The Wild Bunch

Now this is going to be a long one.
But with the weekend coming up,
figured you might have time for a
long story.

For some reason men aren’t satisfied with
working 5 days a week. Some have to
have something to keep them occupied
on weekends too. One of these was retired,
the other two had good paying jobs, so
it isn’t the money… I think it is because
they can play with the equipment. Tonka
Toys of the grown men.

This is the story of the Wild Bunch.
And takes place 20 years ago.
There are 3 main characters, Marv, Chris
and KT. The names have been changed to
protect the reputation of these men. These
3 were always the first one there, when any
one needed help of any kind. That is just
who they were. And mostly without pay.

They could be called the 3 Musketeers
as they were all for one and one for all.
But that name has been taken.
Or maybe the 3 stooges as the trouble they
get into, but that is too strong and that name is
taken too. They are more like Laurel and Hardy,
but then there was 3 of them. So I have named
them the Wild Bunch for lack of a better name.
These were honest, hard workers, fun and coffee
/beer drinking buddies
.
Let me introduce you to the Wild Bunch.

First is Marv. The oldest, smallest of the three.
And known affectionly by the other
2 as Dad. He has 40 years of experience in
welding and mechanic. Both diesel and gas.
Jack of all trade- of plumbing, carpenter,
electrician and willing to give anything a try.
Mastering most of it. Marv had been slowed
down because of a series of operations,
5 by-pass surgeries over 8 years.
Marv is the pessimistic of the 3. To him the glass
is half empty. And a perfect foil for Murphy’s
Law. His 2 main loves was hunting and
fishing and working on vehicles. He didn’t get to
fish very often but he made sure he got his
hunting in.

Next is Chris. He is the middle and tallest one.
He is Marv’s opposite. To Chris, the glass is half
full. Chris is the stabilizer to KT’s and Marv’s
impatience with working on vehicles. Chris sees
the best in everyone no matter who or what they
are. He is the calm in the middle of KT’s and
Marv’s storms, and when things go wrong.
By trade is a foreman on a railroad track crew.
He, too, is the jack of all trades and master of
most of them. His loves are his family and his
equipment and being with the 2 other Wild
Bunch guys. He also likes hunting.

KT is the youngest. He is tall and heavy
set. Has to take a lot of kidding about his
round belly. But don’t be fooled …this man
moves and moves fast. He has the impish
smile of a boy who got caught with his hand
in the cookie jar. By the trade, he was a welder
for the railroad crew. He, too, is a jack of all
trade. KT is the practical joker of the 3.
Chris and KT call each other Sonny. He
loved hunting and his mom.

The 3 are workaholics, will help a friend out,
and always have time for a small child.
Especially Rosie, Chris daughter. All have a
sense of humor, they can and do laugh at
themselves.
While they will go out of their way to help
anyone, anyone who tries to take advantage
of any of them gets the wrath of the other 2.
Now you know the Wild Bunch. Here are
their stories.






The Truck

The boys were working on the Studebaker
dump truck. This is an old truck, that Chris
bought, that looks like an old army truck.
They got it all scraped and sanded and ready
to be painted. Got the truck started and drove
it over to the front side of the trailer to the
steam cleaner. After steam cleaning the whole
truck off, they went to start it, to be able to take
it back to the garage. The truck wouldn’t start.
After many tries to start and failing they decide
to tow it with KT’s pickup truck. Being the
Studebaker is a 10 yard 20 wheeler, it is
pretty heavy. KT went around to the front of
the Studebaker and towed it towards the garage.
Half way across the yard the Studebaker started .
At which time Chris driving the Studebaker
pulls on the hand brake as hard as he could…
locking all wheels. Which brings KT’s pickup
to a fast halt. About throwing KT thru the cab.
KT jumps out and asks in good strong language
"what the heck are you doing?" Chris replies
in the most innocent voice. “It started.”
“So why did you stop so fast”, asks KT?
“I got it started so I didn’t need you anymore, Sonny,”
Chris replies innocently. Marv who is watching
all this is laughing so hard tears comes to his eyes.
It took them a month to get the new motor and
transmission in.

Studebaker’s First Load..

Chris and KT had promise a lady a load or
two of gravel. So after completion of the Studebaker
dump truck, they went to get their first job. KT
loaded the Studebaker to Chris’s satisfaction. Off
Chris goes to the site 10 miles away. Chris was so
proud. His truck with its first load. He smiled and
waved at everyone as he drove down the road.
Friends, strangers, he didn’t care. He was proud
of his truck with the first load.

He got to the lady’s house. She was so thrilled, the
first load of gravel. Chris was proud. He backs up
and goes to unload the truck. The truck bed won’t lift.
Too much gravel in the front of the bed of the truck.
So Chris tells the lady, he has to go back and unload
some of it. He drives back the 10 miles, not waving or
smiling at anyone, with his hat pulled over forward so
they couldn’t see his face. He unloaded part of the
load and returns to the lady’s place and this time the
truck dumps just fine. Chris is still proud of his
Studebaker dump truck.

Wrong job

KT gets a call from his brother. There is a logger
who needs a road snowplowed out. Up to the skidder
they said, pass the gates. KT who is always in a
hurry, calls the guy to find out who far up
the road, and was told almost a mile , but he
didn’t get the directions to exactly where the
road was. He goes with the grader about a
mile down the road. Up the Long Mt. Rd.
with his brother following in the pickup.
Plowing for about a mile and half. No
sight of the skidder or logs. So the brother
returns to the house to calls the man
up to find out how far up and where it was.
It seems it is not Long Mt. Rd. It is
the road that is about 150 feet from
KT’s drive way. The brother runs up that
road and sure enough he sees the 2 gates
described and the log piles and a skidder.
The Forest guys were probably wondering
what bunch plowed up the Long Mt. for
2 miles…. What bunch???
the Wild bunch, of course.

Another wrong job

The boys had gotten another snow plowing job.
A friend of theirs wanted her drive way enlarged
to a line of cars. And then wanted a particular car
pulled out of the snow bank on the other side. She
was going to sell it and needed it out of the snow.
So the boys go over and enlarge her drive way.
Then they plowed over to this car, and towed it out
for her. Leaving it in the driveway, so when she
got home it would be ready.

They called that night to ask her if she like the job
they did. She said, well it was ok, she guess. She
really like the enlargement of the driveway. But why
did they tow out the red car? She and her kids had to
shove out the blue car that she wanted to have out.
She never let them live that one down. She said if she
had to do it again, she would put a flag on the car, so
they would know which one it was. Lol…

The Wild Bunch, great guys who enjoy a good
laugh even if it was on them.