Rules for transporting manure

RULE: No manure will be transported in either car, not even the trunk. It is only to be hauled in the trailer. Period. There are to be NO exceptions.

Now, I still maintain that getting horse manure all over the back of the car was not my fault. At least not entirely. It was not me that was driving. Okay, it was my fault that the lids were not on the pails as securely as they could have been but if the driver had not slammed on the brakes they would never have tipped over and it wouldn't even have been an issue.

My DH and I both know that the kids down the street have their Fisher Price basketball hoop set up at the edge of the street all summer long. We dodge them every day on the way home from work. In an effort to keep the peace, we thoughtfully try to avoid hitting them or running over their ball. So, even without the pails of manure in the back of the Forester, he should have slowed down when we turned the corner and saw the kids playing there. If he had done that, when the ball rolled out on the street in front of us and a kid ran after it, there would have been no need to jam on the brakes. The pails would NOT have tipped over and the lids would NOT have come off.

But....he didn't slow down soon enough, and he did slam on the brakes and the pails of manure did tip over and the lids did come off. And that is how manure got all over the cargo area of the Forester. In an effort to cheer him up, I promised to clean it up and I did. Do you know that he didn't even thank me???? Even though I promised that the next time I would hammer the lids down really tight, he just rolled his eyes at me and passed his law.

Actually, I was quite surprised at how easy it was to clean up. Fresh horse manure is a lot drier than fresh cow manure and a whole lot less smelly. It was pretty easy to just sweep it into a shovel and put it back into the buckets to carry out to the back yard. A couple of little spots that needed to be sponged came clean with a wet wipe and in no time at all the car was clean as could be.

Personally, I don't see what the fuss was about. It is his WORK vehicle for hauling tools and assorted work stuff in. It was filthy and smelled a whole lot worse when we bought it than it did after the manure mishap. Accidents happen. Although I feel my DH over reacted to this little mishap and his ruling is a bit 'over the top' I can live with it.

The manure was intended to turn my cold frame into a hotbed and I did use it for that. Transportation problems aside, the hotbed experiment didn't turn out all that well. It was too late in the fall before I was able to get the manure. However. I did plant things in the cold frame and once the snow is melted off it in spring, I am hoping that I will have a few salad fixin's by April or so.

Gwynn

Gotta admit I laughed...as did my wife when I read it to her. Such a visual in the storytelling.

Now, the fact that the driver can't realize his part in this is telling of regular people all over this world. And, these people make my blood boil with their attitudes.

That said, I'm glad you got everything staightened out.

Speaking of manure, ever wonder where the slang word that starts with 's' came from??? These are urban legends, but still funny, and yes, the 's' word is used.
http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl-s-word.htm

So it is a nautical term! How cool is that!!

We have a sailboat and I find it quite amazing how many terms that are in common usage that come from early nautical language.

Gwynn

(but it isn't, really...the rest of the etymology is at the bottom of the page)

LaFee wrote:(but it isn't, really...the rest of the etymology is at the bottom of the page)

ROTFL!! Guess I should have taken the time to read the whole page!!

Gwynn

Very, VERY important to snap down the lids of the buckets. Just as key to not slam on the brakes. I have no one to blame but myself since I was in charge of both these key components of the manure transportation system!