Tell me a story....

James loves to hear stories. Every day he asks for stories. We tell him stories before he goes to bed. He just can't get enough of them. And he remembers every last detail. He'll say 'member when you chased that coyote on the four-wee-wer, Mama? 'Member when Daddy drove the tractor at the farm? He remembers the stories, and sometimes 'remembers' himself as part of the story as well. I think he's got such a vivid imagination that he just imagines himself right into the story. Occasionally he gets a little miffed when he finds out we didn't 'bring him' with us. For example, he asks all the time if he was at our wedding with us. Now that would've been interesting, wouldn't it. I tell him, no, you weren't there. Mommy and Daddy got married, and then had you a few years later. His response? 'No, I don't want you to have your wedding without me!' He's a funny kid.

And speaking of stories, Jeff had to take a last minute trip to Pittsburgh on Friday because of a wee bit of technical difficulty. After his company designed and manufactured a condenser, it was put on a trailer for delivery. Unfortunately, the condenser decided to try an un-authorized 'drop test' in someone's front yard. Turns out that the truck driver had picked it up three days prior, lied about his location, and for some reason decided to head the wrong way down a one-way residential street where he somehow managed to drop the 190,000 pound condenser in someone's grass. (only 8 miles from the shop!) The township promptly issued a fine somewhere in the neighborhood of $56,000 and then someone else slapped on a fine of $14,000 for the crane to move it. After issuing a bad check, police put some sort of boot on the truck and trailer so the driver couldn't take his ride. But it doesn't end there, folks. Oh, no. At 2:00 am, the owners of the house whose yard hosted the unexpected condenser heard strange noises. Upon inspection, they saw the driver out welding under his truck. By the time the police arrived, he had removed the boot and taken off with his truck. Now he has a federal warrant out for his arrest, and he is stuck with a semi he'll probably try to unload ASAP. In order to move the condenser back to the shop for inspection, the state police had to provide escorts. The governor's office was involved. It took three hours to go 8 miles. Returning the condenser also required the 'un-landscaping' of some of the parking lot, with the impromptu removal of several trees and mulched areas. I will try to post a few pictures of the whole ordeal. The semi-truck had 15 axles! It was the biggest thing I have ever seen. Anywho, Jeff donned his trusty hardhat and steel-toed boots and inspected the condenser to see how much damage was done. He said it could be worse, but I am sure its still going to cost a whole lot of moolah to fix. That truck driver better head to Mexico and enjoy himself a stiff drink before they catch him, because I have a feeling he is going to be in a heap of trouble.