These are the only known pictures of the little workshop my dad had at the house on Marshall Taken around 1977.
He is holding my adopted sister Pam. The lathe, drill press, and bandsaw are now at The Last Resort Fire Department in Seattle.
I loved working on things with my dad until I accidentally cut my thumb on the bandsaw and my mom (MSRIH) freaked out and banned me form going in there ever again. He purchased the shop tools with money they got from selling the cypress house. He bought machinist tools my mom bought a useless chandelier.
I found these while going through some old negatives. I took the picture when I was in 5th grade for a photography class.
I was going through some boxes (of Bob's stuff) a couple weeks ago and found a couple of graph paper notebooks Bob had gotten from Boeing and was using to sketch out railroad related stuff. In one of them the first page contained a date Nov 11, 1989 and a list of things Bob was going to sell (unknown why). Things like die cast fire trucks, HO, and O gauge trains etc.
The second page was a personal coming to Jesus moment for Bob dated Jan, 1990.
It reads (formatting, spelling and punctuation are as he wrote them):
I AM BORED WITH LIFE! I HAVE REACHED THE POINT WHERE ANY THING I DO IS "OH HUM". I CAN'T PUT MY FINGER ON IT! BUT THERE HAS TO BE A BETTER LIFE THAN GOING TO WORK, COMING HOME AND GOING TO SLEEP. BUT WHAT???
BUILDING AND OPERATING A RAILROAD IS FUN, BUT HOW CAN I BUILD ONE BIG ENOUGH TO SATISFY MY INTEREST AND NOT SPEND A FORTUNE ON A HOUSE, THAT I DON'T NEED OR WANT.
OWNING A FIRE ENGINE CAN BE FUN, BUT WHERE DO I KEEP IT.
I BELIEVE I HAVE REACHED THE POINT WHERE I HAVE MONEY AND NO REAL REASON OR PURPOSE TO SPEND IT.
SURE WOULD LIKE A JOB WITH CHALLENGE, ARE AT LEAST ONE THAT WAS A LITTLE MORE INTERESTING. THE FEW JOBS THAT HELD MY INTEREST WERE AT GENRAD, MARCONTI AND LAB DESIGN AT GARRETT-TEMPE. I DON'T MIND WORKING FOR A LIVING-I RESENT MY EXPERTICE NOT BEING USED OR APPLIED. OR RECOGNIZED!!!
I WONDER WHERE MY LIFE IS GOING?? IT SURE IS ALONE! I GO TO WORK ALONE, I WORK ALONE, I COME HOME ALONE, I THINK ALONE, I PLAY ALONE, I CRY ALONE AND IT GOES ON FROM THERE!! NO ONE CARES. I DON'T THINK NO ONE EVEN KNOWS
I LOVE Jxxxx, BUT YOU CAN'T GET CLOSE TO HER. WHY, WHY, WHY?
HOW DO YOU GET CLOSE TO Jxxxx AND LOVE HER WHEN SHE HASEN'T BEEN TAUGH HOW TO LOVE, HER SELF<--DOUBLE MEANING!
I MADE ONE BIG MISTAKE WITH Jxxxx. I HAVE SPOILED HER, AND ALWAYS PUT HER FIRST. THIS WILL HAVE TO CHANGE ARE THE RELATIONSHIP IS OVER!
There follows 2 pages of 19 things that Jxxxx needs to change, then:
WE COULD RENT A LARGER APT UP HERE. IF YOU WERE WILLING TO WORK AND SELL THE HOUSE IN PHX. -NO KIDS. OR RENT A TWO BED ROOM APT WITH A GARAGE RAILROAD GOES IN THE GARAGE.
I was re-arranging and cleaning my shed, I have one of the SCBA's from Bob's fire truck, I knew it had air in it, but I did not know it was FULL with 2000 psi of compressed air in it. It had been like this for 5+ YEARS sitting in my shed being heated and cooled every day. I am surprised it didn't leak or rupture in that time. If I had accidentally broke the valve off, it would have shot around in my shop like a rocket.
I canceled his Juno account, and yesterday we closed out his checking account (not much left in it), Savings account (empty), and credit card (no balance). It's almost like he never existed.
This is the last leg of the trip. Less than 400 miles to go. We grab breakfast at some fast food place, Burger king (I think). Nephew (as you know) is picky and he orders some french toast sticks and tater tots. He is not impressed with the french toast sticks, and does not eat them. We stop for gas at a 7-11. It has been a while since we last cleaned the cab out. I ask him to gather up all the junk and hand it to me. His syrup leaks out all over the front of my pants (wonderful). I go in to my dad's truck (where we kept our luggage) and grab an extra pair of pants. I head in to the 7-11 and the bathroom is "out of order" (great).
Nearby is a Mickey D's. We drive to it and I go inside. The only stall in the men's room has... wait for it... Some drifter/bum/homeless guy in it. There is lots of clanking and banging and commotion, eventually he walks out and takes off... Leaving behind... A pair of pants?! What the heck? So I go in and change MY pants. I come out carrying the sticky pair and as I am leaving another guy walks in to the stall. HEY! are these your pants? Nope!
We are off and Nephew is driving. We were looking forward to seeing the completed Mike O'Callaghan – Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge which was under construction the last time I went to Las Vegas. When we get to the bridge all high profile vehicle must use the inner most lanes. The bridge has very high walls on each side and so you cannot see anything from the middle lanes (bummer).
Because of the after Christmas rush to go home, when we got to US 93 traffic is ridiculous. I did some timing, counting, and calculating. Cars were going northbound at the average rate of 1 per second. Of course WE (being a big monstrous truck hauling a trailer) everyone hates us. There is lots of mad dash driving to get around us at every passing lane.
The remainder of the trip is boring. We get home at 15:33 on 12-26-2012. We show my dad everything and his reaction to the stuff in the U-haul and his truck is rather anti climatic. I think he was restraining himself since I was filming him.
We're not done yet. We have to clean the U-haul. The plan is to unload it today. The call goes out for all hands on deck. Nephew and I wash and scrub the dust off of the u-haul. We take the trailer (with truck still on it) to my Mother-in-laws house, drop it off and head to storage.
Back when we had the "coming to Jesus meeting" I designated people to get certain things done before we arrived. One was, my wife and my Dad would get a Storage unit (to waste more money). They got a 10x15. We head over there and my sister (nephews mom), Her husband, My brother, his girlfriend, My wife, are all going to go to storage and unload everything as fast as we can. We get the ball rolling but sister is running late. the wife had shown up and I raced down to give her a huge bear hug and some smooching. she tells us that the storage place locks the gates at 18:00 (now she tells me). So we have to scramble to get what we can in to storage, some of the other stuff will go back to my house until my Dad gets his apartment (if he gets an apartment).
Because of the breakdown and the snow-in I was graced with an extra day by U-haul, and so we turned in the truck (and trailer) the next day.
That's it! I am home! My house, My bed, My clean bathroom, my open kitchen, my air conditioning and heating, my DAD (staying at our home for now), and MY WIFE!
Over the next few weeks and months we get him moved in to his apartment. His memory improves a little bit, he no longer needs a cane, he can drive again, we get his car title and license moved to Phoenix, and I get to take him to all sorts of doctor appointments. I am happy about this because we could have lost him. He is VERY happy to be back. there is still the matter of selling the crown. I had to re-list it 2 or 3 more times before it sold.
He has an MRI done because of the memory problems and we find out that at some point in the last few months or years he has had at least one stroke (and other issues) and did not know it. He is fully able bodied but has short term memory problems. We think the stroke happened back in July of 2012 because of an email he sent us back then, where he describes great confusion and memory problems.
Some statistics and misc items of interest.
so if anyone wonders about what it would cost to move about 800 Cubic feet of stuff, and a pickup truck, here are some stats:
Gas To go from Seattle to Phoenix in a 26 foot U-haul (around 1500 miles) at 5 miles to the gallon, was about $805.00 dollars.
Charges for dumping 2800lbs of junk $175.13
U-haul boxes (about 100+), tape, bubble wrap, etc $226.03+ as some was paid in cash (u-haul boxes are designed to stack together)
The moving company for 3 hours help $270.00
Storage for the Fire Truck $497.10
5 day rental for a 26' u-haul and car hauling trailer $1922.69
I have no stats on other costs because they were paid from cash we found in books. (do not hide your cash in books).
Total that my Dad owed me $4,278.18
Actual cost for the move was probably around $6000 to $8000 with everything factored in. There was a lot of stuff paid for in cash.
My dad had about 514 freight cars, 189 locomotives, and 141 passenger cars, MTH, K-line, Williams, Atlas, Walter, and Lionel. This is not considered a large collection by the standards of some of his friends. Most of this has been sold.
We found piles of "New in Box" die-cast toy cars from various manufacturers (in no particular order): Hess, Dinky, Road Champs, Majorette, Ertl, Tonkin, ihc, roco, matchbox, hot wheels, nylint, corgi, Lleddo, Model Power, Majorette, Tomy, Winross, Tosco, Road Champs, Siku, Maisto, road Champs, and Mattel. The NIB stuff (after I spent several weeks cataloging it) totaled 488 items. This did not count the large stuff still in boxes that he has 2 of each. Dates range from early 1970's to 2012. Unfortunately he does not have anything that was super rare, or even rare. My Dad would buy them on sale whenever he went to a store, he would always buy at least 2 of each and would try to buy every variation of a particular model. Most of this stuff has been given away.
He had many things that were fire related, 2 SCBA's. One went to nephew and I have the other. With the SCBA nephew now has a complete fire fighters outfit. A Foam Nozzle for a fire truck that I sold on Ebay. Fire Extinguishers, Fire Axes, Hydrant wrenches, etc. Piles of fire hose that if we had known there was going to have been room, we might have taken with us as the brass ends are worth $. They went to the dump. I also have his fireman's helmet, and turnout coats/bunker gear.
2 old 35mm cameras that he had forgot about, one of which still had film in it, but no pictures taken. Piles and piles of previous years MTH and Lionel Catalogs which we tossed unless they were older than 1970. A couple of old mail order catalogs (from the late 50's early 60's) that are of interests for original prices for radios and such.
As to his Fire Apparatus Journal, what we did not know was that he always ordered 2 of that magazine and he was keeping a second unopened set (I do not know exactly why). He said that he HAD a complete set (HAD!). If you do not know, FAJ is a thinnish magazine that contains pretty much nothing but pictures of fire trucks (fire truck porn if you will).
Selling the crown was somewhat of a trial as I noted earlier in the story. In the first auction it got 1 bid of $1000 which did not meet the reserve. I needed $2000 for moving expenses. I re-listed it several times at a starting bid of $2000. No one would bid on it. I must have re-listed it about 5 or 6 times. Each time some message would pop up that I never read (foreshadowing).
I got lots of messages through ebay telling me how much people would like to own it, but they had no room, had no money, had no way to get it, etc. One guy kept hounding me to sell it to him for his original bid of $1000. I politely told him "no dice".
The last time it was up for auction after a few questions from someone I got a bid. The final day of the auction came and I am sitting watching it... About 3 minutes before the auction ended... My auction disappears! Remember I had listed this thing about 6 times and each time it ended no problem. Shortly afterwards I get a message from ebay that my auction was deleted because... I had not removed the lights and emblems from the truck. What? Since when do I need to do that? WELL! since 9-11 ebay was in contact with overly panicky people from fire department that were worried that someone might try to use an (by today's standards) ancient fire truck in some kind of elaborate ruse to do something nefarious. Forgetting that such things can be easily acquired and re-installed. There was nothing in place to prevent someone from removing them and editing the pictures to disguise the fact that the emblems might still be in place. NO they did not want the liability or something. It does not matter that other emergency equipment was up for auction with all emblems and lights intact. It seems that the message I never read was in regard to removing lights and emblems. Something I could not do unless I went back up to Seattle or had one of his friends do. I now believe that the guy who wanted it for $1000 very likely reported the auction.
Well they aren't going to deter me. I fire off a message to the winning bidder and tell him he can have it for the $2000 he bid for it. he is fine with that. I offer to use an escrow service and he declines. he wants to pay cash on delivery.
I had the title already signed and I had added my friend in Seattle's name on to the lease so that he could close it out. I sent the title, and keys to him and he arranged a time to meet. The guy lives in Cowiche, WA (somewhere close to Yakima). He wanted the truck to return it home. It served originally in Yakima. He is an independent trucker and had his own flatbed semi trailer.
I informed him that he had to take ownership of everything in the unit. There was some extra stuff that we put in there:
several fire extinguishers.
2 extra mirrors.
1 spare switch panel.
some misc other stuff.
and this.
it
is a remote controlled ladder pipe nozzle. Probably worth big bucks but I had
no interest in trying to sell or ship it. it weighed close to 100lbs.
The big day came and they got there pretty early. I (of course) was not there, they got the truck started but then had problems getting it out. he probably did not let it warm up enough. Once they got it out it was loaded up along with the rest of the stuff.
My friend cleaned up the unit and turned in the keys. I got a $180 refund on the unit. I had my friend keep $200 from the cash for his troubles and he deposited the rest in to my account.
As I stated earlier. My dad did not take as good care of it as he claimed. he did not change the oil in 10 years. It holds 5 gallons of motor oil. We only received one call regarding it after he took delivery. They were having trouble starting it. although I recommended my dad not tell them. He wanted to make sure they knew it needed an oil change.
Some of the things my dad had done to it when he had it: Replaced the dual ignitions with high performance dual electronic ignitions. Replaced and repacked the pump bearings. Some kind of transmission work. Rebuilt the carburetor. Had jump seats made for it. built a new hose bed. stocked it with hose. lots of other stuff.
unfortunately he had dented a fender and scratched one side of the truck trying to get it in or out of storage. If it were not for the damage, I would have put a higher starting bid on it.
It is good that it went back home. I hope the guy restores it and someone enjoys it for many years to come.
We topped off the gas tank the night before as this trip will be through Nevada. http://mapq.st/Thnz52 There are only 4 places to stop for gas between Twin Falls, and Las Vegas. We cannot miss a fill up or we might have to use my dad's truck to go get some gas. With the mileage we are getting so far we can go about 278 miles on one tank of gas. Technically we could probably skip one town but I'm not going to chance it.
Breakfast was at a gas station someplace between Twin Falls, ID and Wells, NV as NOTHING was open at the time we left. The storm called Euclid had gone through this area some time prior to us leaving. As we got in to Nevada we encountered snow and ice. The snow covered pretty much the top 3/4 of the state with the northern parts seeing about 1 to 2 feet. If you have ever driven through Nevada on this stretch of highway it is BORING. The trip was mostly uneventful except for nephew entertaining himself by dumping water on the struts for the rear view mirrors to watch the water freeze.
Speaking of freezing. As we got closer to Wells we noticed what looked like lite fog over the town. When we arrived at the pilot station and got out to fill up and give the truck a once over we noticed (besides the intense cold) that there were tiny little ice crystals floating in the air (not AHSNOW!) but little ice crystals that looked like glitter. It might have been enchanting if it was not for the fact that the air was so cold that the something in our noses would freeze instantly with every intake of breath. We had to bury our faces in our shirts and coat to breath properly. Prior to this the coldest I had been in Phoenix was about 26°F and about 9°F when I was in college. The low that morning was -4°F (it's frickin' freezing Mr. Bigglesworth)
For the most part the remainder of the trip that day was uneventful, just miles and miles of AHSNOW! There was almost NO ONE else on the road. I think we saw maybe 2 or 3 other cars the entire day. One of which was some young and strangely dressed woman who would speed past us and disappear in to the distance only to stop at some point and talk on her phone or something, we would pass her and this would repeat about 3 or 4 times that day. We stopped at a rest area (I do not remember where). It was still ridiculously cold. There was a restroom there... Have you ever sat on a toilet that was at or around 0°F? Much Bill cursing went on.
Let me explain. Bill is a bit... prissy. He likes his comfort and does not like extremes of heat or cold. His main activity during the day is to sit in front of the TV with a giant laundry basket filled with misc little toys. He spend his time watching TV and transferring the toys (one at a time) from the basket to a pile on the ground and back again. Anything that interrupts this engenders a tirade of grunts. So you can guess that as kids we would take his toys and hide them (kids are mean).
So as a treat here is some video I took at the rest stop. In full HD (on selected monitors). You will hear Myself and my nephew complaining about the cold (in Bill talk), and then the inevitable admonition to Bill in regards to his complaints.
The rest of the days driving was of not much interest. Nephew wanted to drive in to Las Vegas so he took the helm somewhere outside. We had a bit of trouble finding the hotels I had picked as some of them seemed to have been torn down. We ended up at a Howard Johnson. There was almost no one there except some people from India. Dinner was at a Jack-in-the-box as nothing else was open that was close by. While making our order some black woman barged in and completely ignoring that we were ordering wanted change for some large bill. The manager admonished her for jumping the line and she left in a huff when he said they could not break her bill unless she bought something.
Why was it the best Christmas EVAR!? because I am tired of the Holidays. Nephew does not care for Christmas either, for reasons too long to explain.
The next morning 12-24-2012 the road condition were slightly improved. The roads are open but chains were required. We have no chains. So we head on out to the only place that might have them (walmart). We are once again presented with a plethora of chains and none seem right for the U-haul. Thankfully A clerk showed up and helped us find ones that were the correct range. She produced a sheet that we did not see at the other walmart that made it more clear which ones we needed. So we have chains for the truck and the trailer, now with my wallet considerably lighter, we began trying to put the chains on in the parking lot. This was made more enjoyable as the parking lot was frozen over. I have watched chains being put on (once) when I was about 16. So between the 2 of us we got them on and it only took... well I think it was less than 2 hours.
We continue on with our journey, with me as the driver. The chains limited us to about 35mph. We cleared the summit where they were required, and most annoyingly, by the time we got them on, and got to where they were required, most of the ice had melted. At the first opportunity we took them off. We did pass over some occasional ice after that but nothing major. We did not need the blasted chains the rest of the trip. I still have them as a cruel reminder of the journey.
We are sorely behind schedule and need to make it to Twin Falls, ID today. We did discover that if you went faster than 55mph the trailer started swaying, but if you got up to about 72 it smoothed out (this helped recover some time) The remainder of the day was driving, quick breaks, lunch, gas, etc. We rolled in to Twin Falls late, stopped at a Motel 6 that had RV parking and almost no one in any of the rooms.
We get situated and head out to find a place to eat. It was very cold, and VERY windy. The first place we come to is a Jack-in-the-box. I go to open the door and it's locked. There is sign out front that says "OPEN". I am standing under the sign staring at the only worker in there cleaning up (that does not seem to see me) I proceed to basically gesture at the sign and let her have it (in Bill talk). My nephew who does not normally see me do anything weird, practically kills himself trying to find a place to hide.
Flashback to about a year or so before... I am at my sisters apartment. Helping nephew with some school work. Afterwards that night we go outside and he wants me to put on his bass drum that he marches with (I was warned of this by his mom). His plan is to somehow embarrass me. (He don't know me vewy well? do he!) I put the drum on, ask for the sticks and before my nephew can as why? Began pounding without rhythm, VERY LOUDLY, and start marching around shouting "Be kind to your web footed friends". Nephew is shocked, My sister (his mom), and My wife are dumbfounded, my sister's husband literally runs away. Hey! what do I care? I won't see any of the other people in the apartment complex again!
So we eventually find some place to eat, a chain restaurant of some kind. We head back to the hotel and crash. Motel 6's are weird. The shower head (in this one) was on the side of the shower above the opening. The one in Issaquah was the other way around so you could not turn the water on with the curtain open, the water sprayed right out on to the floor). They do not have alarm clocks, and some other things that normal hotels have. The rooms are kind of small.
Next Post: "Best Christmas EVAR!" or "Who knew that the best day to drive is Christmas day?".
The big day is finally here, Breakfast, and a preflight courtesy of nephew (he takes this way too seriously sometimes). We filled up the night before, This beast holds 50 gallons if I remember. We make a last check of road conditions. Snoqualmie pass is the big worry It was closed for several days prior to our departure. Also Winter storm Euclid is about to go through our route home. But the pass is open and we make a break for it. Nephew Like me has lived almost his entire life in Arizona. I did not see snow (on the ground) till I was about 16 or 17. I have seen it snow 3 times in and around Phoenix in 50 years but it never sticks. Nephew is beside himself, he get excited easily. He is snapping pictures right and left (over 80). I begin to mock him a bit. Snow becomes "AHSNOW! Pronounce it very fast and excited like with an elevating pitch as you say it. He calms down after awhile. I have first shift of driving until we get to a Rest stop past Yakima.
AHSNOW!
Once through the summit pass it is mostly AHSNOW! covered boring East of the Cascades Washington. We stop in Yakima and have lunch at a pizza place. Another Safety check of EVERYTHING by nephew and we are on the road again. We Are Aiming for Boise If I remember Correctly (some of my notes got erased). We did not suspect the problems we would have at the top of CABBAGE HILL *crescendo* NOBODY expects the problems on Cabbage hill!.
Sorry... Where was I?
We get to a rest stop after several hours of driving. There is a sign shouting RESPECT THE HILL! I kind of skim it and it seems to be more about going DOWN cabbage hill, OR Emigrant Hill not up. Whatever... (foreshadowing).
So now it's Nephews Turn to Drive. He is all pro, AND disappointed that we are not driving a diesel, provides his own Air brake noises when releasing or applying the brakes when we have to park somewhere.
Some people might balk at letting an 18 year old drive something as big as we were, but the kid knows what he is doing. He could back the truck and trailer through a figure eight if he wanted to. He is all business when driving and follows the law and "rules" of the road to the letter.
Ok so going UP Cabbage hill was not the problem. As we went up I saw a sign that said Chains required, but it was not flashing and I assumed that meant we did not need them. (we don't have problems like this in my neck of Arizona).
OK back track a little here. When we went to rent the truck we inquired about chains. U-haul does NOT supply chains. You are expected to wait it out in the event you are snowed in. you call them and let them know and they will extend the basic 5 days rental as needed. OK, well that sucks. We went to a walmart in Seattle and tried to get chains but they did not have a big selection and we were not sure what chains to get, having never had to buy them. (more foreshadowing).
We get to the top and things start to go sour (weather wise). It's getting really cold, windy and it is snowing. Soon the road is covered in ICE (nice). Nephew inquires if I want to drive? Nope, she's all yours. Well it gets worse and worse. Visibility is down to less than half a mile, nephew reports he can feel the wheels slipping occasionally. I tell him to slow down shift to L2 and take it easy. Now we are drive at the most 20mph. Conditions only get worse as it is getting darker. we have no chains, and the choice is go back or keep going. We press on. Then there are signs reporting that the road is closed passed La Grande, OR. After checking some sources on my phone and listening to the radio we find out that a truck over turned about 10 miles east of La Grande. Both directions were closed until further notice. Just Great. Well as navigator I start looking for an alternative stop for the night. Looks like La Grande is it. Hopefully it is a bigger town than it sounds like.
At some point while going through some twisty mountain roads nephew says that his side of the trailer is kicking up a lot of snow. I look at my side and see nothing unusual. Since it is dark snowy and not really safe to stop we press on. It is very slow going now, maybe 15mph. This is where nephew was a better choice than me for driving. I would have tried driving faster.
I use my time and the internet connection on my phone to start locating possible hotels in La Grande. I find several and have trouble getting an answer to my calls. seems everyone is doing the same thing. I finally get a hold of the Super 8. They have rooms available and tons of parking space.
After what seemed like days of careful driving we make it to La Grande. It is much bigger than I thought. We park real quick and check out the trailer. We have a flat tire. Thankfully the trailer had 2 tires on each side. We get back in the truck. I contact U-haul and get the ball rolling on getting it fixed. We locate the super 8 and park. I go inside wait in line and secure a room.
Back outside we find the U-haul repair guy working on another U-haul and snag him to fix ours. This saved a huge amount of time. We grab dinner at the nearby Mickey D's and file our report with family. About this time I get a call from U-haul. The woman begins talking a mile a minute about what and where and when. I have to actually shout into the phone for her to stop talking, so I can explain that the trailer is already fixed. This confuses her mightily.
We check road conditions and crash.
Next Post: "Smooth sailing" or "I channel Bill and embarrass the nephew"
We got up Saturday as early as we could, grabbed
breakfast, and. Went back in to Seattle to pick up the U-haul Truck. We stopped
by the apartment, loaded the torture device AKA "the bed" in to the
back of the u-haul truck, we would take it to the dump as goodwill would not
take the mattress for fear of bed bugs (not that I would have donated a device
of torture). I turned in the keys and notified the apartment manager that we
were "out of there".
And now the apartment! empty for the first time in 10 years.
We headed back to storage and backed the truck up to the door. Dave was already there, and surprise, surprise, he brought his brother. So began the long process of loading the boxes. Thankfully Dave was there, although he stayed up in the truck most of the time, he used to work for a produce shipping company, so he knew how to pack a truck. While Talking to Dave we asked why he was so eager to help. He told us how my dad had a customer that had "lots of money" This customer needed help building a train layout... a VERY large train layout, a "million" dollar layout. We are talking a 2 or 3 thousand square foot layout. So for the past several years Dave has been working on this layout full time. He does other work but most of his time is working on this layout. Because if this Dave has lots of money. Dave therefore is very grateful to my Dad.
Most of the rest of this day was just putting boxes from storage in to the truck. Some of Dave's handy work.
We took a break for lunch and went back to loading
boxes. About halfway through the day My back had, had it. I took some Ibuprofen
but it did not help. I was mostly useless until it came time to clean the
storage unit. It had to be totally clean or they would charge us an hourly fee
to clean it.
That is Dave's brother.
This is the truck fully loaded
He did such a good job that when we got back to Phoenix, not much had shifted.
Throughout the day there were many stories back and forth about my Dad. I forgot to mention that Dave's brother owns 1 (possibly 2) Crown fire trucks (similar to my dad's).
Now with the truck loaded, we said our goodbyes. We gave Dave and his brother a couple of items from my dad's stuff that they really liked. Dave got a $600 MTH working coal Tipple, and his brother got a couple of sets of adapters for fire hose (worth a couple hundred). It was the least my dad could do since they helped us move. Nephew and I made one last trip to the dump. The total amount of junk we took to the dump was about 2800 pounds. The best part was watching that horrid excuse for a bed being smashed and crushed.
One last thing to do. We head back to Seattle to put the truck on the trailer, we also did this to make sure the load did not shift. There was a problem with getting the truck on the trailer. The tires my dad had bought were too large for the straps on the trailer and we had to buy 2 sets of heavy duty straps to make up for it. After my Safety officer (my nephew) went over everything and gave it the go ahead,
we went back to the motel 6 parked in the designated 10 parking spaces, had dinner, checked the road conditions and crashed.
Next Post: "In to the unknown" or "out of the frying pan and in to the fire"
