My fiasco of an outing

[Long Mike]

Some days it just doesn't pay to get out of bed.  It all started this morning when I backed my Suburban up to the boat trailer and tried to hitch it up.  The receiver on the trailer would drop onto the ball OK but there was no way I could get it to latch down.  I tried raising and lowering it, shaking it, jerking it, banging it with a hammer and every thing else I could think of, but it would not latch down.  Finally, in desperation, I sprayed everything with WD-40.  I again lowered the receiver onto the ball and it latched with ease.  Go figure.

Finally on the road, I drove from Tulsa to Lake Skiatook (about 30 miles).  The moment I got to the boat ramp it started raining heavily.   I sat around for about thirty minutes and the rain didn't let up. So, I called my daughter and asked her to have a look at the National Weather Service radar.  She told me there was large cell in the vicinity, and that it would probably be at least a couple of hours before it passed.  Thoroughly disgusted, I drove back to Tulsa, and into sunshine.

When I got home, I checked the radar myself and discovered that the cell my daughter was referring to was due South of a place called Ponca City - nowhere near the lake.  The radar did show a couple of Popcorn showers that popped up over the lake and then fell apart right after I left.  Needless to say, I was somewhat perturbed to learn that my daughter was Geographically Challenged.

Back to the lake I went and was graced with a partly cloudy sky.  I was boating alone so I kicked off my new sneakers, put on my flip-flops and backed the boat into the water.  Because I drive a Suburban, I can't see the boat without opening the cargo doors.  No problem, I opened the doors, backed the boat in, and got out of the truck to get the boat free of the trailer.  Without realizing it at the time, I kicked one of new my sneakers into the water as I got out of the truck.  Luckily it landed right side up.  I waded around to the back of the truck and checked its cargo area before I launched the boat. Sure enough, I had neglected to place my tackle box in the boat.  There is a door lock button in the cargo area on the rear post.  I must have hit it when I reached for the tackle box.  It has a fifteen second delay on it, so I didn't hear the clunk of all the door locks until after I had closed the cargo doors. OK, so now I have a locked truck with the keys in the ignition, setting in water up to the running boards on a busy boat ramp and a new sneaker that is slowly floating away.  First things first.  I fired up the boat, chased down the sneaker and then tied the boat at the dock.  I waded back to the truck and found that there was no way I could get into it without breaking out a window.  I found a boulder about the size of my head and decided to break in through the window on the right-side rear seat door.  I swear, that glass must be bullet proof!  I literally ended up throwing that boulder at the glass and it would bounce off without a scratch.  After eight or nine attempts, I gave up and decided to try the front seat passenger side.  The boulder went through the glass like a knife through butter, scattering glass as if I had thrown a hand grenade into the truck.  The first thing the boulder hit inside the vehicle was the console and it knocked the lid off its hinges.  The boulder, and a lot of glass ended up in the drivers seat.  I do not want to discuss what those objects did to the leather in the seat.  I'll cry later.  OK, so my truck is still in the water.  Twenty minutes and several lacerations later I had removed the boulder and enough glass out of the driver's seat to allow me to get the truck out of the water.  That was a big relief!

I then reminded myself that despite the fact that it was now 3:00 PM my intent since 6:00 AM had been to try to catch a few bass.  So, I hopped in the boat and went tooling off across the water.  I was so angry with myself that all I wanted to do was haul azz across the water.  I did this for about an hour and then cooled off enough to try fishing.  I found a point and half-heartedly fished it for about twenty minutes, all the while thinking about all that glass and blood  in my truck.  Needless to say, I gave up and headed back to the landing.

In my absence, a Park Ranger came by, noticed the shattered window, and left me a note advising that he had notified the police of the break-in.  Luckily he also left his phone number, so I was able to cancel the Red Alert.

And then the kicker.  I had the boat out of the water and was getting it ready to tow when a Game Warden drove up.  He had the audacity to ask "Had any luck today?"  What I said to that poor guy is not fit to print.  Let's just say I was VERY vocal about the luck I had had.  He never did ask to see my fishing license.

[Cajun1977]

dang mike  i wouldnt leave the house if i were you  at least until the months over.  your having quit the stretch

[Long Mike]

Cajun, these days I seem to be the Poster Child for "If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have any luck at all."  Do you want to hear more?  This afternoon the battery on my Suburban went South.  

Tomorrow morning I'm going fishing.  

[KU_Bassmaster.]

Not a good day ..... but I bet in the future it will be one of those days that you will look back at and chuckle

[YaHoo]

me and my dad recently had one of these days where the truck was broken into and the 3 day old satelite radio was stolen.

then the trolling motor went and a rod snapped on ? some kind of fish?

it was a rough day and were giving the month of july some rest.

Its 100 degrees anyways.

you'll do good tommorow.

all your troubles mean your due for a good day:)

-YaHoo

[roadwarrior]

Well, if it's any consolation, that's a GREAT story. You need to send it to Uncle Homer.

p.s. I carry a "man bag" with some little emergency stuff, wallet, watch and keys. I also keep a SPARE KEY in the bag... 8-)

[Guest the_muddy_man]

Hey Mike I coming to visit you and give you some pointers on how to run that new boat of yours

[Deb]

What a sucky story! I would say the word squirrel but I'm afraid a boulder would come sailing into Ky and just happen to land on my boat.....just as I was launching......sorry bout your day. At least you admit yours............not all of US do

[Guest Bountiful_Waters]

Holy cow, that is some story. I thought you were gonna say the rock hit the gear shift and your truck rolled into the water! Better luck next time.

[jaystraw]

OUCH!

Sorry about the day.  Next time will be better as you have used up all the bad luck.

[dgquail]

Sorry about that

[Guest avid]

Hey Mike,

Wanna go fishin?

Call me when you get your window fixed, trailer hitch greased, learn how to avoid rock slides, and can keep a pair of sneakers on your feet, teach your daughter how to read a weather map and most important.  Get back on the good side of that game warden.

I'll be right over.  Gotta test out my new helicopter lure.  

[KU_Bassmaster.]

Holy cow, that is some story. I thought you were gonna say the rock hit the gear shift and your truck rolled into the water! Better luck next time.

Well at least he had that going for him.  Hopefully today was better

[Long Mike]

Hey Folks, I went fishing today.......AND ....... NOTHING HAPPENED

[frogtog]

Well Sir Mike:

[bassnleo]

Next time I'm thinking I'm having a bad day I will read your story again, WOW.

There's always tomorrow...

[burleytog]

Remind me to never ever fish with you.   ;D