Well, we *finally* are getting some wet stuff falling out of the sky around here in NC. It's been so long, I forgot what that's called.....
Anyway, being inside for once in a couple of months, I was eyeballing what happened to be on daytime TV.
I tripped across the show on Discovery where they build custom choppers up in my old stomping grounds outside of Newburgh, NY. Orange County Choppers. What they call the show is escaping me at the moment....
Anyway, it's not something I usually watch, even though they've been on for years. I can't stand the fighting between the Old Man and the sons.
But, I saw it was on, and so I tuned in just to see what they might be building, and they were not at the bike shop. They were outside - must have been the house - and had managed to stick a tracked skid steer in a hole next to a pond.
I mean, it was half sunk. Stuck real good!
The next thing I see is the Old Man in a tractor/loader/backhoe coming to unstick the skiddy.
There is snow on the ground, and it looks rather icy to boot. Like heavy wet snow that froze into ice cubes.
I figured *this* might be the beginning of some quality comedy entertainment!
I didn't have to wait long, either. Pops got a chain onto the backhoe bucket and had it way up in the air and started driving. This worked - at first. Then the thing started sliding down the hill towards the pond.
They unhooked the skiddy, but the thing still didn't go up the hill. It slid right into the pond, hoe first!
It was quite a sight, as he still had the riggers down so it looked like a swan dive! The ice on the pond held the thing up for a second or two, and then - plop - down it went.
He gave it up, as it was not about to come out of there, but the next scene showed a dozer on a flatbed driving in.
I figured I was in for *more* quality comedy, and so I was!
The dozer driver tried pulling out the backhoe, but that didn't work on the icy stuff, either. Slip. Slide. And, one of those slides was the old sideways 'ice-skate' all us dozer drivers in snow country know all too well!
He got unhooked, turned around, and used the blade to dig the crap out of the ground to find some dirt. After which, he just yanked the hoe out, and then the skiddy and the show was over - at least for me.
Anyway, it was fun to watch someone else get their mess stuck - and on nationwide TV to boot!
![Razz :P](./images/smilies/icon_razz.gif)
later!
Stan