Later I had to go to the post office - can't believe we still have to do that - and on my way I needed to change lanes. I was next to a woman in an SUV talking on her cell. She was in no hurry but going just fast enough that I couldn't easily get around her. Behind her was a pretty long line of cars. So I decided to goose it a little (the old truck still has some get-up-n-go!) and get in front of her to make my turn. I did and soon pulled in to park at the P.O. While walking from my truck I noticed I had only ONE mineral tub. It took about two or three seconds to realize it must have slid out when I did my Mario Andretti thing. I hadn't gone far so I walked out to the road and sure enough, about a block back was my tub, sitting patiently by the curb.
I jumped back in, drove as close to it as I could get - this is a busy street and nowhere on the street to stop and park. I had to park at a Scrambler's. This sits up a small rise from the street where my 125 lb. tub lay. I was also decently dressed and had an event coming up in about 20 minutes. So I rolled the tub up the hill and then had to figure how to get it up into my truck. My 3/4 ton sits rather high up so I was looking at getting this thing up about waist high. Somehow I had to do that without hurting my aging back nor soiling or tearing my reasonably clean and nice clothes. I did it in stages. Got my spare tire out and set the tub on it. Then using a couple of blocks of wood, got it slightly higher. Then I used a 5 gallon bucket - there's a reason to keep all this stuff in the back of my truck. Finally I got it within dragging distance of the pick-up bed. I climbed up, bent way over, said a prayer that I wouldn't destroy my back, and dragged the thing into the bed. I can lift 125 pounds but this thing is about 2 or more foot wide, does not have handy handles and remember my clothes.
I drove back to finish my P.O. business and my cell phone rang. "Hi, this is Lee from SoMo. Do you still have your barrels?" I answered I did, then I didn't but then I did again and explained my story. He said one of his drivers somehow just happened along during the time I lost my tub until I recovered it (couldn't have been more than 5 minutes). Since I was the only person who had bought those on this day, he knew it had to be mine so he looked up my account and called me.
I'm reading a book now called Forty Acres and a Fool. Reasonably funny but the author talks about the advantages of living in a small town. Even though Springfield is 150K plus and not too small, I guess it is small enough for word to travel pretty fast about the stupid things people do. Next time I am tempted to be in a hurry, I'll hopefully recall this, my sore back and my good fortune.
No comments:
Post a Comment