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Posted

Gents,

Working the swing shift I usually get home around 10:30 and it isn't unknown for me to be up for four hours writing. Because of this I'm sometimes not out of bed the next day until the sun is well up and it's too hot to work on the paint removal project. This morning I awoke quite early and decided to take advantage of the cool air and shade by removing some paint while the situation was ripe for it. Got the paint stripper, a small ladder and other tools, and pulled the tarp from Pigiron (my '48 P-15). A little remover in a soup can, I leaned the ladder against the door and smiled at the vast expanse of old paint awaiting me, and that's when the buzzing started.

It took me a few seconds to find the source of the noise, and it was from more than a dozen hornets pouring out of a hole from a missing clip on the rocker panel, with plenty more following them. The can of remover hit the ground as I gracefully leaped from the ladder, screaming like a little girl, and made a dash for the house. I only got stung once and I don't have a bad reaction to stings but it hurt just enough to crank my mood about 180°, and the war was on!

Putting on a long sleeve shirt, a stocking cap, thick rubber gloves, and a full-face shield, I grabbed a can of hornet spray from the garage and mounted the attack. The hornets were still circling en mass around the hole and once they spotted me they renewed their attack. I dove into the tall grass about eight feet from the car, which seemed to satisfy the hornets for they eased their pursuit. Crawling slowly to the edge of the weeds (I keep a five-foot swath cut around the car) I took aim and the spray was accurate enough to be able to eventually direct it into the hole, which resulted in the immediate death of a few of them and galled the audacity of the rest. Spraying my ammo like a Private fresh out of boot camp in his first fire fight, I nearly emptied the can in self-preservation, then cut-and-ran back to the safety of the house.

While pouring a cup of coffee I started to snicker, then actually laughed out loud; It was a scene straight out of "Caddy Shack", and I'm glad Lynn and the neighbors were still asleep so they wouldn't see me.

I'm off to the hardware store to replace not only the can of spray but to get another brush for the remover because I didn't see which direction the first one flew.

Ever have a beer at 7:00 am?

-Randy

Posted

Yes I have had a beer at 0700 hours, can't remember if it was my last for the night, or first for the day. I don't do that anymore, much prefer coffee at 7:00 AM or 7:00 PM

Posted

That is a great story. Well written. I cracked up when i pictured you doing the army crawl through the grass towards your car. I know when we had to remove a hive from the crawl space of the cabin I had a can of that stuff in both hands covering for Dad while he knocked it into a bag.

Posted

Gents,

The pictures didn't come out too well, but that wasn't the only nest and they aren't all dead yet. While taking the shots I realized I've never posted any shots of the car so here are a couple.

Despite its appearance the only thing I need to do to the car is paint it. Before I go much farther I'll need to remove the windshield garnish on the outside but I don't have a clue how to do it. Remove the inside first?

There are several more nests in-and-outside of the car so I'll need to come back tonight to dispatch them to their ancestors. Are night vision goggles expensive?

-Randy

(I'll post the pics later when I grow up enough to know how to do it. I've done it before but seem to be going through a bout of CRS.)

Posted

the outside reveal molding should come off the windshield rubber first prior to trying to remove the seal..oft times the rubber has hardened with age and will actually break before yielding to any attemp to rollit off the glass..if this is the condition of yours I highly recommend that you cut the outer lip off the rubber to make removing the glass easy with less chance of chip or crack due to pressure one must exert in removeing the glass..

Posted
. Are night vision goggles expensive?

One night in Vietnam I was issued a starlight scope while garding the encampment. It did not work well but I am sure the technology has come a long way in 44 years.

Posted

A couple of months ago while driving about 50 MPH with my elbow resting on the window sill of my P-15 a big ol bumblebee smacked my arm and hit me with his stinger. It hurt and nas not yet healed. Last week I finally dug out the stinger (I thought I did this right after I was stung but I must have missed it) and my arm is now almost completely healed. So if you get stung maks sure you dig out the stinger.

Posted

Man that was funny! i was riding my bike to work one day and about 70 mph got smacked it the face by a huge moth what a mess! dang near went off the road, that thing was sore for most of the day, guys were laughing when i got to work with this big yellow and green mess on my face.

Posted
Man that was funny! i was riding my bike to work one day and about 70 mph got smacked it the face by a huge moth what a mess! dang near went off the road, that thing was sore for most of the day, guys were laughing when i got to work with this big yellow and green mess on my face.

That's one reason why I wear a helmet with a quality face shield. ;)

Posted

That story was hilarious. Your imagery was wonderful as I can picture it in my mind. A little self-deprecations is also a great tool in situations like yours. I got a real chuckle out of it.

Me, if I ever see one of those big miller moths, I go running. Got a phobia about them but my wife comes to the rescue and picks them up with her hand. Makes me shiver even thinking about it. Needless to say, my wife lets me know what a wimp I am!:P

Posted
That story was hilarious. Your imagery was wonderful as I can picture it in my mind. A little self-deprecations is also a great tool in situations like yours. I got a real chuckle out of it.

Randy is a timid author. He has at least one book in publication. Find it and buy it. Once you do you will have a much better understanding of how his mind works. Then you can better understand his postings. As Patton said about Romels tank wars "You SOB I read your book":cool:

Posted (edited)

Don or Randy, I will need a full name before I can look for it on ABEBooks or the library. If you don't want to put it in the thread maybe you can email me or PM. Thanks...........Regarding Patton, I loved that line in the movie. George C. Scott played Patton to perfection. Patton was probably the best "fighting" general the US had in WWII.

Edited by RobertKB
Add information
Posted
...snip... As Patton said about Romels tank wars "You SOB I read your book":cool:

It probably didn't hurt that the Allies were reading all of Rommel's dispatches as quickly as Berlin was and forwarded Rommel's plans and his supply situation to the field generals. Amazing how important a couple of unknown Poles were in doing the first cracking of the Enigma machine and then getting the information to the British.

Posted (edited)
Don or Randy, I will need a full name before I can look for it on ABEBooks or the library. If you don't want to put it in the thread maybe you can email me or PM.

The title of Randy's book is "one Hot winter in Estes" by Randy St. John

Great book, fun read. Nice job Randy. Any more on the way???

Edited by PatS....
Posted

Appears to be self-published no less... I just snagged a copy for my next plane ride in August. Having lived in the area and even exchanged a Christmas morning greeting w/ the authour, it should be an enjoyable read. Currently reading Ghost Rider by Neil Peart from Rush...

Posted

Gents,

Because I knew it would have a limited market I formed my own publishing company (ought to use my MBA for something), got the ISBNs, registered with the Library of Congress, and sent two copies of the finished product to the copyright office. If you want a copy buy one from me buy one for $14.00, shipping included. I've seen them for sale for nearly $20 + S&H and I choke on that figure. It's been through reprinting but I don't want to do that again because I have other projects to work on.

If you want a new, personalized copy, I have about fifty left. Send me a PM with shipping details and the name of the person for whom it should be personalized and send a check when you get to it.

I write social satire, which means I poke fun at the antics of everybody. My current work deals with the American health system, and I attack it from a direction it isn't expecting. I hope it will be completed in a few months, although with Lady Lynn's cancer last year my schedule of writing about health care has taken a bit of a nose dive from which it is just now recovering. "one Hot winter in Estes" is a social satire of small-town life and tourist-town politics that I wrote somewhat as a joke to poke fun at the Town Council and they didn't think it the least bit funny that somebody would say anything other than bubbles and fizz about a one-industry town.

-Randy

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