Where'd you go?

O-kay. So it's not spring everywhere yet.

By the time I got to Chicago it was in the 50's. At bedtime I'm looking at high 30's, with an impressive amount of wind. I just now put a few things on the steps outside to refrigerate overnight.

Tomorrow I deliver this load and take a new one south again. I-65 is starting to feel like home to me.

Oh, well. At least it'll be warm again.*

At a rest stop on the way up here I saw a truck with a TV camera perched on the right fender. Looked like a standard security type (the new tiny ones, of course), in a weatherproof housing, securely bolted in place so it looked backward along the right side of the truck and trailer.

Apparently someone wanted to know what was in his blind spot. One of them, anyway.

Yeah, those signs plastered all over trailers are for real. If you can't see my mirrors, I really can't see you.

With my driver's side mirrors I can see behind me, but not to the side. As you pass me, once you're much past my rear wheels you might as well be in another dimension till you reach my window. And it's worse to the right--"tunnel vision" becomes a reality in a truck cab.

Modern semi's sport all sorts of mods to help you see a little better. Extra windows in the passenger door. A bewildering array of wide-angle mirrors. Even TV cameras like the one that started all this.** We're taught to lean around, trying to get a glimpse of the road beside us as we prepare to change lanes.

And it still isn't enough.

The only thing that seems to be reliable is constant attention. You keep a sort of map in your head, of every car and truck around you. Where each one is. How fast it's going. Is it catching up? Is it changing lanes? Et cetera. That way, when one disappears, you have an idea where it should be, and you assume you're stuck where you are until you see it again.

Not restful. And therefore not really reliable. Your mind will wander. And then you'll be glad for every fancy see-behind-you gadget you've got.

Just so you know. I wasn't ignoring you. Honest.
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*In a month or two I'll rue those words...

**At least one company has something similar on just about every truck in its fleet. Reviews are mixed.
I've been told you have to fiddle with it more than you want to. Some say it can be distracting. Others tell me drivers fixate on it and stop paying attention to all the other ways of keeping track of your neighbors. But I've also heard that when it's useful at all, it's useful indeed.