The truck...

It seems that the history of my cars has been a progression from small to huge.
My fist car was a Renault 5. I think that here in the USA it was referred to as the Renault Le Car. Later, I shared with my brothers and sister a Renault Routier. After that one, at some point, I was able to buy a junked Mustang 67 and restored it. The next one was one of my favorites, a Mazda RX7. After this one I got my worst car ever...a Chevy Cavalier. What a piece of crap. After this, a short stint with a WV Golf, and then a VW Jetta. Then a Mitsubishi Montero. After this, came the beloved Toyota 4Runnrer, what a great car. We had lots of fun with it.

But with the 4Runner we could not tow anything close to what we needed. So it came time to let go and..."Say hello to my little friend", the GMC 2500HD Duramax/Allison. This truck feels huge in comparison to anything that I have owned before. It is looooong and tall.
I remember driving around in my small cars and every time I came near one of these huge trucks they annoyed me and I tried to get away from them...slow, clumsy and out of place in the city. Well, now I am one of them big rig diesel types. From the high cabin I can see the compact cars like ants swarming and getting into my blind spots. I have learned to "lean" on them to scare them away from the blind spots...it is for their own good :)



Going around town, I have realized that this truck does not fit in any parking spot. The end of the bed always sticks out about 3 ft. For crying out loud, not even in the contractor section of Home Depot. Which by they way, I have noticed that in hardware stores, auto parts stores, you get these approval nods when you pull in the 2500. You can feel the testosterone levels going up, I have noticed that now I have to shave twice a day.

While doing all the research for the truck, I stumbled across the subculture of "diesel people"and the apparent pecking order of trucks. Anything gasoline and 1500 not really, really a truck. With 2500 you get your lil'training wheels until you graduate to the real stuff, a dually 3500.
Another funny thing is these diesel street competitions...no, they do not drag race, they see who can tow who, like a tow-hoe-down, take a look here, or here. The online forms get into passionate discussions of Cummings vs. Duramax, just like the photo people get into arguments of Canon vs. Nikon or PC vs. Mac.

A couple of days ago, I pulled into Cabelas, and to my surprise I discovered that all the parking spots were big enough for the truck. I teardrop rolled down my cheek. I looked left and right, and sure enough, I was amongst fellow 2500's and above (3500's), grills and gun racks galore. I felt welcomed and I found in Cabelas what I could not found in regular auto stores, a set of anchors for the pickup bed, appropriately branded: "Bully". By the way, every thing truck related is marketed with names like "exterminator", "crusher", "stumper", "dominator", "decider" ;)
I told Vicky that at this rate, if I keep driving this truck, Sara Pallin may start making sense. Alarmed, she told me to go around the block a couple of times in the Prius to clear the diesel fumes and get my head straight.



Cabelas...where every long bed fits with space to spare...Truck heaven.