Southern Man Gets Hitched

Avid readers of this blog (both of you) might recall the events of Memorial Day when the transmission in Southern Man's SUV finally gave out and he bought a new Nissan Titan. While Southern Man loves his new truck, the poor Explorer has been sitting by the curb in front of Casa Southern Man where the tow truck left it last Monday. Southern Man was ready to call a salvage yard and just let the old SUV go but teenage son expressed an interest in keeping the truck for himself (an interesting change of heart, that - Southern Man used to threaten him by saying "shape up or your first vehicle will be the Explorer!"). So this morning Southern Man headed out to the local U-Haul and had them put a Class III hitch on the Titan and rent him a tow dolly.

Photo credit: Southern Man

It was something of an adventure getting the Explorer onto the dolly, but with a little help from his friends Southern Man finally prevailed and towed the remains out to The Land, where it will sit until (a) teenage son shells out two grand for a transmission, at which time Southern Man will chip in for a few other repairs and hand over the keys, (b) Southern Man's dad decides he wants the perfectly good motor for one of his trucks and we pull it, or (c) Southern Man gives up and calls a salvage yard and disposes of the carcass. Southern Man is keenly aware that Number Six on the list of "ways you know you are a Southern Man" is "every vehicle you have ever owned is up on blocks somewhere in your back yard" and he will try to avoid keeping the Explorer too long.

Photo credit: Southern Man

That's the west end of the barn in the background. As you can see it needs some repair. Not to mention paint. That's high on Southern Man's list of Things To Do This Summer.