Fred Francis of NBC News once followed a long-haul trucker around as part of one of those "in-depth" stories. The guy lived somewhere way up in Maine - gets a call at some ungodly hour of the morning from his dispatcher to pick up a load and drive it to--Los Angeles, all the way across the country. About eighteen hours into the journey, Fred, from the sleeper, asks, "Aren't you tired? I'm not even driving and I'm worn out."

He gets to the warehouse in L.A.- about four days later, with about a total of ten hours of sleep under his belt - at 2 a.m. He has to wait until the warehouse opens at 7 a.m. to drop his load. While he's waiting, they figure that hour for hour he could make more money working at McDonald's, if he includes all the unproductive wait time.

From L.A. he's dispatched to Texas, then to Nebraska, then somewhere else before finally getting home. Each trip has its own set of special circumstances that keeps the passage of time from being profitable for him. When he gets back to Maine thirteen or so days later, he's summarily fired for turning up positive for THC on a urine sample. The story ends there with a parting shot of him looking entreatingly into the sunset.

The romance and adventure of a life of wanderlust.

Regards, Neil