The Arrr!!!: October 2007 Archives

Dear Husband called to tell me that the Truck Service had found him, and brought just the tire he needed. He chose to leave the interstate and make his way home on surface roads. When he got close to home, he called again. I pulled on shoes and socks, and a long-sleeved t-shirt jacket to protect my arms from the mosquitoes. I grabbed a flashlight and headed down the driveway. We both made it to the end of the driveway at the same time.

As he was backing the boat into the drive, a car coming up behind him turned on his brights, to light the area. It didn't help a great deal, but I thought it was kind of the driver to give it a try. DH had the boat into the driveway within two minutes, and then things went much slower.

DH drives a truck with a 14 foot stake bed. He's VERY talented at backing it up with loads like equipment trailers, cement mixers or boats attached, but backing up our driveway in the dark is exceptionally difficult. The driveway is more than 250 feet long, and has a bend in it. That alone is difficult, but at the bend there are trees right next to the drive on either side. DH told me he was trying to miss the west tree...and pointed out the scrapes, just about at boat level, and admitted that he'd had some close calls over the years. Now add darkness to the mix, and you can imagine how difficult things were. He actually had the boat in the perfect position when he stopped. Unfortunately, the truck has to be in the perfect position, too, and it wasn't.

Please make note in your Day Timers: I am going to praise my husband!

Dear Husband had the sense to turn off the motor, leave the truck, and lock it up for the night. He left it standing on the drive, and came in to have some supper. He finished the move this morning, all by himself. The Arr!! is settled in for the winter. Over the next week or so, DH will off load food, sails, cushions, and anything that might suffer from mildew. I really think he's trying to make it less inviting for the raccoons! *G*

As my sister might say...."Home again, Home again....."

My boat widowhood is coming to a close for 2007.

I was expecting my boat widowhood to end today. Dear Husband took the trailer to the boat yard last night in preparation for the homecoming. He spent the night on the boat, a last hurrah for the season, and motored to the boat yard early this morning.

He'd said that maybe 17 boats were ahead of him waiting to be lifted out. I didn't expect him to come home early today. A little after 4:00 he called to tell me that he was on one of the major Chicago tollways with a flat tire on the trailer.

It's VERY difficult to help long distance! I went to the computer and began searching in whitepages.com. A friend also searched, and sent me a more helpful search through MSN, where I found a 24 hour truck service. The problem is, the trailer has smaller tires than most trucks.

One of my family members works for the county sheriff's office, and he called the state troupers and asked to have a patrol car check the situation. Our problem is that the tire shops are closed for the night, and that boat and trailer will not be moving without a new tire.

We hope that the truck service is going to come through for us, otherwise, Dear Husband will have to separate the truck and trailer and leave the boat at the side of the road, a thought I don't want to entertain!

I'm going to go search for all night tire dealers, now. With any luck I'll get my husband back for the winter, soon.