Friday, February 24, 2012

To The Scrapyard

So yesterday it was supposed to rain; the sky was a perfect blue. Last night it was also supposed to rain; we woke to a dusting of snow. New England knows how to keep her weathermen humble.

Now, Larry the Volvo station waggon has a few quirks; this is not news, I suppose. One of them is that he is absolutely, completely, tragically useless in even the tiniest dusting of snow. Though come to think of it he also has been known to stand there and spin his wheels pitiably given some wet grass and a bit of an incline. The snow thing, to be honest, baffles me: he does, after all, come from Sweden, a decent percentage of which country is north of the Arctic Circle. You'd, I don't know, think that maybe, just maybe they would have encountered snow there, I mean once or twice.

But that wasn't, it turned out, a problem today. Because instead of being a rear-wheel-drive big empty station waggon with no weight over the back wheels, Larry was once again full of rusty hunks of rusty rust, which, despite the rust, still weigh an awful lot.

That engine was the first thing we muscled into Larry; when Tara stepped back to look she noted it was riding kind of low. Poor Larry. We push him, we do.

At any rate, here's another shot of Larry's butt. And yes, that is an old junky unicycle on the top of the pile.



And so that was the forty-first trip to the scrapyard, ai yi yi yi yi, and adds another 640 pounds of scrap iron hauled away from this poor hoarded yard. It was one of the lighter loads despite the engine, since the Citroën bits were on the light but bulky side. Tara did excavate a bizarrely long section of pipe in amongst the cat briars which she then remarkably enough cut up with a dull Sawzall. And that brings us up to 35,180 pounds, or 17.59 tons of iron cleaned up, or at least 17.59 tons of iron for which we have receipts.

Yep. Still more out there.

9 comments:

Tonia said...

So... did the guy at the scrap yard miss ya?

Debra She Who Seeks said...

Poor old Larry the Volvo deserves a medal or something for hauling all that crap to the scrapyard. I hope, at the very least, he receives PREMIUM oil.

Martha Joy said...

I'm not sure about this, seeing as I'm still in the process of getting my driver's license. But. I live in Norway, neighbor to Sweden, and we get a lot of snow. Volvos are not supposed to be useless on snow, they're one of the safest cars around. So, have you checked your tires? Those are what give you a good grip on the road, after all. In Norway, it's mandatory to change your tires twice a year, since there's different kinds for winter and summer. I frankly have no idea what kind of tires or rules you have where you live. But driving with summer tires on snow is downright dangerous. Please be careful.

Also, I have to add. You are both doing an IMPRESSIVE job.

Anonymous said...

I have to ask the question too: Did the scrap guys miss you? Have they not marveled at the amount of scrap you have been bringing them. One would think, since you are such loyal customers, they might offer to come and pick up some of the stuff?

Keep up the good work....Medals for both you and Larry...he certainly has served you well!

a reader from the midwest who is fighting the inherit rat pack gene

The Writing Goddess said...

Larry rocks. I hope upon receipt of the very last receipt for scrap metal, you treat him to a good detailing.

The unicycle on top is hilarious. Love it!

Anonymous said...

Tara and Thalia, I just wanted you to know that when I get discouraged about all the junk/junque around here, I look at your website for inspiration. Thank you so much for posting your story and your progress. You two are an inspiration to me and it renews my spirit to read about the amazing progress that you've made.

Anonymous said...

I have a vision of your dad merrily riding a unicycle around the piles of junk. Love it.

Tara said...

Actually the unicycle was mine, not dad's. Though it somehow makes amusing image, my dad as some crazy hoarder ex circus performer..

leztrek said...

I just want to say how much I enjoy this blog, and admire you and Tara. Good luck with your ongoing mission.