In 1999, Cinnabar bought a brand new Ford Ranger for the superintendent to use. We had talked about replacing it the last couple of years, but the truck seemed to be bullet proof. Last year we put a new transmission in it, but it still felt like it had more to give. Last month it turned over 250,000 miles and began to show it's age until it couldn't give anymore yesterday. 251,236 miles. I really enjoyed this truck and I have a lot of memories with it I thought I'd share.
- Driving my daughter home from daycare singing wheels on the bus and having many one sided conversations.
- I rear ended a woman who suddenly stopped for turkeys crossing the road. There were no injuries (human or turkey), but when she told me she was friends with an owner I just about lost my lunch.
- Sleeping in it overnight numerous times on the evenings when I deep tine aerated the greens.
- Another overnight at the golf course when I had to run the water treatment manually. I had to wake up every 30 minutes.
- Taking our son Benjamin out early evenings to set raccoon traps. He always wanted to see the pictures the next day.
- Getting stuck on the side of the cart path at midnight when I went to check on a pump station that I thought was going to flood. It was dry as a bone.
- The day I (maybe Cinnabar) spent $500 to get it thoroughly cleaned after I quit smoking. Money well spent.
- Either the year 2007 or 2008 where it seemed like I locked my key in the car once a month.
- Driving the kids around the block in back of the bed.
- Driving other superintendents around and having great conversations.
- Having not washed it with a hose from 2013-2016 due to the drought. I'd occasionally drive through the sprinklers or let the rain wash it.
- Still trying to explain to my kids what a cassette tape deck is and the difficulty of trying to buy children's music on cassette.
I'm very fortunate to have the opportunity to use a company vehicle and it was a great one. I know it's just a truck, but I'll look back on it fondly.
