Pirate cloud

 Last week Dada was in Colorado for work and Thing 1 went with to meet a bestie. For whatever reason the pictures I'd like to add of those meetings aren't loading, so use your imagination. They had a wonderful time and squeaked out of Colorado and back to Ohio not only before the storm hit, but just as the rain started turning to snow.

In preparation for the coming storm which was supposed to dump snow ranging from 8 to 20 inches according to folks on Twitter and various weather predictions, Dada recommended putting the tractor in the garage, facing out, ready to go.

Small problem(s). One, I've never driven the tractor. There are already three People Who I Live With who know how to do that, so I haven't felt the need to learn. Two, the mower deck was still attached and that clearly wouldn't be necessary. Three, I am not what I call "a farm girl" meaning my backing up skills aren't nearly what they would be if I was used to backing up a trailer filled with hay bales on a regular basis. I just don't. I don't even back into the garage in my own vehicle. 

Dada says over the phone, "the directions should be there." Yes, printed directions. My favorite. The light is failing and I have the boys bringing in wood while I attempt to figure out all the vocabulary I need to know in order to remove the mower deck. 

"These directions read like stereo instructions." -Beetlejuice  

If you saw a horrendous black cloud over our general area, that wasn't the Weather, not yet. That was my disposition and pirate-y talk and tears of rage as I tried to get the mower deck off. After more phone calls, poor Dada gave up on my mechanical skills and phoned a friend. Thank heavens for friends! Especially ones who Can Do Stuff.

Said friend came over, cheerful and competent, lamented the inadequacy of the printed directions (to which I felt incredibly gratified), declared a certain piece which I hadn't been able to budge "stuck" and proceeded to unstick it. He then trundled around and backed it into the garage for me. 

I paid him in cake.