The New Year’s starting off great for me. Sure the furnace broke (but John Rule fixed it – thank you, John), and the windshield on the blue Saturn cracked (insurance will cover), and the red Saturn decided not to start this A.M. (too cold), but Kendra Totman sent this true story, so things are looking up. Kendra wrote:
"Back in the early 70s my dad was driving a trailer to Dartmouth where he went to school. As he was driving, he noticed that the trailer was banging around a lot behind him. He pulled over to the side of the road and noticed that one of the bolts had come out of the trailer and that's why it was shaking around so much. He walked back down the highway and found the bolt, but it was bent and useless.
"He left the trailer on the side of the road and drove to the next exit. After driving for a couple of miles he came to a small town. There was a country store so my dad stopped there. He looked around but couldn't find anyone to help him. Finally he heard a voice coming from the rocking chair on the front porch. There was a man there that my dad hadn't noticed before. Turns out he owned the place. 'Can I help you?' he asked.
"My dad said yes and asked if he had a hardware section in the store. 'Ayuh, back of the store,' the owner replied. (I was very impressed with my dad's imitation of a N.H. accent at this point in the story.) The owner followed my dad inside.
" 'Do you have some pliers?' my dad asked.
" 'Ayuh, here you go,' the owner answered.
" 'How about a wrench?' Dad then asked.
" 'Ayuh.' The owner handed him a wrench.
" 'Do you happen to have any bolts like this one?' my dad asked holding up the bent bolt from the trailer.
"The owner studied it for a bit, then replied, 'Well, only straight ones.' "
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