Backpack Adventure - Innovative Hybrid Bridge System, Wow!

UDOT will use an innovative hybrid bridge system that combines the durability of concrete with the strength of Fiber Reinforced Polymer. Nice Video Clip!

The system, called Bridge in a Backpack, uses stiffened FRP tubes that are shaped into aarches and filled with concrete. While design of the brides varies, the arches are typically attached to a concrete footing and covered with corrugated decking then covered with compacted soil. The new bridge, which is being designed, will be built in Ogden Canyon on SR 39 near Huntsville.

Hundreds of the tubular structures have built in the United States, although the building method is fairly new. The arches were developed by the University of Main. FHWA has developed an implementation strategy and is funding part of the construction costs of the new bridge.

Advantages of the Bridge in a Backpack system include:

• Fast construction which benefits the driving public.
• Light weight components that can be transported easily.
• Potentially lower maintenance costs over the life of the bridge – FRP is not susceptible to road de-icing chemicals as is steel.

UDOT has used FRP in other structures. UDOT’s Beaver Creek Bridge on US-6 near Soldier Summit has a deck that is reinforced with FRP bars. The bridge is instrumented with sensors that measure strain. Researchers are collecting data that will show how the deck holds up under traffic.

UDOT will also build a bridge with hybrid-composite beams near Beaver. The design uses an FRP box to with a concrete arch inside that gives the beam compressive strength. More than just a covering, the box “provides shear strength and encapsulates the tension and compression elements,” according to the HCB Company website. The arch structure inside the beam is surrounded with low density foam core. A prestressing strand provides additional strength and steel shear connectors provide stiffness. Along with being very strong and durable, the beams are also light and easy to lift and place.

http://blog.udot.utah.gov/

Chosen NFL's No. 1 Player, Rodger's calls it 'Humbling'

Thanks to Wes Hodkiewicz and the Green Bay Press Gazette for this. whodkiew@greenbaypressgazette.com Link to their site follows.
In the eyes of his peers, nobody in the National Football League does it better than Aaron Rodgers.
Coming off his first MVP season, the Green Bay Packers quarterback was selected as the top player in NFL Network’s annual Top 100 poll, voted on and determined by current NFL players.
Rodgers, who climbed from 11th-place last season, saw his stock rise after quarterbacking Green Bay to a 15-1 regular-season record while completing 68.3 percent of his passes for 4,643 yards, 45 touchdowns and six interceptions. Rodgers also rushed for 257 yards with three additional touchdowns. His 122.5 passer rating was a NFL record, surpassing Peyton Manning’s mark of 121.1 set in 2005.
“It’s very humbling,” Rodgers said in post-show interview with NFL Network. “It’s a great honor anytime you’re recognized with that professional respect from your peers, that really means a lot to me, so I have to thank them for the votes. Obviously, this is in a recognition that doesn’t get done without an incredible group of people around you. That’s often lost when the focus is on one individual. My teammates, my coaches, our tens of thousands of owners that we have there in Green Bay and across the country, I have to give them a lot of things, as well.”
Saints quarterback Drew Brees finished as the runner-up with Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson taking third and Patriots quarterback Tom Brady in fourth. New York Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis rounded out the top five and was the highest defensive player selected.
The one missing piece for Rodgers was the Lombardi Trophy. Despite a 15-1 regular-season record and a lengthy undefeated run, the Packers fell 37-20 in the NFC Divisional round to the New York Giants, who used the win to catapult them to the Super Bowl championship.
“It’s all about championships,” Rodgers said. “It’s about winning championships and it doesn’t matter other than championships. It doesn’t matter other than proceeding how you do in the regular season. It’s about how you’re playing at the end of the season because championships are what you’re remembered for. We tasted that feeling in 2010-11 and it was a special run. You get in that mode when you come into the next season where you feel like that’s going to happen every year and you realize how special that time was and how badly it makes you want to get back to that feeling and that stage. I think last year we slipped a little bit and got comfortable, and hopefully this year people will talk about the Giants and other teams – the Saints, Niners and Eagles making a comeback – some of those other teams and we can kind of fly under the radar and be the same kind of team we were a couple years back.”
The 28-year-old Rodgers was the sixth Packer to be selected to this year’s list, along with Clay Matthews (27 down from 19), Charles Woodson (36 down from 16), Greg Jennings (56 up from 74), and newcomers Jordy Nelson (80) and John Kuhn (92). Former Packers fullback Vonta Leach came in 45th for the Baltimore Ravens, up from 65th last year.
Here were some of Rodgers’ other thoughts during the 7-minute interview with the NFL Network panel:
On utilizing Jordy Nelson more in the Packers’ offense:
“I don’t know how much more we can make him a focus. He had 1,300 yards, 15 touchdowns, so it’s tough to do the same kind of thing year after year. It takes a lot of hard work and teams are going to be paying a little more attention to him. We lost Greg (Jennings) last year for a few games, but he still had a solid year. James Jones had a career high in touchdowns caught. We still have one of the top tight ends in the game in Jermichael Finely. Obviously, Donald Driver, fresh off his Mirror Ball championship, is back with us. Randall Cobb has done some great things, so there’s a lot of weapons for us on offense. You look forward to making them all happy, but having Jordy, a guy who really understands the game so well, practices well, great teammate. He can only make other guys better because you start focusing on him more and leave those other guys in one-on-one matchups, we feel pretty good about that.”
On the biggest pressure for next season:
“I think it has to be to repeat, as we saw last year, it’s tough. You have to be playing the right way at the right time. We weren’t last year as we had been the previous year. The Giants went into the playoffs hot with a hot quarterback and the defense making some plays. They made it all the way to the championship game and played the best football, so that’s kind of the goal every year. That’s the most difficult part of this game.”
On being on the same level as Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees:
“I’m very humbled by the distinction from my peers. It means a lot to me. It’s a big accomplishment to have that kind of respect from them. Personally, there are so many incredible players on that list. Often the quarterback in our game gets a lot of the focus, but if you look at that list all the way down to 100, it’s a great thing for the league. There’s some many great players, great young players, great guys in the middle of their career and veterans playing at a high level, as well. I’m fortunate and blessed to have this recognition, but Tom (Brady) to me is still that high water mark that I’ve been trying to get to. The way Drew (Brees) has played the last couple years, especially breaking the record last year, he’s been playing incredible. Those are guys whose careers I’d like to model my career after.”
On what to expect from him now with a full training camp and offseason:
“I think a lot was made about the joke I made about the offseason workouts, but I think in general the fact we have such great leadership in Green Bay and it starts at the top with Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy, and the kind of guys we brought in. It’s a family atmosphere. It’s guys who really care about the game and care about being successful, and that’s what made us have a fast start last year. Mike has surrounded himself with a number of great teachers of the game and guys who played the game before. I think they did a great job in a short amount of time of getting our guys ready to play. Once we got on the field that leadership took over with guys like Charles Woodson, Tramon Williams, myself, Ryan Grant, Donald Driver, Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson. Those guys really stepped up and led by example, and we’re able to help us start fast.”
Various NFL players also provided excerpts during Rodgers’ selection video with their take on the Packers’ quarterback. Here are a few:
“He’s arm is like a toy, he can do whatever he wants to do with it,” Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona wide receiver
“To make the quarterback position look effortless, that’s a very hard thing to do,” Ryan Fitzpatrick, Buffalo quarterback
“He’s played the quarterback position as good as you could play. I don’t think you could play it any better,” Alex Smith, San Francisco quarterback who was drafted ahead of Rodgers in 2005
“He’s obviously a great pocket passer, but on top of that, he can run that ball,” Nick Barnett, Buffalo linebacker and former teammate.
http://blogs.greenbaypressgazette.com/blogs/gpg/insider/2012/06/27/rodgers-takes-the-cake-in-nfl-networks-top-100/

Crash Prevention? Sorry, Not the R.C.M.P.'s Job

6/25/2012
Crash Prevention? Sorry, not our job.
On the Road Blog by Jim Park, Equipment Editor  Link to their site follows! Truckinginfo.com

From where I stood, the problem didn't seem quite as complicated as that. The brake pad must have come from a vehicle that had been in the hotel parking lot recently. It was probably a bus, not a truck, given the lack of uptake of disc brakes by the trucking industry. Almost all buses built in the past five years are equipped with disc brakes at all wheel positions, and buses regularly use that parking lot.

With a potential calamity hanging in the balance, why didn't law enforcement in this small Canadian tourist town take any action to prevent it, or at least investigate what I had called to tell them

I stayed at the motel one night while on my vacation, and noticed the brake pad in the morning as I walked to the restaurant for breakfast. The motel has a two-tiered parking lot -- with and upper and lower levels. The buses park on the upper level, and I found the pad on the drive between the two levels. There was a bus in the upper lot at the time, so fearing for the safety of the passengers, I decided to call the local detachment of the RCMP -- the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the police force charged with keeping the peace in that area.

I figured that if I alerted the police, they would send someone around to inspect that bus, and perhaps prevent a nasty accident. I had no idea if the burned brake pad was from that bus, but given its condition, I knew it had to be from a bus that had been at that motel recently, say within the last week, given the lack of rust on the exposed surfaces.

Silly me. Seems the RCMP would rather supervise post-crash investigations than try to prevent a crash.

Press 9 for Somebody who Cares

When I called the local detachment, I explained to the woman who answered the phone what I had found on the driveway. I explained the condition it was in, the potential threat, and I also explained my familiarity with such components. Her response was, "What are we supposed to do, check every bus and truck in the area for a missing brake?"

Because it was not yet the full-on tourist season, there would have been a limited number of buses in that parking lot over the previous week or so. A quick check of the motel register would have clearly shown which tour operators had stayed at the hotel, and they would certainly have had records of which buses had been to the motel.

So, to ignorant little me the problem of finding the bus the brake pad might have fallen from wasn't a monumental task, but a simple bit of footwork any officer-on-the-beat could have conducted in a matter of hours. That would have narrowed down the field considerably, and the short list of potential buses could have been checked easily enough.

The RCMP operator asked if I had advised the driver of the problem, which I hadn't, because I had no idea who the driver was or which room he or she was in. At that point, the operator asked to speak to the hotel desk clerk. I passed her the phone, and then the operator said something to her, presumably that she should alert the driver to the problem, and then she hung up. Problem solved.

As I said, I don't know if that brake pad was from the bus that was in the parking lot at the time or another bus, and I haven't heard about any bus crashes in the area, so I guess my fears were groundless. But who knows, that bus may still be out there somewhere, minus a brake pad and who knows what else.

I think I did the right thing in trying to alert the authorities to a potentially deadly situation, but I'm extremely disappointed in the RCMP's response to the situation. I admit too, that came to a few of my own conclusions about the origin of the brake pad, but I think anyone with even a little knowledge of such things would agree that there is a bus out there somewhere with a problem. It's missing a brake pad, and that pad has been badly overheated -- which could mean the other pad is gone, too. If that's the case, the bus in question has working brakes on only five of six wheel positions.

I wish those passengers luck

http://www.truckinginfo.com/news/news-detail.asp?news_id=77311&news_category_id=130&utm_source=Email&utm_medium=Enewsletter

Should I Stay or Should I Go? Utah UDOT's Innovative Approach

Signal Systems Engineer Mark Taylor monitors dilemma zone detection online.

It’s a decision that drivers face every day when approaching an intersection – to slow down and stop upon seeing a yellow signal or to maintain speed and risk running a red light.
The dilemma zone is the space before entering an intersection where drivers make that sometimes tough call to stop or keep going. On a high-speed roadway, the decision needs to be made in seconds, and the wrong choice can be deadly.
Intersections are complex configurations where two roadways intersect. Many of the most important driving skills – such as maintaining an appropriate speed, staying attentive and alert, and using good judgment – come into play all at once. The crash types that are common at intersections include rear-end and head-on and T-bone; all can cause serious injury or death.
To improve safety at intersections, UDOT has installed dilemma zone detectors. The detection equipment uses radar to see cars as they approach an intersection. Software used with the equipment is programmed to extend the signal phase to allow cars more time to get through the intersection.
Deciding when extra time is needed based on scientific studies that show how most drivers are likely to behave, explains UDOT Signal Systems Engineer Mark Taylor. Traffic signal engineers use those studies to define three fields drivers cross before entering an intersection. Drivers in the field closest to the signal usually always go through the light. In the field farthest from the intersection, most cars stop.
The middle section is the dilemma zone “where drivers realize ‘I’ve got a decision to make,’” says Taylor. Cars entering that dilemma zone at a pre-determined point in time trigger the system to extend the signal phase, eliminating the dilemma and also the potential for an un-wise decision. While the system is backed up by science, Taylor uses some engineering judgment as well. “I put logic in with that radar,” he says.
“UDOT’s policy is to install dilemma zone detection on every approach that is 40 miles per hour or higher,” says Taylor. Over five hundred intersections in Utah have been equipped with dilemma zone detection.

Taking a "Smart Phone" Overseas? Beware!

Great info from and thanks to Kim at Kim Komando.com This is must reading if you take a “smart phone” overseas! I had no idea about this. Don’t come home to a $1000.00 phone bill!
Link to Komando’s site follows.

Q. I recently took a trip to London. I brought along my iPhone, but used it as little as possible. However, when I got home my bill was still sky high. AT&T graciously worked with me to lower it, this time. Now I'm concerned about future trips abroad. The fee tiers are so confusing. It's time for a Kim Komando simplified explanation. Thanks!
-Scott from Middlebury, CT, listens to my national radio show out of New York City on WCBS 880 AM

A. You certainly aren't the first person this has happened to, Scott. Back when the iPhone was released, I'd hear stories like yours all the time. People would return home from an overseas trip to be greeted by bills for tens of thousands of dollars. I think I would pass out if I ever got a bill like that!
Fortunately, AT&T will often cut you some slack the first time it happens. It doesn't want any the negative publicity. It is your job to watch your cellphone usage and costs, of course. But that can be difficult, given the confusing fee tiers.
Let's take a look at why you racked up such a huge bill. Then, I'll give you pointers to prevent this from happening again. For some reason, cellular companies offer so many packages and plans. It drives me crazy.
Many people think you can just keep phone use to a minimum when traveling. Wrong. That concept may work with regular cellphones. But the iPhone, Android and other phones are what we call smartphones. It's always working, even when you're not. It might be checking email or receiving text messages.
Apps could be accessing online information while you're using them. Visual voicemail uses quite a bit of data. All this use adds up quickly.
The first important thing to remember is that all cellular plans are domestic. You have to purchase international plans separately. Using a domestic plan internationally will incur the highest possible rates. Let's start by examining what those rates are.
For now I'll stick with AT&T's rates. The other carriers' rates are in the same ballpark. For specifics, check your carrier's Website or call it.
The voice usage rates will change depending on country. Let's use the United Kingdom as an example. Placing a call in the United Kingdom will cost you $1.39 a minute. So, a five minute phone conversation costs you $7. Ouch. I hope the call is worth it!
International data use is billed at $0.0195 per kilobyte. That number is very misleading because it looks so small. Besides, most people don't really know what a kilobyte is or how to measure it. It actually translates to almost $20 per megabyte!
To put that in perspective, Google's homepage is 145KB. Visiting it once will cost you $2.83. That's before you even run a search! Watching 1 minute of streaming video could cost more than $100. Cha-ching! It's easy to see how fast you can end up with an outrageous bill.
AT&T has a data calculator on its site. This shows you average data amounts for common tasks. It will make you reconsider using data abroad.
Text messages aren't any better. It costs $0.50 to send one message. You are charged $0.20 for every message received. Picture and video messages are an astronomical $1.30 per message to send. Receiving one costs $0.30 per message.
You could "barely" use your phone and rack up a substantial bill. Don't forget that your phone may still be working in the background. You won't even notice it draining your bank account.
There are a few steps you can take to prevent huge bills. The first step is to turn off data roaming. This will disable email, browsing, visual voicemail and downloads when connecting internationally.
To do this, go to Settings>>General>>Network. Make sure Data Roaming is set to Off. It should be off by default, but it never hurts to check.
This setting can be somewhat finicky. You should also turn off the Cellular Data option just above it. That's the setting for turning off data services domestically. Even if the phone gets confused about its location, it still won't access data.
You can still get email and browse the Web. You just need to use Wi-Fi instead of a cellular connection. Most airports and hotels have Wi-Fi. You may find a free hotspot. In other cases, you may have to pay between $10 and $20 per day. That's kind of pricey for Wi-Fi, but think of the alternative!
You can also access voicemail manually. Just note that international voice rates apply. Tell your friends to leave short messages.
Turning off data roaming doesn't stop text or picture messaging. Messaging is part of the voice package, not the data package. You will still be charged for those when sending or receiving.
Fortunately, you can disable voice calls and messaging with the iPhone's airplane mode. This is controlled in the Settings app. Airplane mode disables the iPhone's cellular radio entirely. That means voice, data, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS are disabled.
However, you can still manually turn the Wi-Fi back on. Just go to Settings>>Wi-Fi. Turn the Wi-Fi to On and select a Wi-Fi network. Bluetooth can also be enabled manually for use with headsets.
There are many apps for calling and texting over Wi-Fi. You can use these to keep in contact with people. They won't run up your bills.
Keep the phone in airplane mode for your entire trip. Switch back to regular mode when you get home. Then you can get your regular texts and voicemail without astronomical charges.
You can accomplish the same thing by removing the iPhone's SIM card. This will keep it from trying to connect to any cellular network. This makes it harder to accidentally use voice or data. You can just use Wi-Fi.
I said earlier that AT&T has international plans for travelers. These aren't the best deals around. However, some people like to use them, so I'll cover them.
For voice calls, you can get the World Traveler plan. This costs $6 a month. In the United Kingdom, it lowers the cost of voice calls to $0.99 per minute. That's better than $1.39, but still not for casual use.
The Global Messaging texting plan costs $10 a month. This lets you send 50 text, picture or video messages. Messages over the 50 limit are charged at $0.40 per message. Without the plan, 50 messages would cost $25, minimum.
Finally, there are the data packages. There are several different tiers. These range from $25 to $200 a month. They let you download 20MB to 200MB, respectively. Going over your limit is billed at $0.005 per KB or $5.12 per MB.
Those plans let you use some limited data without breaking the bank. However, you'll still want to use Wi-Fi as much as possible. You'll also want an app that minimizes your data use.
You can mix and match the plans depending on your use. For example, you might get a data plan only. Some might want the messaging plan alone. It's up to you.
Note that this information doesn't just apply to the iPhone. The iPad and iPad 2 with 3G will need the same consideration. This is true of any 3G-enabled smartphone or tablet.
It's always nerve-wracking when family members travel internationally. Find out how to set up reliable and inexpensive communication:

• When family members travel, you want to be able to contact them.Learn about cost-effective ways to communicate internationally.
• Email is a great free way to communicate. However, some governments monitor and censor citizen email. Find out how to get around government censorship.
• Voice and text communication is okay. However, video chat is the best for long-term separations. Learn about the best hardware and software for video chatting.

http://www.komando.com/tips/index.aspx?id=10761&page=1

Ride Along at Road America - Elkhart Lake, WI

Nice article written by and thanks to Michael Hunt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Link to their site below. Many years ago we went to a road race there. The scenery around that track is fantastic, one of the best in the country!

Elkhart Lake - Two confessions:

Although I grew up in heart of NASCAR country, I had been to only one stock-car race before Saturday. I know it was in Darlington. I think it was the Rebel 500. I'm pretty sure Darrell Waltrip won. I'm positive they took a bunch of left-hand turns.

And before Saturday, I'd never been to Road America.

I'm kicking myself for that one.

Like nearby Blackwolf Run and Whistling Straits, the breathtaking golf courses that have brought world-class events to our little corner of the planet, Road America is an absolute gem. You could fly to England to watch 'em run Silverstone, or you could take a short detour on the way to Green Bay and see maybe the closest thing in this country to the classic European road courses.

All that, and the beauty of the glacier-cut Kettle Moraine State Forest envelops the 4.048-mile track shaped like a cartoon monster head, with its 14 serpentines and abrupt elevation changes. Not only do the drivers turn their wheels in both directions with all the regularity that astonishing speeds require, they run in a delightful clockwise direction.

But don't just take my word on Road America's splendor.

"It's the greatest road course in the United States," Italian driver Massimiliano Papis said.

"Mad Max" - I wish I'd known they called him that before I got into the 580-horsepower Chevy Camaro pace car with him before the Sargento 200 - casually relayed the Road America endorsement as he was taking us through a hairpin turn.

"How fast are we going?"

"Oh, about 100," he said. "It's about a quarter of what I feel in my car."

As the G-forces were pressing me against the door, Papis looked as relaxed as if he were taking a leisurely Sunday drive on Lincoln Memorial Drive.

"If we're going 100 now, how fast would you be going here during the race?"

"185 here, yep," he almost yawned. "Blind, second gear, up the hill. I love this car. It's awesome."

"Corvette engine?"

"Yes, sir," Mad Max said. "Ca-mare-o."

Papis passed some emergency vehicles on the side of the track and offered a couple of courtesy horn toots. It was a vaguely comforting gesture.

From the back seat, my colleague, Erin Richards, asked Papis what kind of training regimen he followed to wrestle a race car around a course as demanding as Road America.

"Oh, weightlifting three times a week," he said just before dropping us off. "Riding my bike 150 to 200 miles a week."

Thirty minutes later, I was still feeling the fearsome Camaro's vibration surging through my body. I felt like I had just emerged from a jet-fighter simulator. And that was after just one lap as a passenger in a street-legal car. Later, on the track, the Nationwide Series drivers were negotiating minimalist stock cars 50 times around that physically demanding track.

Never, ever think these people aren't athletes.

The race itself matched the surroundings. In one of its most dramatic moments, Danica Patrick was running strong until Jacques Villeneuve pretty much ran her over near the end. My pre-race chauffeur, Mad Max, explained it this way after finishing fourth: "I enjoyed the battle with Danica. Then she got a little tangled up. That's racing."

Eventually, Nelson Piquet Jr. negotiated the lovely hills of Sheboygan County better than anyone. The Brazilian, whose father won three Formula One championships, held his checkered and homeland flags through the window net as he did some really nifty burnouts on the main straightaway.

A Brazilian winning an American motor sport event is almost like an American team winning a cricket match. Fittingly, along with his first national-series NASCAR victory, Piquet was presented a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

"My father is a motorbike collector," Piquet said. "For sure, he's going to ask me to ship it over to Brazil."

It would be nice if the elder Piquet could come to the lovely Wisconsin countryside to pick up the bike and take it for a leisurely ride around Road America. For ambience, it doesn't get much better than this.

"Monaco, Silverstone, everywhere you can imagine," Piquet, a former F1 driver, said of the places he's driven. "This is a great facility, just a beautiful track."

Send email to mhunt@journalsentinel.com

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/autoracing/riding-road-america-course-is-a-revelation-pa5sd3q-160146585.html

Aaron Rodgers on Concussions in the NFL

inquisitr.com

Thanks to the Bob Wolfley and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, link to their piece follows, 

Packers' Rodgers: 'There's not much more you can do to make (football) safe'

By Bob Wolfley of the Journal Sentinel

June 18, 2012

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Last weekend during a panel discussion with four other quarterbacks who have been Super Bowl MVPs, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers addressed the topic of providing for the long-term health of players.

In his remarks he said the helmet he now wears, compared to the one he wore when he started in the league in 2005, has prevented him from "a couple" of concussions, including one against the New York Giants in a playoff game last season.

Concern about the effects repeated concussions can have on players later in life has prompted some prominent former players - broadcaster and Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw being the latest - to say that they would not let their own kids play football.

Rodgers, Tom Brady, Joe Montana, Steve Young and Jim Plunkett participated in a charity event in San Francisco on Friday.

Broadcaster Bob Costas moderated a panel discussion about the issue of concussions with the players, posing the question: "What can be done to make the game reasonably safe without changing its basic nature and without altering the sport that is clearly America's most popular?"

During the 2010 season, Rodgers missed a game against New England on Dec. 19 after suffering a concussion Dec. 12 when he was tackled in a game against the Detroit Lions (left).

"It's a difficult topic," Rodgers said, according to the San Jose Mercury News, which covered the event. "But I know the risks I'm taking, stepping onto the field. I've had a couple of head injuries. I talked to Steve (Young) about the second one because I know he dealt with similar things.

"It does start to bring your own mortality to the forefront in your mind, thinking about what your post-career will look like," Rodgers said. "That being said, there's not a whole lot more we can do. The helmet I started my career with in 2005 is no longer allowed because the safety requirements on those helmets is so high now. I feel confident the helmet I'm wearing has kept me from a couple concussions in the last year, especially one hit in particular I took in the Giants' playoff game."

Rodgers said Commissioner Roger Goodell has "done a good job of making guys who take cheap shots or shots above the neck or below the knee intentionally to injure people, he's fining those guys and suspending them for games."

At least twice during his remarks Rodgers referred to the issue as a "difficult topic" for the league.

"I think our league needs to continue to realize the impact we can have on setting the standard for the kids who are wanting to play," Rodgers said. "Having said that, it's a collision sport, and you have to realize that going in. Guys are bigger, stronger and faster every year. But there's not much more you can do to make it safe.

"It's just in this era, as opposed to when the three of you (Montana, Young, Plunkett) played, every injury is highlighted more," Rodgers said. "Every little ding to the head is labeled as a concussion."

Rodgers mentioned the challenge of getting back on the field once it has been determined a player has had a concussion.

"The protocol for concussions cannot be any more difficult to get back on the field," Rodgers said. "And I don't know if you've had this, Tom (Brady), but it is incredible the process and the tests you have to go through to get back on the field. So something is being done. It's unfortunate that we've had to go through some years of learning what those steps look like, but I don't think there's a whole lot more that can be done."

Young said the league is aiming to eliminate "launching hits." 

But Young did not go so far as Bradshaw did last week, or former players like Kurt Warner or Bart Scott, who have said recently  they would not let their own kids play football.

"The game is dangerous to the body," Young said. "Well-coached and well-protected, I think it's a great game. And truth is, if my boys wanted to play and I thought they were well-coached and well-protected, then I think there are things that football teaches that are not able to be learned in some places. It's one of the great team games in the history of team games."

 http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/159471275.html#!page=1&pageSize=10&sort=newestfirst 

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"Father's Day" another great piece by Tom Kretsinger!

American Central Transport, Liberty, MO

I can't say enough of how impressed I am with Tom Kretsinger, attorney, current Chairman & CEO of American Central Transport and an excellent author. If I was looking for work and living near Kansas City, I would certainly be seriously checking this company's employment opportunities! You'll see why by reading his following piece. Link to his blog follows and thanks so much, Tom!

  

 posted on 2012/06/20 | 1 Comment | Share

In 1998, I changed careers. I left the practice of law after many years and started a career in trucking. I was trained and experienced to “think like a lawyer.” It took a couple of years to temper that and learn to also think like a leader and businessman. Lawyers generally do not understand business. You see lawyers think differently than the rest of us. One can only acquire the ability to “think like a lawyer” by surviving three brutal years of law school and a tortuous bar examination. Practicing law develops this trait further.

Attorneys don’t think like normal people. We are risk adverse. We know that preventing a problem is much less expensive than the salvage job of fixing one. We can get paid by seeing an issue and then charging you to fix it. Rookie lawyers learn to document the file with “CYA” letters. We know how to spot an issue while conceiving the arguments we will make. We have a “thousand yard stare” and can anticipate events and what adversaries will argue. As a plaintiff’s attorney (yes, I admit it) I had the luxury of 20/20 hindsight in zealously representing an injured client. The ability to inflame a jury makes the verdict higher. I understand that if a bad accident occurs, God forbid, that regardless of fault I will be vilified before a jury in the barrister’s attempt to collect a lucrative contingency fee. The nicest thing about it is that people actually see value in your opinion. After all, clients need help and are paying you for it. In the sixteenth century, Shakespeare noted, “O'er lawyers' fingers, who straight dream on fees.”

I grew up on a farm in Roosterville, Missouri outside of Liberty, in a much different world. Being the oldest of eight, my mother was much too preoccupied to pay much attention to what I was doing. Cars didn’t have seatbelts, much less headrests, and airbags. Car seats were unheard of. In the summer my brothers and I would escape the heat of the unconditioned farmhouse. The computers and video games that occupy most young men’s lives didn’t exist. There were no cell phones. We found adventure on the farm, exploring, fishing, shooting squirrels with 22’s and ice-skating on farm ponds in the winter. At first we skipped over dusty farm roads. When we learned to ride bicycles our explorations expanded to 10 mile radius on 65 mile per hour farm roads without shoulders. At the ripe old age of ten, I learned to drive a small farm tractor and one of our joys was piling a brother on each fender and driving it to the general store to select prizes from the candy rack. When we learned to ride horses, our territory of adventure expanded even further. The only protection from risk was a little luck and a female collie named Kip who followed and mothered us wherever our adventures led. When thirsty we drank out of a pond or spring in the hillside. During school we walked to a bus stop. Kip always followed. If it was raining we wore boots, raincoats and hats. In the winter we were bundled up.

Today, I live in a nice subdivision on a cul-de-sac. As we get older routines set in. One of mine, is that every morning I drive to the local Starbucks and get coffee for my wife and myself. During school, I have a hard time getting back to my garage, as the entrance to my street contains a traffic jam of helicopter moms, waiting in their SUVs’ with their children for the bus. For most of them, the journey to the bus stop is four blocks or less. Now a tone deaf urban President proposes to ban farm kids from working on the farm before they’re sixteen. Many truckers’ children spend their summers inside an air-conditioned house playing video games or listening to their iPods. Mom tries to intervene but she is often alone. Dad is on the road.

Yes, a much different world. Business is not so simple. Life in general and business in particular (trucking, certainly) is full of risks. The only way to eliminate risks is to park all the trucks. But then, there would be no jobs and no business. So you learn to weigh and manage risks. It’s not easy. Listen to today’s political rhetoric. Everything bad that happens to someone is someone else’s fault. As a society we have forgotten that sometimes bad things happen in lives which are no one’s fault; and sometimes, it’s your own damn fault. But societal attitudes demand a remedy. Everyone is a victim.

It is against this backdrop that business leaders have to make tough decisions. If you seat a driver with a record of alcohol or drugs, plaintiffs’ lawyers will crucify you. If you don’t, the EEOC will come after you for discriminating against the disabled. The EEOC bows their back if you perform criminal background checks; have a medical examination done before making a “condition job offer,” or discriminate against people who are overweight through a sleep apnea program. All the while, plaintiffs’ lawyers are scanning the internet for accidents involving trucks, soliciting the injured and trying to find one technicality for any flaw in your hiring process.

Last summer a driver approached me with a question. “Mr. Tom,” he asked in his southern style, “Why don’t you allow drivers to take their kids with them in the summer when they are out of school.” The issue was in play. We examined it exhaustively. Our age cut off for our rider policy was 16. He wanted to take his fifth grader. What if the driver has a wreck and his son or daughter is hurt? What could be more horrible than an injured child? Will the child be a distraction? What are the car seat laws in all of the states we run? Some have an age limit for car seats and some are based on the child’s weight. How do we know they will strap the child in? “But, Mr. Tom, I love my son. His mom needs a break. He is out of school in the summer. I’d never do anything to put him in danger. I don’t get to spend much time with him and he needs a male role model in his life. I miss him. He is so excited.” How would the lawyer respond? How would the businessman respond? How would a caring person reply?

What is the right thing to do? If you agree to the proposal you are taking a risk. If you refuse, you eliminate this particular one risk. The law doesn’t reward you for doing the right thing. It punishes you for bad decisions.

But what will this young man do growing up without his father? Watch television, cruise the internet, and listen to the bad influences in music? How will he learn to be a man? What other hardships can we reap on a family with an absentee parent? How do you balance the risks? Our drivers are seasoned, experienced professionals. Not a day goes by that some parent is hanging in their blind spots, talking on the cell phone with children crying in back. They navigate around SUV’s that pull in front of them suddenly and then put on brakes. And, yet, our drivers are amazingly safe.
I remembered my favorite times with my father; when he took me to his office on the upper floor of his downtown Kansas City skyscraper to look down on the American Royal parade; or when he took me with him on business to Washington, D.C. We spent a couple extra days seeing all the sites. I remember the nights before, staying awake with excitement and dreaming of new adventures. I remember being on an airplane for the first time. I was special because I had time alone with him. I recall the amazement of different worlds seemingly far from the farm.

I thought about our passenger policy. The child would certainly learn a lot about trucks and safety. He holds his head high if bullies taunt him saying, “Your dad is just a truck driver.” He would gain quality time with his father. He would learn about the industry and what his father does for a living. He will go home with lifetime memories. Surely, these folks who drive with their children at home can spend a couple weeks with a member of their family on the road. We are so risk adverse that in many ways the industry has already dehumanized a tough job of a truck driver. Driving a truck over the road carries with it for many the occupational hazard of divorce. Many truck drivers are not around to lend that guiding hand to their children. The spouse at home assumes the duties of two parents. We modified our policy.

I forgot about this dilemma until last week. I was working in my office when an independent contractor, Lee, knocked on my door to introduce me to his son, Jake. A few hours later, another contractor, Pat, introduced me to his son, Luke. The young men were smiling from ear to ear as their proud fathers looked on with pride. Pat and Luke were both wearing the same shoes with shoelaces the color of ACT orange.

Later that day, I had a look on facebook and noticed the boys sending messages home to mom about their adventure. I saw Luke working with his dad in a trailer and learning how to be a man. Lastly, I saw the happy expressions in front of a plate of fries and a Freddy’s hot dog. I have lived their adventures vicariously. Is it a risk to allow this, or is it a risk to forbid it? Perhaps, we should learn more than being a good businessman. Perhaps…we should learn to be fellow human beings.

http://www.bigtrucktv.com/tomkretsinger/father%E2%80%99s-day

Canadian Confrontation at Banff National Park

One of these days I want to get up to Canada to visit this park. I've heard first hand accounts from my brother & sister-in-law of how beautiful this area is! Nice article by Amanda Lepinski and thanks to Trailerlife.com Link to their site follows.

Amanda Lepinski, Associate Editor
June 14, 2012
Filed under Destinations, National Parks, Travel

All winter I’ve been dreaming up vacation destinations. Nowadays a destination has to really, REALLY, make me want to spend the money and take time off of work to visit. And even though my bucket list is brimming to the top of places I have yet to see, I’ve been obsessed with one area that I’ve already visited and loved so much that I can hardly wait to go back — Banff, Alberta, Canada.

Lake Louise - located in Banff, Alberta, Canada. Doesn't my dad take awesome photos?

 During July 2000, my family took a two-week drive from Minnesota, up through the Dakotas and into Canada, westward into Vancouver and then back home through the States. All four of us piled into the family mini-van and headed northwest. At 16, the last thing I wanted to do was spend two-weeks of my precious summer in close proximity to my brother (who is two years younger than me) but we didn’t have a choice. We shared the backseat while my parents manned the front; dad drove and mom handled directions and the video camera. She filmed plenty of beautiful mountain scenery as we made our way through Alberta and British Columbia but forgot to turn the audio off while recording. So in addition to the majesty of the Canadian Rockies, viewers also get to hear my parents’ commentary and the wind hitting the camera mic as we drove along the winding roads. (Well, all of that and my dad telling my brother and I to stop pestering each other and pay attention to the scenery.)

Those of you planning a family, couples, friends or solo vacation should certainly take a drive from central to western Canada (I’ve done the eastern Canadian drive as well but I just prefer mountains to flat lands, so the western trip interests me more). Though we hit a lot of scenic stops along the way, my favorite portion of the trip was Banff, Alberta, Canada. Nestled within the Canadian Rockies, Banff sees nearly 3 million annual visitors and is home to Banff National Park, one of the most beautiful parks I’ve ever been to. My family spent a lot of time walking the trails and checking out the breathtaking views of the valley and spending (not nearly enough) time at Lake Louise.

When the grass was still cool to the touch and the sun was just rising above the crest of the mountains, we unloaded ourselves from the van and started on the trails toward Lake Louise. I get chills remembering how gorgeous the views were in this part of Canada – looking around to the mountains on all sides of the lake, I realized just how small I was compared to the rest of the world and how natural beauty like this exists and begs to be preserved and protected. The mountains in the background of this photo, which was taken in early July, shows just how different the climate was as I stood near the bay of the lake in shorts and a tank top with snowcapped mountains behind me.

We spent a few days in Banff National Park checking out the Bow Valley. The Bow Valley is located along the upper Bow River in Alberta, which flows through Banff National Park. The name, Bow River, was coined because First Nations people used to take the reeds that grew along the riverbanks to make bows. Water is an important aspect of this region and the Bow Valley comprises many lakes: Lake Louise, Bow Lake, Hector Lake, Vermilion Lakes, Gap Lake, Lac des Arcs and Ghost Lake. From 1910 until the 1960s, Bow River and its tributaries were used for hydroelectric power, forever altering the river’s flow and ecosystems.

Me at Lake Louise, summer 2000.

As important as lakes have always been to this native Minnesotan, on this particular trip I was interested in capturing a glimpse of wildlife – the bigger mammals rather than deer and an occasional fox I could see back home. I was always a curious child, and that probably makes me better at my career, but at 16 I wanted to see and explore as much as I could — even if that meant straying from the beaten path. As my family checked out the trails, I stopped to snap photos of foliage and mountains. My dad, a guy who almost always has a camera ready – be it an impending dangerous weather pattern or a family vacation – walked off the trail, which I believe was prohibited, to get a better photo of the Bow River Valley. I caught up to him and we peered just over the edge of part of the mountain together.

A look at the Bow River Valley.

 Unbeknown to me, my dad left as I spent a few moments taking in the gorgeous scenery, breathing in the air and (as cheesy as this sounds) closing my eyes as the wind blew across my face until I heard my name. I turned around and realized I was standing just a few feet away from a mountain elk. My eyes got wide as I stared into the dark eyes of my wilderness companion – it was just me and an elk – all within a few feet of the edge of the mountain. Just a moment ago I reveled in how beautiful this vacation was and the next moment I was horrified for my life – was this animal going to go crazy and buck me off the side of the mountain?! I paused and looked to my dad for some guidance but his response was, “Amanda! Get closer, I can’t get you in the frame with the elk!” At this point about 10 other tourists stopped and were pointing at me saying things like, “Stay calm, it’s okay! Don’t worry and don’t excite the animal!” There was no way I was just going to stand there – if this animal was going to go crazy on me, I wasn’t going down alone. Shortly after my dad snapped his photo, the one you can see below, I ran toward the tourists and my furry friend disappeared into the woods. Folks, by all means take the path less traveled in life, but when it comes to park trails, stay on the designated path – especially if it’s advised!

Me playing nice with the elk.

The rest of our cross-country trip was less exciting than the Bow River Valley, mostly because there were no other animal confrontations. However, I certainly can’t belittle the splendor of western Canada and northwestern United States. All of it was gorgeous, and I highly recommend checking out North America’s glaciers, like those found in Glacier National Park, before they’re gone.As I remember awesome places I’ve been or check out more places in the future, I’ll keep you posted…embarrassing animal encounters and all. Please feel free to do the same and let us at Trailer Life magazine know where you’ve been and where you plan to go.

http://www.trailerlife.com/trailer-travel/canadian-confrontation/