He'd overload EVERY time. His vehicles were always breaking down too, because he treated them like crap and abused them. It pissed me off because then he would borrow my stuff and do the same thing - and laugh when I got mad.
I tend to get morose and melancholy thinking about my imploded family but then there are times when I see stuff like this - and think that maybe this is a better deal for everyone. It certainly is looking that way for me - and then I feel ashamed because a family man should not feel happy about being rid of family. How messed up is that?
My own truck is ten years old this year. It still has at least 5 years in it and has a few very minor dents but it runs well and is reliable. I'd like to get another ten and pay for my next vehicle cash. I buy them new, and keep them until the doors fall off. When I was a kid Pop bought only used vehicles and figgered that because he was a mechanic, he could tell a lemon from a bargain. He did okay I guess, he just bought more used cars. In the time it'd take me to mile out my new vehicles he would go through 5 or six so I wonder if he really saved any money.
I won't buy brand new right off the showroom floor anymore, unless it's a high performance rocket sled - in which case you'd want to make sure it hasn't had the shit beat out of it constantly, which a used sled almost always has.
ReplyDeleteNope. Everything has to be 1 to 3 years old, very low mileage, and no scratches or dents. When I bought my current cage the guy selling it had to get rid of it because it was a stick, and his brand new bim du jour couldn't learn to drive a stick. So he replaced the clutch and sold it.
I gotta say, anyone who borrowed my truck and busted it up, then returned it without getting it fixed will never set foot inside my home again unless and until he fixes my truck, buys me a suitable gift (a new shotgun, maybe), and takes me and the wife out to dinner. Leave the kids out of it - just the four of us will go out, and I don't mean some greaseburger joint either.
Fer instance...
The family next door is building a new barn. The man wants to use our tractor, a Ford diesel with four wheel drive, a front end loader and a power take off unit. Some hesitation on my part, but I make it clear that if it breaks, he'll pay to get it fixed.
We finally get the tractor back, and he was slow to return it. I never did like this cheap SOB anyway, but his wife and son were okay by me. Anyway, one of the hydraulic lines looked a bit new, and the entire tractor had been serviced and detailed. That diesel had the cleanest oil I ever saw. So yeah, he was late bringing it back, but he brought it back the way he should.
Another fer instance...
I needed a log splitter in the worst way. My buddy from church loaned me his, which did a good job but needed oil from time to time. When I returned it, I included a case of oil. No comment, just thanks for the use of the splitter.
No offense, but your father-in-law was a piece of work. Being family, I would have explained what should have happened before he returned my truck to me, and why. If he busted it, he should have fixed it. Even if he didn't bust it, he should have fixed it. Then the truck should have been detailed. Then returned to you with thanks and a full tank of gas.
That, in my mind, is the way to do it.
I thought the overloaded truck looks like the many trucks that come up to Phoenix pretty much every weekend, headed for garage sales to restock their merchandise in Old Mexico.
ReplyDeleteWell thanks fer stopping by boys.
ReplyDeleteMy father in law were friendly enemies at the best of times. When we got into it - it was head first into the boards, high sticks and gloves dropped. I always lost because to deter him I'd have to hurt him - and that would hurt my wife.
And yannow it all came to naught. Eventually he just kept stepping on my toes until one day I put my foot up his ass with a steel toe boot. I don't borrow anything anymore, but I will lend my stuff out to people that will take care of it.