Post Gordon ~ Thoughts, Commentary & Reflections

Kinda Cute!

It's kinda cute. When my dogs start barking, the three girls (three Golden Comet chickens) straighten up and march into their coop, doesn't matter why the dogs are barking, off they go. Better safe than some predator's lunch, I guess. So why does this matter? It just does, Grasshopper.

Well, I was wrong about $23.15 and $23.17 being all-time highs for HTLD. Turns out that the high (close) for the last year is actually $23.53 (52-week high) and the 52-week low a mere $13.30. Not only that but I was sure I read HeartofaFatTrucker state that HTLD paid off the $150 million it borrowed from Wells Fargo to do the deal. Apparently not.

Heartland just filed (April 23, 2014) an 8-K with the SEC, which is a report that informs investors of any significant change to their business. After any significant change, a company like HTLD has four days to file an 8-K report with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You can Google '8-K' and read on Wikipedia a list of the kinds of changes that must be reported.

So the 8-K report is a securities equivalent of dogs barking. You have to read the report to find out why they're barking, but for the chickens, it doesn't matter. If the stock has hit a couple new recent highs as HTLD did on Monday and Tuesday, they take their profit and wait-and-see. The securities equivalent of straightening up and marching into the chicken coop until the ruckus is over. Doesn't matter the reason, really. Better a small profit than a disaster.

As a result, HTLD dropped some both yesterday and today. Today, HTLD closed at $22.33 so there's support as the price drops towards $22--keep in mind that's still up big bucks from November 11, 2014 ($14.27) when HTLD announced the acquisition of GTI.

So why are the dogs barking? Well, it's because HTLD just released it's First Quarter 2014 results, and the quarter ended March 31 with record operating revenue, a decrease in gains from disposal of property and equipment (a few drivers, too), severe winter weather and (darn!) HOS changes that limit how hard they can push OTR drivers. Oh, well...

HTLD still has $62 million in borrowings from it's unsecured $250 million credit line with Wells Fargo, down $10 million from $75 million on December 31, 2013. Yeah, man! I'd like to pay off $13 million in debt every three months or so. I call that rolling in high, high clover.

Plus HTLD paid the Gordons ANOTHER $3 million this last quarter--I'll take it, I'll take it! Forget the $13 million pay down in long term debt. I can get by. I'm not that greedy. $3 mil's fine, just fine.

You can read the full report here: http://secfilings.nasdaq.com/filing...RESS+INC&FormType=8-K&RcvdDate=4/23/2014&pdf=


Written April 24, 2014 at home, six miles north of Spencer, IN. All rights reserved.

 

Flu or Food Poisoning?

My guess at this point is food poisoning. I'm starting to feel like the morning after the big party and the Cuervo Gold shooters followed by beer chasers until someone drops--and that's a big improvement over how I've felt since Thursday afternoon.

At 3 pm on Thursday, I was fine. Stopped for lunch at 3:30 and departed there at 4 pm and had already begun feeling tired with ripples of aches and pains. It got worse so I left Bloomington (Indiana) and headed straight home, not my usual. Went straight to bed so fatigued that I got up only to dump some diarrhea in the old porcelain poop bucket. Between Thursday afternoon and this morning (Saturday) I had only the juice off two cans of chunk pineapple and the pineapple from one. Lost 3-4 pounds.

The difference between flu (a virus) and food poisoning (a bacterial bloom) is that you take something like Imodium with the flu to shut off the diarrhea and with food poisoning you want all of that bad stuff out of your system. Tell you, I've had diarrhea before but never so much. Apparently food poisoning bacteria can double every 20 minutes so the best thing you can do is show it the door, so to speak.

Can't imagine being this sick in a truck on the road. Still have a hangover-type headache.

HTLD closed down Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, ending the week at $22.09.



Written Saturday, April 26, 2014 at home, six miles north of Spencer, Indiana. All rights reserved.

 

Thanks, TruckDuo.

Did you know that dysentery (diarrhea) killed more soldiers in the Civil War than bullets? The Union Army reported that 995 of every 1000 soldiers suffered from chronic diarrhea. Now that was a shatty war, you know.

Plus, I've lost more weight than I thought. Seven pounds and change, not 3-4. Time to try eating again so came to town for yogurt, probiotic drinks, cottage cheese--and Epsom salts to draw the pain out. Most of that weight loss is from dehydration, I figure. But all I really want to do is sleep now that the pain has reduced some. My interest in food is like zilch.

 

Progress

Ate an egg this morning, a nice milestone even if not enthusiastic about it. Now drinking pediatric electrolytic. Why is this stuff so expensive? $4/quart--for water, salt, citric acid and zinc.

Another first today. Went over to Chicago's Pizza in nearby Gosport for soup. Turns out the gal's trying to copy Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana, which she loves. When she brought it out, told her needed it really hot. I'm now a 160/40 advocate. Food's either going to be above 160 or below 40. Had her add more fire. So my ups are longer and my downs are shorter and shallower. Moving in the right direction. Good homemade soup. Small bowl, $2.49. Lucked out.

Bought low salt mixed nuts at Family Dollar. Usually I'd eat half by the time I got home and leave the other half in the car so I'd have some the next day. Ate 3, a cashew and two Brazil nut pieces. They'll be there when I'm ready. No need push my luck.

Then I thought about the frozen pizza half that's in the freezer and popped half that in the halogen oven for 12 minutes. Well, 12 is a little too long but toast's supposed to be good under these conditions. Ate the whole thing. Have the rest tomorrow.

Not only that, tomorrow I'd like to get some work done. Anything. Just anything. Something. Seems when I suffer my animals suffer, too. Hopefully that's over for now, too.

Raining out now. It's a good thing. Perfect timing, first drops hit as I stepped out of the car... at home.


Written Sunday, April 27, 2014 at home, six miles north of Spencer, Indiana. All rights reserved.

 

Gerbil on a Treadmill in a Cage

In a recent Yahoo News article on the FedEx wreck that killed 10, the article reported about the long hours the driver had put in before the accident, the 350 miles he had driven so far that day and that he was pulling his second set of doubles. 'Man,' I thought, 'just shows how the public just does not have a clue.' That's not even a long day so far for that driver.

And they don't. The public has little or no conception of the long days, long hours, the required work for no pay, isolation, health and other issues associated with OTR. We are not just gerbils on a treadmill in a cage. Gerbil goes here, picks up a load, goes there, drops and gets another. All this work needs to get done, sure, but in the name of 'Fleet Utilization' (as Mike Gerdin calls it) the quality of life of the OTR driver has slid south of the South Pole and the public has no clue.

In contrast, this small outfit I'm trying out dedicates an inexpensive, older truck to a weekly run and expects to pay the driver and make a return on its investment, provide good customer service and still maintain the equipment. Compare that with the old GTI, HTLD and other megas like them who just factor in the loss of 99% of their new drivers every six months because drivers are like gerbils on a treadmill in a cage--a trucking component that experiences premature wear and needs replaced more often than tires, brakes or headlights.

Info on the FedEx wreck does give the impression that something happened in the cab of that truck that caused it to drift over into the median area and then explode into oncoming traffic, whether because the driver dozed off, had a medical or mechanical issue... who knows??

Drivers can and should choose whether they want to be mere gerbils or have a home life and make their job choice accordingly. Lots of good jobs exist out there where you show up in the a.m, work your shift, park the truck, go home and take part in whatever life choices suit you--whether chickens, dogs, kids, relatives and neighbors, civic organizations...

The plate to choose from is simply huge!! And don't let anyone tell you it's not possible to make a grand a week and still be home every night.

Well, not if you're living for days and weeks on end like a gerbil on a treadmill in a cage...

At 350 miles and pulling two sets, the FedEx driver COULD CONCEIVABLY still have been home every night, had he only made it home without this one accident that took ten lives, including his. Was that the case or had he been on the road the last three weeks straight?? Dunno.

I hope the public wants to know. I sure do.


Written Monday, April 28, 2014 at home, six miles north of Spencer, Indiana while trying to recoup from a bout of food poisoning. Had the rest of the spinach/goat cheese pizza this morning, not quite so toasted as yesterday's. All rights reserved.

 

Three-Day Wipe Out

I'm down 8 pounds but my hunger's coming back. Before this episode, I had already lost some with plans to lose more and my size 38 jeans (of which I have many) finally let me back in. No problem there now. Time to box up the 40s. So maybe there's a long-term benefit here--shades of half full glasses and too loose jeans.

Artificial refrigeration itself is a fairly recent invention. Instead, ice houses stored ice from the winter that they 'hoped' lasted through to the next. Our pioneer fathers took to one-day, two-day or three-day fasts when they started to feel off. Seems like everyone I know, except me, has had a close-by, personal experience with food poisoning. Go figure.

HTLD closed down ($21.77) again--along with Amazon (AMZN) and the NASDAQ. Breaking through support at $22 would imply new support below ($21?) so could well go lower again. We'll see where support kicks in with the market in a rout. If you bought AMZN back in December at $400 based on a positive Dec 2013 article in Fortune Magazine, you're probably pretty unhappy today with it's close at $296.58. Probably concerns about the big AliBaba IPO... (too much to explain here).

So my world collapsed down to 1) my bed and 2) my toilet. Now it's very slowly expanding outward but still returns frequently and often to 1) and 2). Thankfully, the guy in the mirror in the biffy at Wal-Mart today has a beard that no longer looks like an overgrown weed patch as it did Saturday.

Yuppo. Shaved today. Hey! Don't get the idea that this is pity-me, either. From 1) my bed to 2) my toilet--is a lot bigger space than that cage [cab] you're driving today. To each his own treadmill.


Written Monday, April 28, 2014, at home six miles north of Spencer, Indiana in between excursions, rests and, well, you know... All rights reserved.

 

Food Danger Zone

Had my second bowl of soup (very salty tortilla & salsa) yesterday (Monday, April 28, 2014) and having my third (cream of potato) now. Woke up this morning about 2 a.m. and felt... felt rested! How cool!

That's a change up. It occurred to me that 1) I'm well past the 'crisis' and 2) should start feeling a 'pop' health-wise considering the 'cleanse' I've gone through. Some people pay for this!

At the Mexican restaurant in town yesterday, the salty tortilla soup the waiter brought out was not hot; took a while to get him again and still was hot enough the second time around. When I asked if he couldn't just pop it in the micro and heat it up good he demonstrated a soup explosion. Said they couldn't get it much above 150 degrees. That's not enough, I thought.

In fact, I have 'proof'--a detailed chart http://homefoodsafety.org/food-poisoning/the-danger-zone that shows, by degrees, how heat will protect you from bacteria or help it thrive. Great chart!

Then I remembered something I had just read and ate the salty soup anyway. Turns out that learning how to preserve meat in salt was a turning point in our human history and development. The salt would make up for the so-so heat in the soup, so I ate it up.

Here's the quote from Lewis Mumford's 'The City in History':

So even though not hot as I wanted it, the overly-salted tortilla soup was probably quite safe! I probably need the salt anyway. The potato soup today was nicely hot. No concern. Also, way over-salted.


Written Tuesday, April 29, 2014 at Sweet Owen Restaurant, Spencer, Indiana. Actually got out this morning and worked on composting area. Winds arrived here that caused severe troubles down Arkansas way. All rights reserved.