On 3/24/2014 7:13 PM, Tekkie® wrote:
The Daring Dufas posted for all of us...

On one occasion, I ran out of gas on the Interstate a mile from an
exit and gas station. I was in a 1980 Dodge van so I removed the
dog house(engine cover) next to me, removed the air cleaner then
dug through the junk in the back to see what I had in aerosol can
that was somewhat combustible. I found cans of telephone housing
cleaner, carburetor cleaner and starting fluid. I sprayed the phone
cleaner into the carb then started the engine and drove the van
down the shoulder of the highway at a low speed as I sprayed
cleaner a little at a time until it ran out. I switched to carb
cleaner and was able to reach the exit, coast down it, roll up to
the service station then use starting fluid to get up the driveway
to the gasoline pump. I wasn't so disabled at the time and could
have walked but I'm lazy and really didn't have the time to go
through trudging around with a gas can. ^_^

TDD

That was one CLEAN carbatooter. Yeah we had one of these vans in
ambulance service. It wasn't too bad to pull the doghouse but the
radio work involved was a biatch. One of the guys went begging for
$$$$ for mag wheels and it did look sharp to the tune of winning best
appearance in any parade we entered. Used to wax the front & mirrors
for bug protection and had to pullover a couple blocks away to clean
it Throw the towels under the bench seat where no judge ever looked.
It was a workhorse, never let us down except for the heavy duty
Leece-Neville alternator which loved to eat diodes because they
didn't like heat. Had Cole battery switches. Way before electrical
management systems. CPR in the back was a real treat... One of the
new recruits wanted to impress us and we gave her the job of washing
and spiffing. Ok until she used Armour All on the leather bench
seat. Grab rails tested on that run... Learned my lesson (I thought)
on instructions. Next female wanted to do same cleaning thing. No
Armour All to be used. Came back later to check. She had waxed the
windshield... I guess daughters weren't taught by fathers/boyfriends
about vehicle washing. I got other stories about fire trucks. Those
days were great and even the bad calls were "good". We didn't know
about PTSD then everyone sucked it up. I remember some calls that I
know affected me. I never minded getting woke up at 3 - 4 in the
morning to take some old lady to the hospital that was ill or end of
life. The ones that I didn't like were the drunk driving crashes.
The innocent victims. Cops would recognize the offenders or one
would hear about their records. Different times...

No one should ever disparage firefighters and paramedics around me,
especially if I'm holding a loaded firearm. Back in the 1970's I was
working on a lot of two way radios for taxis, law enforcement and public
safety services. I was also fixing electronic sirens which was a lot of
fun when I tested them. Paramedics saved my life twice last year and if
anyone needs to be admired and appreciated, it those folks. I already
admired the paramedics for the job they do but my admiration was
greatly increased after they helped me last year. ^_^

TDD