Chapter 4

Checking connections took a couple of weeks. We replaced the gaskets and one split hose ... and chased spiders, and chased spiders, and hunted spiders. During this time, I titled and plated the 123 and assembled the ‘brauereihaus.’

That’s what the boxes that the 24 by 24 shed were labeled.

Hergestellt in der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik
BRAUEREIHAUS
7.5Mx7.5M

And that creates a dilemma.

“Boxes?” the stray kibitzer asked.

“Ah, yes.” I knew this was coming.

“Loaded in a pickup?”

“Nope. Too long.”

Wait for it ... ah ... success.

“How did you get them home?”

“Sarcasm will get you no-where. I brought them home with my forklift.”

“Do tell ... please.”

“I believe I mentioned that I didn’t get the running forklift.” (That was in chapter 2.)

“I so recall.”

“I got the heavyduty ... broken ... lift. The telehandler.”

“What, pray tell, is a telehandler.”

“A little less sarcasm, please. Come look.”

“Holy Shit!”

“Pretty ain’t it.”

“It was broke?”

“Air Locked.”

“What’s that mean?”

“No fuel to the injectors.”

“You fixed it?”

At the risk of offending Diesel mechanics everywhere, “If there isn’t a hole in the block with a rod sticking out of the hole ... they’ll start ... and sometimes ... even with the hole. I loosened the fuel lines, purged the lines from the fuel tank ... ran the external fuelpump lever by hand until the air was gone ... cranked it ... one cylinder fired ... then two then three ... that was sufficient to get it home ... a call to the cops ... they escorted me ... lights ablaze all the way. Regular parade ... all that was missing was the band and the garbage can guy.”

“The box is 30 feet long...”

“The street is 35 wide and no on street parking.”

“Ah...”

“The problem wasn’t getting it home ... the problem was ‘how did it get here?’”

“What?”

“That was what the government wants to know.” I gave it a quick minute, “Hergestellt in der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik”

“What?”

“German Democratic Republic ... East Germany ... in 1980 ... how did he get it here?”