Stranded.

On Friday, I had several errands to run. Post office, Bank, feed-mill... basic run of the mill (get it? mill?) stuff. Anyways, I'm driving 'old blue' right now, the farm truck. In every sense of the phrase 'farm truck'. Ol' Blue is a chevy, she's old, and she's ugly. I've had other farmers get a ride in ol blue and exclaim "wow! this really IS a farm truck!"
The passenger side door does not open from the inside, and the purty blue vinyl covering is gone, leaving the polite but obviously cardboard frame cover of the door exposed. The window also is stuck, thankfully mostly up but leaving year-round fresh air (and rain, and snow) through the 1/2 inch gap at the top.
The driver side door, not only is missing the vinyl cover as well, but is also missing the polite cover the passenger door still maintains. The only way the driver side door opens from the inside, is to give a practiced downward tug on the heavy guage wire that's been knotted around the door jimmie-thing as an anchor. The window is the bane of my driving existance. It falls. straight down with a thump if you hit a bump just right. It no longer startles me onto the shoulder of the road, but it's annoying. In the rain and the snow. Thankfully, that purty cover is missing, so you can actually LIFT the window back into position and put the complex holding mechanism back in place. The mechanism? 2 x 4 cut at an angle and wedged between the bottom of the window and the bottom of the door. Oh, and if the bump in the road doesn't bring the window down, it will jar the door loose, leaving it in that 1/2 closed place car doors go to when you don't close them with enough 'oomph'. So, you do occasionally find yourself performing the following maneuver:
hit bump, jar door (see new draft, rain and snow).
practiced twist and pull of opening lever to open door slightly, and slam closed in an upwards motion to attempt to FINALLY get it tight enough to stay closed.
Pull over to fix window because you slammed the door hard enough to drop the window.
Repeat at next bump in the road.
The tailgate closes VERY tightly. Probably because it's bent. To get it open, my hubby can give it a swift tug, but he's taller and strong than I am. I have to climb into the back of the truck via the hitch (bumper? what bumper?) and kick it open, coincidentally making my muck boots really and true, 'shxx-kickers'.
The plow on the front end works just fine though. And if you need to go somewhere and the plow is attached, please remember to lift it back UP into place periodically as the hydrolics don't quite hold anymore, and you'll eventually be plowing the state roads for the county.
The radio works, and the heater works, and with those 2 things (and the complex holding mechanism for the window), I can go anywhere in my farm truck.

Except apparently, to the post office, bank, and feed mill. You see, I have to be back in time for the school bus. The truck overheated on the side of the road, roughly 4 miles from home... and 4 miles from town. Take your pick. I opted for town because there was a propane company 1/2 way there and I could at least use the phone. I had 2 hours, no problem.
Did I mention the 36 degree day with blowing snow occasionally? Anyways, thankfully a neighbor I knew (ok, I recognized the truck better than I recognized him) stopped and picked me up. Took me to town, I bought oil (the truck leaks oil - did I mention that? Husband says "any problems, add oil.") and he took me back to the truck. Dropped me off. I could not get the hood open. Did I mention, that to get the hood to open, you need to pull on the cord attached to the latch under the hood that kinda hangs out from under the hood? Made of telephone cable?
Couldn't open hood. 1 1/2 hours left. Took the chance, truck engine had cooled off and I drove home slowly. Stopped at a friend's farm, no one home. Stopped at another friend's farm, no one home. 2 more farms? oh ya, no one home. Where the heck are all the freakin' farmers who farm for a living?? Oh ya... deer season.
Now as I pulled back in the driveway having accomplished none of my tasks, but in time for the bus (which was all that really mattered to me), I reflected on our reliance on these machines. I was talking to a friend about it later that evening who commented on all of the new Amish families in the region who've moved up from Pennsylvania and how they have it much easier in that respect because they just hook up the ol' horse & buggy. Of course, I drove by an Amish farm a few weeks ago to see in dismay a horse in the pasture.... 4 legs in the air. I guess at least he wasn't stranded on the side of the road 4 miles from home!!