Do you, want the good news first or the bad news?
Ok, you talked me into it. The good news first. To get the bad news, you
have to read the whole thing. No, that’s not the bad news, although some of
you might think so.
Play Me or Trade Me
The trip went fine. As you could see on your TV, no major (or minor) law
enforcement standoffs involving two conservative white’s that were traveling
heavily armed in a pickup with a NRA sticker that tested positive for some
form of explosive material in the Florida Pan handle while 2 and I were in
state.
We stopped in Captain Bligh’s Marina where we were supposed to meet Brownie
to pick up the Yamaha 115. No Brownie. We strongly suspected he had gotten
tied up with his girlfriend that later proved to be the case. Boy, is he
whupped. Not like some of us. I’ll ignore the snickers and muttering of
“yeah right”
So we went inside to talk to John who had handled the deal over the phone
with 2. John was the blackest non African I had ever seen with just a trace
of a singsong accent. He quickly sized up the situation and went directly to
seal the deal with the person he figured was in control, totally ignoring me
after a quick look. He was right.
It was a sight to behold. John had neglected to mention some minor add-ons
that were needed. These items quickly added up to some real money. So John
and 2 settled in to haggle. There was arm waving, looks of total disgust,
tears, shouts of “thief” and your trying to “starve my children”, clutching
of the chest in a feigned heart attack at the price quoted on one returnable
item. All the things that you would expect in a third world market. And that
was just 2. John held his own, though. Finally, John and 2 were nose to
nose, glaring at each other and I was jockeying for position to separate
them when they both broke into a grin, shook hands, and disappeared into
John’s office to complete the paper work. I heard the occasional laughing
from their direction while I cooled my heels with the other flunky’s
outside.
In the mean time, Brownie had showed up with apologies and excuses about his
girlfriends well needing some work. The obvious question of “if it needed to
be drilled or just pumped” was left unasked since the answer was obvious,
and the motor was loaded on his truck for the trip to Apalachicola.
Monday afternoon was spent removing the old Evinrude for sell to one of the
oyster boats that ply the bay and hanging the new rice eater on the transom.
That is the point where some of Mygut’s Rules of Do it Your-Selfing came
into play.
Rule #1 If there are four bolts that need to be removed, then one will be
stripped.
Rule #2 A minimum of one nut on said bolts will be rounded off. The
offending nut will always be on the bolt that is not stripped
Rule #3 If none of the above apply, then a special tool will be needed to
reach the offending part and will have to be special ordered before you can
strip a bolt and round off a nut.
Rule #4 On arriving at the work site, it will be discovered that all
instruction books and wiring diagrams will have been left on the counter
where the parts were purchased and or some other inaccessible place.
Only Rule #3 did not apply and this was only because Brownie’s friend that
allowed us to use his equipment had a workshop that was a do it your-selfer’s
wet dream. It was because of that and Brownie’s natural talents around a
tool box that every thing went smoothly despite Rules #1and #2 . 2 enjoyed
the ride back to Port St. Joe from Apalachicola, to satisfy Rule #4
Tuesday Morning, we slipped off fishing for a couple of hours in Brownie’s
boat. After all, the only thing left was wiring harness. No problem, right?
The fishing was fair until the sharks moved in about 11, so we went back to
work on the 2+3. Since we had checked out of the motel before we left that
morning, it was only natural that Rule #4 kicked in again. 2 headed back to
the motel to go dumpster diving to find the needed papers. When he returned,
the work went smoothly till we left at five in the afternoon. At least we
are pretty sure it did. Brownie was supposed to take it back to Port St Joe
today to be checked by the dealer for certifing the warrenty before running
the motor. 2 called him this morning and Brownie was out fishing on the bay.
I hope it wasn't in the 2+3
More of Chuck's Do it Your-Selfing at Drip, drip,drip
Now the bad news. GF is in her play me or trade me mode. Since I still don’t
know her pizza secret yet, tomorrow morning , we are leaving for the true
Redneck Riviera, Panama City, Florida. I’ll be gone till Sunday for a few
days of playing tourist. Weather permitting.
Friday, January 10, 2003
© LCM3
Rimfire at Idlehourwebs dot com
