A few years back I bought my wife a fancy new Dyson hair dryer. They were all the rage. All her friends had one, I got it in purple and no doubt her social media algorithm had told her she needed it.
According to James Dyson, the brilliant British billionaire behind the company whose other inventions include the bagless vacuum cleaner and a fan without blades (dark magic?), the hair dryer could do much more than just dry hair. It could straighten, curl, cool, crimp and even defrost ice from frozen Peterbilt drum brakes.
That last part is not in the brochure. But perhaps it should be. Because I’ve seen it happen! Battling the near negative 20-degree Celsius temperatures of Massachusetts, and a foot of snow – the hair-dryer-wielding Aussie, by the name of Dean Croke, was blasting hot air directly onto the frozen-stiff drum brakes of his 2003 Peterbilt 279.
Dean has been in the US now for nearly 30 years. His Aussie accent never falters though, despite his new passport – but why is he here? A man from rural Australia, in the top corner of the United States, some 40-degrees difference from his hometown of Crookwell near Goulburn?
By the looks of the snow, I’ve got plenty of time to find out – and judge me how you wish, but I wasn’t questioning his sanity or offering to help him out … I just desperately wanted to go for a ride in the Peterbilt, or as you may know it as … The Grumpy Pete.
Read the full story in the Autumn issue of ROADBOSS Magazine, out April. Check out the website for details on how to subscribe.
