With a Little Help from my Friends

Today I backed myself into a corner. Thankfully, I was able to utilize the all-important skills of prodding, cajoling, and outright groveling down to the wire in order to get the job done.


So here's the story:

knew all week that I had to go to Lincoln to pick up the mixer (pictured above) and salad prep table I'd purchased on Monday. I rented a truck and enlisted my brother to help me; however, the seller made it very clear that no fewer than four people could lift the 500 lb. mixer out of the truck (we used the seller's mechanical lift to get it into the truck). As I drove back from Lincoln into a bitter wind with the sun setting behind a wall of clouds, Steve leveled his gaze from the passenger seat and said, "You don't have anyone lined up to help us, do you?"

Rather than answer that question, I instead reached for my cell phone (safe driver's note: I was wearing my ear bud). As the truck began to list dangerously in the wind as my attention to the road ebbed, I quickly began to dial my three friends who were both male and not in Bourbannais opening a new Kroger, thus qualifying them for heavy lifting detail.

My first call was to SNS Joe (SNS is street for Steak 'n Shake) Ritacco; I knew Joe had class at night, so I maxed out the truck at 75 and sped toward town, hoping against hope that he wouldn't mind being a little late.

Realizing that three people is only 75 percent of the way to four, and also pondering how difficult this lift would be when one of the three happened to be me. Assuming the mixer weighs 480 pounds, it's a bit of a stretch to imagine a guy who has never benched over 135 pounds in his life deadlifting and holding my equal share of an unevenly weighted piece of machinery.

Thankfully, I had an ace up my sleeve. Lucus "Happy" Hellmer works just up the road from where I'd be unloading, and I'd already conscripted him into some light demolition work a few weeks prior when we took sledgehammers to the store. He had his reservations about doing grunt work in his shirt and tie, but thankfully today's duty dealt exclusively with squeaky clean material.

I consider today a triumph, since it's always the little things that you take for granted that can wreak the greatest havoc. Had I not been able to find those two extra bodies to help with the equipment transfer, I can see my stubbornness having led to heavy things falling off the truck and breaking in ways that cannot be fixed...at least for cheap by me.

Therefore, my deepest gratitude to the three brave souls who I have to imagine would have preferred doing just about anything rather than jockey an ornery mixer off a Budget truck in the frigid November wind. Sometimes only friends and family can save you from yourself...or in my case my acute procrastinatory proclivities.

...which makes me wonder how much fun I'm going to have painting my storefront as winter draws ever nearer. Stay tuned.