What a week.
As I mentioned before, our truck literally popped a wheelie (i.e., a wheel flew off -- all bolts sheared off) while our kids were doing 70 mph on the highway, pulling the fifth-wheel. Thank God Adopted Son was able to pull safely onto the shoulder, with no one hurt, and the truck and fifth-wheel surprisingly unharmed. (Well, except for no wheel or tire, burned out brake pads, messed-up axle, scraped up side, etc etc.) Fortunately, one of our Blanca friends had a truck with hitch that we could borrow. So the Brick picked up the kids in Walsenburg, then drove down south of Raton (about a 2-hour drive each way) to bring the trailer back.
They had to wait for a wrecker, who then towed the truck to a dealer in Trinidad, where it sits -- and waits. The dealer said it would take a week to get most parts, and two weeks to get a replacement wheel. (The kids searched all over, but never found the wheel. Perhaps it decided to roll home on its own.) Brick and Co. finally got home about 1:00 a.m.
There are several problems with this:
*The truck is our only vehicle.
*I have an appraisal to do Tuesday in Castle Rock, 3 hours away...and a package to ship.
*How in the world are we going to get around, meanwhile?
The answer: a truck generously provided by a friend. We're renting it from him.
How much is this going to cost? We have no idea. Hundreds of dollars already zoomed out the door with tows, gas, etc. Not to mention wasted time and energy.
Yes, we have a claim filed with the company (which put on NEW tires only last week). The kids could have been killed. (Honestly, they should have rolled -- only the grace of God and Adopted Son's driving skills were in play.) The truck and fifth-wheel can be replaced -- our children cannot.
I am so grateful they're ok.
Meanwhile:
How did Israel manage to stop '99% percent' of the rockets, missiles and drones fired at it this weekend? Iran wasn't the only aggressor, by the way. Hezbollah did its share with 30 missiles...not that many news outlets are mentioning this.
A Russian family looks for their lost husky via a drone -- and finds him playing with a family of bears.
Death Valley is full of wildflowers! The best bloom since 2016, they're saying. That's what extra rainfall will do.
More than 3000 incidents of illegal migrants crossing his land? This rancher has video proof -- and it isn't pretty.
We have a heart for this subject, having seen elderly friends very concerned about this same subject, when we were living in McNeal, AZ, near the Mexican border. They not only would have illegals crossing their land -- but had people banging on their door in early morning, asking for food and water. And these were elderly widows, Gentle Readers. How terrified do you think they were?
Weird stuff astronauts have seen (and heard) in space.
Edwardian cufflinks -- how much do you think these would value for?
(A little on the high end, I would say...)
The former president of Harvard (ousted for plagiarism) is teaching a 'Reading and Research' ETHICS class -- for Harvard! (Guess they have to hire her for something in her field of expertise...)
Otzi the Iceman had 61 tattoos -- but they weren't done the way scientists originally thought. (Nor did he die naturally -- not with an arrowhead in his shoulder, a head wound and a defensive wound on his hand...)
Rude comments...and boy, are these good.
Why Mel Gibson is sooo grateful for Robert Downey Jr.'s support. (And he should be.) An incredible public statement on picking yourself up, admitting your mistakes ("hugging the cactus") -- and forgiveness.
Three decades -- three decades of insisting on your true identity, yet put in jail and a mental institution -- and DNA finally proves that you were right all along. A VERY strange story.
Here's a lesson for daredevil skiers who attempt to jump Colorado highways -- the word "roadkill" may eventually apply. Sadly.
'Cast crackups' from the Carol Burnett show. Just what we need, during taxtime:
Hopefully this week will be better -- for you, too!
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