Monday, April 11, 2005

Wish I had a digital camera, and how that relates to univeral truths

We spent a very busy, eventful weekend. Saturday, we spent all afternoon cleaning out the garage. Ug (our new Boston Terrier) and Dylan played and laid outside nearly all day with us. We didn't consider how much sun was out, and although everyone kept cool, we all managed to get too much sun. Ug has a red nose where his face hairs are too short and he sunburned. I need a pair of sunglasses too, since my eyes are still hurting.

The good part is my truck is now in the garage and ready to work on. What truck, you might ask? When I was 15, and my Dad and I started thinking about a truck to drive, we saw a black 1950 Ford F-1 pickup parked on a Somerset KY car lot, and I had to have it. A lot of negotiation later, I had it. After much discussion about converting it (which went like this:

Dad:You should put the body on a short-frame F100. It'd be a lot easier to keep up, and you'd get air conditioning for free.

Me:No, I like it original.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

we kept the flathead 6 cylinder in it. A year later, that 6 cylinder got bored out when a rod valve broke loose.

I drove that truck for 3 more years, until I started working as a co-op, and needed a better set of wheels. Dad kept it running while he could, but after a couple of years, the truck found itself in a spot where it didn't have to get started regularly, so it parked.

Last year, my mom and dad sold their house to my sister and her husband, and they got my truck's parking spot, and wanted to use it for other things. Therefore, my truck finally had to move, and I found out an amazing truth about the universe: there are a whole bunch of "Snooky"s in the world, and they're each one of the best mechanics for old trucks in the world.

My dad and I hooked a logging chain to the F-1, and I towed it behind his truck from the old homeplace to Snooky's place. We left it there for Snooky to work on as his schedule allowed. Snooky was (I think) a long-distance truck driver by trade, but he loved to work on older trucks, and was really good at it.

At work the next Monday (at the Previous Employer), my boss asked if that was the same Snooky that lived near his hometown, who was also a really good mechanic for older cars. It wasn't. A couple of days later, the next door neighbor started drooling over the truck, since he'd raced them back when he was a young fellow. He asked if Snooky was the Snooky he had known back in his racing days, who was (of course) a maestro of mechanics. It wasn't.

Somehow, I am 3 degrees of seperation away from three different Snookys. My life is almost complete, except for the lack of a digital camera, since I had hoped to put up pictures of the truck, and of Ug the Red-Nosed Boston Terrier.

For the moment, here's three links to various people's F-1s. Unlike these three, mine is black, 100% original spec parts (I've used a few Denni s Carpenter parts when needed), and is in serious need of cosmetic rust removal and a rewiring (the rubber insulators on the wires just weren't meant for a 60 year lifetime, which is why it's so amazing they have lasted so well).

This guy's the most original I've found, excluding the non-standard door mirrors. Here's another red F-1 that's closer to "original" (note the white in the grill and the correct mirrors). This guy has the second wiper (don't laugh, it was an option) and has the cowl vent open (redneck air conditioning: drive really fast. :) ) (sorry lost link #3, can't find it again).

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