1/23/12

Well, speaking as the guy who was NOT crawling around in the dirt changing wheels on a thirty year old Datsun, I have to say the rescue of John’s B-310 went surprisingly well. We met at the shop at around 0800 h Saturday morning and hooked up the trailer. I got totally pissed off when it appeared as though someone had stolen the tie straps but then remembered Gregg has them from when he picked up the BMW last month. We rounded up what we hoped would be enough straps and loaded them in Fifi's bed. We grabbed a few other items we thought we’d need and headed out. John topped off the tank at the QT station on 377 and we headed west. We made pretty good time so we decided to stop in “downtown” Cross Plains to visit the Veteran’s Memorial in honor of all the local CP folks who served in the military since the War of Northern Aggression back in 1861-1865. We found the stone with my father’s name on it, as well as Uncle Harold and Uncle Bill, and John took pictures. Now, part of me doesn’t want to be disrespectful, but there was a name on there that I'm having trouble believing: “Cody Ray Pancake.” John, care to post that picture? If not, no worries. After we spent a suitable amount of time there, we went back to the local gas station and peed. I bought a raffle ticket from the local Veterans of Popular Wars post for a Benelli shotgun and had a chat about the memorial with the guy. Eventually we headed out to get the car. We dropped the trailer and backed Fifi up to the car then hooked up a come-along. I gave it a few ratchets and the car moved some. John then suggested we just try to see if Fifi would pull her out. Yeah, not so much. Fifi just sank into the sandy soil. John then got to work swapping wheels. Again, as the guy standing around looking pretty, it went pretty easily. Once we had all the tires round and full of air, we tried to drag it with Fifi again. Yeah, still not so much. Both Fifi and the B-310 were sunk in holes. We decided to use the come-along and pull the B-310 out of its holes, slack the cable, get Fifi out of its hole, then go for the drag. This worked. Unfortunately, Fifi’s idle speed in first gear is just a few feet per second faster than a comfortable walking pace. I had to constantly slip the clutch to keep from outrunning John as he steered. We got to the trailer and John set up the ramps while I back up to the tongue. We pushed the bastard on and tied it down. John paid for the car… at least I think he did. Hmm, I don’t actually know that for sure. I believe he did, and that’s good enough for me. We headed back across the state. We discussed stuff there and back and I think we might have talked me into an A-series in Rhonda after all. John may have a home for the Z-20 which would cement that deal. Besides, a screaming A-12 would be a hoot and a half in that car. But we’ll see. When we got to the shop, John remembered that he had a subsequent engagement that evening and had to bail out without unloading the trailer. Ok, I'm making it sound like he stuck me with a car on the trailer. I really didn’t want to unload it either so it doesn’t matter. It’s not like this is the first car we’ve ever rescued that sat on the trailer for a few weeks once we got it home. Now the tough job is going to keep John from working on this car until Timmy! is at least rolling. He’s sent me a few texts already lamenting how hard it is to not let the new toy cut in line. Gee, I can't imagine what that would be like. Tee hee. So Sunday I slept in. Mom had promised Fifi to the church’s Chinaman again so I was going to have to fill it up before he came by. I took off to the shop and unloaded the ramps, some plywood, and the come-alongs from the bed then went and filled it up. I sent John a text saying we averaged 13.8 miles per gallon getting the car. He thought that sounded pretty good. I suppose it was. When mom and the Chinaman arrived, he took off in Fifi while mom and I headed out in her car to get some lunch at Red Hot & Blue. Now, mom made a comment about Fifi being “the church’s moving van” to which I almost replied, “Then the church needs to start paying the damned insurance on the thing.” I took the high road though and let her have her little joke. SHE, on the other hand, would have passive-aggressively MADE the insurance comment. But I digress. After we ate, I took a nap while waiting for the return of Fifi. Around 1600 h I finally decided I was going to go fill up Fiona's gas tank since the light came on on the way home from work Friday. I filled and went for a hoon. A couple hours later I returned home. Mom got a call from the Chinaman saying he’d bring the truck back in the morning if that was ok. I didn’t care. And there you have it. Oh, I used Shazam to find out the name of the song and artist in the latest commercial for The Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas. It is “Booty Swing” by Parov Stelar. I then went to i-Tunes and bought the EP. I dig it highly. I'm listening to it now in fact. It is kind of saccharine but very catchy. I think I'll make a Parov Stelar station on Pandora… and it is done. I wonder what we’ll be exposed to there! Well, I think I'm going to call it a rant for the day. I'll talk at y'all tomorrow.