Give the Finger

I got up this morning and as usual I had a cup of coffee that walked around outside, trying to figure what project I might do today.

It rained like crazy last evening and everything was looking great. Everything but my little pond. Oh the pond looked ok but all my fish have died. I think it is the stumps and such I put in there from the river and swamp. No telling what kind of critter might have been living in them but fish killers seem to be one of the inhabidents. Oh well. Tough.

I walked around the garage and saw the small garage door. Hummm?? The last time we were in Home Depot she was priceing them because this door had a little itty bitty bit of rust on the bottom. Well a new door like it was over 400 bucks and that little itty bitty bit of rust was not gonna stay there.

I pulled the door off and scraped and sanded the rust down to shiney metal. Took all of ten minutes. 400 bucks my butt!!

Off to the local ACE Hardware store I went. I approached a guy in the store and asked him what he would recomend to protect the door. He took me to the area where the rust killer and primer and such was and we decided the best approach. 400 bucks my arse!

I got talking to him and found out he was from the same area I was from and in fact worked where my brother worked. We talked a bit and I asked him if he knew another guy that lived somewhere in the Roscommon area, Frank.

Frank was a pipefitter at T&B where I worked and the last time I saw him, a couple years ago, he told me he was building a house up here but never told me where. I liked Frank and wanted to hook up with him but only knew he was building off Highway 18. It is a long road.

I told Lenny, the fella I was talking to that Frank was about five ft 7 and about 280 lbs. and worked in Pontiac. He said that he knew him he thought and that he had just left the hardware an hour or so ago. He even knew where he lived! Well good deal.

He started telling me the directions and of course I did not write them down. I roughly knew the area and just made a mental note of them. Heck, men can do that! Girly things can't. Can ya Wayner :D:D

I went home and got my truck because the guy told me a back road way to get there. I had to take a two track but it sure sounded like a place where Frank would build. He is sorta a loner and quiet like.

I got my truck and the first thing I thunk was, "Now where the hell did he say Frank lived? Off 18?" heck I already knew that. There was something about Hickey Creek road and Leland Road and Pioneer Road. Heck I knew where all those roads were, sorta. Something about four wheel drive and a big hill and a two track. Now what the heck was it?

Well off I went. I took 18 to Leland and headed to the left. I figured that was right because it only went to the left. I drove past Pioneer and to Hickey Creek. Now what? I looked ahead and Leland turned into a two track! Well am I good or what? I headed down the two track and it got pretty dang rough! Well Frank could be strange but this strange?? Hummmmm

I was really in some thick crap now and there was no place to even turn around. The brush was so tight that they pushed the side mirrors against the truck and in fact I went under a dang tree that fell halfway across the dang path, it had turned into a path now, and it knocked my magnetic CB antenna off my dang roof!. Crap, I had to pop the bad boy into 4WD now and creap ahead.

Now a normal person would have figured he was on the wrong track now because nothing but a bear or a dang hermet could live back there and even though Frank was built like a bear and was as private as a hermet, he would not be that far back. Crap, the brush was a scraping both sides of my truck and the weeds in the middle of the path was a dusting the bottom.

Finally I came to a little cul-de-sac. Well it was a place fishermen could park to fish the South Branch. Heck, the feller never mentioned no dang river. I got out and sure nuff. There, through the thick forest was the river.

Hummmm, I started thinking that my memory banks might have short circuited a bit. I had to go back. That was easier said than done too.

I jockied that truck back and forth and finally got it lined out to back track and within minutes got lost. Heck, I never saw all those little two tracks coming it! I took one and then since there were no sign of tracks of me coming in it finally got through my thick skull that I was on the wrong path. I found a place to turn around and went back. I took every turn I could find and finally I saw that little tree that I had to go under. I had it made now. I found my way back to the main road and went home. Heck with it. I should have written down the directions.

Well I painted the door with some stuff that is suppose to kill the rust and prevent any more. I saw that I needed some more paint so jumped on the scooter and headed back to ACE.

I got the paint and looked up Lenny again. I said, "Lenny, either I took the wrong road or Frank moved into a hole in an old Oak tree. He laughed and broke out a piece of paper and started drawing. Dumbarse! Why didn't he do it the first time? Well I can not blame him completely because he offered the first time. What did he think I was, a sissy girly thing that could not remember? :D

I thanked him and looked at the map. I had been close but no cigar. I should not have gone into the woods.

I hopped on the scooter and off I went. I followed the map and went right to his drive. There was no sign of the house because it was about a quarter mile off the road so I started up the drive. It wound through the woods. Really nice and private. I came to the clearing where the house is, about a three or four acre clearing. There was Frank, the big bastud, mowing his lawn. Dang! Big old Frank has put on a few since retiring but what the heck, he had always been big.

I pulled up on my scooter and stopped about twenty feet from the big bastud and grinned and gave him the one finger salute! I do that a lot. He had a big headset on and no shirt. Man he is a big old boy. I grinned and gave him the finger again but he just looked at me funny and never smiled. He just walked my way.

As he got closer I thought, "Frank has changed a bit. Looks different" Well there was a reason :D

I said, "Hell, you ain't Frank! I dun gave the wrong feller the finger"! and laughed. I do that in lue of crapping my pants when a big old by is coming my way and frowning when I dun just gave him the finger. He said, "No I ain't Frank"

Well I told him I was sorry for giving him the finger as I usually wait until I know a feller a bit before doing that . He then laughed and said he has had worse done.

We talked for a while and by golly he is from Pontiac and did work where my brother did but didn't know him. He had moved to another GM plant 20 years ago though. His name is Chris. I told him that I make it a point to meet at least one new person every day. Well he shook my hand and told me that he was the one for today and I was welcome to come visit any time.

I love meeting people.