22
UP FRONT
August 2019 Truck & DriverReviewed and rated
CRUNCHY TUBES OF GOODNESS
Wheat Crunchies are amazing. We’re not even sure if they qualify
as crisps, but let’s not refer to them by their official name of
‘crunchy wheat snacks’. Anyway, these snacks, which
are made of wheat and are crunchy, are often quite
tricky to find. The only shop within about 10 miles of my
house that sells them is B&M and I had for many years
assumed only the crispy bacon flavour was available.
Then, much to my surprise and amazement, I found in
Poundland a variety pack containing both Cheddar & Onion
and Spicy Tomato flavours. I hadn’t seen these for years.
Apparently the range was relaunched in 2012 with this 14-bag
multipack. They’re my absolute favourite crisp-type snack.
Each pack contains only 0.6g of saturates (3% of your daily
amount) and 114 calories and contain no MSG (monosodium
glutamate, a flavour enhancer).
Do you know a shop that sells these? Dougie Rankine
Wheat Crunchies 14-bag multipack, £2 from Poundland in
Sutton, Surrey and presumably many other retailers – but you
could have fooled us.✪✪✪✪✪
SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORKSTRIVING
FOR STRAVA- APP OF THE MONTH •
Strava is a social media
network for runners,
walkers and cyclists. You
might have seen the recent
craze of people creating
pictures on maps by
travelling in certain
directions, which Strava
will track. That’s fun, but
the main use of the app is
to track the amount you
walk, run or cycle.
I’ve used a few different
apps but I like this one the
best. You can add your
friends and follow their
progress too. I’ve used
the app a lot this year after
getting back into running again
(owing to excessive Wheat
Crunchie consumption, among
other foods) and it always
worked well, tracking my
walking and running. It will
aggregate your distances from
one month to the next, tell you
when you reach particular
milestones and reward you
with achievements. You can
post pictures from your
excursions, give ‘kudos’ to
people you follow andcomment
on posts too. The free version
gives you all you need; you
can see individual segments
of your run and the elevation.
Just remember to complete
the activity before getting in
your lorry and driving! Dougie
RankineRED DIRT, BLUE COLLAR
Here’s a country music star
who is very different to the
mainstream artists of the
genre. For a start, his
music doesn’t suck. Far
from it – this guy should be
multi-platinum.
Cody Jinks, aged 38,
hails from Fort Worth,
Texas and looks like he
could happily fit in either
as a member of ZZ Top or
Slayer thanks to his long beard and sleeve tattoos. He
started his musical career in a thrash metal band but moved toward
the red-dirt country genre, which was a good thing as he has a voice
that’s as smooth as bourbon on ice.
He’s a real blue-collar singer-songwriter, so many of his songs and
themes will strike a chord with hard-working lorry drivers. He released
his eighth album, Lifers, last year to critical acclaim, explaining the title
track as: “Lifers are people who are passionately dedicated to their
work and their way of life.”
The first four tracks on this album make for one of the strongest
openings I’ve heard in a long time; Holy Water has a steely edge,
Must be the Whiskey has a dark theme but a mellow tune,
Somewhere Between I Love You and I’m Leaving is an outstanding
ballad and then there’s the title track, Lifers, a tribute to everyone out
there doing their best in the
face of adversity. Honestly, I
can’t recommend this album
enough. As a sidenote, check
out Chase That Song on
YouTube, from his 2016 album
I’m Not The Devil – it’s a proper
ass-kicking country rock trucker
song. Dougie Rankine
Lifers by Cody Jinks, go to
cody-jinks.myshopify.
com/collections/music/
products/lifers-cd✪✪✪✪✪