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Troy: Alright, hello and welcome, truckers. The date is December 18th and you’re listening to the 44th episode of Big Rig Banter. I’m your co-host, Troy Diffenderfer.
Lenay: And I’m your favorite co-host, Lenay Ruhl.
Troy: Lenay, How are you doing today?
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Lenay: I’m really good Troy, how are you?
Troy: I’m doing good, it’s crazy to think that Christmas is seven days away and we’re in the full swing of the holidays and you know all the decorations are out and we’ve seen a little bit of snow, I’m hoping we see more sometime soon.
Lenay: Yeah, I have to say I’m not really hoping for any snow, I’m not really a big holiday person, but this year I did go to Philadelphia and walk around for the day and it was all decorated for Christmas and all the lights, so it did kinda put me in the spirit more so than other years.
Troy: For sure, this has just been such a different Christmas for us, obviously you know we bought the house, so we’re actually going to be moving in two days so that’s pretty exciting but also hectic and terrifying, so that’s definitely been a big thing and you know our families changed this year we’ve lost a few family members so that’s definitely been different when it comes to you know getting everyone together and doing the traditional family dinner, so that’s going to change but I think it’s gonna be really good and I’m excited.
Lenay: Yeah, I know you’ve definitely had a lot going on this year, but exciting and sad, did you guys work out your little argument or not argument but conflict about having your family over for Christmas?
Troy: I think we’re gonna officially work that out this weekend, we’re gonna see how moving goes. I doubt we are gonna do the whole dinner as much as I wanted to I think we’re gonna go to my wife’s parent’s house and I think we’re gonna do that instead, but we’re gonna try and have a get-together, we were talking about even doing maybe like a New Year’s Eve party.
Lenay: Yeah, that might be better and get everyone together once you’re a little more settled.
Troy: For sure and I still have yet to do most of my Christmas shopping, I feel like I have a pass this year, I keep telling everyone just to get up when they ask me what I want I just tell them to get us stuff for the house.
Lenay: Right?
Troy: I feel like that’d be a great housewarming/Christmas gift and things like that but what about you, what’s your favorite gift you’ve ever gotten or maybe some of them in recent memory?
Lenay: Man, that’s a really tough question, I’m trying to think of well I kind of I mean every year at Christmas time my brother-in-law gets me a new record because you know I have my record player at home so we exchange vinyl at Christmas so I always look forward to that and then yeah this year I bought myself a plane ticket to Nashville which I’m pretty excited about because like when parents just give us money so I always know about how much money they’re gonna give me so I kinda just plan around that and buy my own gifts. What about you? I mean if you weren’t buying a house what would be on your wishlist?
Troy: Well it’s good you bring that up, I think it is important to treat yourself a little I did end up buying a house for myself and for Lydia so that was definitely a big Christmas purchase but I would have to say probably when I was like 10 or 12 my mom got me tickets to see the Green Bay Packers play in Philly not many listeners know I’m a huge Green Bay Packers fan, Lenay knows it I’m always talking about it so that was really cool and you know I was just actually talking to someone in the office not too long ago and they were saying like oh I don’t know what to get my son, I want to get him kind of something big and something cool and I always suggest like concert tickets or tickets to see a sporting event because I think that’s like a cool thing instead of maybe getting the latest gaming console like getting a memory that they’re gonna share, so I was always excited to get like concert tickets that’s why I’m always so excited when you get me the birthday concert tickets because it’s not just the ticket, it’s gonna be a night of memories and things like that so I’m definitely looking forward to when I have kids giving them maybe a sporting event ticket or a ticket to a concert or to a play or thing like that I think for listeners out there I think that’s definitely a cool gift idea if you’re still shopping at this time maybe buy an experience instead of maybe something material.
Lenay: Yeah I mean every year I take my mom to the Fulton Theatre which is here in downtown Lancaster to see a play and like that’s always fun because we go to the show we get dinner and it’s you know something we can do together and then my dad I just get him a gift card to a restaurant because we love to eat together so it works out.
Troy: Awesome and just to keep going with the holiday theme what are some of your favorite things about the holidays or what is your favorite thing about the holidays? I know you don’t like snow but I’m sure there’s something else you like.
Lenay: Food.
Troy: Yeah?
Lenay: Time off from work.
Troy: That’s true, both of those are very true.
Lenay: And no I do really like just being with my family and honestly now that I have my nephew he’s three I love watching him at the holidays so it’s added an extra layer to that.
Troy: I agree and I’m probably one of the few people that like the cold that’s probably one of my favorite things about the holidays I like being inside and all cozied up and watching a movie and having the hot chocolate and things like that I’m excited our house has a fireplace so that’s one of my favorite things. I know I know most people I know you like the sunshine.
Lenay: I’m like put me on a beach with some Christmas music and the Gulf of Mexico and I’m good.
Troy: Yeah.
Lenay: But truckers, what is your favorite thing about the holidays? Chat with us #BigRigBanter and let us know what you like about the holidays.
Troy: And with this episode we’re hoping to help you find the best gift to request. I know a lot of the times you’re gonna be asked what you want for the holidays and that’s a tough question to answer for a lot of you so we put together a little holiday gift guide to suggest to your friends and family on what to get you.
Lenay: Yeah so we’ve come up with some ideas on what we think are some of the best gifts for truck drivers maybe this will help you think of some ideas of what you want to add to your rig or what would just make your life easier on and off the road. So first thing I think I think everyone should have a kindle something to read a book on. What? You’re shaking your head?
Troy: I know, I know, I think I always tell people there’s those people that only want to listen to vinyl records, they don’t want to download MP3s and to me that’s how I am with books. I only want the hardback paper version of a book and you know I like to feel it in my hand but I definitely see how a Kindle could help a lot of people on the road and for those book-a-holics like myself I definitely see the convenience there.
Lenay: Yeah well for those of you listening Troy has like a bookshelf that stretches like the length of his house so that would be kind of hard to fit in your big rig but it a Kindle would get them you know just as many choices to read without all of the baggage. What else do you think?
Troy: For sure. I like the idea of requesting a subscription to Sirius satellite radio I’ve had it in my car for plenty of years now and just the variety and the selection of whether it’s music or sports or talk radio I think it’s great especially for truckers that are gonna be on the road for a while plus the great thing is that you’re gonna get the same station now matter where you are you’re not gonna be flipping through the dials trying to find the next country station or the next classic rock station whatever county line you’re crossing so I think Sirius radio is definitely the way to go for sure and the subscriptions are pretty cheap as well.
Lenay: Yeah I know my dad has that in his truck and I love it and you know there’s also online radio you can get access to on your cellphone like I don’t know Spotify or even Amazon Play and things like that so some kind of radio subscription would be cool. Another thing I was thinking about would be like a dashcam so there’s probably a lot of times where you wish you were recording things that you saw so having a dashcam would be cool.
Troy: Something that’s not as flashy but definitely more practical would be a safety kit you can ask your friends or family to get you a safety kit truckers should always have one in their rig but if you need one that’s more updated or you’re missing something or maybe you ran out of batteries things like that a safety kit would be something great it’s relatively cheap and you’ll definitely use it on the road that’s for sure.
Lenay: Yeah and just to bounce off of that we’re getting into like you’ve been mentioning and I’m trying not to think about it but we’re getting into like cold weather so having some cold weather gear in your truck would be a good idea especially if you have to get out and unload or even if something happens where you have to get out and check your tires or whatever it’d be good to have some gloved a warm coat even a blanket and you know all this stuff you would need to keep warm should your rig break down or you’re just kind of stuck outside for any length of time.
Troy: And this one’s one of my favorites I’m 26 now and to this day my grandparents still fill a stocking for me and it’s always filled with really good snacks it’s usually like slim jims and clementines and candy and I always open it every Christmas Eve and I’m still expecting one this year so Pap if you’re listening to this I definitely still expect a stocking still but that’s another one that you can request truckers, snacks for the road is always a great thing maybe you have a stocking at home that will be filled with snacks sometime soon.
Lenay: Yeah and just to bounce off of that I love money and obviously I said I that usually get money for Christmas so one thing you could ask for is any kind of prepaid giftcard I do kinda like having money given to me that’s like for a specific place so you know I really want to buy hiking shoes so that’s something if I get the cash I might not spend it on that I’ll be like oh I should save it or pay off this bill but it’d be nice to get a giftcard to somewhere where I can actually treat myself.
Troy: And that’s just a handful of different ideas that you truckers can request to your friends and family I know it’s tough around the holidays to figure out you’re so worried about presents for other people that you’re not necessarily thinking about what you personally want for Christmas.
Lenay: Oh I don’t have that problem.
Troy: But we do have even more holiday ideas all you have to do is head on over to AllTruckJobs.com and check out our truckers holiday gift guide, we’ll put that in the shownotes as well and make sure to either comment on that blog or use the #BigRigBanter and tell us some great holiday gift ideas that you’re asking for this winter.
Lenay: Yeah for sure and you know as we’re kinda heading to the end of the year here don’t forget to go on and leave us a review let us know how we’re doing and most importantly what you want to hear on the show in 2020.
Troy: For sure and in 2020 we’re gonna be opening up some sponsorship opportunities so if you would like to get your brand across the Big Rig Banter audience feel free to reach out to us.
Lenay: Yeah to reach out to us you just go to AllTruckJobs.com and click on that advertise tab and then reach out on there and they’ll be able to get you all the info you need. Right now Big Rig Banter is sponsored by AllTruckJobs.com but we’d love to get other brands from the trucking industry on the show.
Troy: For sure and again thank you truckers for listening. Alright and once again thank you truckers, I’m your co-host, Troy Diffenderfer.
Lenay: And I’m your favorite co-host, Lenay Ruhl, and I just want to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving.
Troy: And this has been Big Rig Banter.
Lenay: Happy Holidays!
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