When you're 16 years old and in high school, each and every happening is usually a grand adventure. It's something to tell your chums about, because it marks you as bold, someone to whom things “happen”. When they're humorous things, it makes the happening even better. Include parents, rain, a muddy Tennessee day and a moving truck, and the tale becomes worth repeating. Subsequently, you have to have the correct props, but it's kind of hard to carry around a wide piece of wood to illustrate your story. So, your audience will just have to use their imaginations.
A Little Background
Prior to beginning our story, you should be aware that just outside Nashville, Tennessee is a small concern named Mount Juliet. It's the home of Charlie Daniels (yes, I can point out where his house is). Mount Juliet sits atop a rise in the ground, making snowy curvy roads lots of fun on which to drive at times. It makes things miserable, though, when your house sits off the road where the landscape dips some. The rain puddles, the mud is sometimes impassable, and just going up the driveway to make it to the school bus is quite a job.
Now, imagine a couple who happen to be my parents and who both drive into Nashville to work. Their vehicle is parked at the street in front of the house most days to better facilitate a quick getaway every morn. They both work in office buildings on opposite sides of the city. One would drop the other off at work and then proceed to their job. Back at the house, as the rain continues, the water pools deeper and deeper in the driveway all the way up to the side door steps of the house. This is an important point to remember in this scary tale of Do-It-Yourself (DIY) moving.
What Happened
My parents had bought a house closer to the city, making it easier and quicker for them to commute to their employment. Consequently, they rented a moving truck, and we were loading it. It had been raining for weeks, it seemed, and the yard was one heaving mass of mud. My Dad had backed the truck down the driveway, with the back as close to the side door steps as he could squeeze it. A large piece of plywood was used as a loading ramp. So far, the loading of the truck was going without a hitch. The rain made things a bit wet and unpleasant, but we were dealing with it.
The Hard Part
At this moment, the truck was fully loaded. My brother and I got in one of the cars with me driving. I was expecting the truck to pull out of the drive, so I could follow it to the new house. We noticed Dad having trouble getting out of the drive, and so we walked back down the driveway a safe distance away to watch in order to see what would happen next. He made an effort to rock the truck. No dice. He tried putting Mom in the driver's seat and jacking the back of the truck out of the mud. That didn't work, either. Lastly, Dad put the long, wide piece of wood underneath the back tires of the moving truck.
The Scary Part
You should be cognizant that if you're going to use a piece of wood to get your tires out of the mud, you need to examine which direction the wood will go when your truck gains traction. In this case, it shot like a projectile right through our living room window. Shards of glass were all over the place, the truck shot out of the driveway, Mom was surprised and almost didn't make the turn onto the street, and Dad stood silently in shock. My brother and I found all this extremely humorous and were laughing our teenage heads off. Consequently, we all got out of there as fast as we could and never went back.
Moving is no fun sometimes, but there are days it can be very comical and other days it can be downright scary. What's your horror story involving DIY moving? We'd love to hear it!
