Erik, your finesse with conversational writing is - hmm, well, interesting and funny and very true to life.

I think I shared with you that my father was a trucker for a few years after he "retired" - figured it was a good way to see the country and get paid for it. He had some harrowing tales about tire blow-outs. "Worst part of the job," he said. No doubt, his tire-blow-out conversations were similar to this one!