Danny's Doting(s)

 𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐑𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟏: 𝐏𝐢𝐭𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬 Brakes weren't the only mechanical things I had to worry about maintaining on the route. Running a rural paper route or mail route is rough on a car. No, it's brutal.  I crossed 9 railroad tracks a day on my route. 11 when I had to do Yonder Hill Campsite.  I'll get back to that later. And very heavily loaded on Saturdays. Twisting the car on and off of the road at almost every box on uneven shoulders. The constant stop and go nature of a run. Gravel roads with washboard and potholes that couldn't be avoided. The teeth jarring fierceness of frozen surfaces of all kinds heaved up by the frost going down. Washouts. You name it. I became a chassis maintenance and repair master from my days as a rural paper carrier.  Martin's Repair across the road from our Queens Line farm was a handy place for repairs, but Keith ran a very busy shop and I ...

 Let Them Set Their Own Trap One time a rich Oliver collector from Ohio was in my yard to pick up a couple of Oliver tractors. A rare Oliver Super 44 offset like a Farmall A, and another one. That was all he could carry, but I had a clean, straight, sharp 66 Goodison Orchard sitting there. He asked what I'd sell it for and I replied I wanted $2000.00US for it. He said he would take it and left. He didn't offer a dime downpayment. 14 solid months went by and he never sent me a penny for it. I needed the money and it was a super easy sale because it was already a hot commodity, and also because it was so pristine. I put an ad in the Oliver Collector's News, and the phone rang off the hook the first night. The first guy that called said he would buy it and a cheque would be in the mail in the morning. He was good to his word. If I remember correctly, 33 more eager buyers called that first evening of distribution of the newsletter. The guy that spoke for it well over a year bef...

  They say, 'You learn something new every day'. Well, today I learned a new phrase: 'Snatch a bone outta you'. Any way you slice it, that doesn't much sound like being on the receiving end of a compliment. It also doesn't sound like an invitation I would gladly show up for, either, especially in a dark alley. I have been threatened with many a thing in my day, but not even I have had someone threaten to snatch a bone outta me. Well, as of YET, anyway, but my outspokeness could always... er... open up the possibility. I suppose on the scale of misfortune, there's bad, then there's BAD, and then there's having a bone snatched outta you. There aren't any current openings for that, so it sounds like there might be some very involuntary, rough, and impromptu surgery involved. Probably, also due to the facilities--or lack thereof--also not much in the way of painkillers or anesthesia into the bargain. On second thought there might be some existing ope...