Saturday, June 16, 2007

Truckin'

So, it's Mercury retrograde time.....again. I'd been studiously trying to ignore it. I've found that often nothing untoward happens at these times, but occasionally the TV has gone haywire, or my mind has become more fuzzy than usual, or I've been nervous about a trip and avoided booking it (probably saved some money in the process).

This time, without even thinking about Mercury retrograde, I ordered a treadmill on-line. We've been telling each other, HeWhoKnows and I, that we need to walk more. We're not overweight, but we are getting lazy. In England I walked a lot, just about everywhere in fact. I didn't have a car during the last five years I lived there. That would be unthinkable here with no public transport, no sidewalks. Oklahoma is, for most of the year, either too hot outside, too cold or too full of biting bugs (who love me to distraction).

So we decided on a treadmill.

It struck me after the order had been placed that I could have chosen better timing. Mercury retrograde? - "Oh....bah humbug", I muttered.

Thursday, delivery day brought a problem. Late afternoon, we received a call from the truck driver to say that he was in a big semi truck, and it seemed to him that he would have difficulty navigating the road in the area on the edge of town where we live. He would be unable to turn the truck around, he said. There's only one way out - the way in.

"Do you have a pick-up truck so's you can meet me at the end of the road?" (It's almost a given in these parts to have a pick-up truck!)

"No."

HeWhoKnows then started wondering aloud if his son could assist. I imperiously shut him up.

"This company undertook to deliver goods to our property, they made no enquiries as to access. It's their responsibility to get it here, not ours."

We called the despatch office, who called the trucker, who, apparently was told to "deal with it".

After some while the enormous semi truck appeared - reversing ! The trucker had driven in reverse all the way from the main road to the front of our house. No small feat!

A "retrograde" delivery if ever I saw one! Not your usual Mercury retrograde example, but a rather nice one, I thought.

The truck driver wasn't bad tempered about it all - he was a sweetie. HeWhoKnows advises me that truckers are a breed unto themselves. They need to be placid, yet always alert and quick thinking. Road rage is a complete no-no when driving those monsters. Bless 'em all!

Now, all we have to do is get the 200lb treadmill to where we need it. That'll be a trick and a half!

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