To you, this may just look like a picture of our garage and driveway, and it is. But it is also a picture of a largely empty side drive, without the hulking wreck of Kent's truck. I shouldn't really call it a hulking wreck. I should more call it a rust bucket, with a bumper sticker that said, "Honk if parts fall off" which could have happened at any time. Kent inherited the truck, a 1984 Toyota Hilux (preferred vehicle of terrorists everywhere), from our friend Leland Stout.
The truck was never in really great working condition, but Kent loved it. He was so pleased to be able to haul stuff to the dump, help people move, take large stuff to work, and just be able to do truck stuff. It looked horrible, but Kent looked upon it with love and affection. Last year, he tried to replace some parts. The clutch was very bad; Kent would plan his driving routes so he never ran the risk of having to stop on a hill, worried he wouldn't be able to get moving before rolling backwards into the car behind him. The body was rusted all over. Struts were shot and no good, the transfer case bearing was blown, it needed new rear brakes. But other than that, it was perfect.
Oddly enough, the only picture I could find of the truck was of me driving it to pick up dead Christmas trees to burn.
I did not drive the truck regularly. It was scary.
Once, I took Cora someplace in the truck and she nearly hyperventilated she was so nervous. She was certain it was going to fall apart under us.
That was not an unreasonable concern.
After taking things apart, Kent realized that he could put a lot of time and money into the thing, but it wasn't going to work well and would still be dicey to drive. So, he gave up and left the thing parked in the driveway. His history with taking things apart and then putting them back together hasn't always been stellar, so I was concerned that years from now we would still have a hunk of metal sitting in the side drive, an eyesore for our neighbors.
In his praise, Kent is making an effort to get rid of things that we don't need or use, things that have been hanging around for a looooooooong time. I looooooooove this direction and support him wholeheartedly. Just last week he contacted a salvage yard and asked how much they would give him for the truck. I was astounded to hear that they were willing to pay us $800 for the thing. $800!! And as a bonus, they would come and haul it away. WHAT?! Amazing!!
So, when I returned home for lunch this afternoon and pulled into the cul-de-sac, I was thrilled to see an empty side drive. The truck was great while it lasted, and now it's great to have it gone.
The truck being driven away.
sob sob
REJOICE!
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