Rendezvous II
Copyright© 2017 by Old Man with a Pen
Chapter 24
Karen
The fencing began on time. A half a million Mexicans showed up and it was asses and elbows for seven days. There wasn’t a bit of standing and leaning on shovels. There was one white hat ... the surveyor. He had a crew that set stakes and flags and got out.
The fence? It was a beauty.
I was figuring on T-post and got six inch diameter arsenic pressure treated wood rails 3/4” galvanized bolted to creosoted railroad tie posts backed on Circle K with five strand galvanized barbed. 1o foot on center hand dug post holes set in hand mixed concrete. Double tie eight foot stretcher every seventy-five feet. Mr. K was fit to be tied. How El Patron made any money at that quality that fast I’ll never know.
“Is simple, Señorita. THIS fence is our reputation. The NEXT job will be our profit. We will be building fence in the surrounding counties for a hundred years. Long term thinking, Miss Post.”
“You know ... I bought a stripped house trailer to use as housing for a fencing crew. That was another two grand added cost and now I’ll never get to use it,” I said. “The damn thing isn’t even delivered yet.”
“Where were you thinking of setting it?”
“Over on the ancient creek bank just east of the trees.” I pointed in the general direction.
“May we go look?” he asked.
I hadn’t gotten around to cutting up the owl tree ... mostly because I couldn’t bring myself to do it. This winter had been mild for Wyoming and I just couldn’t. I didn’t need the wood.
After I got it together I ordered coal and had it delivered. The Jeep went to Martin’s and Davy installed a 302 and four speed from a wrecked 1966 Z-28 Camaro.
“But, Davy ... I don’t WANT a hotrod. It’s a JEEP! For god’s sake. What am I going to do with it?”
“I can get a standard 283 or 327 from a dealer for four times the price. But this was all Sonny had ... and you know Sonny ... three prices.”
We said it together.
“Five bucks, fifty bucks, five hundred bucks,” we said. We both laughed. Sonny was famous. A single bolt cost five bucks and so did a tri power manifold with carbs. A Pinto motor was fifty, the Camaro 302 with transmission was Five hundred ... or the engine was five hundred and the transmission was five hundred. It all depended on who took it apart. Get in and bust your balls and it might even be free. Sonny was a lazy bastard. If he pulled it ... he made sure that the trans didn’t go with the motor. After he finished using the tools ... he dropped them in the mud.
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