other dog

Well, in my defense - I have no defense. Every time I used that smoker I would take the leaf blower and clear all the dead leaves and debris from around it, then take the garden hose and saturate the area all around it. Every time. Except on that particular day for whatever reason I didn't. It was a gas stove made into a smoker, and it worked great. It had no burner in it, you just opened the drawer in the bottom and put charcoal in the little tray, and then just add wood as it burned down. It didn't hold much in the tray so you had to add wood about every 30 minutes. I was in the house looking at BMT on the computer actually and it was about time to go add some wood to the smoker but gear head grrrrrl was into it hot and heavy arguing with somebody, which is what she did best. I think it was 41Chevy, but I'm not sure. Anyway, Jobyna came up the hall when she got out of the shower and said "the back yard's on fire". No sense of urgency or anything, like the back yard was on fire every other day or something. So I jumped up and ran out the front door to turn the garden hose on, then ran around to the smoker. It was close to the shed and the shed was already blazing when I got there. I started beating on the back of the house and told Jobyna "call the fire department". I mean it was going by then, and I had 2 cans of gas in there, I don't know how much oil, several gallon jugs of hydraulic fluid, 3 chain saws, a weed eater, the leaf blower, all with gas in them. There was nothing I could do for the shed with the water hose, it was about the equivalent of peeing in a volcano, so I just kept spraying the siding on the house until the fire department got there. It was a very close call, scary how close I came to losing the house.

Speaking of moving, we're moving slowly. I have to go over and get the pickup today so I can haul a load over tomorrow. It's been at the new place all week with the smoker on the back because I didn't have anybody to help unload it. But I have a plan- i'm going to put the ladder from the ground to the tailgate, like a ramp. Then i'll put one end of the smoker on it and just slide it off. Speaking of Amazon, I ordered some metal fence posts from Amazon- I know, who knew, right?- and they're supposed to be here today. I got 2 100' rolls of plastic fencing to put around the garden. My neighbor across the road has a post driver I can borrow. I planted some green beans last weekend so i'm gonna try to get the fence up tomorrow, because deer and rabbits both like any kind of beans when they're coming up. The garden started out as just a field, the neighbor that we bought the place from used to keep it bush hogged, but that was all. I mowed the grass in a rectangle shape on the most level area there and just used the roto-tiller until I finally got it looking like this. I wanted to do that whole mowed area, but that tiller about worked me to death, I just had to keep going over it over and over and over. That's grass and rocks that I raked over to the side there. Then I talked to a guy up the road with a tractor and he said he would plow it for me, so I went ahead and planted 3 rows. We've got tomatoes, peppers, squash, and zuccini there. I didn't try to keep everything tight like I did here, I left enough space in between the rows and plants to run the tiller between them. We never did see tractor guy, so last weekend it was back to the tiller. I managed to about double the original size and planted the green beans, some cucumbers, and a couple of watermelons. That's 2 4' rolls of plastic fence on the ground at the far end. I still want to eventually biggerize it to where I had originally mowed, then I can plant potatoes and onions, maybe some sweet corn. The cucumbers and cantalopes take lots of room because the vines spread so much. Here's 2 dogs in a car.

what about if somebody burns their shed down and almost burns their house down while smoking a turkey in an old gas stove on Thanksgiving day?

moving? we've been moving for months, and still have a lot to move.

Another one that's sad but oh so true.

That's exactly right, everybody just accepts mediocrity now and don't care enough to do a job right. I used to complain about lazy drivers dropping empty trailers on the concrete pad at N.B. Handy Co. in Lynchburg, and dropping trailers crooked too. I was called a "snowflake"- not sure what that meant- and an ass hole- I do know what that meant- for complaining. I like things done right, like they're supposed to be, not half-ass. I would come in with a load of coils and be in Lynchburg before dark, especially in summer, so I would drop the trailer at Handy and bob tail home. Except more often than not there was no place to drop the trailer there because the pad would be full, and most of the trailers would be empty and could have been dropped behind the building. So then I had to go back down the hill, out to 460, climb Oxford Furnace Hill on the way to Concord, then try to find a parking spot. Trailers would be dropped in a zig-zag configuration so 4 trailers would take up enough room to park 8 trailers if they were dropped straight. I mean, pull up one more time and park it straight, it's not that hard. So then I go home- and I could have already been at home if I could have dropped the trailer. Then the next morning I had to get out of the steep uphill driveway at F.L. Moore's and get across 460 to the westbound side with all the morning traffic headed to Lynchburg to work. That's why it was a big deal.

oh

well, naturally I couldn't find the pictures I was looking for but then I thought of google earth. This is the spot your pictures reminded me of Vlad, the terrain looks very similar, except it's summer there in West Virginia.

Happy birthday!

That's funny, speaking of Detroits, I was just reading on a Detroit Diesel fan page. Saw where somebody had posted a question "I'm only 11 years old, but I have developed quite a taste for 2 stroke Detroit power, and I really want one bad- does anybody know if a 6-71 will fit in a 1958 FWD, or should I order the 4-71 from Amazon?..asking for a friend, TIA, Casey from Hellertown." Thought you might know, since you actually have a 1958 FWD, maybe you could help young Casey from Hellertown out with his project.

It's absolutely amazing how much this looks like the highway going west from Moorefield, WV over to Mt. Storm. Next time I get on the computer I'll post some pictures.

And sharp looking trucks in my opinion!

Happy birthday!

Sorry for your loss.

I got my Pit Barrel Cooker 6 years ago, it was on my Facebook memories. One of the best purchases I ever made. Here's a girl in a car from the interweb, because it's too quiet in here.

Wow, that's just neat stuff, I love seeing these pictures, thanks Vlad!

I watched The 700 Club this morning after Family Feud. And man, what mess. It's a shame they- "they" being the evil and idiotic democrats- let it get this far. They showed thousands of illegal immigrants lined up at the border, just waiting to cross. El Paso has already declared a state of emergency. And what do you do now? You can't just bring in the artillery and bombers at this point, it's not even those people's fault. But the point is it should never have gotten to this point in the first place. President Trump had everything going so well, and now we have this, on top of inflation and everything else, and people will still say "it's better than having Trump in there". I just do not get it.

Wow Vlad, thanks for sharing these pictures. As everyone has said that's some beautiful country you're traveling. I was just reading a story about Mt. Ararat this morning and the possibility of the remains of Noah's Ark being found there, fascinating stuff. I wonder how high those sacks are stacked on that truck, he'll take out every stop light along the way! Looks like a pretty steep hill in that second picture too.

It doesn't seem to, I'm going to increase the dosage.

Man, these allergies are kicking my ass. Woke up about 3am with a sore throat, nose been running like crazy. Otherwise I don't feel sick or anything, so I guess it's allergies. Funny, allergies never bothered me before though. But I mowed the grass in a big cloud of dust the other day, it's terrible dry here. Especially this part where we fenced in the back yard so the dogs can run. Now, if we could just get the grass to grow there... I had some ribs in the smoker yesterday, they came out really good. Saw a sharp looking Mustang at the store yesterday. And I saw this big fat lizard. There's apparently a whole family of them out here by the shed. A here we have a girl in a car, from the interweb, since that's about the only place I'll see a girl in a car anymore.

Happy birthday!

The last 2 trucks I drove had the X15 and ISX 500s in them, 1850 ft. lbs. torque, 18 speeds with 3.55 rears. Never had any engine issue with either one and they did a fine job. Which would be the exact opposite of the last 2 before them, a PACCAR and a C15 Cat, both of which stayed in the shop for one thing or another. That's all I got.

wow, I must have missed all that!

I think if I still had it now I could get three times as much as I sold it for. I see a lot of B models in way worse condition going for a whole lot more nowadays.

That's what I always thought Vlad. Jeff Moore used to tell me all the time "you should take the mixer off of that thing". And I always said "then it would be just another B model. Everybody's got one of them, but nobody's got a B model mixer".