Kind Of A Mixed F.A.R.T., I Guess

I was driving out of my local carwash Friday after working all through the night before w/o sleep. As I got back to the sidestreet, I could hear a HORRIBLE noise that I soon realized was coming from underneath my car.  It sounded like something was being dragged along underneath her. I slowly pulled into a Sonic Drive-Inn (everyone was looking at me and some were trying to look under my car to see what the noise was all about) and to the far side of their parking lot. I got out and looked under to see wtf and was stunned, after getting down on the ground and crawling under the car a bit,  to see that apparently some idiot had left an empty, white 5-gallon plastic bucket (the ones that cement powder comes in) laying on its side, either in the car wash or just outside it on the street. It was stuck FAST between the rear of my engine and the ground. Going back and forth wouldn't loosen it any. I tried a variety of tactics to pull the bucket out, from tugging madly on the handle (on 100+ degree concrete, no less) to trying to reach it through the engine compartment. I then got the idea of jacking my car up with the tire jack, hoping that would get me enough room to get it out. That's when I discovered my tire tool kit was incomplete - GRRRRR (ratchet handle missing). I found a 2 x 8 board left over by some painters (apparently) and drug it over to the car. I first drove up onto it with the front wheels, hoping that would give enough clearance to slide it out. No dice. I then began using the end of it like a battering ram to try to knock it out. Still no deal. Finally, a young man drove up by me to see if he could help. Another lady pulled up later (might have been his g/f or mom) and he took out a small hydraulic screw jack from her truck. After looking at my car's jacking points, we decided it probably would not make a good fit and might damage the floor pan or frame. Then we got the great idea of centering the board over the jack instead as a lever, sliding one end of the board under that side of my car. The fella tried standing on the other end, but the force just wouldn't lift her enough to slide the board out. I then offered to sit on the end of the board while he tried it (my weighing probably 80+ more pounds than the fella) .. Sitting on this impromptu ''teeter-totter'' we were able to get Scrapper up enough that, by madly tugging, the fella was finally able to get the bucket slid out from under her. Phew!   &:-):::::   No way I could have done all the above 2 years ago w/o the weight loss and w. the diabetes and all.  It would have put me into panting just sitting in the car in all that heat (my a.c. is out), and no way I would have risked trying to get down onto the pavement and back up.  On the other hand, if I were at goal weight I would not have probably had any more success than the fella at leveraging the car up high enough to get the bucket out.   What a mixed blessing!

I'm not sure what I would do in your situation now, but I know what I would've done pre-op: I would've driven down the street until the bucket disintigrated from friction. And hoped like hell that I didn't damage anything under my car.

I'm shocked that somebody came to your aid in Dallas anyway. 

I was just thinking the same thing! I hate that city, nothing but glass and concrete. *No offense to anyone who does like it*

I wouldn't want to live in Dallas, but I used to like visiting there. Especially the clubs on North Greenville Avenue up near SMU. Wish I had all that money back.

 well, I live in a pretty "down home" suburb (Garland)  ..  it's almost 200,000 people, but still seems like a small town (we even have a town square) ..  In fact, it is supposedly the model for "Arlan" on the cartoon series King Of the Hill ..     This place where this happened was right by a big Bass Pro Shop too, so I figure the kid might have worked there or been a customer ..  Some good folk there!    btw, Fishdude  I was thinking of doing the dragging thing too, but I was worried the bucket might damage one of the lines if I did that ..  she's a Jag and I just bought her, so that could have ended up being an expensive proposition ..  !

Allright then. This obviously segues in to another exciting addition of Obscure Movie Line Trivia Challenge:  Richard Pryor - "Left my Jag in Kansas City."  Name that movie.

 lol .. that's funny, since that's where I went to law school ..

 

  only Richard Pryor movie I can even think of right now is Stir Crazy   

Silver Streak!   I love Pryor and Wilder together!

You're two for two on early 80's movies. Or did Silver Streak come out in the 70's? It must have cause I had wood for Jill Clayburgh for a couple of years there.