Canned ‘Possum
Return to the daze of my youth.
Catching ‘Possums
Have you ever caught a ‘possum? I’ve caught several
I caught a ‘possum (Opossum) in a humane trap some years ago. Took him out into the country to let him go as I only wanted him to stop stealing my eggs before I got up each morning to collect the eggs from the hens.
When I got where I intended to release him, he refused to come out of the trap. I picked up the trap and started shaking it until he dropped to the ground. Then he jumped back into the bed of my truck.
I didn’t hit him but I did use a stick to chase him out of the bed of my truck, and when I closed the tailgate I found him hanging on to the tailgate by his tail. You would not believe the force necessary to straighten the tail of a ‘possum intent on hanging on the back of a truck. Their tails are like boa constrictors when they don’t want to let go.
Finally I pulled his tail free from my truck…. Where did it go? I didn’t see it run away. I look under the rear of my truck and see his smiling face — upside down — looking back at me. He is hanging by his tail from the frame of my truck.
Eventually, after crawling under my truck and using the stick as a pry bar I get him to drop six inches to the ground and run away. And not once did he play ‘possum. As a matter of fact he attempted to bite me numerous times.
On another occasion I heard my dog barking like crazy so finally I went out in the middle of the night to see just what the problem was. There on the ground beside the loudly protesting dog laid an Opossum with just the slightest wound to its neck. I guess my dog had bit it.
I figured it was dead and being that I didn’t want my dog to likely scatter pieces o’ ‘possum all over the yard I put the critter in my big ol’ City of Greensboro garbage can. But just as the ‘possum hit the bottom of the can he came straight back out the top hitting me in my face as he went.
Almost knocked me down, and nearly gave me a heart attack.
And the canned possum is one I found sleeping early one morning. Apparently I hadn’t washed all the cat food out of the can before I put it in the recycling. Yep, I turned him loose.
Then there was the time I mixed a ‘possum with a bunch of Jehovah’s Witness, but that’s a whole ‘nother story.
Throw Away Appliances
What do you do when you manufacture a product so good it never wears out? While consumers prefer such products, manufacturers want you to keep buying new products. So how do the manufacturers get us to buy more.
Planned obsolesce is one way it is done.
In the Summer of 1973 I worked in the parts department of our local Buick dealership — probably the cushiest job I’ve ever had. On the way to work one morning the driver’s side window handle of my Mother’s ‘67 Chevrolet Bel Air station wagon came off in my hand. As I had already learned that every General Motors car shared the same handles back then, I bought one where I worked, and got it at a discount. Yes, I put it on myself.
As it so happened a GM factory representative was visiting us that day. Without looking he told me how many miles the Chevy had on it. Not exact, but within a thousand miles. “How do you know? I asked.
“Because,” he replied, “GM has done extensive testing to learn how long parts last.” He then went on to explain planned obsolesce to me.
We have a WestBend slow cooker in our home that has seen regular use for almost forty years without fail. Recently we lost the cord.
A new slow cooker comparable to the old WestBend will cost me $40 to $60 plus tax, and possibly shipping depending on how and where I buy it. So I search online and find a cord for $15, plus $5 shipping, plus sales tax — a $20 to $40 dollar savings. Still $20 dollars is a lot to spend on such an old appliance. Will it be worth it?
Then I ask myself, Why does it have a removable cord in the first place? It clearly says on the bottom that it is not submersible. So I took it out to the shed, opened it up, found a scrap cord, and added a permanent cord where there wasn’t one before.
Works like new and I’ll never lose the cord again.
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