Location: Youngstown, OH

I'm discovering two things about Delroy.  For one, he has a problem with reading signs.  I'm not sure if it's an inability to process a sign quickly enough as it floats by outside the window or if it's uncorrected unwillingness.  This became glaringly apparent yesterday when, on the Garden State Parkway, Delroy slowed down a bit.  I looked up from some reading I was doing in the passenger seat to see a state trooper entering the highway from a ramp on my right.

The officer proceeded to file in behind us and put on his lights.  It took a moment to realize it was for us that the lights were on, then it took us several more seconds to get safely over two lanes and onto the shoulder.  The trooper was becoming impatient with the time it was taking for us to get over and pulled along side us.  Great, a ticked-off cop.  At this moment, we had no idea why we were being pulled-over.

The cop came to the driver's side window and immediately flew-off the handle about having to "chase us down" and asking why we had no entered the truck inspection station.  Of course, as I was not watching the road at that particular moment, this was news to me.  Delroy tried to explain that he didn't realize he was supposed to go into the inspection area and the cop shot back "What are you driving?".  The cop's smart-ass attitude about the entire situation is when I began to fully realize the depth to which Delroy does not like, nor appreciate confrontation.  The officer continued to fire questions, demanding our licenses, medical cards, registration, proof of insurance, and log books.  Delroy wears gloves on his hands while driving and began to take them off so that he could dig into this pocket for his license, I pulled my wallet of the dash immediately.  The officer felt Delroy was taking too long and Delroy explained he had to take his gloves off to reach into his pocket, but somewhat curtly which the cop immediately recognized.  I picked up the Qualcomm and informed the officer that our logs were electronic.  The cop cut me off and said he knew our company used electronic logs, just get them, then he returned his attention to Delroy.  Delroy handed him his license and medical card.  The officer asked Delroy for the license and registration.

I still needed another response from the officer before I could get the logs but couldn't get a word in edge-wise.  Delroy responded to the officer that he didn't know where the truck's paperwork was; it's something we haven't covered in any detail yet.  Since I couldn't get the logs without more information from officer, I began to explain how Delroy had only been driving for three weeks, that the truck's paperwork was in my briefcase in the bunk and began to get it.  The cop asked, "He was driving, right?"  The officer was clearly trying to be as difficult as possible but I remained calm, however Delroy was becoming visibly agitated.  "I don't know where they are!" The cop asked, "I haven't heard you ask where they were? This can go one of two ways, fellas, whichever way you want to play it."  He was referring specifically to Delroy at this point.  "Are you going to get those logs?" he said to me.  "Yes officer, I just need to know how many days you need so I can send the message." Delroy looked at me and I gave him this look that was the silent equivalent of "Shut the hell up and ask me where it is!"  Delroy caught the second part of my glare and asked me and I told him where they were and pointed to my briefcase in the back.

Delroy reached back and handed it to me.  The officer seemed to calm just a bit and said, "Now we're getting somewhere."  I was being as comlpiant, calm, and respectful as I could, even though the officer's actions hardly warranted it.  But one thing you don't do is further agitate a highway patrol officer who already has an atittude.  Delroy seemed to be coming around.  The officer came around to my side of the truck to wait on the logs to be returned from the satellite and I handed him my information as well as the truck's registration and insurance.  Then Delroy did the dumbest thing.  He lit a cigarette and tossed the match out the window.  "Don't throw that out the window, that an automatic $500 fine for littering!" the officer shouted over the idling engine.  "The way things are going, you can almost count on it!"  Delroy then began to question whether or not this was littering, in essence, arguing with the officer.  The officer's belligerence increased once more and finally I guess they both reached their breaking points simultaneously.  It began with Delroy interrupting the officer's rant by saying "Why do you have to be so mean?" and the officer looking dumbfounded at this level of insolence and said, "That's it, I'm done!" and stormed off for his cruiser.

All I could do was shake my head.  I too was as equally dumbfounded.  I couldn't believe what I had just witnessed, both the behavior of the officer bnut more importantly the behavior of my acolyte.

"You just insured yourself a ticket, you know that?" I said, lighting a cigarette.  "And I can't believe you threw a match stick out the window in the presence of an officer!?!?</i>

We talked back and forth a bit about what had just transpired. I began to get the impression really quick that he felt I was somehow to blame for not having been watching the road at that moment.  I nipped that in the bud really quick.  I first asked him what the sign had said, to which he replied "Something about an inspection station."  Well, I happen to know that New Jersey, as confusing as it can be sometimes at least has decent signage for their inspection stations.  They have a big sign on the highway alerting commercial vehicles that it it is a "Truck Inspection Station" with a big electronic sign beneath relaying whether they are "OPEN" or "CLOSED".  This I explained to him and added that if he had been confused, why did he not ask me?  They place the signs at least one mile before the entrance to the inspection station and it's not like I was alseep in the bunk.  I was sitting right beside him, just not looking at the road at that moment.  The fact of the matter was he probably missed the earlier signs and saw the final sign after it was too late, as he was one lane removed from the exit ramp.  This was confirmed today while approaching a two-lane weigh station in south-eastern Pennsylvania this afternoon.  I watched him drive past the "Weight Station 1 Mile" sign, then another sign which said "All Enter Weight Station When Flashing" with two, non-flashing yellow light atop it.  Then, just as approached the entrance to the weight station he hit the brake, looked at me and asked if he had to go in there.  I asked him if he had seen the other TWO signs and he replied no.  I'm guessing this is what happened yesterday as well, he just didn't ask me when he realized he was passing an inspection station.

I then proceeded to question his behavior with the officer.  I told him that likely he would have only received a Vehicle Inspection, which is standard opearting procedure anytime a truck is pulled-over, whether a ticket is given or not.  It's kind of like a "Warning".  The report has to be mailed to the trucking company, on which the officer will list the offense for which the truck was pulled-over.  This is used a lot for small infractions so that the employer is made aware of their driver's errant activity, it goes "on record",  but without going as far as to write an actual ticket involving fines and misdemeanors.  In all likliehood, had Delroy just been co-operative this is what would have happened.  Yes the cop was being an Grade-A asshole, but I got the impression that for that moment that Delroy began co-operating, and after having stated things could go "one of two ways" that he was willing to be fair about that situation as it had been an honest mistake, until Delroy got lippy with him.

So this is when I discovered the second thing about Delroy this week. He. HATES. cops.  I mean really hates cops.  In the time that has transpired since his ticket I have heard him say things like "The only good cop is in the cemetary."  And I can't blame him; being a black, dread-locked Rastafarian in this country, I'm sure he's suffered his fair share of racial profiling, stops for "suspicion", and hassling from our law enforcement officers.  So I can't really begrudge where his motivation comes from, but at the same time, he's going to be dealing with law enforcement officials from troopers to D.O.T officers on a regular basis in the business.  If he is incapable of quelling his emotions and behaving in an appropriate manner though a routine traffic stop where he was clearly in the wrong, just because some redneck cop has a bad attitude on that particular day, he's in for a world of hurt. 

So on the one hand, I feel bad for Delroy that he got a ticket - that he made a mistake as bad as he did that warranted one.  I feel bad that I wasn't more attentive at the time, however, as I've said, all he had to do was ask.  Ultimately though, I don't have much sympathy for what happened because of the way it played out.  Delroy's behavior was inexecusable and had he exercised better judgement and self-control he wouldn't have gotten a ticket at all.

Location: Columbia, NJ

I made fun of Jason when he said dumb things.  Delroy on the other hand says some interesting things from time to time.  Out of fairness, I figure I should document some of these things here.  Some of these require context, but I will try to be brief in their setup.  I present, the Delroyisms:

---

Once when comparing the act of job-hopping, something which is rampant in this business, Delroy said, "I don't want to be like no bird, jumping from limb to limb."

---

A couple of weeks ago, en route to Alabama, we went through Paducah, KY where he had just finished truck driving school before coming to work for my company.  We were on a very loose schedule, so I told him if he wanted to stop and say hi to the folks there, we could do that.  By this point, Delroy had been driving with me about a week and had been given a virtual trial by fire with lots of mountain driving in adverse, wet conditions.  While talking to some of the n00bs that were hanging around he said:

"I know you are thinking to yourself that this truck driving school is hard, learning to back and shift the gears, but you are only crying water.  When you get out here, mon, you will cry blood."

---

"Music is life."

---

"I smoke weed for thirty 38 years and I give it up to do this.  Some people couldn't believe I could that.  Thirty eight years, mon.  But you know what?  I smoked so much weed that now, if I ever feel like I want to get high, all I have to do is think about it."

---

Apparently, when I get stormodacentury in a couple of weeks, I'm going to be bombarded with bad jokes.  I promise I'll spare you.

Location: Cartersville, GA

I would like to go on record and say that that dog-lovin', Lionel Worshippin', clone-makin', sheep wrasslin', crazy lawn ornament guy fabricatin' strrrumpet mandy_moon is a low-down dirty CHEATER!  She busted her jawbreaker open with a hammer!  A HAMMER!!!!!



While I  on the other hand have successfully (honorably/honestly) licked my way to the bubblegum center.



Even Delroy was impressed with my jawbreaker licking skeelz.



So I have won by default and any notion of a "race" is off, but I'm still determined to consume this thing, lick by sugary lick.

So help me

Location: Council Bluffs, IA

I seldom remember my dreams; it's only the very vivid ones that survive sunrise.  For the purposes of this discussion, just assume that "vivid" can almost always be equated with erotic.  It freaks me out just a little though, that I have vivid dreams about Livejournal people I've never met, enough of them that it seems to be a sporadic trend in my subsconcious.  It seems to occur when I've just recently been reading journals prior to going to bed.  For those of you keeping score at home:

1) My first of these was about angiewarhol, a non-mutual LJ friend whose journal I still read, despite the one-way nature of this relationship for over 2 years.  I just really enjoy reading her journal.  I had a steamy, erotic dream about her once a long time ago that invloved PG-13 nudity and a bearskin rug.

2) I had a dream about mandy_moon once before I met her, but it was not an erotic one.  I don't even remember the circumstances of the dream except she had freckles and it involved a sunny day.

3) I had a rather explicit dream about newest_fad one night not too long ago.  I don't even know her that well on LJ... much less to have met.  That was a strange one.

Well folks, there's a new one to add to the list.  In my dreams last night, I had one of the most unbelievable make-out sessions with a person from my friend's list.  What I find most interesting about this is that, not only have I never met her, but I've never even seen a picture of her.  In the other 3 instances, I had seen pictures of the other three, even though in the dream about mandy_moon my subsconcious had chosen to give her freckles.  So in the dream, I guess I just conjured up someone and attributed that vision as being that person.  It was a social gathering of some sort, like a party, and she and I were both there.  I forget the circumstances which led to the making-out; it's not like we were an "item" or were otherwise already acquainted with each other; the general feeling was that we hardly knew each other, possibly our first time meeting.  Since I don't remember dreams, the ones I do remember are typically in broad strokes, so you'll have to forgive the "felt like" and "general" nature of my descriptions.  I think the making-out was the result of some dare, bet, or game...  it wasn't like, some big, mutually romantic gesture, but more of a consequence of something else.  But when it happened...  WOW.  I don't think I have ever been as acutely aware of the physical sensation in a kiss, in a dream or in real life, as during that kiss.

So who was it?  Just so no one would jump ahead in the story by seeing an lj user tag, I figured I'd ( put it behind a cut. )

---

Delroy is progressing quite well.  As far as the baisc aspects of driving, he pretty much has it down, just tweaking and fine-tuning with reptition.  Like most new guys, he needs lots more practice with backing but it's coming along.  So we're delving into the other, related aspects of driving: route planning, administrative tasks, etc.  This will be somewhat tougher for Delroy, but I have no doubt he'll learn it.  It's interesting, I think I have more confidence in Delroy's ability than he does in himself at the moment.  He's constantly second-guessing himself and searching for approval from me, even after I've given it a zillion times already.  I mentioned this before, and that it was a little maddening.  It has yet to subside.

I have some doubts, though, that Delroy will adapt to the lifestyle.  He can learn the mechanical and mental tasks of the job, but I think at some point down the road, he's going to give it up because he can't reconcile the demands of road life with his social and pscyhological needs.  I would be highly surprised if Delroy is still driving over-the-road after 6 months on his own.  It just won't fit-in with his needs as a person.  He's not wired for this sort of lifestyle.

Last Thursday, after getting all of Jason's administrative odd-and-ends tidied-up at a truckstop in eastern New Jersey, he drove us the remainder of the way to Allentown, PA.  While he was driving, I contacted the training department to be assigned a new student.  I let them know that, in a few weeks, I intended on training stormodacentury.  I wasn't sure if the training department would want to try to find me a student who might have already had a portion of his trainging completed, as to not interrupt the training of a new student.    They assured me that they had a new student for me and that it would be no problem to drop him off when I was ready to train stormodacentury.  They gave me the name and motel room number of Delroy, patiently waiting at a Days Inn in Allentown.  After getting off the phone with the training department I immediately called Delroy.  The front-desk connected me with the room and I was greeted by a groggy-sounding voice, the sound of someone who had just been dragged from slumber.

"Hello", the voice said.
"I'm looking for Delroy."
"Yeah."
"You're Delroy?"
[Becoming more alert sounding] "Yeah, yeah."
"I'm Lin.  I've been assigned to be your trainer.  I'll be there to get you in a couple of hours.  Can you be ready that soon?"
"Yeah, yeah. Sure ting, no problem."
This was the first hint of his accent I had detected. "Ok.  Well, I'll just meet you at the motel.  I have to go to the terminal first, but I'll give you a call when I'm leaving there to let you know I'm on my way."
"Ok."
"Alright.  Well, I'll see you soon. Goodbye."
"Ok, mon.  Goodbye."

Mon?

I get Jason to the terminal and moved out of the truck. After the obligatory farewell pleasantries and good-lucks, I proceed over to the motel. I called Delroy again to let him know I was on my way, as promised.

"This is Lin, again.  I'm leaving the terminal now.  I will be there in a few minutes."
"Ok. I weel meet you at the front.  I weel turn in my key."
"Ok.  I'll see you in a few minutes. Bye."

I arrive at the motel and pull into the parking lot.  There's a person standing beside the lobby, which I presume must be Delroy.  He's a tall, skinny black dude wearing a colorful, colored shirt of red, green, and yellow and blue jeans.  On his head is a grey cap and at his feet are a couple of duffel bags.  He picks them up when he sees the truck and begins walking to where I've parked it.  I hop out and walk over to greet him.  In the closing proximity I can discern he is middle-aged, probably in his late 40s to early 50s, as evidenced by his scraggly grey beard.

"Are you Leen?" he asks.
"Yes," I replied.  I'm Lin, you must be Delroy.  Nice to meet you."

We get his gear into the truck and get settled-in.  As I typically like to do, I drive first, allowing time for general conversation without the pressure of it being their first time behind the wheel.  Coming out of orientation, the new guys often have lots of questions about the company, trucking, and the training process.  In addition, I have my own information to disperse: expectations, guidelines, goals, truck-rules, etc.  I like to spend at least a couple of hours doing this, just to break the ice and get familiar with one another.

Delroy, as you may have deduced, is a bonafide rastafarian.  Here's a picture I took of him the first day, laughing at the surpise of my snapshot.



He's fifty-three (or as Del says, he's fifty-tree) and is a native of Jamaica, but has lived in the U.S. for approximately 20 years now.  From what I have pieced together thus far, he's worked a variety of odd-jobs since he's been here.  Everything from selling clothing for a friend, opearting a steamroller for a road construction crew,  to picking fruit in commercial orchards.  Arguably, this is his very first professional, structured, corporate job he has had.  He smoked weed for "t'irty eight years" and gave it up to become a trucker.  He keeps an amazing mass of long, thin dreadlocks tucked under his cap.  He's very good-natured, easy-going, and mild-mannered.  And he talks really loud, which is a plus for someone as deaf as I'm becoming.  He gets really animated when he's talking about something he's passionate or excited about.  He's not an educated man; he never even went to highschool.  He is smart though, just not terribly well-informed or knowledgeable about certain things.  He's led a simple, uncomplicated life; choosing a consistent path of least resistance and attempting to always be at peace and in harmony with himself and others.  He's very no-nonsense, too... something I can appreciate.  I've always been fond of the straight-shooter; the person who doesn't mince words or gloss things over. 

I especially prefer this sort of quality in my own supervisors, but even in my interpesonal relationships, I tend to gravitate toward people who are genuine and honest; people who won't bite their tongue. I respect people who are honest to the point of brutality.  Similarily, I hate being in the presence of people with whom I feel I'm walking on egg shells around, constantly.  You know these types, the type who "reads" everything you say as some sort of sleight concerning them.  Blech.  Probably worse are people who take a statement of fact concerning them and perceive it as a personal attack.  I have bad teeth.  I know I have bad teeth.  I'm losing hair. I know I'm losing hair.  Mentioning these things casually in conversation as a statment of fact is not a big deal, nor should it.  Whether you can safely joke about it or make a zing depends on what you know about my feelings on the matter and how well you know me.  I'm eternally annoyed when the role is reversed and I'm made to feel like a bad guy for making a statement of fact concerning someone's weight, or a missing limb, or graying hair.  These people know these things about themselves; it is a truth.  Unless I'm being rude or cruel in my statement, it should not be construed as anything else.  It is hard to be honest with people who are not honest with themselves.  You can tell, when in mixed company, who those people are, too, when you go "So, how did you lose your hand?  Was it an accident or a birth defect?" with all earnestness of interest.  Some people will visibly shrink and avert eyes; they can't believe you just asked that question.  Quite frankly, I think it's worse when people skirt the obvious.  It's like not acknowledging the sky is blue.  You can't treat a blind person, just like any other person, but you can treat them with respect like you would any other human being, this one just happens to be blind.  He may not like that part of himself and, if self-conscious about it, I certainly wouldn't poke-fun at it, but ignoring it all together is even more insulting.    All of this politically-correct bullshit codification of language like "differently abled" or "physically challenged" doesn't do anything to change that fact that being blind, or missing a limb, or whatever is part of who he is.


People come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and configurations, kinda like Ipods!  Ignoring something that is obviously part of who they are in deference to their feelings is twisted if you ask me.  I had a co-worker who eventually became a really good pal of mine named Steve, with a fairly severe stuttering problem.  I never ignored it, from day one.  I even asked him wat it was like in his head.  Like, was it stuttering in his head or was the word there in his mind but he couldn't put together the motor skill to execute it with his mouth.  It was general curiousness and a statement of fact, nothing more.  As our friendship grew, I discovered that he was comfortable with poking light fun at it.  I have a bit of hearing loss, so I have been known to ask people to repeat themselves.  Of course, this was maddening for poor Steve.  When he perfectly uttered whatever he said and I didn't hear it and went "Huh?" or "What?", he would always retort sarcastically with the cliche "Did I stutter?" .  I always shot back, "Not that time."  Of course, you can't do things like that without knowing their level of insecurity of self-concsiousness about things of this nature.  That's how I differentiate the two, I guess.

I've always been of the opinion that a true friend is the person who will tell you what they really think, not necessarily what you want to hear.  They're not there to lend you validation but to kick you in the ass when you need it and stroke your ego only when its warranted.  To paraphrase something pharminatrix once wrote, they'll call a spade a fucking shovel.  Straight-shooters expect nothing less in return.

This is a quality that makes training soooo much less stressful.  Often times, training/teaching is a balancing act of tact and diplomacy with honest appraisal.  As an instructor, you do a great disservice if you are not honest with your pupil.  But at the same time, a certain level of professional tact is typically expected.  They cannot possibly learn something properly if they are led to believe that everything is fine when it is not, yet you can't say "Hey moron. For the 20th time: dim your headlights when there is on-coming traffic."  Being honest about their mistakes and deficiencies - and communcating it effectively - are crucial to the learning process.  Some people prefer to live in constant states of delusion.  They constantly surround themselves with friends that supplicate their egoes disingenuously and never become capable of reconciling their own inadequacies.  They can't be honest with themselves and won't tolerate criticism from others. 

This was one of Jason's many problems.  Jason was not equipped for receiving constant criticsm, it would shatter him completely, yet at the same time, his performance necessitated it.  I tried to find positive things to bolster his ego amidst the barrage of criticism, there just weren't that many from which to choose.  I'm sure one of Jason's "problems" with me was that he was being made to feel like he couldn't do anything correct.  Maybe, but, he couldn't do much of anything correct.  Leading him to think otherwise is not only a disservice to him, but a disservice to the company for whom I work and the public at-large driving on the nation's highways.  What's worse, he couldn't be honest with himself and see the level of his own inadequacy, accept responsibility for it, and strive to better himself.  I would call Jason on something he had just done incorrectly, things which were obvious which I had just witnessed and he would try and convince me that he hadn't just done it!  Roger was very similar in this as well, though, he took it a step further by blaming anything/everything else rather than take responsibility for his own actions and ability.  Everything that was wrong in Roger's life was always because of something someone else did, or part of some vast, cornball conspiracy that thwarted him.  Folks like this are virtually impossible to teach if something doesn't come naturally to them.  I think people who are the most successful at learning are not necessarily more intelligent, they simply have the capacity to take an honest assessment of their skill or knowledge and apply themself to the task of personal improvement in the areas they deem inadequate.  Being intelligent AND having this capacity? The world is their oyster when punctuated with ambition.

With folks like Delroy though, all of these concerns are alleviated.  They want to know how they are doing, honestly.  They crave it.  In some cases, as I'm finding with Delroy, they can't function without it.  If there's one fault I have with Delroy it's that he needs to be reminded a little too frequently, even about matters which I've already told him he has performed "awesome" or "perfect" and are no longer a concern of mine.  Perhaps 5 decades of dealing with the average bullshitter has made him suspicious that everyone will white-wash things and in time he'll learn that I'm being completely honest with him and this will subside.  I hope so.  Hardcore INTP that I am, this need for redundant validation and criticism grates on my nerves.  Redundancy is the bane of an INTP's existence.  Once I've stated it clearly and succinctly, there should be no need for me to repeat it - much less multiple times daily.

So how's he doing as a trucker?  Totally, awesome.  I mentioned the other night that the first time he drove he went through all of his gears without grinding a single one.  This is the first student I've had to do this.  I was super-impressed.  He had a small issue with lane-control at the outset, but he corrected it in a matter of minutes and it has not been a problem since.  He was a bit iffy on downshifting, but that's the norm rather than the aberration for the new driver, as I've stated numerous times.  If there is one thing about the basic act of driving one of these monstrosities that is the most difficult to master it is the art of deceleration and downshifting.  I told him that, on Tuesday, while traversing U.S. 50 across southern Indiana with its stop-and-go traffic outside Cincinnati, I would help him tighten-up his downshifting and have him shifting like a pro by the end of the week.  He seemed suspect of my claim.  Yesterday, when we got on U.S 50, I spent about 15-20 minutes identifying the things he was doing incorrectly in the process and talked him through 3 different downshifts as he approached traffic signals.  He took the instruction, implemented it, and was down-shifting superbly almost instantly.  He still gets lost in the gear pattern, which will be corrected by a function of time and familiarity; with nine gears, it can be easy to forget in which gear you are.  In time, it becomes second-nature.  He is a very cautious driver, at times a bit too cautious.  I've had to prompt him on occasion to get his speed up from 35mph on the highway while driving at night in the rain, but otherwise clear and visible.  I realize that with the nervousness of being a new driver this can be daunting, but at the same time he can't be a 35mph obstacle in the middle of a highway going 65.  At the same time, I don't want to discourage his cautiousness.  I usually coax him up to about 50mph and let it be.

His backing sucks in every aspect.  Like I, he learned in a Volvo at trucking school.  The trucks with more modern body styles, sans the smokestacks on the side, can make people very lazy backers with respect to the use of their mirror.  You are able to look out your window and see your trailer as you're backing into a lane.  Unfortunately, this is encouraged by the trucking schools as it's easier for the new driver to perform the basic manuever and get their CDL.  The smokestacks obscure that view on the classic-style tractors like my Peterbilt, making this impossible.  You have to use your mirrors for the entire manuever.  So, we have that to conquer.  It's kind of funny to see him look out the window over his shoulder like he's going to see something other than the big, metal stack.  He also has no idea how to set-up, which is arguably 75% of the battle.  If you have the truck/trailer properly set-up before you begin backing, it makes the job a lot, lot easier.  None of this really concerns me, though.  Again, it is par for the course with new drivers and something he will likely have no issue learning.  He just needs time and guidance, and he shall have plenty of both in his time with me.

The biggest obstacle with Delroy will be with the Qualcomm.  I haven't talked in great detail about the Qualcomm in my writings.  Essentially, it is an onboard computer which facilitates communication with various company departments via satellite.  There is a small, laptop-sized device with a monochrome display and QWERTY keyboard built-in.  Essentially, it is one big IM machine. Various information, mostly related to dispatch, is relayed through this device.  Messages are sent and received to the Qualcomm and stored in a buffer until they are removed or the storage space (100 messages) is exceeded.  Delroy has had very little exposure to computers.  Very little, nearing zero. I'm easing him into it very slowly.  Last night, after parking for the day, I spent nearly an hour formally introducing him to the Qualcomm.  For the guys I get that are less than tech-savvy, I generally liken it to a fancy notebook or a deck or cards.  Messages are stored in the buffer in the order in which they are placed there and one cycles through them page by page.  When one page is deleted, it's like ripping a page from the notebook or removing a card from the deck: the order is maintained, just the one you have chosen to remove is gone.  I did this last night with Delroy, physically tearing a sheet of paper from a notebook as demonstration while also deleting a message on the Qualcomm and comparing the two.  We also tackled basic message sending and reading a select few messages.  It will take him some times, but I have full confidence in his ability to conquer it with repetition and pracitce.

So there you have it.  That is Delroy, to-date.  I shall keep you posted. :)