bashful slide lock pin

[dreadnought]

Went to Ga last weekend to pickup a small herd of goats, (looked like the beverly hillbillies tooling down I-20.)
Stopped at an outlet mall so womenfolk would hush whining about riding too far and I could water the livestock. Opened the side door on the trailer and a goat fell out. Grabbed it and tried to wrassle it back in the door while keeping the other 19 inside the trailer. Glanced around to make sure nobody was watching. The mall cops Goober and Barney were dying laughing and showed no signs of wanting to help. Finally got them all crammed back in & decided to see why they were all bunched up at the front of the trailer. Being smart enough, (now) not to open the door I went around to the other side & peeped through the slats. Barney & Goober watch closely. Seems that bored goats enjoy chewing on trailer light wiring. Different colors must look like candy. Borrowed trailer, not good. Slunk back inside the bus and decided to play with bedroom slide while the women ran through the plastic folding money. Tried to open it before we left the homestead & the pins would unlock but nothing happened after that. Same deal here. Tried 4-5 times with same result. Called Troy at Liberty to find out what I was doing wrong. He suggested raising & lowering the tag axle and/or racking the body with the leveling system. Tried that and the slide went out perfectly on the first try. Cool beans, learned something.
OK let's put it back in. Comes in perfect, pins slam home, irritating little error light blinks. Try again, same thing. Got the handy dandy Liberty rechargeable flashlight & watched pins move. 3 of them knew the slide in the biblical sense but the 4th one would just kiss the slide & coyly back up. Called Troy back. He said either the pin holes were dirty & full of gunk or they need some graphite.

Hold up yall. Granny just came in & said that if she had to go to work JED was durn well gonna get of his rump & go too. To be continued. Baaaa... Baaaa...

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

Good story Bill. Brings back memories of two goats we had. They sure were the dickens for getting into trouble and making you laugh. They could raise and lower ones blood pressure in an instant:D

Can't wait to hear the end of your story. I'm laughing already:D ;)

[Jon Wehrenberg]

This is an open offer to all:

I will take those pesky slide coaches off your hands and give you my non-slide in exchange. The only conditions are the slide coaches need to be Prevost slides, and my wife needs to like the colors.

You won't have any problems with locking pins or goats.

[dreadnought]

Where was I? Oh yeah, gunky pinholes. Went outside, got the ladder out, climbed up & looked in the holes, nothing. Clean as a whistle. Wiped them out with a rag anyway. Started back in the bus & noticed a small group of Mexican gentlemen looking in the trailer with great interest. Barney & Goober watching the Mexicans. Also noticed the trailer light cord was in 2 pieces and dragging the road. Knew right away where that happened. Tried to make a u-turn on Moreland Ave. in Atlanta when we got lost trying to find a Speedco so I could get the bus lubed. Hitch drug the road for about 10' and the cord must have been under it. No wonder several folks told me I was number 1 when they passed. One problem at the time. Went back in the bus, tried the slide again, no luck. Called Liberty Troy again, now what? He said there must be a cabinet door open somewhere in the bedroom and a safety switch was overiding the lock pin. Hung up and looked, all closed. Raised the tag, lowered the tag, gave the bus a severe case of the leans. Nothing happens except a group of locals stop to see if the big bus is going to turn over in the mall parking lot. Decided to move to another spot in the lot to hopefully get rid of Goober, Barney, the Mexicans, and the guy who keeps trolling by with the wrecker. I can't imagine what he thought he could accomplish since the wrecker looked straight off the set of Deliverance. Fired up, hit the park brake and it fell down. No air, guages all read fine. Panic! Evidently you can't move unless all the pins are seated. Called Troy again. Ever the professional he answered "This is Troy" but I could detect an undercurrent of "what in the ^#@! do you want now?" I'm really sorry to keep bothering you, especially after 5 o'clock, but I'm stuck in a parking lot with cops, mexicans, goats, etc. and don't know what to do. He said to open the drivers door, then go outside and read him the labels on the 3 rows of relays. Did so. None of the labels interested him till the very last one. Said something about park brake interlock. Pull that one out. Yessir, but there's no relay in that spot. Could hear some under the breath muttering on the other end. Looking hard. Saw a bright yellow tag under the relay rows that said "Park Brake Interlock" in big block letters with one lonely little relay beside it. Saved! Pulled that sucker out, thanked Troy profusely and asked if the slide would be ok with only 3 pins. He said he'd seen "owners" bring them in with no pins latched. Assured him I would never do anything so silly and promised not to bother him for at least a month.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

OK, Bill...

Final offer....my 97 no slide Liberty Elegent Lady Plus my new Z06 for that defective 2005 Liberty slide coach and that old Z06.

Is that a deal or what?

Keep the goats.

[rfoster]

I am curious, why would a fellow tow a herd of goats with a Prevost,-- cause he can?

The Mexicans were thinking goat enchiladas?

All southern Towns have at least one Barney and Goober, some even have a Buford Justice & son.

Reminds me when I was growing up, there was an old guy called the goat man . He drove a wagon pulled by goats and lived in the wagon with herd of about 20 goats in tow. He stayed on the go constantly - I guess to keep the Mexicans away?:cool:

[garyde]

Great story. I guess there has got to be a moral to the story like 'when towing goats, always keep your slides in' or ' always have 20 goats handy in case your Prevost won't start'.

[dreadnought]

One problem down, one to go. Outside the mexicans have drifted down to the fruit stand I parked beside. Durn! Got to remember Granny ordered me to buy some Ga. peaches from the fruit stand while she and Ellie May are shopping. Rummage through the Liberty SnapOn Toolbox.
No wire strippers, circuit tester, (blew it up trying to test the goat pasture electric fence) & only about a foot of electrical tape. Mental note to buy some tools. 7 wire cable with big wires. Not enough tape to splice all. Oh well, just hookup lights & turn signals. Sitting on the pavement, air temp in the mid 90's, must be 110 on the asphalt. Stripping wires with a dull kitchen knife wondering how much of a lube job I really got at the Speedco. The dreadlocked gentleman who performed the service could not have been in the pit more than 3 minutes. I asked politely if he was sure he found all the fittings. He just stared at me through slitted eyes for about 10 seconds and said "yeah baby I got em." Went in to pay the bill and realized everyone in the establishment sported dreadlocks. Cool. Also explains the faint odor of burning weeds. Concentrate! Sun's starting to go down, Goats are bawling, mexicans are headed back, Granny's been gone at least 2 hours, due back any minute. Wrapping twisted wire splices the size of a pencil with 2" of tape. Done! Run around the bus picking up tools, ladder, rags, etc.. Everything back in the bay, wiped grease of hands and headed for the fruit stand.
Mexican gentlemen peering in the trailer. All in boots, cowboy hats, big buckles, etc. One comes up to me as I'm passing, takes out a truckers wallet with a 2' chain, and says, "senior, how much for the little brown one?"
Before I could answer Barney & Goober charge up, both with hands on pepper spray, and say "boy don't you know you got to have a permit to peddle livestock in this town?" Out of the corner of my eye I see Granny & Ellie May coming across the lot loaded down with shopping bags. I mumble something about a cultural misunderstanding and hustle them in the bus, fire it up, and ease out on the road. Granny looks at me and says with the sweet sarcasm that only wives can, "well! what did you do while we were gone, take a nap?" Clamp jaw shut to prevent answer. Then she goes to the kitchen sink and says, "wheres the peaches? and WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING WITH MY BEST KITCHEN KNIFE?"

[jello_jeep]

Now thats funny right there, I don't care who you are!!!

[mike kerley]

Great story!!! Good campfire material!

My wife loves goat cheese, but I'll think we'll stick with the grocery store variety!

I must remember to review these tales before purchasing a different coach, in case were thinking of one with slides!

[dreadnought]

I've been taken to task, and had my post edited, supposedly for using the word "mex*can". According to the person who edited the post, POG has mex*can members who were offended. I'm confused. The only thing I can tell was edited was my reference to Rastafarians which I believe is a religion. At any rate, since I'm told I commited this offense, I feel the need to let you all know how I really feel about this ethnic group of people. 36% of the employees of my corporation are mex*cans. I find them to be a hard working, god fearing, family loving people who are very loyal to their employer.
I am in turn loyal to them, treat them with respect, and think of them as part of my family. One employee in particular stands out in my mind. I refer to him as "the son I never had," and tell everyone that he is in my will. This should tell you all that the purpose of my story was not to throw off on mex*cans. It was merely an attempt to pass along the sometimes humorous trials and tribulations of owning and operating a million dollar piece of machinery. So you see, I'd be the last person to slander the name of a group of people I have the utmost admiration for. If YOU were offended, PLEASE, send me a private message and let me know. Otherwise... I smell a rat.

[Toy Box]

I think the smell you have is probably coming from the bottom of the trailer. I suggest getting a garden hose and spraying the whole inside of it. When we pulled horses we had to do this almost every trip. Your story gave us all a large laugh, ...Prevost. goats, slides, mexicans, too funny!!!!!! I, too wondered about someone pulling a herd of goats with a Prevost. We usually carry an 07 vette in our trailer, but it sounds like we should try goats on our next trip out west.... probably a lot more fun..certainly better stories.

[lewpopp]

How about the slander on me when JDUB said I was already without gonads, when the truth be known that I am very proud of my family jewels.

[jello_jeep]

Bill, I think the spirit of your tale was obvious. If anyone could take serious offense to that, they are thin skinned, and won't last long around here!

John Wayne was quoted (I belive in "Rooster Cogburn") as saying, "Don't apologize, its a sign of weakness".

Keep up the great tales, it was very funny!

[garyde]

Keep up the good work Bill. I believe you have a future in Short Stories . I found your story to be well written and fulll of colorful characters. Nothing wrong with that. Anyone read a book by Mark Twain latey?

[dreadnought]

Thanks guys. I appreciate the vote of confidence. We're going on an 8,000 mile walkabout in August. I'm operating way above my level of intelligence so you can be sure there will be more misadventures to report.