A Not So Good Surprise In The New Year And I have Been Down Memory Lane.

Here we are in the new year of 2020 and it didn't start the way I would have like it. Had an appointment on January 2 at our car repair mechanic. On the agenda was a routine inspection of our 1t. Chevy van. Well, what can I say, the trusty vehicle has obviously come to the end of it's life. Rust has eaten up a lot of the under carriage and costwise it is not viable to repair. The van is a 2006 and has just 220.000km on the clock. Runs perfect, but that doesn't help if other parts are not up to par. 

I dived onto the internet searching for available replacements and I am not even looking on my home turf, because what ever might be available is already rusty. So I'm looking in southern parts of the U.S.  

A possible replacement

This did not come up at a convenient time as we just closed the deal on a new trailer. The trailer cannot be towed with our smaller half ton van, which by the way, is older than its bigger brother. Difference is that the half ton is from Florida and without a speck of rust. Also, we need the bigger 1t. for our passenger transport and sightseeing business as it has capacity for 14 passengers, and this year we have 4 cruise ships, plus a tall ship arriving.

2020 will also be the year I will start receiving my pension from Norway where I spent 25 years of my life. Being a pensioner does not mean retirement for me. I am having too many irons in the fire to abandon my usual life.

Starting to push the 70s means also that my head is spinning with memories popping up at times. A funny memory I had yesterday was about a time when I was just 14yrs. old.
My parents had a travel trailer they had placed in a campground during summer. Of course, they became good friends with their neighbours. So one weekend they were planning to BBQ a whole piglet which I assume is a very German thing to do. The neighbour got the piglet, while my Dad constructed the grill. This was long before propane grills became common. We used charcoal and Dad had found an old oil pan from a car to be the ideal container for the coal. He made a spit rod with a handle resting on two steel pipes. When the fun started Dad sat down starting to turn the spit with the animal. Yes, no motor there, it was all manual work. Hours were passing by and Dad was still sitting there turning the piglet. So, no wonder he was getting thirsty. For that purpose there was a bottle with clear Brandy at hand. As was the custom, a little shot glass was filled now and then. Once his assistant (not sure who had the honour) grabbed the wrong bottle with the petroleum he had used to start the fire. It had the same clear appearance as the Brandy. Dad didn't notice the different smell until it was too late.

I have never before nor ever after seen my Dad so mad.
Of course, we laughed so hard which made Dad even madder.
However, the roast turned out nice and the evening was filled with a lot of fun. Next morning Mom was feeling ill. She blamed all the crusty skin she had eaten, but I think it rather was the combination of the meat and the availability of plenty good drinks. Haha....

This story is now 54 years old, more than half of a century has passed and I am getting more and more aware of it.
Good times we had and good times we shall have for the remaining years.

Thanks for stopping by!