My little green buddy Grouchy has been quiet lately; He's been keeping to himself, not being too demanding and in general just being very well behaved; This is a condition I'm not used to as he's normally quite boisterous, loud and very demanding. I found it odd but explained it away as him being the knucklehead is and thought nothing of it.
Today however, things fell into place for me and his behaviour became clear.
I heard the loud blast of air horns from the front of the house; Either a freight train was about to roll through my house, or there was a prime mover out the front blasting away on the horns; Fortunately it was the latter. Grouchy had the gall to look somewhat surprised, but I saw through it and before long he was racing out the front towards a big Mack Anthem container truck.
My delivery! He shouted with enthusiasm as he went.
Your what? Was all I could say, as tried to imagine what he had done, what he had bought and why it needed a prime mover to deliver it. I followed him out though, curious, and afraid at the same time.
But Grouchy was gone and I got no answer. He was outside helping the driver back the big rig into the back yard. You can see him below doing just that.
Once in a suitable location the driver pulled up and began the preparations required to place the container on the ground, the container of which the contents were still a mystery to me. You can see the truck and trailer here below - An impressive looking Lego Technic construction.
The truck was impressive, I have to say. A big build with loads of components, working steering, stabilising arms and container loader cranes.
But the glorious truck wasn't enough to stave off the feeling of dread at what might be in that container; I was starting to get an ominous feeling, especially since I recalled misplacing my wallet and credit card for a few hours a week ago. Had Grouchy taken it and made a purchase? No, surely he wouldn't do such a thing.
The process of getting the container unloaded was pretty cool. There's a series of shafts and gears, operated from the back of the trailer, that lift it then tilt it over and lower it beside the trailer and once there, the chains are disconnected and it's ready to open. Obviously loading is done in reverse.
The container is lifted off the retaining points on the trailer above. You can see one of the stabilising legs has been lowered.
Here the container is tilted over and away from the trailer until it clears it completely.
Above the container is lowered to the ground and the chains can be disconnected.
One it was on the ground Grouchy was over there working the locking mechanism on the container as fast as he could. I could see him shuffling from foot to foot as it was being unloaded but now it was all hands on deck, an amazing feat considering Grouchy has no hands.
I held my breath as each door swung open and then dared to peer inside...
Are you serious Grouchy, I exclaimed when I saw what was inside. A scooter. You bought a scooter with my credit card without telling me?
I looked at the little fella who had the sense to look a little guilty whilst still managing to keep his excitement level at 11 out of 10!
I had to admit though, it was a cool looking scooter. I pretended to be angry still, although it didn't last long.
Grouchy was pretty happy with himself and asked me to take a shot of him with it which you can see below. Can you see the excitement on his face?
To be honest he did well on price with it haggling the scooter-shop guy down to a pretty reasonable sale price so I'm proud of the little nutbag for doing that. I'm annoyed that he didn't tell me what he was doing, and that he stole my credit card, but I can't stay mad at the little guy for too long I guess.
We watched the container truck reload the container and off it went to the next job leaving us to admire Grouchy's new scooter.
Grouchy can't ride bikes but figured he could learn. He knows how much I enjoy riding and so figured he needed something to ride around on also. I think he made a reasonable choice and once I teach him how to ride I think he'll have a lot of fun.
No doubt the little green bastard will have a few adventures on the bike and I'll probably document a few here for you. Now, I'm off to teach Grouchy how to ride.
Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default - Tomorrow isn't promised.
Be well
Discord: galenkp#9209