I Must Have Looked Pretty Dumb

Discuss non-crawler related issues here (keep it sane, please)
Post Reply
User avatar
CuttingEdge
2010 crawler
2010 crawler
Posts: 534
Joined: Wed Sep 03, 2014 5:13 pm
Location: Maine

I Must Have Looked Pretty Dumb

Post by CuttingEdge » Sat Feb 08, 2020 1:33 pm

Being sick, I often do not sleep well, so most nights I move to the couch so that I do not wake Katie. Anyway, a few weeks I ago I am asleep on the couch, the TV on and my dog is outside. She barks when she wants to come in, and was she ever barking. I mean really barking, so I think, "Man, she really wants to come in."

So I open the side door where her kennel is, and she barrels across the great room to the front door, snarling and barking.

Well I have been woken up out of a sound sleep for about 30 seconds, and go to let her out into the mudroom so she can bark at some racoon in our trash, and not wake the wife or the kids. But as I pass by the window that looks out over the front porch, I see this reflection. So I lean this way, then I lean that way, and suddenly realize it is not my reflection, because the reflection is not following my movements. It is some guy on my front porch at 2AM.

No car.

No tracks in the snow.

And I realize what this is. He has got some friends waiting up the street waiting for someone to step out of the house so they can rob me.

So I yell to Katie to call the police, but of course this guy is 3 feet away and my shotgun is 12 feet away...kind of bad math on that. So I go for the shotgun, but having kids in the house I do not keep it loaded, so it takes me a second to throw some scatter shot in it, and head out on the front porch. The guy hears "call the police" and takes off, front door half ajar from where he tried to open it, so I kicked it shut so the dog did not run out and tackle the guy. My Great Pyrenees has got (4) notches on her collar for confirmed kills; two coyote and two fox. The last thing I need is to put my dog down because she grabbed a guy by the throat and shook the crap out of him. But by now the guy is beating feet down the road...

No one heard me yell, so I find everyone is still asleep, so I call the police.

A gun in the hand is better than the police on the phone, but both is much betterer,,,

So then I hear the snowplow coming up over the hill, so I run out and ask the plow driver if he has seen some guy out in the snow. Well come to find out it is some 20 year old that was running his ATV up the road, spinning and having fun in the new snow. He ended up running out of fuel in the middle of the road, and he was sideways drunk. He was looking for help to drag his ATV out of the road before the snowplows put it in the ditch for him. I guess he never thought about what chances he was taking by showing up on the porch at 2 AM and opening a person's front door.

I am friends with the Sheriff here, and come to find out, he was an undesirable after all. I guess he had stole the ATV, but chose one without a lot of gas in it, so he did not get far.

But he still did not look as stupid as I did, standing there, looking out the window, weaving back and forth to see if it was my reflection in the window or not. And yes, I keep my semi-auto loaded now...and closer to the door.
I have no intention of traveling to my grave in a well manicured body; instead I am going to slide into heaven with a big power turn, totally wore out with busted knuckles, jump off my dozer loudly yelling, Woo Hoo, another Shepard has just arrived!

User avatar
notmeu
1010 crawler
1010 crawler
Posts: 373
Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2011 2:23 pm
Location: Western PA

Re: I Must Have Looked Pretty Dumb

Post by notmeu » Sun Feb 09, 2020 7:59 am

Hey cuttingedge, you really need to write that book! These events in your life are what good books are made of!!
1956 JD420, gearmatic 8a winch, custom 6 way blade and FOPS.

User avatar
CuttingEdge
2010 crawler
2010 crawler
Posts: 534
Joined: Wed Sep 03, 2014 5:13 pm
Location: Maine

Re: I Must Have Looked Pretty Dumb

Post by CuttingEdge » Sun Feb 09, 2020 10:46 am

I am not sure if I updated everyone on that book...

It is all done, but they say a writer should have a copy editor look at the book for grammar, spelling, and punctuation corrections and all that, BUT they cost about $750. I do not have that kind of money, so I was just going to publish as is and hope for the best.

I am in a program to get Disabled Farmer's like me back into the workforce, and I told the guy helping me get training and a job, about my book, so he asked me if I had a copy editor. I said no because I could not afford it, and he smiled. he has become a friend, but come to find out his sister is a copy-editor, and owned the largest book editing companies in the USA. She said she would edit my book for me.

Ha...talk about God providing help!

So I am just waiting for her to edit it now. It would be great if she knew a publisher that would publish it for me, so I did not have to do that, but we shall see.

When God is in something, he never does it ship shod. "I got this", he says...he has proven that!!
I have no intention of traveling to my grave in a well manicured body; instead I am going to slide into heaven with a big power turn, totally wore out with busted knuckles, jump off my dozer loudly yelling, Woo Hoo, another Shepard has just arrived!

User avatar
CuttingEdge
2010 crawler
2010 crawler
Posts: 534
Joined: Wed Sep 03, 2014 5:13 pm
Location: Maine

Re: I Must Have Looked Pretty Dumb

Post by CuttingEdge » Sun Feb 09, 2020 10:54 am

As an interesting note perhaps: I have started writing my next book. It has got a long ways to go yet, but is really taking shape, and semi-relevant to this forum...

Homemade Implements

As many of you know, for 23 years I was a Welder/Machinist, working in construction, then the railroad, and finally the maritime industries, so I can fabricate things. I also am a 9th generational farmer (1746), but the profit margin on raising sheep was razor thin. So I managed to make a profit from sheep by doing as much as I could for myself." That included making homemade farm implements.

My new book is divided into three sections:

#1: Is about what homemade Implements are, different design elements I use to make them homemade-possible, fabrication means, testing, refining and patenting inventions.

#2: Is about specific situations and how homemade implements can help, like mowing, snow removal, grading soil, pto applications, etc

#3: Is about some technical stuff like Drawbar Pull, weight transfer, Tractive Effort, etc and how to use these to make homemade implements work well, and that are safe.

So maybe people on here would like a book about that. I have never seen a book about that yet, anyway.
I have no intention of traveling to my grave in a well manicured body; instead I am going to slide into heaven with a big power turn, totally wore out with busted knuckles, jump off my dozer loudly yelling, Woo Hoo, another Shepard has just arrived!

User avatar
Lavoy
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 10928
Joined: Sun Apr 03, 2005 8:32 pm
Location: North Dakota
Contact:

Re: I Must Have Looked Pretty Dumb

Post by Lavoy » Sun Feb 09, 2020 11:10 am

Don't know if you have ever seen Deadliest Catch on TV, but I really enjoy the show. Many, many years ago one of the captains had the crew get together to say a prayer before leaving for the ocean. One of his comments really stuck with me. When talking about wanting to catch crab, he told all his guys, "The good lord may not provide what you want, but he will provide what you need." Sounds like you might just have benefited from that.
Lavoy
Parts and restoration for antique and late model John Deere crawlers.
Owner and moderator www.jdcrawlers.com

townlineterry
440 crawler
440 crawler
Posts: 236
Joined: Thu Dec 27, 2007 9:01 pm
Location: Pa.

Re: I Must Have Looked Pretty Dumb

Post by townlineterry » Sun Feb 09, 2020 3:53 pm

No reason to feel foolish. We live in the last house on a dead end road, surrounded by national forest, nearest neighbor a mile away on the other side if the hill. We have never had trouble but I always keep the 45 where i can get to it in a hurry. Never used to worry. But one of my friends is a county deputy. Some of things he has told since the meth heads arrived. I would never open the door for someone after dark unless I knew them.

User avatar
CuttingEdge
2010 crawler
2010 crawler
Posts: 534
Joined: Wed Sep 03, 2014 5:13 pm
Location: Maine

Re: I Must Have Looked Pretty Dumb

Post by CuttingEdge » Mon Feb 10, 2020 4:13 am

It is interesting in that where I live; we have two extremes.

Statistically speaking, and going by capita; the town I live in has the lowest crime rate in the country. There are reasons for that, like the police looking the other way, a district attorney that will not prosecute much, and juries that tend to find most people innocent, but going by statistics, it is the safest town to live in the united States.

But all is not good...

Because at the same time, going by the same data set, we are also the poorest in the country. We beat out Mississippi, Appalachia; everywhere. It is surprising, but true.
I have no intention of traveling to my grave in a well manicured body; instead I am going to slide into heaven with a big power turn, totally wore out with busted knuckles, jump off my dozer loudly yelling, Woo Hoo, another Shepard has just arrived!

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 5 guests