"All I ask is the chance to prove that money can't make me happy." - Spike Milligan

Note: this post contains nudity. If you're uncomfortable with pictures of naked bodies you should probably stop reading now and go on to another site. 

On CBS.com the headline read: "Fire rages through historic Des Moines high rise." Underneath that the teaser text read: "Smoke and flames lit up the night sky in downtown Des Moines, Iowa, where a fire tore through a century-old building that was under construction."
Anybody else thinks that's a sentence that needs an editor's touch?

We got new cell phones today. We just stepped up to smart phones about a year ago, each with an iPhone 3GS. That phone came out in 2009, which is like being 75 in phone years. Today we got matching Samsung Galaxy Light phones, a very basic model that will do more than we'll ever tap into. But there are some apps we'd like to get that the old iPhones can't handle. And these, at less than half the price of the current model iPhone, are almost cheap. We're both struck with how much better the display looks with improved resolution and brightness.
Let the learning curve begin.

We also drove out to Waddell, about 20 miles west of our house, to fetch Lyle's flatbed trailer. He's very graciously allowed me to use it several times and I need it again for a few days.

I got the truck completely stripped of all its parts and pieces. It is now naked.
(Admit it; you're disappointed.)
Click to enlarge pics.

In 1959 trucks were for people who needed to haul stuff, not feel cool, and so didn't have all the amenities that came in cars. So getting everything off is pretty straightforward but still got tricky in a couple of places.

Here you can see that a) the truck was originally a pretty eye-jarring yellow and b) was later painted what is now a badly faded red. Also, that black surface, the firewall, is supposed to be the same color as the body, which is why the yellow shows through where I removed pieces.

The cab is held to the frame by large bolts, one in each corner. The left rear bolt was so rusted that when I put the breaker bar to it the thing sheared in half. I have no idea how I'm going to get the bottom part out or how I'll put a new one in, but that's a problem for another day.

The dash was a challenge, mostly because it involved laying on my back in a small space with a metal floor. Much of what I took out will have to be replaced, either because the part is too aged (dash knobs) or missing (wiper switch) or broken (light switch). That gaping hole in the floor is the access panel to the transmission which came out with the engine.

You want fancy surfaces? Buy a car (or a contemporary truck). Back in the day a truck was metal, inside and out. Rubber mats on the floor and paint on the sides, including the doors. Some previous owner wasn't happy with that and used screws to attach panels undoubtedly covered with something (vinyl? shag carpet?) that left little screw holes all around the door's outer edge. Interestingly, they apparently didn't take those panels off when they painted everything red. Must have made for some interesting carpet! Those holes will be closed up and smoothed so the doors will look as they did coming out of the factory.

Tomorrow afternoon Josh will come out and help me lift the cab and the bed onto Lyle's flatbed trailer. Monday I'll throw on the front fenders and hood and haul it all to a business that will media blast it all, inside and out, down to bare metal. But you can count on me to give you a pictorial account of all that.
Hey, I do what I can.

For now, a shower, more food, and an early bedtime. Tomorrow is going to be a challenge, even before we lift a 350 pound cab off the frame and onto the trailer.