August 3, 2010

• Wouldn't ya think...............

   

   

  Wouldn't ya think that a guy willing to spend $5002.00 to put a new engine in a 10 year old truck last October and $669.00 for a new distributer-coil combination just last week for the same 10 year old truck, would at least get off his lazy butt and wash the damn thing?

  I was thinking the same thing last Saturday and realized the last time it was washed was when they put the engine in 9 months ago!

  So, feeling a little ashamed of myself, I grabbed the bucket and rags and headed out to brave the 90 degree heat and take care of bidness!

  It was well worth the effort. Looks and runs like new again!

  

  Got her all cleaned up, inside and out, even cleaned the glass. Decided to reward myself with a few cold ones and took her out to show her off and headed for the carry-out in Ironton.

  On the way over the bridge I saw there was another sternwheeler tied off at the Ironton boat dock and thought I'd get a few photos of my truck using the boat as a backdrop.

  It wasn't the Belle of Louisville this time, it's the Belle of Cincinnati. Cool.

  

  I want you to look at where the truck is parked in this first shot.

  

  What happened before I took this I probably shouldn't tell ya. It's the kind of thing that makes me wonder sometimes how an idiot like me has managed to stay alive for as long as I have.

  I pulled up to the edge of the bank, reached over and got my camera, turned her on and took off the lens cap, left the engine running and the air on cause it was hot, set the emergency brake, opened the door and stepped out, took a couple of steps away from her, and watched her start rolling down the bank!

  I know I made some kinda high-pitched little girlie sounding noise when I took off after her! Luckily I had left the door open, so I tried to toss the camera on the seat to free my hands, missed and watched my Nikon hit the asphalt out of the corner of my eye as I frantically half-leaped/half-jumped/half-lunged myself into the truck, groping around with my foot trying to find the brake pedal. Finally found it and put the brakes on just as the front tires went over that little 3" curb! Looked down at the gear shift and saw that I had left the damn thing in Drive! Felt really stupid right about then.

  Nothing in front of her except about twenty feet of riverbank and a whole lot of deep water! Had to pull her into 4WD to back  up to where I was parked.

  Don't mind telling ya, that scared the mortal crap out of me. Heart pounding, hands shaking scared! Walked around awhile (after shutting her off, putting her in Park, and setting the emergency brake....hard) and smoked a couple of cigarettes til my hands stopped shaking enough to hold my camera steady. Which wasn't hurt by skittering across the asphalt, by the way. A tiny nick on the UV filter ring was all the damage I could see. Easy fix.

  Pretty lucky day for me all around! Figured after all that, I might as well take some pictures.

  

  I like this next one a lot. I'm using it as wallpaper on my desktop at home.

  

  Made it back to the house all in one piece, thank God. That could have been hell of an expensive beer run!

  To get my mind off of that mental image of seeing my little black truck's tailgate disappearing into the murky waters of the Mighty Ohio, I had a few beers and whipped up some blue cheese burgers and fired up the grill.

  

  These guys are so good, and very easy to make.

  One and a half to two pounds of ground chuck, one beaten egg, 1/2 cup breadcrumbs, and three heaping tablespoons of good chunky blue cheese dressing.

  Mix everything in a large bowl with a fork 4 or 5 minutes til it's the consistency of a meatloaf, dampen hands with warm water and shape into 4 patties. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. I also add a light sprinkle of garlic powder.

  Open another beer and place the burgers on the grill over medium low heat. Handle them carefully, they're a little soft and delicate til the've cooked a bit and started to set.

  

  Served on a sesame seed bun with thinly sliced Bermuda onion, fresh tomato, and mayo. Along with sweet potatoe fries and Sweet Baby Ray's Dipping Sauce.

  

  Good Lord, sinfully delicious!

  On Sunday, we went to WalMart, came home, I cut the grass, and stayed put.

  Didn't wanna take any chances!

  

   

   

   

  • 7:29 pm
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