Wondering Why I Did That

OK, here I am, all stiff and sore again. Why do I do that to myself? Well, I usually have a good reason, but not always. This time I think I do have a good reason.

You see, it is like this. Many years ago when I wanted to get back into camping, a fellow sold me a truck camper made for small trucks. At the time I had a Ford Ranger that my son had bought and then couldn’t pay for it, so I took it over.

Anyway, I get it on the truck and get it home. On the short trip home, I noticed that it rubbed on the roof of the truck's cab. Not good, so when I got home I borrowed a set of jacks to get it off the truck. These jacks were owned by another buddy and they were long pipes with a base to keep them standing upright. Had a wide bracket assembly that caught on the edge of the slide-in camper. This bracket would slide up and down the pipe controlled by a cable and a rotary ratchet type hand operated winch.

I got it lifted up enough to drive out from under it. Purchased some treated 1 x 4’s and attached 6 or 7 of them to the bottom of the slide in camper. This lifted it up three quarters of an inch or so, plenty to clear the truck’s cab roof.

I had just got out from under the camper when the cable broke on one of the jacks, the one on the side I was on. It knocked me down but since I was only under the part that fit over the sides of the truck, it spared me from any serious injury, but the camper did not fare so well. The pipe went through the side and also up through the roof.

I patched up the holes as well as I could, put new cables on the jacks, and put it back on the truck. Moved it over out of the way and jacked it back up and removed it from the truck. There it sat all these years. When hurricane Ike came through, a tree fell on part of it. It had just become a storage place for junk.

I had a man come to pick up some scrap metal and also some trash. While he was here, I had him drag that old camper out into a clear area. He told me to burn it as is; that would save a lot of work and cost. Since we were then under a burn ban, we hade to wait.

I got thinking about burning it and decided against it. Too many things that would put pollution in the air and also a lot of screws and metal parts (it had aluminum paneling on the outside) that would leave a real mess. So, three days ago, I started tearing it apart. I made two piles, one burnable and the other trash / scrap.

On the third day, yesterday, I guess I pushed myself too hard. I had turned it upside down and had it all disassembled except for the roof. I was already tired, but with only the roof to go, why quit now? Getting the wood off the metal roof proved to be a tougher job than expected.

Bent over with a crowbar and claw hammer, trying to get the wood, etc. removed from the roof got my lower back a hurting. I was just too stubborn to quit that close to being done. Then I couldn’t stand up. Oooops !!! Now I went and done it!!! My lower left back, ouch. . . Must have pulled a muscle that attaches to the hip bone. This morning, I am still hurting and can’t lean over. Not fun, but it is my own fault. I am wondering when I will ever learn . . . .