Birthday Boy

Today was my birthday. I turned [undisclosed] years old. I did this for the first time in my life, can you believe it! I was allowed to sleep in a bit but was up anyways. No need for parents or dogs to rouse me this day. Today was the day of the boat trial. The Big T and I went into town first thing to get a fabled McBreakfast and to drop off my truck. I noticed previously that the lights on the trailer did not agree with my truck. They did work with the T’s truck which is odd in of itself since they are quite similar. To remedy this anomaly I brought it to the dealership to leave for the day on the off chance they had some spare time to have a look at it. It took a few attempts to explain my issue with the mask on and their protective sheet of plexiglass, nearly had to shout. We returned home and started loading up for our trip to the lake.

The first item of note is that the Big T didn’t remember how to get to the lake. I did, in vivid detail. I probably haven’t been there since I was around fifteen, which was many years ago. It is so much the same that it delights me. We got the boat backed down the surprisingly good boat ramp and into the water without much fuss. I paddled in and picked him up and we paddled out a few feet into some deeper water. I hadn’t given more than a couple of tugs on the cord when a police car stopped at the top of the ramp and fully uniformed OPP officier sauntered down the ramp to the water’s edge. He wasn’t there for us though, he was checking on two gentlemen out fishing in a canoe. Not sure if he knew them or suspected them of drinking or what was happening but he wanted to watch them for a moment. We chatted cordially with him before he walked back from whence he came and departed. Good thing he didn’t run the poorly wired on plate from the trailer, ha! After a few tugs and some worry I got the motor running. There was an element that I didn’t comprehend and still haven’t figured out on the tiller. It affects the speed and limits things to enable better trolling. I’ll have to research how it works. We were going quite slow with it wide open until I fooled with that knob and the front end shot up in the air and we started to fly across the water. I nearly dumped the T out of the boat with that move.

We stayed out on the water for nearly two hours which is pretty good considering the Big T is not a fan of boats or fishing. I did kill the motor and list for awhile, trying to fish some weeds to find the namesake of the lake. I didn’t get many bites but I did remove a good amount of leaves from the lake. I was using a nice new soft plastic paddletail on a jig head and am excited to get more use out of that sharp looking combo. I’d bite it if I was a fish. We explored the lake for a bit, it was much, much larger than we anticipated. Very sneaky. When the fun was done we headed back at a fair clip. I dropped the T off then started getting in position to load. The issue we had was the Big T backed the trailer in on an angle and there were no guides to tell where it was sitting. There was also a crosswind to make things difficult. It only took one try to get it on the trailer and then one adjustment to square it up. All in all the virgin voyage went much smoother than anticipated, I’m such subsequent excursions will pose more problems for me. On the way home we stopped off at the house for lunch. We found some leftover sausage in the fridge and mixed them up with scrambled eggs in a wrap. A fairly modest lunch, but tasty. After eating, we hauled the boat back to the shop and were in the process of unhooking when we got the call that the truck was ready. We decided it was a nice enough day to open the T roof of the Corvette and take it for a trip into town. The Big T’s maiden voyage to town in the car he had for over a year. He was pretty cautious but we had to make a stop before getting the truck. We went to my aunt and uncle’s house who had mocked him for buying the car and drove up their driveway and proceeded to rev the engine until they came outside. It was pretty awesome. Beautiful cars like that tend to make people smile.

After shoving it up their collective hoop we drove through town to pick up the truck. They said there was nothing the matter with my truck and everything was working fine, no errors, etc. They gave me an invoice for $0.00 and I was on my way. I drove down to the marina to try the lights on my uncle’s boat trailer (with his permission) and everything was perfect. I headed back uptown and stopped in at the tire place to see if the new tires and rims I’d ordered were in yet and to drop off the rim they’d lent me the day before to ensure it fit on the trailer. It’s amazing what goes on in a small town, that’s what I remember about growing up there, that the people were fantastic. It’s not something I see anymore. The stuff wasn’t there yet and he said it would arrive later and he’d mount them for me and to come back in the morning, which was fine with me. I went to the shop and tried the truck on my trailer and it still didn’t work. I found a ground wire that was broken and rammed it together and everything worked fine. That was a win. Time for dinner.

After some debate, we opted to order take-out from a lesser known place in Earlton. I got a maple sriracha chicken sandwich that was exquisite. Best thing I’ve had from a restaurant in months. Hi yo! I also got a small brisket poutine just cause it was my birthday and poutine from Earlton is better than where you get your poutine. When French people make it, it gets made right. Most of the world doesn’t even know how to pronouce it. Anyways, I’ll avoid the soapbox and tell you about the cake. When I woke up in the morning there were three different boxes of cake mix on the counter. I chose carrot cake over angel food or chocolate. I guess that was my mood at 6:30am. It was a strong choice. We took a break and flew the drone and had some laughs before cake but it was great. We watched whatever was on until it was near bedtime then everyone shut it down hard.