Blacksheep
Bronze Member
AHHH! Springtime! Leaves unfold in a beautiful symphony of green, song birds sing their songs outside our windows in such a way, all one can do is smile. Neighborhood kids are again, filling our streets with laughter as they toss footballs, ride bikes and share their sidewalk chalk art in rainbows of color.
Then "it" happens.....the phone rings, it`s the first of many such calls I will get in the coming days. Those calls all start out the same "hey, are you busy? I just hooked up the [insert boat,utility,camper etc here] trailer and the danged lights don`t work, can you take a quick look at it?". (can somebody define the word "quick" as its used here?)
My wondrous spring day has just been interrupted by a call that's closely related to fingernails being dragged across a chalkboard. I listen patiently to the woes of these misguided souls who last year, backed their trailers into and over stumps, kids bikes, his buddies chain saw (the one claimed as "new" but was in reality, 17 years old,and borrowed from you ten years back and never returned.. ), Grannies prized cement statue of kissing Dutch boy and girl etc, with the same end result....damaged wiring.
Inevitably, a quick-fix is made "just until I get it home" or "I`ll fix it right in Fall" but the reality is that the quick-fix festers underneath that band-aid of scotch-loks and black tape until Spring, when I get the call.
Yesterday I spent the better part of the day on a creeper, in forty degree, rainy weather (that's an unwritten rule, no repairs of trailer wiring can be made on nice days, it has to be crappy for the best effect), looking in disbelief at the seventy-two scotch-loks desperately trying to maintain voltage to three good 1157 bulbs, the forth gave up long ago. Huge balls of black tape hung underneath this trailer like crap hangs on a Poodles butt, I didn't know if I should laugh or cry, so I did both.
In the end, I dissected the entire mess. My Dad (blaming the whole thing on my brothers, who borrow his trailer "all the time" ) watched in awe, as I rewired the entire trailer, front to back. He asked what I needed a soldering iron for, and "whats are those little black tubes for?" (heat shrink tubing).
Several hours later, the job finished (including "pull-away" connections at key points to aid future repairs) and Dad is happy he can again borrow out his trailer to my brothers..with working lights. I have enough bits of black tape stuck on my shoes and laying around the garage to rewire the Titanic, my body aches and I am in desperate need of a pot of coffee. I`m lost in thought, staring at a Cardinal who`s bright red color, in sharp contrast to the gloomy surroundings, makes me smile...then it happens, the phone rings. It`s my brother inlaw, seems his trailer lights don`t work...
Then "it" happens.....the phone rings, it`s the first of many such calls I will get in the coming days. Those calls all start out the same "hey, are you busy? I just hooked up the [insert boat,utility,camper etc here] trailer and the danged lights don`t work, can you take a quick look at it?". (can somebody define the word "quick" as its used here?)
My wondrous spring day has just been interrupted by a call that's closely related to fingernails being dragged across a chalkboard. I listen patiently to the woes of these misguided souls who last year, backed their trailers into and over stumps, kids bikes, his buddies chain saw (the one claimed as "new" but was in reality, 17 years old,and borrowed from you ten years back and never returned.. ), Grannies prized cement statue of kissing Dutch boy and girl etc, with the same end result....damaged wiring.
Inevitably, a quick-fix is made "just until I get it home" or "I`ll fix it right in Fall" but the reality is that the quick-fix festers underneath that band-aid of scotch-loks and black tape until Spring, when I get the call.
Yesterday I spent the better part of the day on a creeper, in forty degree, rainy weather (that's an unwritten rule, no repairs of trailer wiring can be made on nice days, it has to be crappy for the best effect), looking in disbelief at the seventy-two scotch-loks desperately trying to maintain voltage to three good 1157 bulbs, the forth gave up long ago. Huge balls of black tape hung underneath this trailer like crap hangs on a Poodles butt, I didn't know if I should laugh or cry, so I did both.
In the end, I dissected the entire mess. My Dad (blaming the whole thing on my brothers, who borrow his trailer "all the time" ) watched in awe, as I rewired the entire trailer, front to back. He asked what I needed a soldering iron for, and "whats are those little black tubes for?" (heat shrink tubing).
Several hours later, the job finished (including "pull-away" connections at key points to aid future repairs) and Dad is happy he can again borrow out his trailer to my brothers..with working lights. I have enough bits of black tape stuck on my shoes and laying around the garage to rewire the Titanic, my body aches and I am in desperate need of a pot of coffee. I`m lost in thought, staring at a Cardinal who`s bright red color, in sharp contrast to the gloomy surroundings, makes me smile...then it happens, the phone rings. It`s my brother inlaw, seems his trailer lights don`t work...
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