It seems that a neighbor down the street (who shall forever remain nameless!) needed to do a small welding job on the back of his expensive motor coach. Instead of renting a welder and doing the work on his own site, he decided to back his coach close enough to the tool shed to use the company welder. What he didn't know has hurt us all!
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| (Photo by Lee Marks) |
Beneath that grassy spot he was backing over lay three of the park's septic tanks. Our friend couldn't figure out why the back wheels of the coach suddenly sank into -- and below -- the ground. The frame of the coach was resting on the ground and the front wheels on the passenger's side were up off the ground! That's when someone told him about the septic tanks below!
There was no way he, or anybody else, was going to get that rig out of that spot. A wrecker had to be called!
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| (Photo by Lee Marks) |
Not just any wrecker, mind you. but a BIG WRECKER! The kind that can tow out semi trucks. He deftly pulled that marooned motor coach right up and out of its septic snafu! We're told that it was great entertainment for the crowd that had gathered to watch. Nobody (probably including the coach's owner) wanted to even try to estimate what it costs to engage such a motorized marvel!
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| (Photo by Lee Marks) |
With the coach out of the way, the spectators could review the damage. Clearly, the lid on at least one of the three septic tanks was broken. But what about the other two? How much damage had they suffered?
The site of the dirty deed was temporarily covered over with a slab of plywood. The entire area was marked off clearly with a fence of "CAUTION" tape until repairs could be scheduled.
It took a week and a half, but the "repair regiment" did arrive. Of course the big back hoe and pumper truck had to make the hole worse before they could make it better!
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| (Photo by Misty Katz) |
Those of us watching the operation quickly learned to move upwind to the process. The aroma wafting forth from the work site would have a dismal future if ever distilled into a perfume!
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| (Photo by Misty Katz) |
What a smelly mess! But the workmen seemed not to mind at all as they pushed dirt, pulled dirt, piled up dirt, and suctioned out the unspeakable -- and invisible -- mess from below. In the midst of that putrid odor, they had some good news for us: only one of the three lids was broken and none of the tanks was seriously damaged. To make them feel useful, I guess, they replaced the lids on all three tanks. The extent of wear on the middle tank prompted the park owners to have them replace that one tank while they were here.
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| (Photo by Misty Katz) |
Even replacing just one tank looked like a big job to us, but they handled it so smoothly and quickly it was clear that this was not the first time they have done such a dirty deed!
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| (Photo by Misty Katz) |
Within five hours, the unpleasant undertaking was completed, the site again hidden with innocent-looking dirt. The back hoe and pumper truck and their skillful crews were on their way home. Or, perhaps, they were off to another aromatic adventure for that day.
