Friday, December 14, 2007

You're only as old as you feel, Jim- when you're a truck

I have driven this '51 binder coast-to-coast and back twice without maps, plans or spare parts.  The ignition was jerry-rigged outside of Louisville and the brake system was a set of dumbells I'd toss out the door under the wheels between Eastern Nebraska and Denver.  A highway patrolman pulled me over just before I crossed the Mississippi near Moline and offered to buy her.  Another pulled me over near Vail and threatened to arrest me for driving her.  She's got a three-on-the-tree transmission and a positive-ground 6 volt electric system and plenty of room to turn a wrench under the hood.  She lives here now where she provides a café for squirrels when my grapes are ripe.

ENGINEERING, n.  Unrefined ore awaiting the tinkerer's torch.

18 comments:

Ariel the Thief said...

It reminds of the time when you shared stories of your own life on Saturdays. I even remember one including this truck, you and two friends, and two cops you called George and Lennie.

Engineering, building castle in the sand.

Doug The Una said...

Good memory, Ariel, but that was a red van.

A man can only talk about himself so much before he turns to metaphor. That story is here.

Ariel the Thief said...

Thanks!

Jim said...

Doug, thank you a lot! I really enjoyed this post, soooo much.
Some day when I am in the story mood I will blog about the day I sold my last truck (pickup).
In Texas, you've just hit the downward slope when you don't have a truck anymore!
Anyway, I love it!
..
There might also be another post or two about the trucks in my life (lives). :-)
..

Doug The Una said...

My pleasure, Jim.

"The cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh, and stopped there. A large stone was there; so they split up the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord." 1st Samuel 6:14

I love when Jerry Jeff Walker tells pickup stories from Texas.

Anonymous said...

That picture, and the mention of pickups in Texas, gave me a Yankee earworm. Here ya go:

"I don't know about your farm in Maine, Mister, but I have a ranch in Texas that is so large, it takes me five days to drive around my entire spread."

"I have a cah just like that muself."

- Texas vs. Maine, Bert and I (Marshall Dodge, Bob Bryan)

Jamie Dawn said...

We had my grandpa's old truck for quite awhile.
A friend of ours wanted it, so we gave it to him.
I loved that truck because I love remembering how funny my grandpa was when he drove it. He was an awful driver. His passengers got whiplash.

Thanks SO much for the Spanish info.
I copied it and saved it to my desktop, so I can reference it as needed.
Entiendo.
Puedo hablar un poquito español, pero no puedo entenderlo.
Necesito practicar más.

Doug The Una said...

Amoeba, I heard that joke by a native American from an island in Puget sound about a Navajo.

JD, estoy muy contento te ayudar. Preguntiste quando quieres.

tsduff said...

It is a beautiful magic bus.

Doug The Una said...

Rooby Roo!

G said...

She's a beaut!

Anonymous said...

So, at last we meet Doug's true love.

Anonymous said...

Quilly: guessing she ranks right up there with a good steak and/or a quiet evening at home with his dogs. ; )

Grand post about a Grand Old Dame, Doug.

Doug The Una said...

Thanks, G, Quilly and Neva. I like 'em with a few teeth missing.

The Old Mule said...

doug - is this for real? Man oh man. Let me know if you put her up for sale.

javajazz said...

i've never seen so much soul
packed into one little vehicle...
she is a beauty.

Cooper said...

I'm impressed.

Doug The Una said...

Mule, I hate to tell you but when I've lost my job and given up my home and sold all I have of value and the only way to eat is to sell that truck, I'll crawl up in the cab and wait for night to fall.

Thanks, JJ. She's a gem and practically road-legal in Arkansas.

Thanks, Cooper.