Trailer Testing and Sis is Giggling

The Orange Jeep with my trailer

I hooked up the trailer today to go for a road test. Sis started her second term of summer school this morning so I used that as an opportunity to check on the trailer...and her. The trailer makes the already bouncy Jeep a little more bouncy.  I guess it harkens us back to some silly childhood ride at the fair because within a few miles we're giggling our butts off.

I have always enjoyed shuttling the kids to and from school. I think it is a terrific time to bond and chat. Sis and I stopped for a treat on the way to school and I caught her in the act of BEING HAPPY! She stayed the night with a BFF last night and according to her texts (I checked on  her around 10pm) they were crying and saying their goodbyes.

Love my happy Sister!

It must have been therapeutic in some girlie way because she is ALL smiles this morning. Or perhaps it is just because she is hanging out with Dad! Yeah, that's it! Right. I had to capture the picture of her in one of my favorite skirts that she wears. She spent a good half hour Sunday mending holes in it so she could wear it to church. Gotta love a gal that can mend her own clothes!

I swung by to pick up my temporary trailer plate from Mr Trailer Fixer this morning. Mr. Trailer Fixer's Boss pointed out that the nose of my trailer was sitting WAY to high thanks to my manly lift kit on the Jeep. (insert manly grunt HERE for having a lift kit)  He suggested a hitch with a two inch drop for two reasons:

1) it will make the trailer drive straighter down the highway and cause less wobble

and

2) a smoother drive means better (more even) wear on the new tires.

As the blessings continue to fall, Mr. Trailer Fixer's Boss just HAPPENED to have the exact hitch I needed and he swapped mine with his for $15. I wish I had met these fellas years ago. They are terrific fabricators. I was eye-balling a custom made overhead Jeep rack laying on a nearby table. Sweet!

He reassured me that my six cylinder would be up to the task of towing a trailer. He recommended timing my departure so that I would be driving up and down the most mountainous terrain in the early morning hours. Straining up and down mountains in the 110 degree heat out here might spell trouble. Duly noted!

I swept the trailer out and have it nice and clean. Time to start loading it up. Mr Trailer Fixer's Boss recommended that I should have 65% of my load IN FRONT of the axle. I'm going to take mostly bulky items so when it is time to rent the U-haul truck, I have more room for boxes and don't waste precious space on eight bicycles, table saw, etc.

Gotta run. Time to go pick Sis up from summer school and then start packing up my stuff. I'm learning so much about planning for a homestead and how to get there that I plan on writing up what I've learned and sharing it on a Guest Post on SurvivalBlog in the next week or so. Let me know if you read it. I think I'll title it "How to Decide on a Homestead Location AND Get There!"

~OJD

Next: Macky passes out in the hallway.

Some Darn Good Reasons

First and foremost:

Happy Father's Day!

I'll be spending my whole day with Wifey and my girls. Here are some previous posts I've done on past Father's Days: famous quotes, top ten gift list for Dad, and gifts from my girlies. 

You can kill some time playing with this year's interactive Google banner logo or see banners from Father's Days past here.

I spent a good portion of my day yesterday preparing for my upcoming solo journey to Oklahoma. Turns out, the trailer I intend to tow behind The Orange Jeep needed some serious repair. Luckily, the fellas I took her to (on a 110 degree Saturday) eagerly fixed her up in no time and offered me a great price to boot!

I originally took her in for repair on the turn signal lights. For some reason, no matter what turn signal location I chose, all the lights would blink as if in hazard mode. A quick wire test and a ground wire drilled to the trailer frame and she was working properly. Mr Trailer Fixer even replaced bad bulbs, covers and rewired for a mere $60. Not bad!

Then, as several fellas stood back in awe of the work, one asked how far I was driving it. When I told them 1,000 miles they all looked at each other and said "better check the bearings." In a flash, they had it up on a jack and the wheels pulled off. "Yup, your bearings are bad. How long was this trailer sitting?" I replied: "Several years, according to the neighbor I bought it from."

"Okay, let's get to work" they replied. Each side was pulled and bearings were repacked in fresh grease. I shared my story of where I was headed and why. Once they heard me say "six daughters" they roared with laughter. "Clothes, shoes and tampons will break a man" they told me as they wished me luck in my parenthood. Towards the end of their work, they added reflector tape to the back of the trailer for extra visibility and offered to loan me a trailer dealer plate should I not be able to get a temporary for some reason (I hadn't plated it yet). What a blessing and great bunch of guys.

I slipped off to the ATM to fetch some cash while they finished up and returned with cash and a cold 30 pack of Budweiser. Seeing the ice cold beverage on a hot summer day made them cheer with a roar. Seizing the moment, I asked for one more quick fix and showed them a sagging door panel that I had broken while trying to fix a half dropped window. Monster decided to roll a (electric) window down a few weeks ago that hadn't worked in years and it got stuck half way down. As I took the door panel off with intentions to wire up the window, I broke several door clips that hold the door panel on. My local GMC dealership informed me that 2001 Suburban door clips are no longer made. I was at the mercy of finding some in a junk yard. Mr. Trailer Fixer quickly drilled a few holes and tightened it right up for me.

Discount Tire free boxes

On the way out the gate, the fellas pointed out that I should get some new tires for the trip. Years of sitting in the Arizona sun had led to some bad dry rot and my tires weren't safe for my long journey ahead. "Thanks again fellas!" as I waived goodbye.

Next stop: Discount Tire for some new tires. With literally minutes to spare, I darted in the door just in time to be the last one in line for tires.  A few hundred dollars later and I had me a practically brand new trailer (lights, wires, wheel bearings, tires). I also scored nearly a dozen large, heavy duty empty boxes for moving. Most of them had handles too. Score! Who knew that wheel rims came in such nice boxes?

~OJD

Update: upon review, I realized I forgot to mention why I titled this post "Some Darn Good Reasons." LoL! Anyway, from time to time I plan on posting reasons why our family is moving to the country. Today I found a perfect example to post when I read Patrice Lewis' "Why I'm becoming paranoid." Go check it out!

Next: Testing the trailer and Sis is giggling.

Returning to the Flagstaff Story

Driving to Flagstaff in The Orange Jeep

So as I mentioned, there was a curveball thrown at me late the other night. Not wanting to miss a possible home run that He might be throwing me, I took a mighty swing. IF the job panned out, it would be a promotion into management and a raise in salary. It would also be in a town where we knew NOBODY and had NO family. Needless to say, I got the tilted-head skunk eye from the family as if to say "We just got excited about Oklahoma...why are you doing an interview in Flagstaff?!?" Because I leave no stone unturned, that's why.

The interview went very well...for almost two hours. The Director and I talked about the hospital, town, staff and everything related to the job. I couldn't get a feel for his take on me personally and I soon found out why.

First, he disclosed that he was raised by two deaf parents. Why does that matter? Well, that tells me that I should have been paying MUCH more attention to my mannerisms and facial expressions and less on what I was saying. He grew up interpreting conversations via facial countenances and body signs. Was I saying one thing and physically expressing another? I was pretty tired from the three hour drive up there and felt rather stiff exiting the Jeep and walking straight into the interview.

However, since I was completely honest in everything I said, I reassured myself that my body language should have (for the most part) agreed with my words. I was very impressed with the command he had on his management style and knew I could learn a lot from this man. I've seen bad management and he was one of the BEST I've seen. Heavy into psychology and had frequent team building sessions with his staff. To sum it up, I was impressed.

Second, and most surprisingly (more like jaw dropping), in the last five minutes of our time together he dropped a bombshell. "Usually I have candidates meet with a few Team Leaders and some other key staff after I interview them. They weren't all available today to meet with you so I'll give you a call in a FEW WEEKS and set up another interview. This way everyone will get to meet you and ask any questions they might have."...

Stopped to enjoy some sights...nice ride!

He did not know I'm leaving in four days for Oklahoma,  I didn't tell him. I was in shock. I thanked him for the interview and said "We'll talk again in a few weeks."  As I begin the three hour drive back to the Valley, I simply accepted the fact that Flagstaff was simply not a part of The Plan. This was proof.

So, as I'm driving the windy mountain roads, listening to my old iPod (and feeling grateful that my kids didn't want it because it's so "first generation Dad, gaw") I said to myself "It just couldn't be any more clear that I'm supposed to move to Oklahoma. First my future boss informs me by email that he's suddenly losing three Techs this month so he's glad I'm on my way and now this Flagstaff gaff." I chuckled to myself that God was telling my future boss how badly he needed me in Oklahoma.

Perfect timing for an OK plate.

Suddenly, I'm cutoff by a white Chrysler as it slides DIRECTLY in front of me. Apparently, I said "It can't be any more obvious" a little too loud because I looked down at the license plate on the Chrysler and what did I see?

An Oklahoma license plate.

I got chills on my arms and looked up to say "Are you kidding me?" Being from Oklahoma, I always notice OK license plates out here in Arizona. Most of our visitors are from back east: Michigan, Jersey, etc. A fair amount of Canadians too. Not many from Oklahoma and I CERTAINLY hadn't seen any on the way to or from Flagstaff...except for right at that exact moment.

"Okay," I said. "I get it already. Geesh!"

~OJD

Next: More blessings arise while getting my enclosed trailer inspected.