One summer when I was working at the
tanker base on fox air field, I had the opportunity to get to know
several of the pilots who were also working for the U.S. Forest
Service. One of them had been driving around an older honda civic,
and then one day I stopped seeing it in the parking lot. Towards the
end of the fire season I asked him what had happened to his car. He
told me that it had just stopped running one day and that he didnt
know what was wrong with it. It was currently sitting in a field at
his house. For those of you that know me, it should come as no
surprise that my eyes lit up at the possibility of a broken honda
that I might be able to buy for cheap! I asked him what his plans
for it where, and when he told me he was probably just gonna get rid
of it, I immediately asked him how much he wanted for it. He seemed
a little confused as to why I would want to buy a car that was not
running, and told me he was pretty sure that it would not run and
that he doubted I would be interested in it. I told him that it
didnt bother me that it was not running and again asked how much he
wanted for it. He told me I could have it for five hundred, if I
really wanted it, and that I could come by after work to take a look
at it to make sure. After work that day (around 19:00) I headed to
his place out in Leona Valley. It took about 30 min to get out
there, and then another fifteen to find his place. By the time I got
there it was already getting dark. He came out and met me in the
yard when I pulled up. We then walked across a field to get to the
car sitting in grass that was about knee deep. I took a good look at
the car with a flashlight, even though my mind was already made up
before I got there. The car was a 92 civic hatchback hf, meaning it
was one that was suppose to get great mileage. The door handles had
been broken off when someone broke into it sometime before and had
been replaced with some metal levers off of what looked like the
inside handles for an old impala. The original ignitions system had
also been ripped out, including the key hole. It had been replaced
with one out of an old forklift, so there were different keys for the
door and the ignition. Other than that, the inside was in great
shape. After I told him I would buy the car , he asked me if I was
interested in having a truck as well. I asked him what kind of
truck. He pointed a few yards away to a 79 chevy luv that was also
sitting in the field. I went over and gave it a good look over,
while I was doing this he told me it didnt run either. He had been
using it to move fire wood, and one day after loading it up, it
wouldnt start anymore so it had just sat there since. The truck was a
sky blue color, and had several rust spots. When I popped the hood,
the engine was covered with dirt and cobwebs. I couldnt see any leaks
and everything seemed to be in order. I asked him how much he wanted
for it, and he told me I could have both vehicles for five hundred
bucks. Of course the word score! Was flashing through my mind. I
told him I would take them both. We worked out the details of when
and how to get them to my place, and then I was on my way home. I
had made it up and over goade hill road, and was coming down the
straight away when I heard a pop and then a dragging noise as I came
to the stop sign. After coming to a complete stop, I went to put the
car in gear and instantly found that the shifter was moving freely in
all directions and would not engage any gear. I pushed the car
through the intersection and then steered it to the side of the road
as it coasted to a stop. I pulled the e brake, grabbed my flashlight
and climbed out to see what was wrong. As soon as I stuck my head
under the car I could see the shift linkage hanging down and resting
on the ground. That explained the dragging sound I had heard. There
is a small pin that holds the linkage to the transmission, this pin
is a pain to take out and requires a special punch tool and a hammer,
so I was quite confused as to how it had managed to come out on its
own. I called up my good friend tom, who luckily for me happened to
be in the area. I explained the situation and asked if he wouldnt
mind swinging by my place and grabbing a role of P-cord that I had in
the garage. Being tom, he of course responded that it would be no
problem and that he would be there as soon as he could. After about
fifteen minutes, tom shows up with the roll of cord. We grab the
jack out of the back of my car and begin the process of getting it
off the ground. At this particular time, my car had about 4 fingers
of ground clearance, and a regular jack would not fit underneath
unless someone was lifting up on the front of the car. After getting
the car jacked up far enough for me to slide part way under, I tied
up the linkage to the transmission to keep it from dragging on the
ground. Since I didnt have a replacement pin on me, I grabbed a
screwdriver and used it to shift the transmission into gear by hand.
When I thought I had it in first gear I climbed out from under the
car and we lowered it back down. After getting everything put away,
we decided tom would follow me back to my place to make sure I made
it all the way without further problems. I jumped in the car, fired
it up and when I tried to go I immediately discovered that I had
missed 1st gear and had actually put it in 3rd.
Not wanting to do everything over again, I figured I could limp it
home in 3rd. This required lots of revving the engine to
high rpms and then burning the clutch to keep it from stalling every
time we came to a stop sign or stop light. After about 20 min we
managed to make it back to the house. The next day I dug out a spare
linkage pin and put it in. another rescue made possible by tom.
(for those that are wondering, the car needed some sensors and fuses
replaced, and the truck just needed the needle valve in the
carburator cleaned)
Friday, August 13, 2010
E.T.
One night the captain (chris), rene and
I decide to go out geocaching. For those of you who are not aware,
we are all members of Team Nightwatch ( geocaching adventure group)
and most of our excursions take place well after the sun has gone
down. On this particular night we decided to find several caches
that were located near a ridgeline a little northeast of devil's
punchbowl. We manage to get to the creek at the bottom of the
trailhead a little after 2200. its a decent length hike along the
trail of switch backs to get to the top of the ridge, and there are
several sections where the trail is sorta missing cause it has been
washed out and all that is left is a steep drop off. Usually I hike a
lot faster than the majority of the group, so on this night, as on
many others I was wearing a 40 pound wieght vest to slow me down. It
was a pretty bright night, with little cloud cover, with the
moonlight reflecting off of all the snow along the trail and mountain
side. Around 2300 we are near the ridgeline. We pause to look out
over the valley behind us. As we are doing so, I notice a car driving
on a road about a mile or so away. I ask chris if he happens to have
the laser pointer on him, which he does, he quickly pulls it out and
hands it to me, I grab the laser and scramble off the trail and up
the ridgeline a little ways, when I get to a good spot I shine the
laser at the car. Now this particular laser has a green light, and
on a previous adventure we were using it to mark a friends position
so that he could locate us up on a hillside. This is when we
discovered that at a distance of about a mile the tiny little light
ends up covering about a ten foot radius of whatever it is shined on.
As soon as the light hits the car, we see the break lights come on
and the dust start to rise as the vehicle comes sliding to a stop. I
gradually move the light around the outside of the car in a circle
motion. Then I shine the light back on the car for a couple seconds
before turning the laser off. The car sits there for a min or so not
moving. Then the car slowly starts to move forward. I immediately
shine the laser back on the car, and instantly there is a cloud of
dust that rises up as the driver of the car slams his foot on the
gas. I keep the light on the car for a few seconds as the driver
tries to outrun it as he races away. By now the others are laughing
hysterically as I turn off the light. After this short break, we
continue the rest of the way up the trail. When we reach the
ridgeline, we lost the trail in the snow. None of us expected there
to be so much snow still on the ground. As we refer to the gps, we
realize the cache that we are looking for is farther up in the snow
on an adjoining ridge. Normally this would not keep me from going
after it, but after some slipping and sliding on the snow, I decide
it is too dangerous for everyone to try for it so we decide for
safety's sake to head back down (I know, since when am I safe). We
decide not to pass up all the fun, and instead of taking the trail
back, we decide to try and slide down the snow filled draw. We all
climb down a small drop off, and then I take a giant leap out into
the draw. I immediately discover that this was a bad move as I land
in a pile of rocks that are barely covered with snow. I continue on
down the mountain, discovering new rocks with each slip and fall.
The others follow me down, with the same luck. Instead of gracefully
sliding down the mountain, we manage to bounce and tumble down the
whole way while ripping some clothes and bruising our bodies. When
we get to the bottom we find whats left of the trail and work our way
back to the car. The way home we again laugh at the car we scared
with the laser, and we make plans to look in the paper to see if
there are any local “UFO” reports. Definitely an entertaining
night.
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