What Caused The Accident???

Yesterday my Blog entry was entitled…”We Survive A Terrible Accident. If you missed it, you can read it by clicking this link…
http://wp.me/pDCku-4

I’ve had a number of people ask me…”What caused the accident?”. I’ll answer that question today.

First of all, this is the vehicle involved in the accident. It’s a 1952, 6 wheel drive, 2.5 ton truck chassis built by General Motors Corporation. You can read all about this vehicle by clicking this link…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GMC_CCKW

Mary is sitting in the front left passenger seat. This is where we both were sitting when the vehicle rolled over to the left until it ended upside down. We had a real good view of the happenings!

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

This is the scene of the accident…

and here’s photo of what caused the accident…

That bolt slips through a hole on the tie rod and is affixed there by a nut secured by a cotter pin which holds the nut in place. After I got out from under the vehicle, for stability I leaned against the front left tire which, because the vehicle is upside down, is now on the left side as you look at the photo of the accident scene. While there another guy pointed out the missing nut and cotter pin and said..:”Here’s the problem!”. Sure enough that’s what caused the accident. Once that nut fell off the bolt and separated from the tie rod assembly, the driver could no longer steer the vehicle.

Now you know what caused the accident.

Late yesterday morning the owner of the Thunderbird Lodge and hence the tour company, stopped by to visit with me…Mary was in the motorhome sleeping. She expressed her apologies and condolences and told me that she and her chief mechanic had just returned from the scene of the accident. She acknowledged the missing nut and cotter pin was the cause of the accident and will do what ever it takes to make things right. She also told me she has been here for thirty years, that they have made several thousand of these trips into the canyons without an accident. I’m most pleased she came to visit me and with her attitude about the whole affair.

I’m not of a mind to sit down and write a long story of the accident. However it’s my intention to provide short daily Blog entries over the next few days until I’ve covered the whole story. For further details, just continue to monitor the Blog daily for the next few days.

We both feel a whole lot better this morning than we felt yesterday. It appears we are both slowly healing.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
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A TRUCK, FROG PURSE AND SPICE TINS

No one ever had a  yard sale where everything sold.  And, when you retire, there is no such thing as a day off. We fill up every day like there is no tomorrow, considering ourselves lucky that we can.  I figured it out, a garage sale sounds profitable, but in terms of preparation, moving every thing at once, then dealing with the aftermath, it was not worth the work.  At least not for me,  living out on a rural road without the benefit of “walk in” traffic.

But the people who came were infinitely interesting. This customer had an unusual frog purse and I photographed her. She told me everyone makes a fuss over that purse and wants one, but she can’t remember the catalog  she ordered it from, and it isn’t stamped with a company name.

I had one customer who insisted I should sell him my truck. He kept offering me a hundred dollars and the keys to his van. Then he’d up the amount of money. So, I tried to sell him an exercise machine for $2.  (He looked like he needed one.)  He claimed he was bored. He goes to garage and yard sales for something to do. I told him, throw out your television set and you won’t be bored.

The last  I looked my truck was still there. It served as my desk, lunch table, and gathering spot for the neighbors who pulled up the lawn chairs and chatted. Late in the day, we broke out the chips and wine. Jim brought out his portable fire pit that kept us warm during the morning chill.

My daughter claims, you offer everything you didn’t sell  free. We did that and got rid of a few  items. One man gave me a donation for some free stuff. The donation came to more than I was originally charging for some old spice cans. Go figure?

Others sat and chatted with us, enjoying the yard regaled us with tales of their own yard sales. One woman drove away and said yes I want that file cabinet (it was a freebie) but not today. Will she come back?  Was she serious? Only time will tell.

By the end of the day, Karen, Jan, Jim and I felt just like this-deserving a rest. The clean-up is still ahead of us.