Buying a truck.

 Yesterday, Tim suddenly made a phone call. "I am about an hour away from you and I am leaving the house right now." 

I was dicing up tomatoes for salsa. He passed by, tossing me his phone. Google this address for me. He has a truck for sale. He just put it up an hour ago. He has had a lot of calls, but no one has made arrangements. If I like it, I am putting a five hundred dollar deposit on it. He said he would hold it 'til I got there." He headed for his shoes. I brought up the address, and kept my mouth shut. He knew what I thought. 

Out the door he flew. 

I had my own stuff to do. I had already canned 5 quarts of stewed tomatoes. I was turning another 5 quart crockpot of tomatoes into 5 quarts of spaghetti sauce, so I was chopping onions and peppers and garlic for that. I set up 4 cookie sheets of tomato skins for dehydrating. I talked to my youngest daughter on the phone. I made meatballs.

In the end, Tim returned home triumphant. He had bought a truck. It was from California. No rust. Chrome deer guard. Nice tires. Aluminum wheels. 

The seller was a nice fellow. When it came time to write out the receipt, he said that he could not read and write. He had a sister who took care of those things for him. He went into the house, and came out with the receipt, which he signed and gave to Tim.

Tim mused over that while we ate our spaghetti supper. "He knows trucks and does great body work. I'd guess he is in his seventies."

I said. "Well, I don't think it was uncommon for young men to leave school to take care of their families. My grandpa..." I trailed off. My grandpa would be about 120 now. This fellow was not much older than we were. The realization came as a shock, as once again I realized my own age.

So today, we drove up to get the truck. Surprisingly, Tim took the money in cash for him. He just felt like it would be easier for him. 

I didn't know how safe that was, but he had his mind made up. He knew the guy could count. 

We drove the hour to get there. We saw this: 

I can't imagine someone spending thousands of dollars to have a chainsaw carving of that man square in the middle of the front yard. There's a picture for your picture window, alright. It is not even very good. Look how big his hands are. 

Anyways we pulled up in front of a tidy little house. A neatly dressed man with a bushy mustache stepped out of his garage and walked out to meet us with a brisk step. Tim and he talked. We gave him a ride over to the AAA to do the title change and get the new plate for the truck. 

We handed him the money. He was a familiar face there and every greeted him by name so I assume this was not the first time he had sold a vehicle. The woman doing the paperwork took him around a corner and helped him count the money. 

When the paperwork was done and we were walking back to the car, I asked him if he wanted us to take him to the bank to deposit it. "No, no," he replied. "I have a safe in my house."

So, we got him back home. There was a gray haired man with a ponytail in front of the garage. "Looks like you have company," I said.

"That's just my brother. He really wanted that truck. He already had a truck. I told him no."

Just something in his voice made me think that he really didn't care much for his brother. I was even surer of it when we all got out of the car. He immediately headed to his house. I noticed that he had that money concealed on the opposite side from his brother.

I was sure at that point that there was a problem in that relationship. 

We changed his plate for our new plate, Tim said, 'follow me'. He drove off in his new-to-him truck. 

We stopped for lunch about halfway home, and then headed off. I was following Tim still. It was such a pretty day, with autumn colors. The road got very twisty. Tim got further and further ahead. I was pretty sure I knew where I was, so I wasn't too worried. I just kept my eye on that far ahead green truck. 

I came to an intersection and I intended to turn right, but then I saw that green truck far off in front of me. He had gone straight. I simply assumed that he was taking another route, so I continued on straight, keeping that far off truck in my sight.

As I traveled along, I noticed I was catching up to that truck. Eventually I got close enough to see the dog's head out of the window. I was following someone else's green truck!

It made me laugh, but it was a pretty day for a drive. I knew where I was and I knew how to get home.