On Tue, 25 Nov 2008 06:04:25 -0600, "Karl Townsend"
wrote:

OK, everybody, you convinced me, I'll pay up.

Let me tell you the whole story.

Several years ago, I was putting a new drain valve on a low spot in my
irrigation line and I didn't have the correct gate valve. So, I sent my
better half to town to get what she could find and ended up installing a POS
Chinese one from the discount store. (This is four feet under ground and
reached by putting a vertical pipe over the handle and then a stick and
fork)

Well, just before freeze up, I try to drain the line and the handle broke
off. No big deal, I get the back hoe to dig it out. BUT, I for got the line
Tee from the main four feet at this header and I hit the main with the
backhoe and bust it all up. Now I'm in trouble. It took week to get the
parts, about $400 worth. it rained in the mean time and the hole was a slimy
mess. I turned out I had to dig the line up for thirty feet in the mud and
most of it by hand. I ended up spending four days on the job. it was so
muddy, that I couldn't use the loader to push the dirt back in the hole, the
tractor just would spin the rear tires.

The drain Valve I got, didn't look that much better, so I said, I'll put a
four foot culvert down to it. Nice and large, keep the valve handle out in
the open. I hook a chain on to the culvert and drive back to the shop. The
kid has parked his car where I should go, the wife has parked eight feet to
the other side. I'm a slime ball mess, so I try driving the tractor right
between the cars. I should have looked back sooner, that culvert caught on
the concrete lip and stood straight up. It must have taken 15 seconds before
it started tipping over, of course directly at her car.

Then I made my biggest mistake, I blamed her for parking all her stuff in
front of my shop.

We had turned in a total loss to insurance a year ago and a fender bender
shortly before that. So, I shopped for a used hood thinking I could just
paint it myself. I'm worried the company will jack out rates for being
accident prone.

Anyway, that ten dollar valve is costing about $1200 to replace and about
four days of the most awful work you could ever do. Plus, the wife will tell
this story for years.

Karl

Don't they always?
Gerry :-)}
London, Canada