The driveway to the residence above was very narrow and hard to access. But there's more than one way to skin a cat! Just pull the hose over the hill through the woods.
Coming back up was a bit harder.
It took some doin', but the hubs, aka "the gas man" talked me into going to work with him today.
With wintry weather predicted for next week, the phones have been ringing off the hook at Hardy Gas Co., and the boss asked a couple of guys to work today, a Saturday, to catch up on some orders.
Robin agreed to put in the overtime and invited me along. I wavered, tempted to stay in my pajamas for at least a couple more hours, but I finally decided to go.
The frost was thick and the air chilly as we began his route after fueling up with a fast food breakfast.
"The gas man" had sorted through the thick stack of orders that he brought home last night, so he had it all planned out where we were going to go.
We started out with a couple of stops in the White Oak and Twin Creek areas, then progressed into Powell County, making stops on Happy Top Rd. (not the Happy Top I was familiar with), Spout Springs, Little Hardwicks Creek, Campton Rd., and a bunch of other roads that I've forgotten the names of. Eventually, we made our way back down Tipton Ridge into Ravenna.
We made quite a loop, and I could definitely see the wisdom of grouping orders like he did. Otherwise, a driver could waste a lot of time and fuel criss-crossing the countryside in search of customer's homes, some of which are located in very remote--and steep--areas.
In all, we made 16 stops to unload propane in tanks--some of which were 500 gallon-sized, some 320, some 100.
Just tagging along, I observed that "the gas man" has a lot more active job than you might think a "driver" would have.
Once he gets in the customer's driveway--which is probably the most challenging part of the job, maneuvering that big ol' truck around some very tight spots--he has to pull the hose to the tank.
Some tanks are just feet from the drive; some are several dozen yards away.
The hose is on a reel, which makes it easier to pull in a way, but there's some resistance and the hose is kinda' heavy. (I pulled it a few times, just to see for myself).
After the tank is filled, he pulls the hose back, then winds it back up on the reel, being careful to do it just so, otherwise it might hang up on the next stop.
Besides pulling the hose, "the gas man" had to climb up and down out of the truck a couple of times at each stop, once to pump the propane, and once to calculate the gallons and charges owed, then print the ticket to leave with the customer.
The gas truck is obviously much higher than a car or even a regular pick-up, so there's some working of the gluteus maximus going on there. (No wonder he looks so dang good in them overalls!) :)
"The gas man" informed me that today was a relatively easy day. I'd say so. If it were snowing, or raining and muddy, some of the locations we visited today would be flat-out treacherous.
At lunchtime, we fueled our own tanks at Bruen's in Stanton. Talk about carb overload! Roast beef Manhattan and homemade coconut pie?! Whew.
But all in all, it was a pleasant day driving around in the boondocks, sitting in a warm truck enjoying the sunshine with my hubby. We saw some interesting sights, that's for sure.
I don't think I've ever seen a mailbox put together quite like the one below.
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