2,000 mockingbirds = two kilomockingbirds

Brakes work.

Oh my.
I drove down the hill to meet the transport driver at Fern Ridge Middle School, arriving at 7 a.m., the time we agreed upon. His truck was already there so I honked, but got no response. I got out and went up to the cab and saw nobody behind the wheel.
There's a back seat and a naked guy asleep on it.
I banged on the window which woke him up. I went back to my truck and waited for him to emerge.
Long story short: he's maybe 25 years old, ESL (eastern European), and I don't think he's ever seen a car more than 5 years old. He didn't know about manual chokes, manual throttles, or stomp starters. I got the truck started (it takes some doing when it's up to temp) so he could drive it up on the carrier but couldn't manage the clutch, so I took over.
(I'm pretty sure his insurance company wouldn't approve, but it was the only way this was going to happen.)

As he guided me up the ramps he suddenly got a panicked look on his face and crossed his forearms in a gesture I correctly guessed meant STOP! My roof was going to hit the bottom of his upper deck.
He suggested I try backing it up the ramp, a little trickier, and when I tried that quickly got the same gesture.
So, the truck is back on Baker Rd. and another carrier from another company is coming tomorrow morning. Jake called earlier this evening and it sounds like he's got the same kind of rig, but I'll find out in about 12 hours.

We need to do a pregnancy check next week on Sundae, and to do that I need to take some of her urine to Marta who will check it for...something. Goats pee as soon as they wake up so I need to get down to the barn before they're awake. I am NOT saddling up to a goat's rear end so it's time to get creative. A paint pole, some 12 ga. electrical wire, and a plastic cup....

It didn't rain today. In fact, the sun peeked through from time to time. So to help work off some of my frustration with the truck hassle I started getting the garden relocated to part of the area now open because of the tree removal last fall. While doing that I thought about our life here on Baker Rd., and getting things set up the way we want them. Planting fruit trees, getting the garden located to a sunny area, adding a section to the goat barn for Sundae's kidding....

We've never lived anywhere longer than the 17 years we were in Grand Rapids, and that was in three different houses. I think our average stay in any one place is about 6 years. Ours has been a vagabond life.

And that made me think of friends we have from years ago, a couple our age, who have lived in the same place all their lives. I think all of her homes dating back to infancy are within a 10 mile radius.

How does that affect our view of life? So we find it easier to leave behind what we know? Are we less connected to places, including homes? Do we form friendships more easily for having to do it so frequently, and/or are our relationships more shallow? I suppose there's no way to know, but it would be interesting to talk with our friends about it. Alas, they live too far away.