I was startled awake the other night around 3 am by a low-flying helicopter. My guess is it was a medevac chopper.

Unable to fall back to asleep, I fired up the TV and began flipping channels. I was pleasantly surprised find that black-and-white movie classic, They Drive By Night.

George Raft and Humphrey Bogart play two play brothers - Joe and Paul Fabrini, respectively - who own a small trucking company and share the duties of driving their one truck, all the while encountering conflicts from rivals and loan collectors.

There are some dramatic scenes of falling asleep at the wheel, murder, and a screaming courtroom breakdown.

After watching this classic melodrama from 1940, I got to thinking about other memorable trucking movies I had seen. What came to mind was one that was as schlocky as They Drive By Night was great: Truck Stop Women.

I recall the posters promoting this B movie that was released in 1974. They proclaimed: “No rig was too big for them to handle. Double clucthin’ . . . gear jammin’ mammas who like a lot of hi-jackin’ by day . . . a lot of heavy truckin’ by night.”

It was a different time 35 years ago.

The movie told the story of a mother and daughter who operate a brothel and theft ring out of a highway truckstop, and battle the organized crime members who are trying to take over their operation.

The movie featured a Playboy Playmate of the Year, Claudia Jennings, and was filled with tons of nudity, violence, and country and trucking songs

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say this was an exploitation movie that treated sex, violence, and sensationalism with love and affection.

You know what’s even more staggering? I can remember all this in the wee hours of the morning but can’t recall what I had for dinner a week ago.

I welcome your thoughts and comments.

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I have a dilemma that I need some help and guidance with.

I have a friend who has an acquaintance that knows a guy who every so often comes across boxes that just happened to “fall off a truck.”

The latest “lost” merchandise was a couple of cases of FlabULess.

Never heard of this? Neither had I.

FlabULess touts itself as the first ever arm shapewear for women.

Shapewear, if you’re not aware, are foundation garments designed to temporarily alter the wearer’s body shape by slimming, concealing and reshaping into a more “fashionable” figure. Things liked padded bras, control-top pantyhose and the like.

FlabULess is a pair of compression sleeves that acts as a girdle for the arms, making flabby arms more sleek and slender under tops, dresses, sweaters and jackets.

Here’s the matter I need help with: Do I give a pair to my wife? (Yes, I do have health insurance.)

I welcome your advice, thoughts and comments.

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Beware the “Death Van.”

It’s not what you might be thinking. The Death Van isn’t some comic book or movie character that goes around killing bad guys by running them over or blowing them up.

Well, that’s not entirely true.

This truck does go around killing people. But it kills them legally.

The Death Van is the nickname for China’s fleet of mobile execution chambers. The inconspicuous vehicles, which resemble a tour bus crossed with a police squad car, measure 20 to 26 feet long.

The manufacturer is the Jinguan Group in China The company also makes bulletproof limousines and armored trucks for banks. Talk about technology transfer.

The Death Vans travel to areas where executions by lethal injection might not otherwise be possible.

With the vehicles, small town and cities don’t have to have their own execution faculties or have to be bothered with disposing of the dead bodies. The Death Vans handle both.

Executions in the Death Vans are viewed on closed circuit television so that local law enforcement authorities can view the lethal injections to make sure they are carried out legally. Thoughtful, don’t you think?

Another “nice” thing about the vans is that prisoners sentenced to death can be executed locally, closer to communities where they broke the law. The idea being: to better deter others from committing crime in the area.

China, the world leader in executing convicted criminals, you may interested to know, is slowly phasing out public executions by firing squad in favor of lethal injections.

Another interesting item: Jinguan Group’s glossy brochure on its mobile execution chambers are in Chinese and in English.

I imagine it takes a certain type of individual to want to become a Death Van driver.

How’d you like to have to write the driver recruitment ad for that position?

I welcome your thoughts and comments.

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Deciding on a location for a facility is an overwhelming, often times expensive, process.

Among other things, you have to find available properties that are right for your business, decide upon the right city or county to locate the facility, and figure out geographic advantages of different business locations.

When it comes to real estate, we all know that it’s a matter of location, location, location. Select the right location and your business can thrive. Settle in the wrong location can it could be costly.

The key to finding the best location is to have good information upon which to make the decision.

How’d you like to be able to do a lot of this “prospecting” without having to travel to visit multiple sites, and without having to deal with brokers?

If you would, you might want to give ZoomProspector a try. It’s a free web-based service that provides demographic data on thousands of communities across the US.

These cities and counties have detailed map information, along with particulars on such matters as transportation, taxation, city planning, and more.

You define the community and property characteristics important to you, and the service uses a variety of technologies, including matchmaking technology (like that used for finding a date/mate), to find and display the locations that are a match.

The result: a faster process of site selection analysis so that companies can quickly identify the optimal location for their business start-up, expansion, or relocation.

Ain’t technology something.

I welcome your thoughts and comments.

To leave yours, click on the “No Comments” link below.