I don't have family up there, just work that took me there. Took me all over the country really, - mostly Eastern US and West Coast. I'd love to live near the forrest somewhere. We went up in the mountains & forrest in Julian Cal. Really nice country up there. In the early spring it was 80 during the day and dropped to below 40's at night. We were camping in the back of a 'Chevy Luv' ( NOT MY TRUCK ). It wasn't a Chevy, really, but a Japanese start down the slippery slope that Chevrolet fell down.  

Yep, Chevy pullin a Chevy!

I was having one of those 'brain neutral' moments. My tires were spinnin, but my brain was disengaged at the moment.

There's an old military saying that goes " Hummers don't go where the cat-tails grow". If they don't listen, they will be callin in a HEMTT Wrecker - A real bush beast!

I wouldn't worry about it dude, It sounds like your mind's in the right place. Sometimes I do the same thing too when my 'brain's in neutral and my mouth is in drive' - we're all human. If we were perfect we'd be paid a whole lot better at work!!  I can relate to the thing about kids - they are listening to everything you say. If the'yd be listening to dad talk trash about all the crazy hairbrained things I used to do, then they may want to be 'just like dad' - that doesn't give me a warm fuzzy feeling. If my mom knew some of the *** I've done she would faint dead away! We have to lead by example once we are parents - at least when the kids are around. If they're not there, then let the mud fly! I've had to come up with some creative excuses on 'why is there 10-lbs of mud on the top of your truck?"

I had a blue oval once it was a 1980 f150 had a 300 inline six i cannot remember the rest of its stats.

but any way i got it stuck good i hit a little hole the 35" tires should have handled it nicely, only problem was a driveshaft that was left in the hole by someone else it hit the engine crossmember *snap* broke the cross in half i was stuck for a fiew hours the jeep that was with us broke a spider gear in the rear and we were both waiting for a friend in a 1979 f150 to come and yank us out and back to camp i drove that ford home on a broken cross and sold it 2 weeks later as is. the jeep had upgrades waiting on it when it got home now i have the old frankintruck and havent gotten it stuck yet. have only had it out once. ill stick it later im shure...

alwayse remember to leave your trails with all your gear.   it could make for an expensive repair for someone later if you dont...

I remember the Chevy Luv. The last time I saw one of those was about 15 years ago while looking for some body parts in a junkyard in southern Pa. It was the 4wd Chevy Luv that had a cutting torch and varius toolboxes in the bed that they used for removing parts and also for getting through the muddy junkyard roads. Do you remember the Ford Courier, Dodge D50 *** made trucks just like the Chevy Luv?  As far as I'm concerned they were all big piles of poop! You must be a truck driver, right? I've been thinking of getting a Class A-CDL for about 6-months now just not too sure if I want to make that step. If you are a T/T driver do you think this is worth getting into?  

No, I'm not worried about it. As for some of the crazy stuff that I did when living under my Mom & step father's roof, I'm not too sure what she would think if I were to tell her about the crazy things that I have done. I've thought about telling them some of the stuff that I did as there's nothing that they can do about it now. As sneaky as my step father was I felt like I was the little white rat that didn't get eaten by the snake.  

I used to rag my buddy all the time over buyin a *** truck that said "Chevy" on it! I remembet the Courriers too - they were crap too! That's probably why you don't see any of either on the road these days.

I'm not a trucker but was a 'Road Warrior' for 18+ years. - Service tech that drove accross state lines. Racked up a whole lot of miles. Did a lot of flyin all over the country too for this type of outfit.

 I'm not sure if getting a CDL would help you, but I don't think it could hurt in any way. The more things you can do the more power ya got - especially on a resume'. That CDL may be the difference between you gettin a job ya want and someone else gettin it. - "Knowledge is power"!

I wouldn't get into a T/T driving gig at this point. It's too dog-eat-dog right now, and you get ripped off if you don't keep the hammer down in all sorts of soup (weather). It's not the wide opne road enjoyable job it used to be. Ask someone in the industry if ya don't belive me. - (A trucker, and not a guy trying to hire ya for the job).

Sounds like you had some tough times there.

You know what they say: You can pick your friends, you can pick your nose, but ya can't pick your family, and you can't pick your friend's nose!

My dad was pretty tough on me too. He was pretty much a step dad to me, so I'm not sure if I was really his they way he raised me. He passed on a few months ago from sirrosis of the liver. I think he was born with a can of beer in his hand. He did do one thing for me and my brother: He set the perfect example of 'what not to be in life'.  Such is life!!

Most of the best times of my life was between being born to the age of 12, after that it was a total hell. At the age of 12 thats when my parents got divorced. One day my sister and I came home from school and didn't even make it to the front door. My Mother put us in the car and we were off to live with my Aunt Judy. The saddest thing about this situation was neither my sister or myself could tell our friends that we were moving. I did manage to tell my friend Jeff that lived next door that we were leaving in a hurry. If it wasn't for him playing outside I would have never got a chance to tell him.

Not long after moving my Mother remarried to my very strict step-father. Between the ages of 12 and 18 I had a very depressing life but I won't go into detail about it.

For these 6 years I had no way of contacting or seeing my many good friends that I grew up with. This was very hard for me to deal with.

At the age of 18 I moved out of my Mom and step-fathers house and moved in with my real father. This was when I was finally able to get my drivers license and get a job, and to buy my first car witch was the 65' Chevy II Nova that I told you about before. Now I was finally able to see my long lost friends and to be happy once more.

That's rough dude! but it sounds like ya made it through it. I could never put my kids through that. I'd rather have a living hell myself than do that to them. Hang in there!   I had somewhat of a similar upbringing but as you said we'd be boring a whole lot 'o folks on this forum with our tales of woe.

Do you have any pics of your '65 Chevy Nova II you can post ?

I love old cars. I just wish I had the room to keep one. I wish I had my own shop really. I'd start up  a business that deals with old domestics and nothin new! There's a shop I frequent not far from where I live that does just that. He makes a pretty good living at it. A lot of older trucks & cars arond these parts.  Growing up we had a '64 Impala, a '68 Impala, and a '69 Comet - over the years. You don't see that sort of car anymore out of any manufacturer. ( except for the Comet maybe - it kept breaking down, but what do ya expect from a Mercury ).

My first car after I came back from the Nav was a -76 Cutlass Supreme. It had a 350ci, Rochester Quadrajet carb, and a performance cam ( I dont remember the cam manufacturer). I tricked it out and put mags in the rear and small BFG's in the front. You sat at an angle in the driver seat - the way it was angled. I took it up to 128 mph ?? ( the speedometer only read to 120 ) one day on a long lonely road. The constant acceleration was wild, and how there was absolutely no vibration at those speeds. -  Don't let the kids read this *** !!   

 I use to have pictures of it but somehow I misplaced them and could never find them. I wish I had those old pictures just for something to look back on. The only picture I managed to find was a picture of the engine witch didn't come out too well because of the Polaroid instant camera. This camera is from the 70's or 80's and I still own it, but don't use it any more. I'll discribe the car to you.

65' Chevy II Nova Sedan, Corvette yellow, Keystone Classic mags, 283 small block w/350 heads, 4-barrel quadrajet, Mickey Thompson valve covers, one of those small chrome air cleaners and some other chrome goodies, engine painted Chevy orange, mild cam, 350 trans., headers, posi rear 3:73 gears, dual exhaust straight out the back, Sun Super Tach, Stewart Warner gauges mounted at the bottom of the dash, reclining bucket seats, and a center console out of a Chevelle with I'm not to sure what you call them but a H or T shifter. This was a badass car that I miss very much!

When I was a little kid my Dad had  60's and 70's Impalas and a late 60's Chevy truck. My Dad grew up Chevy and so did I.

Some how we both got off track, he bought a Dodge pick-up but still has a 86' Monte Carlo SS. When I first got my license I had to take the driving test in his now gone 76' Monte Carlo. Talk about a big front end! I always told him when your ready to sell the 86' Monte Carlo SS let me know.

I hope I haven't bored or annoyed anyone with my tales of woe... (rolleyes)  

I would not worry about it. Have you read any of my posts lately? I don't mind reading about other peoples problems cause we all have been there sometime in our life. It doesn't matter to me if we are talking about our 4x4's or our past problems. I myself just enjoy talking with you all.  

I enjoy this stuff too, after talking to all the crazy "customers" at work all day long - that you can't haul off and just tell 'em they're nuts! - "the customer is always right" ...so this stuff is like therapy for me. ( Cheaper than a physic anyway! ).

Maybe you, 'aircraftmechanic', and me should start our own forum:

1) I hate Ferds!

2) tales of woe

3) I love 4X4's (except Ferds)

4) off-road & muddin stories

I remember you telling me I was psychic, I think you are also psychic too. I was just thinking about the same thing earlier about starting our own forum.

Too bad we all don't live closer to each other. We could all go wheeling and your K-5 could always pull my truck out of a stuck as Ferds get stuck more often than all the other wheelers.

I love the forum choices.