After the beautiful weather on New Year's Eve day, New Year's Day brought a return to "normal" January weather in Northern Illinois. Light snow, wind, and near zero windchills swept across the farm. After staying warm and toasty most of the day, I finally decided to face the elements around 2 in the afternoon and head to town for groceries for my family's Christmas celebration.
As I set off my mind was wandering and running through the list of things I needed to pick up. Just two miles from home I heard what must have been a gunshot and my car suddenly jerked to the right - at least I think it went right first. Maybe it went left and then I pulled it back right. It all happened so fast I don't know what happened. Trying to control my now swerving car, I gingerly limped to the shoulder of the road. Glancing in my rearview mirror I saw drivers dodging pieces of plastic that were flying off of my car.
Once safely off the road, I confirmed what I already knew. The front passenger side tire had blown out. Not only had the tire blown, it had shredded itself and the apron under the front fender. My bumper was cracked and the front 1/3 of the running board was missing. Great...now to call Dan and let him know.
Cursing and muttering he made his way out to where I was stranded. He began cussing and muttering under the car and I walked to the gas station to warm up. When I returned with hot chocolate for us to share, Dan's cursing had become even more colorful. Not only was the tire shredded to pieces, but the spare was dead too. It was flat and could not be put on the car in the contition it was in.
Dan called in reinforcements and suddenly two more vehicles joined our little roadside caravan. Dan's friend Jamie arrived with his dad and son to assist with the tire swap.Moments later Jamie's mom arrived to maket he child swap. Within a minute, the tire was in the truck, the child had been transferred to his grandma's car, all adults were loaded back into cars and the three operational cars split off in thier separate directions.
Jamie lead us to his buddy's shop where we discovered that our spare tire was flat due to a large nail in it. The hole was plugged and we were off again. While the boys handled that, I called the insurance company and started the process of filing a claim.
About three hours after I initially set out to Walmart, I arrived there. On the plus side, my car was still driveable and Dan felt bad enough that he came along to help with the shopping.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Saturday, January 1, 2011
MidWinter Thaw
New Year's Eve day brought with it unseasonably mild temperatures. The previous day the thermometer rose into the forties and on Dec. 31 we saw 51. The heavy snow pack that had been with us through the month of December melted away. Some of the water inevitably ended up in our basement as old field stone foundations tend to leak. The rest of the snow melt soaked into the upper layers of the ground making it soft and mushy.
Dan wanted to take advantage of the nice weather and move things around in the outbuildings. The first task at hand was to reopen a sealed door on the machine shed. Remember the tale of trying to turn snowmobiles around? Getting this door open would mean we could pull into one end of the shop and out the other. When we moved out here, the landlord had all the doors to the outbuildings screwed or nailed shut for security purposes. With the property vacant for so long, he was concerned about vandals and teenagers looking to party. He had given us permission to open all of the doors, so we had done so as we needed to.
Dan set about prying nails out and unscrewing screws that held the door in place. While he twisted, pushed, pulled at hardware, and even dug some soil away from the bottom edge of the door, I walked out to the barn to open doors and turn on lights there to prepare for the items we were moving out there.
I returned to the shop to see the once sealed door wide open, and laying on the ground outside. Dan stood framed in the doorway laughing. We learned the hard way that the door hadn't been sealed shut for security purposes but that the wood along the top of it had rotted away from the brackets that held it to the track.
Leaving that mess behind, we moved the snowmobiles to their desired locations and started transferring Dan's tools from the garage to the main barn. We used the lift gate on his truck to move the heavy items. The first thing Dan wanted to move was his large rolling toolbox. Fitted with 8 drawers fully loaded with tools, this steel box weighed several hundred pounds. With little effort we got it onto the lift gate, and raised the gate just enough to clear the ground we would be covering. I walked behind the truck as we drove across the yard to make sure that the toolbox was secure. At some point, I realized I'd be in a world of hurt if the toolbox were to tip over onto me.
As Dan began his turn to back into the barn, I moved aside to let him maneuver more easily without being concerned about me behind the truck. He swung the truck around and positioned it right in front of the barn's large sliding door. I watched, in slow motion, as the lift gate of the truck hit the lip of concrete at the edge of the barn floor. The truck slammed to a halt and the toolbox flipped forward, opening drawers midair, falling to the ground, and closing the drawers once more as the entire box landed on its face just inside the barn.
A stream of cuss words streamed from the cab of the truck as Dan realized what had happened. We scratched our heads for a moment trying to figure out how to right the toolbox. Because the toolbox was on its face, we would have to contend with lifting it and trying to close the drawers at the same time. As we began to turn it over, the drawers swung open creating a counterweight that attempted to thwart our efforts and pull the box back to the floor again. Somehow, we got it upright again only to find it was balanced precariously on the same lip of concrete that had gotten us into this mess in the first place. Thankfully, we were able to muscle it over and roll it to its new home in the barn without further incident.
Standing at the barn door, I watched Dan get into the truck to head for the next load. As he revved the engine, he didn't immediately pull forward. I thought he was waiting for me so I took a step closer. At that moment, Dan spun the tires in the mud outside the door spraying mud into the barn and covering me head to toe. I retreated to the safety of the barn to allow him time to get away from the mud.
As I approached the truck again on the other side of the yard, I could hear Dan laughing from inside the truck. "Ya like that babe? Thought you could use a mud bath." Wonder what he'd do if I said I needed a pedicure.
Dan wanted to take advantage of the nice weather and move things around in the outbuildings. The first task at hand was to reopen a sealed door on the machine shed. Remember the tale of trying to turn snowmobiles around? Getting this door open would mean we could pull into one end of the shop and out the other. When we moved out here, the landlord had all the doors to the outbuildings screwed or nailed shut for security purposes. With the property vacant for so long, he was concerned about vandals and teenagers looking to party. He had given us permission to open all of the doors, so we had done so as we needed to.
Dan set about prying nails out and unscrewing screws that held the door in place. While he twisted, pushed, pulled at hardware, and even dug some soil away from the bottom edge of the door, I walked out to the barn to open doors and turn on lights there to prepare for the items we were moving out there.
I returned to the shop to see the once sealed door wide open, and laying on the ground outside. Dan stood framed in the doorway laughing. We learned the hard way that the door hadn't been sealed shut for security purposes but that the wood along the top of it had rotted away from the brackets that held it to the track.
Leaving that mess behind, we moved the snowmobiles to their desired locations and started transferring Dan's tools from the garage to the main barn. We used the lift gate on his truck to move the heavy items. The first thing Dan wanted to move was his large rolling toolbox. Fitted with 8 drawers fully loaded with tools, this steel box weighed several hundred pounds. With little effort we got it onto the lift gate, and raised the gate just enough to clear the ground we would be covering. I walked behind the truck as we drove across the yard to make sure that the toolbox was secure. At some point, I realized I'd be in a world of hurt if the toolbox were to tip over onto me.
As Dan began his turn to back into the barn, I moved aside to let him maneuver more easily without being concerned about me behind the truck. He swung the truck around and positioned it right in front of the barn's large sliding door. I watched, in slow motion, as the lift gate of the truck hit the lip of concrete at the edge of the barn floor. The truck slammed to a halt and the toolbox flipped forward, opening drawers midair, falling to the ground, and closing the drawers once more as the entire box landed on its face just inside the barn.
A stream of cuss words streamed from the cab of the truck as Dan realized what had happened. We scratched our heads for a moment trying to figure out how to right the toolbox. Because the toolbox was on its face, we would have to contend with lifting it and trying to close the drawers at the same time. As we began to turn it over, the drawers swung open creating a counterweight that attempted to thwart our efforts and pull the box back to the floor again. Somehow, we got it upright again only to find it was balanced precariously on the same lip of concrete that had gotten us into this mess in the first place. Thankfully, we were able to muscle it over and roll it to its new home in the barn without further incident.
Standing at the barn door, I watched Dan get into the truck to head for the next load. As he revved the engine, he didn't immediately pull forward. I thought he was waiting for me so I took a step closer. At that moment, Dan spun the tires in the mud outside the door spraying mud into the barn and covering me head to toe. I retreated to the safety of the barn to allow him time to get away from the mud.
As I approached the truck again on the other side of the yard, I could hear Dan laughing from inside the truck. "Ya like that babe? Thought you could use a mud bath." Wonder what he'd do if I said I needed a pedicure.
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