Ol' Cantankerous (standard:humor, 393 words)
Author: Anonymous	Added: Dec 12 2002	Views/Reads: 3103/3	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Life on the Farm....

Ol' Cantankerous Life in the country is like life anywhere. There are
days we are as bored as a post and days we are as busy as a cat in a 
sand box.  Once in a while a situation will arise that is so funny it's 
like watching a personalized sitcom and retelling does not do it 
justice.  One of those sitcoms played out before me one warm spring 
day. 

Farmer husband, Daniel, and my dad were in the field by our home. Daniel
had been readying the field for planting with a 21ft. field cultivator 
and a Case 2590 tractor.  Also present was an'81 Chevy pickup that was 
as cantankerous as a mule about starting.  The Chevy held the fuel tank 
needed for refueling the Case tractor. The men had finished for the day 
and needed to move the equipment out of the field.  Ol' cantankerous 
refused to start.  Usually the quickest way to start a vehicle with a 
standard transmission is to pull it with another truck. The problem was 
there wasn't another truck. 

One of them had the bright idea to chain the Chevy to the back of the
field cultivator, which in turn was hitched, to the Case.  You could 
see the little mind wheels turning.  Why mess around with puny 
horsepower when massive horsepower was available.  Just a little tug 
and it would start right up, they reasoned.  So with dad in the pickup 
and Daniel in the tractor, off they went. 

The Chevy sputtered and died several times.  To gain speed Daniel raised
the extensions on the cultivator. He meant business.  Down the length 
of the worked and bumpy field they went with the pickup bobbing to and 
fro like a can on a string.  The raised extensions were flapping like 
an oversized goose trying for altitude. There was so much dust you 
could scaresly tell if the pickup was still there. 

Up and down the field they went with dad hanging on for dear life. 
Finally, mercifully, they gave up.  Dad had so much dust on him he 
looked like a stand in for Aunt Jemimah.  They decided to check one 
last thing – the gas gauge.  Empty.  Irony of  Ironies.  Although there 
was a tank full of fuel in the back of the truck, it was diesel.  Ol' 
cantankerous had won again and they walked home. 


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