King of Obsolete
Senior Member
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2007
- Messages
- 698
- Location
- KINGDOM lynn lake manitoba
- Occupation
- marketing my life style
it is a rough copy and i'm getting stories ready for my second book to be published. enjoy
thansk
"HOT" SOUTHERN TOUR August 7, 2005
The name of this tour comes from how hot the south was. It was a simple plan at first, load Buddy Barry’s new style semi with scrap metal and deliver it south. Cash the cheque and return to the “Kingdom†with the money. With the cash money purchase a couple of houses to be used on the Cat Train Tours. With the houses on the tour, it will show how the houses were sleighed from Sherridon, Manitoba to Lynn Lake, Manitoba during the winter months. But once again, nothing is that simple for the King of Obsolete, if it was, I would not be writing these stories for you to enjoy.
This story begins with loading buddy Barry’s trailer with scrap metal and having to wait for one of his new style semi truck to be available to haul the load. But after a week and all his trucks are still busy on road repairs due to all the wet weather we have been having in the Great White North. I decide to use the Screaming Ford which is a 1974 Ford 9000 which is thirty one years old to haul this trailer load of scrap. This poor truck has not hauled a load of scrap to Winnipeg Mb in eight years because it has been used as the Ford Double Dually which means light loads around the “Kingdomâ€. I’m loaded up and ready to head to the scrap recycling yard in Selkirk Mb when the phone rings. Southern Belle gets called in to work on her days off which means I have no one to look after Xena. Now Xena is coming on this Goodwill Tour of the “hot†south.
We leave the “Kingdom†and travel the so called road to Thompson, Mb which is 300 kms away but due to the road conditions, the four hour drive takes over six hours. It was only +31C when we left and at the speed we are traveling not much wind is coming in thru the open windows. I told Xena, all we need is a little shaken & bake and we would cook nicely in the cab of the of the Screaming Ford because that is how hot if felt. Once in Thompson, Man, all we have to do is eat fast food and fuel up the semi with Buddy Barry’s card lock card. I borrow his card lock card when I don’t have enough cash to buy fuel. Remember the King of Obsolete doesn’t have a credit card which is uncommon in this day and age. This little pit stop should take less then an hour at the most. We have done it before many times so we know the routine. After we fill up on the fast food, we head to the card lock fueling station which is on the other end of town and is the totally opposite direction in which we are going. When I tried to fuel up with Buddy Barry’s card lock card, the fancy computer machine says invalid card. This is not good because the nearest pay phone is two miles back in town from the industrial park where the card lock fueling station is located. This is not good because now I have to drive the fully loaded semi all over the place to get to a phone. On the drive to find a payphone I see the bulk fuel truck waiting to fill the train to Churchill, Manitoba. So I stop and ask him to get a hold of his boss at home so he can get this stupid invalid card figured out. Of course the driver just whips out the worlds smallest cell phone and hit one button on speed dial and get a hold of his boss. Wow was that neat and I’m thinking that the King of Obsolete is going to have to get something that fancy so I don’t have to drive all over the place looking for these extinct pay phones. After an hour and half to get fueled up which should have only had taking twenty minutes top if the fancy computerized card lock had worked. We are on the road to Selkirk Mb and should make it there by morning with the Screaming Ford only doing 50 miles an hour so there is no problems due to the “hot†heat that we are traveling in.
Everything is going well and when we stop for a coffee. I make a quick call to Southern Belle so she knows everything is ok. We do this at every stop so she can relax knowing we are safe. At 11:00 pm and 600 kms from Selkirk, Mb, a tire on the trailer decided to blow apart big time. Talk about a big bang, I heard it over the Screaming Ford’s 8V71 Detroit motor with ear plugs in my ears. The sparks from the steel tire cords slapping against the deck of the trailer was a great light show in the darkness of the night. Xena thought it was pretty neat and wanted to see more of the light show. I have a fully loaded trailer of scrap, an almost bald spare tire and a 7 year old kid who seems to ask 101 questions in an hour. Well my coffee is always half full, so I’m not going to start playing around in the darkness and try to change a tire with my helper asking a 101 questions. So I just drive the Screaming Ford at 60 kms per hour for 100 kms to the next town to see if I change the tire under the lights of the truck stop. As everyone says history repeats it self, they are right because fifteen years ago I did the same drive when I blew a tire on the semi and limped it the 100 kms to the same town. This time I was two kms closes then the last time, plus I did have my chatter box that Xena got called on this tour.
The Screaming Ford drives along nicely at 60 kms per hour which makes the two hours to arrive at the truck stop seem like fun. Now we can see if we can change a blown tire under the truck stop’s yard lights. But I know my Buddy Barry and he makes Tool Time Tim look like a wimp when it comes to more power to the power tools. Of course I can’t get the wheel nut loose on the blown tire because Buddy Barry used the biggest air wrench to tighten them on. After breaking both of the wheel wrenches I have, I decide to just keep going at the top speed of 60 kms per hour to the next town which is 230 kms away and maybe they will be able to fix the blown tire. I learned this fifteen years ago, when I slept in the truck and waited over twenty four hours for my buddy to bring me tires to this isolated place. Whereas as if I drove along slow and steady, I would have been in the big city in twelve hours compared to the twenty four hours of waiting. Xena and I drive at the top speed of 60 kms per hour and the 250 km which would takes us 2.5 hours to travel at regular speed took us five long hours. When we arrive in the next town, the tire is not open today. No problem, off to the next town, we are in the south now and the towns are only 60 kms apart not the 200-300 km in the Great White North.
After about five towns and no tire shops because they have closed due to the bad farming economy, I decided to just drive along slow and steady in this “hot†southern heat and to the scrap yard and get unload. Once unloaded head to the big city and get a tire fixed. Xena and I just keep going in the Screaming Ford as if we are in a parade. It is really getting “hot†at +39C heat. We travel another 250 kms which took us five hours of slow and steady going. Xena is starting to get excited when she can see the big city which will have all those fancy fast food places and ice cream. At the speed we are traveling it seems like for ever to get there.
We are only four kms from the big scrap yard and the RCMP decide to pull me over with all the flashing lights and siren too. The young officer fresh from the police academy says I’m going too slow and traffic is back up behind me. I guess when you are new to law enforcement, six cars is classified as traffic. Mr. police officer asked me why I was only doing half the speed limit. I told him the truck was heating up in this “hot†southern heat and I didn’t want it to over heat. Mr. police office had no sense of humour and decided to blow a gasket on me. He told me if I had cars behind the semi, just pull over to the gravel shoulder and let the traffic go by. I thanked him and drove off in the Screaming Ford. Once he finished his paper work in the police car he caught up to us in the semi. I did what he told me to do and pull over to the gravel shoulder to let traffic go by. But for some reason Mr. police officer just slammed on his brakes and stop all the traffic behind him. It might be the fact that a loaded semi pulling over on to a gravel shoulder will throw up all the rocks you could ever imagine. Mr. police officer didn’t want to pass for some reason so I pulled back over to the pave highway. Once the police car came close to the back of the semi trailer and looked like he wanted to pass, I pulled the Screaming Ford on to the gravel shoulder again. For some reason the police car slammed his brakes on again and almost caused an accident with the vehicles behind him. This went on until I reached the turn off to the scrap yard and the police car never did pass me when I moved over to the gravel shoulder numerous times for the vehicle to pass. Maybe Mr. police officer will rethink what he told me to do after he gets the damage report from all the flying gravel on his police car. What they teach in the police academy and what happens in the really life are two different things.
thansk
"HOT" SOUTHERN TOUR August 7, 2005
The name of this tour comes from how hot the south was. It was a simple plan at first, load Buddy Barry’s new style semi with scrap metal and deliver it south. Cash the cheque and return to the “Kingdom†with the money. With the cash money purchase a couple of houses to be used on the Cat Train Tours. With the houses on the tour, it will show how the houses were sleighed from Sherridon, Manitoba to Lynn Lake, Manitoba during the winter months. But once again, nothing is that simple for the King of Obsolete, if it was, I would not be writing these stories for you to enjoy.
This story begins with loading buddy Barry’s trailer with scrap metal and having to wait for one of his new style semi truck to be available to haul the load. But after a week and all his trucks are still busy on road repairs due to all the wet weather we have been having in the Great White North. I decide to use the Screaming Ford which is a 1974 Ford 9000 which is thirty one years old to haul this trailer load of scrap. This poor truck has not hauled a load of scrap to Winnipeg Mb in eight years because it has been used as the Ford Double Dually which means light loads around the “Kingdomâ€. I’m loaded up and ready to head to the scrap recycling yard in Selkirk Mb when the phone rings. Southern Belle gets called in to work on her days off which means I have no one to look after Xena. Now Xena is coming on this Goodwill Tour of the “hot†south.
We leave the “Kingdom†and travel the so called road to Thompson, Mb which is 300 kms away but due to the road conditions, the four hour drive takes over six hours. It was only +31C when we left and at the speed we are traveling not much wind is coming in thru the open windows. I told Xena, all we need is a little shaken & bake and we would cook nicely in the cab of the of the Screaming Ford because that is how hot if felt. Once in Thompson, Man, all we have to do is eat fast food and fuel up the semi with Buddy Barry’s card lock card. I borrow his card lock card when I don’t have enough cash to buy fuel. Remember the King of Obsolete doesn’t have a credit card which is uncommon in this day and age. This little pit stop should take less then an hour at the most. We have done it before many times so we know the routine. After we fill up on the fast food, we head to the card lock fueling station which is on the other end of town and is the totally opposite direction in which we are going. When I tried to fuel up with Buddy Barry’s card lock card, the fancy computer machine says invalid card. This is not good because the nearest pay phone is two miles back in town from the industrial park where the card lock fueling station is located. This is not good because now I have to drive the fully loaded semi all over the place to get to a phone. On the drive to find a payphone I see the bulk fuel truck waiting to fill the train to Churchill, Manitoba. So I stop and ask him to get a hold of his boss at home so he can get this stupid invalid card figured out. Of course the driver just whips out the worlds smallest cell phone and hit one button on speed dial and get a hold of his boss. Wow was that neat and I’m thinking that the King of Obsolete is going to have to get something that fancy so I don’t have to drive all over the place looking for these extinct pay phones. After an hour and half to get fueled up which should have only had taking twenty minutes top if the fancy computerized card lock had worked. We are on the road to Selkirk Mb and should make it there by morning with the Screaming Ford only doing 50 miles an hour so there is no problems due to the “hot†heat that we are traveling in.
Everything is going well and when we stop for a coffee. I make a quick call to Southern Belle so she knows everything is ok. We do this at every stop so she can relax knowing we are safe. At 11:00 pm and 600 kms from Selkirk, Mb, a tire on the trailer decided to blow apart big time. Talk about a big bang, I heard it over the Screaming Ford’s 8V71 Detroit motor with ear plugs in my ears. The sparks from the steel tire cords slapping against the deck of the trailer was a great light show in the darkness of the night. Xena thought it was pretty neat and wanted to see more of the light show. I have a fully loaded trailer of scrap, an almost bald spare tire and a 7 year old kid who seems to ask 101 questions in an hour. Well my coffee is always half full, so I’m not going to start playing around in the darkness and try to change a tire with my helper asking a 101 questions. So I just drive the Screaming Ford at 60 kms per hour for 100 kms to the next town to see if I change the tire under the lights of the truck stop. As everyone says history repeats it self, they are right because fifteen years ago I did the same drive when I blew a tire on the semi and limped it the 100 kms to the same town. This time I was two kms closes then the last time, plus I did have my chatter box that Xena got called on this tour.
The Screaming Ford drives along nicely at 60 kms per hour which makes the two hours to arrive at the truck stop seem like fun. Now we can see if we can change a blown tire under the truck stop’s yard lights. But I know my Buddy Barry and he makes Tool Time Tim look like a wimp when it comes to more power to the power tools. Of course I can’t get the wheel nut loose on the blown tire because Buddy Barry used the biggest air wrench to tighten them on. After breaking both of the wheel wrenches I have, I decide to just keep going at the top speed of 60 kms per hour to the next town which is 230 kms away and maybe they will be able to fix the blown tire. I learned this fifteen years ago, when I slept in the truck and waited over twenty four hours for my buddy to bring me tires to this isolated place. Whereas as if I drove along slow and steady, I would have been in the big city in twelve hours compared to the twenty four hours of waiting. Xena and I drive at the top speed of 60 kms per hour and the 250 km which would takes us 2.5 hours to travel at regular speed took us five long hours. When we arrive in the next town, the tire is not open today. No problem, off to the next town, we are in the south now and the towns are only 60 kms apart not the 200-300 km in the Great White North.
After about five towns and no tire shops because they have closed due to the bad farming economy, I decided to just drive along slow and steady in this “hot†southern heat and to the scrap yard and get unload. Once unloaded head to the big city and get a tire fixed. Xena and I just keep going in the Screaming Ford as if we are in a parade. It is really getting “hot†at +39C heat. We travel another 250 kms which took us five hours of slow and steady going. Xena is starting to get excited when she can see the big city which will have all those fancy fast food places and ice cream. At the speed we are traveling it seems like for ever to get there.
We are only four kms from the big scrap yard and the RCMP decide to pull me over with all the flashing lights and siren too. The young officer fresh from the police academy says I’m going too slow and traffic is back up behind me. I guess when you are new to law enforcement, six cars is classified as traffic. Mr. police officer asked me why I was only doing half the speed limit. I told him the truck was heating up in this “hot†southern heat and I didn’t want it to over heat. Mr. police office had no sense of humour and decided to blow a gasket on me. He told me if I had cars behind the semi, just pull over to the gravel shoulder and let the traffic go by. I thanked him and drove off in the Screaming Ford. Once he finished his paper work in the police car he caught up to us in the semi. I did what he told me to do and pull over to the gravel shoulder to let traffic go by. But for some reason Mr. police officer just slammed on his brakes and stop all the traffic behind him. It might be the fact that a loaded semi pulling over on to a gravel shoulder will throw up all the rocks you could ever imagine. Mr. police officer didn’t want to pass for some reason so I pulled back over to the pave highway. Once the police car came close to the back of the semi trailer and looked like he wanted to pass, I pulled the Screaming Ford on to the gravel shoulder again. For some reason the police car slammed his brakes on again and almost caused an accident with the vehicles behind him. This went on until I reached the turn off to the scrap yard and the police car never did pass me when I moved over to the gravel shoulder numerous times for the vehicle to pass. Maybe Mr. police officer will rethink what he told me to do after he gets the damage report from all the flying gravel on his police car. What they teach in the police academy and what happens in the really life are two different things.
:drinkup