Implement lending: no good deed goes unpunished!

[Melensdad]

I rarely borrow or lend implements, but I do have a friend/neighbor who I trade stuff with, we even co-own stuff. He needed to use my landscape rake.

No problem, he has the code to my workshop, he can let himself in. Not a problem. Well small problem. The rake is buried behind a tiller, box blade and a cultivator, with a tractor parked in front of all of them.

I told him that after dinner I'd get the rake out and put it in front of the garage outside on the concrete pad. He could take it at his liesure. Either that night or the next or whenever he wanted.

Well I move the stuff in front of the rake and then got a BRILLIANT idea. I'd put the yoke for the rake into the FEL bucket, use a heavy tow strap to secure the rake into the bucket and just drive it out. WORKED PERFECTLY. In fact it worked so well that I will move it around that way the next time I need to move it.

Heck, in fact as I'm moving it outside I figure its a nice evening, he only lives about 1 mile down the road, I'll just drive the rake to him and unhook it in his yard. Afterall, it IS a nice evening for a liesurely drive.

About 1/4 mile away it starts to drizzle. No big deal, I could turn around, but it doesn't look bad, the wind is not blowing, just some drops.

About 3/4 mile away the drizzle gets heavier, the drops get bigger.

I pull into his driveway, decide where I will unload it, and he comes out and we chat a bit. But the wind starts to pick up. I tell him how changing the top-link setting will affect the rake and go back down his driveway toward my house.

About 1/4 mile from his door, the sky decides to unleash and the drizzle turns into a downpour. The wind whips up and I am heading for the relative cover of a short wooded section that the road curves through. The woods are a brief haven, I'm still getting wet (can you get wetter after you are already soaked?)

I make the curve and now am about 1/3 of a mile from my door and on the far side of the woods. The wind is back to hitting me full force, and it starts to HAIL.

Not little mini-size hail. Real nice size Double-Ought Buckshot size hail. And the wind must be gusting to about 50mph.

I get to the garage and (thankfully left the door open) drive right in. It makes no sense to try to dry off, the garage is 140' away from the house so I sprint (as fast as a 45 year old desk jockey can sprint) to the house. My wife locked the door and went upstairs. The dog looked at me through the glass door and ran the other way.

[Dargo]

Man, I love my cab...

[Melensdad]

Originally Posted by Dargo

Man, I love my cab...

Yea, I know, and your dog is trained to unlock the door too

[Ice Queen]

You need to get your dog better trained, perhaps send him/her down the road, driving the tractor next time.

[Doc]

I couldn't help but laugh Bob.....it sounds like something that would happen to me.

[Melensdad]

Doc, in one way or another, I think it was something that could (and does) happen to all of us. Last night was just my turn for the cosmic world to rain on my parade.


Ice Queen, my dog is not very smart. I don't think she can ever learn to turn the lock, but despite that learning disability, she is smart enough to run for cover when the time is right.