Stop me if you heard this before.
Too late.
Some years ago I ran a crew for a local surveyor who deserves for various reasons to remain nameless.
He worked mostly high school kids and family but aquired me when he opened an office in town.
His equipment was not the best and deferred maintainence was taking its toll. I have respect for a man who can make a go of it
on guts and pennies so I didn't complain. I fixed problems as they arose which was regular enough to preclude scheduling.
The gun and data collector were old but in good shape. Rods and tripods were fair. But that old Ford truck soaked up its weight in nickles and dimes.
He liked that old truck so we were slowly rehabbing it. We had gotten around to ordering replacement interior door handles to replace the plastic victims of youthful testosterone amplified snatching and pulling. I sure would be glad to not have to roll down the window to use the outside handle to open the door. That was a pain in the butt because some times I forgot to roll them down before I shut the truck off. They were electric so I had to roll them down on battery power, which I had heard was bad for the motors because they should always get max power.
Its too late to make a long story short.
We had been working in the woods just outside Jacksonville FL when we broke for lunch. Why do young guys not carry lunch? The boss had no objections to driving to the store so off we go.
About 3 miles drive brought us to a store. I rolled into the lot, up to the curb, and shut it off. Shut it off. You guessed it, windows up. Turned the key. Nothing. I guess those 5 sets ot railroad tracks must have rattled the corroded battery terminal I had been meaning to clean loose. If you saw that coming give your self a pat on the back.
There we were, hollering and banging on our own windows to get some attention. Several people saw us and avoided us as they went to and fro. After about five or six minutes an old black man heard us and finally figured out what we were saying and opened my door. I thanked him and offered to pay him but he just looked at my truck and said I had more important things to spend it on.
There are several lessons to be learned in all this. Damned if I know what they are. If you figure them out then your life may turn into a country song.
I thought it was funny.
But, if you had changed it to where it was an old lesbian that rescued you, I'm not sure if the guys here would think that was funny or not. :'(
Been there, done that, too!
I drove a car with electric windows that I had cranked using battery jumper cables onto a trailer with side rails. I had that "feeling stupid" flash thought as I turned the ignition off.....o.O
"Downhill" was the wrong way, and there was no one else around. I had a small space between the door and frame that I managed to squeeze this 250-pound body through. It was August in Mississippi, so I had plenty of liquid lubricant on me by the time I started out.
I have a '92 Ford truck with plastic door handles that I have broken many times, and electric door locks. Several times, while on job sites, I have inadvertently bumped the door lock switch on the way out while the keys were still in the ignition and the windows were up. I have found another use for iron pins when trying to pry the door away from the door jamb enough to insert a long, stiff piece of wire to bump the electric door unlock switch.
Many times I have come home with some part of my body wrapped in paper towel and orange glo flagging to stop the bleeding.
Hey, we surveyors are an innovative bunch! B-)
Do it too often & one learns to carry extra key in wallet 101 !
YOS
TNAI
Oh yeah that reminds me of all the times my I-man crossed his left leg over his right and hit that lock switch.
Why doesn't the door unlock when you operate the inside handle? Or even refuse to operate? Did the designers at Ford giggle over that one?
Geez I hate Ford. The only thing they ever did right was Hire Shelby.
