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The rit dye and the fire truck got me going on two different memories ...Maybe it's time for me to remind everyone with a septic system that it's time to flush a box full of rid-x ... a Septic system maintenance product .. Which I remember to do every other Saint Swithens day .
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As for the fire truck--- I once owned one . my first husband Was noted not only for being creatively brilliant , but also for his consumption of alcohol .. one day coming home from the office he notice a fire truck for sale and bought it for $525 .. at a time when we didn't have an awful lot of dollars to spare , but it was a beautiful piece of equipment .. it made the newspapers around the world when he said he bought it for me for a birthday present---which was stretching it -----but what the heck , it was a pretty piece of equipment and people made fun of that whole project .. I had a sister in Germany at the time and the article was even in their newspapers over there from the ap wire....
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however he who laughs last laughs best ... because it began to rain that week .. at Lynnfield was not a city on a on a Hill .. many of the town’s beautiful new homes began to flood and the fire Department had many calls to go pump out cellars .. The fire Department was overwhelmed , and someone remembered that I had that pumper , which was a beautifully maintained very efficient water pumping machine .. so they asked if they could borrow it .. so I let them..... and then that story. made the rounds of all the AP newspapers between Boston and Germany ..again....
it was beautiful and it was polished and waxed and had a wonderful bell.... We actually used that fire truck several times .. more than once In a very dry summer we sprayed water from our well all over the back field which was a pasture of green grass .. it didn't take more than about 3 minutes .. it had terrific shock value to drive up in that thing to the market or for someone's birthday party or cocktail party .. I wish I still had it .. but we were advised to get rid of it because my husband had an unfortunate run in with the police , and a DUI , while driving that 10 tons worth of fire truck..... now.... every once in a while I see a fire Department selling the fire truck and I smile and drive by very quickly ...
That was probably one of the reasons I ended up about 10 years ago buying an ambulance .. there is a great deal to be said for driving a vehicle and having everybody else get out of the way ...the best I can do now is to have a snow plow on the front of my Toyota which does have a very minor similar result .
I never once lost that ambulance in mall parking lot .. ---- it retired here to become a fairly good rat proof dog food storage container until someone came along and offered me a great deal of money for all the electronics and I really never knew was over my head in the driver's seat ----that managed all the sirens and lights---- so I sold those .and very quickly bought the shipping container which is much better at being rat proof .. and the ambulance went to cars for kids ..
My only other driving related stories but I can remember at the moment at any rate is with the COV I go through half a tank of gas a week just driving around the yard or sitting somewhere with the heater running ... and all these people who work here---the staff and volunteers ---have made it a rule that if I hit three things in one day they're going to make me stop driving .. consequently if I hit two things I just walk home ..
well there is one more driving accident I just remembered about 10 years ago I managed to to damage two vehicles with one accident when I was driving that huge moving vans size horse trailer ... i maanaged to sideswipe the small horse trailer parked the yard .. with the big one i was towing.
actually I have a lot of stories about driving that big trailer in Boston .. I realized the other day I'll drive most anything any where very slowly what I will not do I don't like speed .. like rolling down the green mountains of vermont with 6 horses behind me while driving a small pick up.... with the 6 kids... never again....
..One of my first trips with a 6 horse trailer was to take a bunch of kids horses to the 50 mile trail ride in Vermont .. to the Green Mountain horsemans Association .
which is basically a motel for horses .. and once a year they would throw this 50 mile ..ride which my kids did as the highlight of their summer .. I had to bend over backwards to avoid the competition that is so much apart a horse ownership .. so I tried to encourage non competitive animal activities .. like this trailride which took three days .. add the circus which the kids put on .. and Janine talks about in that book she wrote "dogs doggies and circus performers" it's a funny book and a true one..
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I had a call from I believe a professor at BU .. who said something like “ I read your daily doggy everyday and use it sometimes in my class of communication skills”
He also made some reference to the random rambling ... or was it rattling????
