Sunday, July 14, 2013

Treading Lightly, Literally and Free Doesn't Mean Free


A friend of ours found a location at a power company that has light/power poles for free.  We have an upcoming project that would make good use of them, so the Moose decided to make the trip.  He gathered up the R half of R&B, who was more than willing to take a break from watching the local trial in Sanford to help the Moose with the heavy lifting.

Now, this story actually begins earlier in the week, when as we travelled in the area, we stopped by to make sure A; they had some poles, B; if there was a cost.  After the Moose had a conversation with the light pole Nazi, and was told “maybe”, “I guess if you are here on Friday by noon”, and “you better wear a pair of jeans” (the Moose was dressed up for work, so I’m thinking the light pole Nazi assumed he was a wimpy city guy), he agreed to be back on Friday.

The Moose went out and bought a pair of jeans.  No he didn’t have a pair, he lives in either dress clothes or shorts and t-shirts.  He wasn’t going to take a risk the light pole Nazi would turn him away. 

So off they went, trailer in tow.   I’m not sure how the transition from light pole Nazi turned to having a new BFF (best friend forever), but the Moose and R were happy to get the extra help with the forklift, and moving around of the long poles. The poles were around 24-25 feet long and had to be cut to fit in our trailer.  It was a lot of work, but the day was progressing.

Until, that is, the ride home.  Traveling 70 mph heading south on I-95 one of the trailer tires had a blow out!  They pulled off the road, unhitched the trailer and were on a hunt for a replacement.  I made several calls with no success.  But R came in to save the day, and they headed to a location he’s frequented in the past, and bought 2 new tires.  They had to travel back to The Compound to pick up a hydraulic jack, and then it was back north to the trailer.

As the dark storm clouds were approaching, the trailer kept slipping off the jack.  An angel appeared in the form of a truck tire company, who had the correct lifts to help raise the trailer so they could switch out the tire.    The Moose is a very independent sort, and not always willing to pay someone for work he can do himself.  But the rain clouds kept coming, it was hot and humid, took one look at R, and the forked over some money to get the help they needed.  They were both very thankful!

So, the moral of the story; nothing is free in this world even “free” light poles will cost you $240.00 for new tires and roadside assistance!

10 comments:

  1. Oh man! Well, at least they didn't loose the load when the tire blew right? So nosey minds want to know..whatcha gonna do with those poles?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We're going to use them to move a 40' container.

      Delete
  2. You would have needed the tires anyway, so you can subtract those from the cost. Are you going to bury the container?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's another way to look at it! Yes, we are going to bury it, however we are limited by how deep we can go. It may end up being only several feet. Anything at this point would help. The container we already have really heats up.

      Delete
  3. It reminds me of one of the very late Brady Bunch episodes where they had come across either telephone poles or railway ties and used them to make some sort of raft: only to have the raft, for reasons I still don't understand, crumble to dust at some point in their rafting excursion.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think I remember that episode! Hopefully these poles won't crumble to dust!

      Delete
  4. Izzy,

    Great find on the poles, sorry to hear your husband had a tire blow out on the trailer. Thank God he didn't get hurt with this blow out.

    When we least expect something to happen is usually when it happens (the story of our lives).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes it was a great find, some poles were in better shape than others, but I know we'll put them all to good use.

      I think Murphy's Law came in to play; if something can happen, it usually will!

      Delete

We love to hear from you! Thanks for taking the time to stop by.