Back Saving Tip for SUV Owners

[NVcurmudgeon]

We are the proud owners of "her" two week old H3 Hummer. It has all the accessories SWMBO wanted (everything) and is a bright and merry yellow in color, because she got tired of being ignored in her silver-gray Saturn. Last weekend Fran went to CA to show off her new ride to her cruel wicked sister. While parked in a shopping center, the Hummer got apparently a blue Slurpy thrown across the back end. (I could speculate what sort of cretin committed this vandalism, but that would be verboten politics.) Today I took off the outside spare tire and washed off the yuk. Removing the tire was easy, just bounced it down. Up, not quite so easy. At 130 lbs., age 71, and with a questionable back I didn't think simply lifting it up would have a happy ending. Instead, I rolled the 100 lb. tire (she got the big everything) up on a short block of 4 X 4 placed right behind the bumper. That made the tire a little higher than the bumper. It was easy to lean the tire against the bumper and then lift the side on the block until it was the top of the tire sitting on the bumper. After that one of the bolts that holds the tire was about half an inch away, and a little rotation action got all three lined up. Piece of cake!

[Boz330]

As you get older you get smarter because you get tired of the pain. I have to laugh at some of my customers that do things the hard way. When I do an inspection on a hot air balloon the fuel tanks have to come out of the basket. These can weigh anywhere from 78lbs to 135lbs with fuel in them depending on the capacity. They unstrap them and then pick them up and hand them over the side which is waist high or more. Plus there isn't much room to move in there. When I do it I unstrap the tanks move them all to the same side and tip the basket over and then slide them out onto the floor. No lifting involved. I've had a bad back for years. Comes from being macho when I was young and dumb. Much easier to work smart not hard.

Bob

[NVcurmudgeon]

Once upon a time I trimmed the shrubs in front of my service station. I left the branches for one of my high school employees to pick up and put in the dumpster. This brilliant youth picked up a load of branches and trudged fifty yards to the dumpster, then went back for another load. When he returned I was gently rolling the dumpster back and forth on its wheels with one hand. I commented how easily it moved. He cave me an excrement-eating grin and trudged back for another load. When he returned to the dumpster I asked him what we did with the dumpster when we closed the station. His answer was that one of us rolled it into the lube room, and turned to go back for more branches. I had to suggest that he roll the dumpster to the branches and save himself the hike. This was in an affluent California suburb. I guess rich kids don't learn yard work!