with excitement “The guy that wrecked his bike”. The officer went on to tell me that he pulled him over for tailgating yet another truck. I was furious. The officer ask me to join him in his squad car as I told him my story. I told him that the guy admitted to me that he had been drinking.

I guess some people just never learn from their mistakes. I often wonder what happened to that guy and if he still thinks about the event that happened that dark early morning. I know I still remember it as though it were yesterday. It was over 18 years ago.

True Trucker Diaries – Entry #2 by Lisa Hathaway

         I have a very lingering, vivid memory of an incident that happened to me one pitch black early morning on the 401 just east of the Tilbury, Ontario service plaza . As I watched the Windsor city lights disappear in my mirror I noticed one headlight close in on me until it disappeared. I knew it was right behind me and I kept looking but couldn’t see anyone. Tailgaters…Ugggh..Oh well, nothing new, but at this point I only have 3 weeks behind my belt as a solo driver, if even that. I believe I was delivering to the Oshawa area.

         I heard a voice speak through the CB radio ” Hey..JB.You have 2 wheeler(motorcycle) right on your bumper.”  I replied ” Yeah I know he’s been on my a$$ since Windsor.”  Keep in mind my truck was turned down to 60 mph. I couldn’t go any faster. So the driver that notified me of the tailgater started passing me and wanted me to inform him  if the motorcycle  continued to do the same to him. Sure enough he did. As soon as the driver’s trailer tailgate cleared mine I saw the single light jump into to the passing lane. I notified the other driver. As the other truck driver gained ground passed me he contacted me and said the following ” Watch this..I’ll fix him..gonna scare him a bit. “  I knew immediately what thedriver was going to do. He tapped his break pedal and then it happened..The motorcyclist went down. I will remember this visual, as if it were yesterday.. for the rest of my life. It still haunts me. The bike slid across the lane..but his body didn’t. He bounced off off of the pavement like a rag doll, not once..but multiple times..I thought to myself this man is dead.

TO BE CONTINUED…..

                                                     STAY TUNED NEXT WEEK TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED ……..

        Please enjoy this video footage with a couple tunes from the talented JAIMEE HARRIS..