I know a Guy

The internet isn't all it is cracked up to be. The old "I know a guy" word of mouth is so much faster and interesting.

I don't know how to explain it.

Frank, the plow guy said, "I know some guys." 

This was when I was exploring a way to get rid of my MIL's old Buick LeSabre [2005] that had been parked in my yard since 2018. We took it from her when she was told that she could no longer drive. She had dementia and other health issues. So we parked it in our yard so she wouldn't kill someone on the road. We paid a heavy price of anger for that, but she soon forgot she had a car.

My husband wouldn't let go of the vehicle so it sat there in the weeds being a home to mice and other varmints since March of 2018. It became a fixture like you find in  many rural farms. 

Hubby often said he wanted to make sure that nothing of value was left in the car. He never went out to check. 

There might be some Romance Novels and many mouse nests, but nothing of real value. We argued about it often. But I relented as it was something he couldn't let go of even after her death in 2020.

Some young guys showed up today and said that Frank [the plow guy] had alerted them to a car they might be interested in. They wanted to buy it for a Demo Derby car.  

I told them that this would be a fantastic legacy for my MIL who was a speed demon and daredevil driver even in her 80's. She had a lead foot and a penchant for reckless driving. The gents explained how they would modify the vehicle for a Demolition Derby. They didn't even need a title or keys. 

I sold it for a paltry $100. It will be out of our 'junk' yard in the next two weeks.

Frank had asked me earlier in the winter about Rich's truck. It had been sitting in another part of the yard since 2018 also. I said I'd trade it for some plowing. 

In our area a barter deal is a good deal. Frank is dependable and honest.

Frank is going to use parts of this truck to rejuvenate one of his trucks which apparently is the same model and make.

I think I've gotten my money's worth this winter out of that truck. We've had a lot of storms and Frank has cleaned our place up.

Pat came out just before the blizzard and gave me an estimate for some work I was looking to have done. 

I hired Pat a few years ago to fix some electrical issues we were having. He has done work for us a few times. He is dependable, reasonable, and does not talk down to females. 

Pat expanded his business to include Excavating, Brush Hogging, and Forest Mulching. 

When we walked back from the summer pasture, he looked around and  asked if I was looking to clean up and get rid of the scrap from my sheds and busted garage. 

"I know a guy," he told me. Of course. Everyone knows a guy....it seems.

That guy -- Don, called me the following week. He and his brother came out to our place and had a 'looksee' around.

Scrappers. They collect metal and take it to the scrap yard for $$. 

Don and his brother took the free farm tour with me. 

They are two elderly guys who do this as a supplement to their retirement. They often go in after an auction and clean up the 'junk' left behind. The auction companies hire them for clean up.

My husband collected 'stuff'. He had piles of stuff to take for scrap. He had piles of stuff for fabricating items for tractors and skid steers. He was a welder who could fix most anything. 

He was a creative welder. I never knew him when he had a welding shop, but apparently he was legendary. 

Outside the machine shed is one of his piles of 'stuff' and leftovers from projects.

He knew every piece of metal and its location. IF I moved anything, he could tell.

I couldn't ever approach him with the idea of having someone come in to clean things up. Pictured below is the crushed garage [full of stuff] and the scrap pile around it. 

He used old hay racks to make attachments for his skid steer. Other long pieces of metal were used to cut and create other things. He was the guy who could take an Oliver loader arm and bucket and modify it to fit an Allis Chalmer tractor. 

Below is the entrance to our huge shed. We built it for an indoor arena and round pen for my mule training. He was able to fill it with a lot of 'stuff'. I'm sort of embarrassed to show this photo. 

However Don the scrap dude was impressed. He was amazed at the amount of 'stuff' that was in the shed, the garage, and in the little red shed.

The next shot is also just outside our large machine shed. He complimented me on the amount of stuff Rich had collected. Don was also happy that it was somewhat organized [to his eyes????] and not in one big pile.

In the shed there is a 1980's vintage Toyota 4X4 pick up. The scrap guys said ... You guessed it: I know a guy.

The guy would take the old truck and give me some $$ for it. I wonder ... if he knows a guy.

Honestly. There is no way in heck that I am going through all of the buildings and scrapping stuff out on my own. It is dirty, and it would take me years to haul and sort the stuff. I would even have to purchase a running truck and a trailer. --> that is not going to happen!

It will be more efficient for me to have the scrappers pay me a fee and for them to do the work. I could hire a company to come in and clean things up. That would cost me over $2,500. 

Don and his brother will pay me a fee I set which should pay for my next winter's LP for heat [unless of course the war -- not war leaves our country without heating fuel].

I like the "I know a guy" network. It surely is better than going on FB marketplace and getting all sorts of crazy yahoos coming to our remote farm. 

Word of mouth is still valuable even in this age of the internet. 

I love the

Good ol' Boy Network

Gone Fishin'

 Wednesday was fishing day. 

Steve showed up a bit early but that was good because we had to load up his car with a wheelchair, lunch, Oxygen tanks, and all the stuff that would accompany us for a trip to the river and a search for some fishing.

Steve brought a patio umbrella he'd picked up somewhere along with plenty of zip ties to attach the umbrella to different wheel chair access points to provide shade for Rich. This was the first place we stopped at.

It is called Veterans Park in DeSoto, WI. We are in a backwater pond that is stocked once in a while with fish from the Fish Hatchery up the road [I think]. The guys caught a lot of little sunfish and really had a lot of laughs over that.

We moved to another place along the river and tried fishing there. This was at Gordon's Bay.

That didn't work out very well, so we ended up at Blackhawk County Park further up the road. Eventually the guys decided that the fish -- at least the bigger ones just were not in the mood to bite.

[this was shot in infrared black and white which causes green leaves
to show up as white!]

There were no bugs, but a lot of cottonwood seeds were falling all over the place. I'd prepared the snacks of Garlic Ring Baloney with fresh cheese curds and Ritz Crackers. 

I had water and soda along with wipes to clean up the wormy fingers. Of course neither of the ol' boys worried about dirty fingers, they just wiped their hands on their jeans and laughed.

Good ol' boys will be good ol' boys. The two of them reminisced about their days of training and hunting with coon hounds. They talked about the farms they used to go to and all the nights my husband took Steve's son out hunting while Steve worked night shifts at the Foundry.

They relived their younger days with so much laughter and fondness. 

Steve is thinking of taking us on tour next week to visit his son "Little" Steve who is now in his 40's. Little Steve has his own body shop/repair service. Steve's daughter is the person who gave the horse we called Fifteen a new home. 

Her new name is Honey and she gets attention every single day.

Old connections made new.
Old Friends connect.

Ol' Boys.
Gone Fishin'.

Days spent making life worthwhile and a life well lived.