I don't suppose anyone really wants to hear what I did this past weekend, considering that it was more of the same. Another weekend of painting, scrubbing, moving things around, carpet laying and cleaning.

So, I will try to find something else of merit to talk about. Like knocking the tail light out of my pickup truck while loading up the front clip off of an old Chevy pickup truck. Despite selling a lot of old car and truck parts, I still had a few parts on my land, including an old cab and front clip (which consists of a hood, fenders and other parts, in case some of you aren't junk savvy).

It was laying on the side of the hill and someone decided it might make a good rifle target. I wish the rifleman had made a better choice in selecting targets. After being used for that purpose, it was pretty much ruined for any use other than scrap metal. I realized it was bullet-ridden some time ago and was planning on taking it off; however, I didn't have the chance to move it until this past Saturday. Not only did I manage to haul away what was always an eyesore but later became a worthless eyesore, I also got to pay a visit to the area salvage yard. The man who runs it looks sort of like a mix between two parts Jerry Garcia and one part quintessential mountain man.

Anyway, he takes in used appliances — stoves, refrigerators, washers, dryers, etc. — and scrap metal and then hauls them to the scrap yard in Statesville to be recycled. He also takes rusted automobiles, mobile homes and almost anything else and tries to make the most out of it. When I go there, I am always amazed by the amount of refuse produced by modern mankind.

Saturday he had a working wringer washer that someone had discarded, complete with the wringer still on top and in good condition. I guess whoever owned that one must have passed away and the heirs decided it wasn't worth using anymore. In all actuality, other than the obvious danger to hands and health, a wringer washer works very well. Most people today just don't want to take the time to feed their clothes through it. It is too easy to just push the wash button and come back when the buzzer goes off. That's what we do at home.

There were also all kinds of other things, especially vintage automobiles. Old Chevys, Fords and Dodges rust silently side by side, lined up as if on parade at a vintage car lot.

Some are on blocks, some missing parts, some are complete and look like they could be driven down the highway.

I have to be careful not to look too much at the stuff, I don't want to end up coming home with more junk than I haul off.

So, treating them like the junkyard Sirens they are, I usually turn my head when I pass by so I am not tempted to do something foolish.

Almost anything you can think of is in the salvage yard, from animal cages to store shelves, roofing tin to barn siding, it's all there. I suppose it could be equated to the Wally World of Junk, if a reference is needed.

As I was saying, I was loading up the front clip when it got away from me and flipped over the side of the truck, taking my taillight out as it went over the edge and slid down the little hill it was sitting on. A taillight is a very necessary thing for a vehicle to have, or so I have been told. Of course, the salvage yard didn't have one. My truck was made in the 1990s, not the 1950s, like most of the junk there.

So, I am without truck as I search for one at below dealership prices, which could run as much as $90 for each lens. I immediately made a big ‘X' through that option.

Anyway, I finally managed to get it loaded by myself after a few choice words and lot of dragging, pushing and shoving. I later came back and picked up two doors, an old dryer and a bunch of brake parts and finally returned, with the help of a friend, to load the cab.

We rolled it off the hill first and watched as it turned at least 25 somersaults before coming to rest in the roadway below. I tried to talk my friend into riding inside of it, since it still had the seatbelts, but he wouldn't go for it. Once we got there, the cab was lifted off the back of the truck with a big tractor and tossed on top of another big pile of scrap metal, all headed for the recycling bin.

If I hadn't known about the salvage yard nearby, I would've had to haul the stuff much further and not been able to get rid of it nearly so easily. I finally found a taillight Monday evening at an area parts store for about $40. Thank goodness I didn't have to pay more or pay to have it installed. Considering the busted taillight and the tank full of liquid gold, I mean gas, that I burned up in hauling all that stuff, it ended up being some very expensive junk. I just wish I had been on the receiving end of the cash.

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