Some Darn Good Reasons

First and foremost:

Happy Father's Day!

I'll be spending my whole day with Wifey and my girls. Here are some previous posts I've done on past Father's Days: famous quotes, top ten gift list for Dad, and gifts from my girlies. 

You can kill some time playing with this year's interactive Google banner logo or see banners from Father's Days past here.

I spent a good portion of my day yesterday preparing for my upcoming solo journey to Oklahoma. Turns out, the trailer I intend to tow behind The Orange Jeep needed some serious repair. Luckily, the fellas I took her to (on a 110 degree Saturday) eagerly fixed her up in no time and offered me a great price to boot!

I originally took her in for repair on the turn signal lights. For some reason, no matter what turn signal location I chose, all the lights would blink as if in hazard mode. A quick wire test and a ground wire drilled to the trailer frame and she was working properly. Mr Trailer Fixer even replaced bad bulbs, covers and rewired for a mere $60. Not bad!

Then, as several fellas stood back in awe of the work, one asked how far I was driving it. When I told them 1,000 miles they all looked at each other and said "better check the bearings." In a flash, they had it up on a jack and the wheels pulled off. "Yup, your bearings are bad. How long was this trailer sitting?" I replied: "Several years, according to the neighbor I bought it from."

"Okay, let's get to work" they replied. Each side was pulled and bearings were repacked in fresh grease. I shared my story of where I was headed and why. Once they heard me say "six daughters" they roared with laughter. "Clothes, shoes and tampons will break a man" they told me as they wished me luck in my parenthood. Towards the end of their work, they added reflector tape to the back of the trailer for extra visibility and offered to loan me a trailer dealer plate should I not be able to get a temporary for some reason (I hadn't plated it yet). What a blessing and great bunch of guys.

I slipped off to the ATM to fetch some cash while they finished up and returned with cash and a cold 30 pack of Budweiser. Seeing the ice cold beverage on a hot summer day made them cheer with a roar. Seizing the moment, I asked for one more quick fix and showed them a sagging door panel that I had broken while trying to fix a half dropped window. Monster decided to roll a (electric) window down a few weeks ago that hadn't worked in years and it got stuck half way down. As I took the door panel off with intentions to wire up the window, I broke several door clips that hold the door panel on. My local GMC dealership informed me that 2001 Suburban door clips are no longer made. I was at the mercy of finding some in a junk yard. Mr. Trailer Fixer quickly drilled a few holes and tightened it right up for me.

Discount Tire free boxes

On the way out the gate, the fellas pointed out that I should get some new tires for the trip. Years of sitting in the Arizona sun had led to some bad dry rot and my tires weren't safe for my long journey ahead. "Thanks again fellas!" as I waived goodbye.

Next stop: Discount Tire for some new tires. With literally minutes to spare, I darted in the door just in time to be the last one in line for tires.  A few hundred dollars later and I had me a practically brand new trailer (lights, wires, wheel bearings, tires). I also scored nearly a dozen large, heavy duty empty boxes for moving. Most of them had handles too. Score! Who knew that wheel rims came in such nice boxes?

~OJD

Update: upon review, I realized I forgot to mention why I titled this post "Some Darn Good Reasons." LoL! Anyway, from time to time I plan on posting reasons why our family is moving to the country. Today I found a perfect example to post when I read Patrice Lewis' "Why I'm becoming paranoid." Go check it out!

Next: Testing the trailer and Sis is giggling.