Critters, Pickups, Guns

I have all the makings of a good blog post.

The critters are all in their new area.  Fencing got moved today while the ground was soft.  Rain makes pounding through rock easier.  Casey had been tied to a tree, but she quickly got herself loose so she free-ranged today and hung out around the house.  She would stick her head through the front door to see what her humans were up to.  She has quite the personality and definitely loves being around people.

I went into town today to pick up a bag of ice and some soda.  I thought I had enough diesel to make it there and back no problem.  Unfortunately, that did not happen.  I ran out on the way home about two miles from home.  I was going down hill and lost power.  Lights and radio still worked so for a few seconds, I didn't know what was going on.  All I knew was I had no power and no power steering and was going down hill on a winding dirt road.  By the way, brakes don't work when there is no power either.

Once I realized what was going on as I was frantically trying to steer a truck that could not be steered and pumping brakes that were not working, I was able to maneuver the truck to the side, and on a slight incline was able to stop it, throw it in park, and shut it off to keep from killing the battery.

I also realized at that point that once I did manage to call for help and have someone come with some fuel, I was going to have to pump the fuel pump which is awkward given the location and me not being 6 feet tall.

I learned two things from this.  Although I walk around armed 90% of the time, the other 10% is when stupid crap happens.  (Although I could have grabbed either the rifle or the shotgun which we keep in the back window the majority of the time.)  The other thing is we ARE getting a fuel tank for the bed of the pickup.  I am not having this happen to me again.  I don't mind climbing onto the engine block in a skirt to pump the fuel through the lines.  I do mind being stranded in a spot where I was surprised I was able to get cell reception.  (As long as I stood outside the truck a few feet away and didn't move.  Inside the truck was zilch.)

Help did finally arrive and I pulled out the checkbook and was told to put it away.  Payment for coming from 25 miles away and buying the diesel to bring me?  Chicken and fresh goat milk.  And some ribbing because he bailed me out several months back when I had a shredded tire.

Tomorrow, we will be running a few errands, picking up feed and groceries, and getting that fuel tank.  I have a meeting at noon I can't miss and because it's in West Plains, we decided to do our shopping tomorrow instead of waiting until next week.  It's the nearest Aldi's.

Anyway, I am keeping an eye on weather because we are going to be getting slammed again.  This is supposed to go on for a couple more nights then the front that has been stalled over this area spawning nightly storms and horrific tornadoes to the west of us will finally move on.  I will be very thankful of that.  Nightly hail, downpours, winds, lightening, and thunder strong enough to shake the house is getting a bit annoying.  I'm ready for drier weather.  (Remind me of this in August and September.)