Today we had a glorious time. The power went out again, and Mom decided to go down to the river and see if the power lines that cross the river were down. That means down the road, through a gate, down a pasture road, to a dike that runs parallel to the river. Remember, right now everything is covered in ice. Ground, grass, trees, everything. So Mom, Steven (eldest brother) and I all hop in our truck (which is NOT a four wheel drive) and go down there.
Well, all is fine and dandy as we go up the dike, drive along it and go down and check the lines. Then we were ready to head back. At this point, there was a debate on whether or not to try and do the turn-around which involves driving off the dike, making a big circle, and driving back up at a steep incline to head back the direction we came. Now, the dike itself is long; it goes from one end of our property to the other. That's a mile just on our portion.
So, it was either do the turn-around or back up for about a mile. Mom decided to try the turn-around. So we go down, turn...and get stuck. So Steven and I get out to help push the truck out and up. We get the truck most of the way up....and couldn't get it to go any further. So we try again and again to get it up, to no avail.
Well, the turn-around is on the same side as the part we used to get up on the dike. It's a ramp (of ground that slopes gently upwards) up onto the dike to get on, and Steven suggested we off-road it and try and get down to the ramp. Now, we have weeds down there almost to my waist, covered in ice, not to mention the tons of trees. But we decide to try it because we definately weren't getting up the turn-around slope.
Off we go knocking down weeds as we go on VERY bumpy ground, dodging trees as we go. We got down about a quarter mile and stopped because Mom didn't know how to get around the trees and back to the ramp. However, when we tried to go again, we were again stuck. This was now about the sixth or seventh time Steven and I had to get out and push. Well, we pushed and pushed and the truck didn't move. The driver rear wheel was just spinning on mud and ice. So Steven and I got covered with mud trying to push with no luck. So we get a board that Mom keeps in the back behind her tool box, and try again. No dice. No matter how many times we tried or moved the board, it didn't work.
We tried sitting directly above the wheel. We tried using the board. For heaven's sakes we tried using an egg carton! Nothing worked. It was almost dark now, and COLD. So we started walking home, Steven and I having mud (FREEZING cold mud) on our jeans and Mom carrying her heavy briefcase that was in the truck, and me carrying her purse. It was a mile and a half to the house.
Thankfully, Mom found her cell phone and barely got a signal, but enough of one to call my grandma to meet us halfway with one of the cars. We were actually in pretty good moods, considering we were half frozen and walking in the dark.
Mom says we'll get the truck tomorrow after church when we can see and get tools, if we get the tractor started. *sigh* Wahoo.
posted
The closest thing to that ever happening to my family was my mom getting her car stuck in the snow outside our house, and while her car was stuck in the snow (two feet of it) the snow plow came down our street and plowed her in even more, so we spent a half hour (my and my brother) digging her out, while pissed off drivers honked at us from our cars.
Dikes, dirt roads and tractors are about as normal around here as space ships and hover cars. I live in the suburbs.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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quote: So Mom, Steven (eldest brother) and I all hop in our truck (which is NOT a four wheel drive) and go down there.
So, who's the moron. The one who decides to do something foolish of the one who follows silently? I mean, if you knew it was a bad idea, why didn't you say something? And if you didn't, doesn't that pretty much mean that it wasn't necessarily moronic, but inexperience or optimism?
Glad y'all had a glorious time, though. These are the days you'll talk about forever. I mean, from now on, whenever you have company, or do something silly yourself, you can say, "Yeah, but remember that time Mom. . ."
I still give my brother a hard time about want to "make a preposition."
Posts: 9871 | Registered: Aug 2001
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posted
Hey, she was warned. I was told to go along (by Steven), and Steven said that we would get stuck, but she wanted to go anyway, and look at what happened.
posted
The whole thing just sounds like a good time--being out on an adventure with people I like, having a problem and working together to overcome it, having the solution just go more and more wrong, and eventually walking home together...what could be better?
Of course, if I'd been there I'd have tried to work to build some kind of baffle to deflect the mud from the spinning tire, but that's just me.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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posted
I'm not going to be dumb enough to take ANY vehicle down to the river when everything is iced during my career, thank you. And besides, I think the animals I'm going to be working with in the cold and mud are slightly lighter than a truck, little as it is.
posted
Another important rule in the Teenage Book of Annoying Your Parents:
Only call your mom a moron when she's not paying attention, so she can't be SURE you called her a moron.
Posts: 4112 | Registered: May 2001
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And I think you've all figured out that her thread title was given the nod of "okay by me" before she posted it -- since I was reading over her shoulder anyway....
Posts: 9538 | Registered: Aug 2003
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Paul, while I agree, I would have chosen diffent words than moron and dumb. We're pretty touchy about those words in our house because there are actually morons who do dumb things all the time here.
We generally try really hard not to call people idiots, even when if they are. Posts: 9871 | Registered: Aug 2001
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quote:And I think you've all figured out that her thread title was given the nod of "okay by me" before she posted it -- since I was reading over her shoulder anyway....
Of course. I wouldn't have joked about it otherwise. At best I'd have politely ignored it. Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
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I used to have to collect water samples in the winter for my previous job in such dikes. I've had two funny experiences.
First: My boss told me to take a 7', 50lb pole down to the dike with me to crack the ice to take a sample. You remember the size of me, right? Naturally, I swung the pole onto the ice and followed right through, over the pole and onto the river. Luckily, the river was solid enough that neither me with the pole, or my fall was enough to break the ice and I stayed dry. Lugging that pole back up the snowy banks to the truck was no fun, though.
Second: Took a student out with me to a very back-woods site. County plows didn't even come back this far. Took a four wheel drive truck, but it was a manual shift, not a new push button one. Tried to turn around down a slope and missed the gravel and ended up stuck. I was afraid to go more down the hill because I didn't think I'd get back up. I tried to engage the 4 wheel drive, but it kept popping out of gear. Ran after the County plow when I saw him a mile down the road and got him to come tow us out. He looked at me, then at the truck and asked if I had 4 wheel drive. He then got in the truck, put it in gear, drove down the hill, turned around and with no effort got the truck back on the road. Boy was I embarrassed.
Glad you weren't stranded out in the cold!
Posts: 1777 | Registered: Jan 2003
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