Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Once A Tomgirl, Always A Tomgirl

If you're a fan of mine, you probably have seen posts where I've shown pictures of my yard and the trucks that we have here.  If not, click here and you can see some in snow (note, the horses are not in my yard but it sure looks like they could be!)

The scene has not changed much in my lifetime.  Different trucks, different colors, but pretty much the same scene.

When you grow up in a yard like mine, with tractors and trucks and plows up the wazoo, you don't mind getting dirty, driving these trucks, tractors and plows (well, I mind the plows a little) and thus, the tomgirl in my title.

For the past few  years, one of my father's many jobs is to fly to Wisconsin or Florida to get fire trucks and apparatus for a local dealership.  He flies out, gets the truck and then drives back.  He loves this.  I will never understand the thrill of driving anything, let alone a fire truck, ambulance or anything else that is truck like. 

A lot of the time, he gets home after the dealership has closed for the night, so he brings whatever he has to our yard.  It's not at all unusual to come home and see things like this.


In fact, this has happened so many times, I suppose if there was a fire and there were trucks here for a real reason, I'd pay no attention and carry on about my business!  Like crying wolf, having fire stuff in the yard is nothing new.

We've had huge ladder trucks here.  Once, he even let us go up in the basket so we could see the beach from the top!  My mother couldn't go any higher than the roof top but I went all the way up.

People are exclaim with amazement when they see these things in the yard or if they hear about it.  I just shrug and think it's really no big deal.

I remember my father actually owning a fire truck at one point and he made a sanding truck out of it.   If he had millions of dollars, he'd probably have a giant shop where he refashioned fire trucks into things on a regular basis.

Over the years, we've had lots of different trucks in varying stages of decay that he was going to make pretty again and he did that with a few.  A few others have been put out to pasture, or as we like to say "behind the fence".

No good ever comes of being put "behind the fence".   Being "out back" is just one step away from  being put "behind the fence".  There's also "somewhere around here" but I digress.

I'm not sure why I was surprised by the following scene, but this one might have totally blown away any piece of metal we've ever had in the yard before.


Let me explain, for you truck virgins out there.  Yes, you are seeing 3 trucks.  Yes, one truck is indeed being pulled by what looks like a much lesser truck.  No, that big truck did not break the trailer, it's just sitting funny.  No, that truck with the orange sander is not part of this, it's just in the background.

So, I pulled in to the yard and did a quadrupole take.  What on God's earth was he up to this time??  And that white truck isn't even his!

Knowing that he would drive anything, anywhere, the local fire school asked if he'd go get a truck for them.  But no, this isn't any truck.  This is an ex military truck that isn't just a truck.  OH NO!  It's a whole machine shop inside!  A whole MACHINE SHOP!  Say this to some guy who knows that means and he'll wet his pants with excitement, right on the spot.

They say you open up the two sides of that truck and there is all sorts of machinery inside.  The sides prop up like awnings so you can do all sorts of repair work with all of that marvelous machinery.  The fire school was very excited to get this piece of equipment and all of the very exciting things that were locked up inside.

I'm not so convinced all of this great machinery was still inside, I mean wouldn't the military like to have that back?  But little boys can dream.

As for the white truck,  someone let him use it to go get the truck (because his has that orange sander on it, above) and it was quite an awful ride.  And pulling that big ass machine behind him couldn't have made it any better.

Sometimes, I think k-ster just sticks around to see what the next exciting thing will be to appear in the yard.  Probably an airplane is the only thing that could top what we've had.  But please don't tell k-ster or my father.  We have no room anywhere for an airplane!!
Finding the Funny

1 comment:

  1. I love learning about allof the trucks! I wish you were my neighbor. My boys would always be over at your house staring at the different trucks coming through!

    (Thanks for linking up with us at FTF!)

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