This morning had to take Dad to Missoula for two doctor appointments. When we were getting ready to leave I was doing my pat down to make sure I had everything (wallet, cellphone, car keys).
I realized I did not have my cellphone and I told myself I needed to get in case Jennifer needed to get a hold of me. Then it struck me, well that was not going to happen. Old habits die hard, kind of took my breath away.
On my last couple of trips over here, I remember Jennifer talking about a friend of her Dads that had a junkyard outside of Missoula. If they came over this way, they would have to stop and see Vern and his junkyard on the way back to Butte. She always talked about how she hated that because it was going to be a couple hour stop as Vern and Mick talked cars and car parts.
Mick was always looking for a good deal. He would buy cars and fix them and then peddle them. He would often pick up used parts from Vern to complete his repairs.
Poor Jennifer's Mom would sometimes forget what car she was driving when she went to the grocery store, because Mick would peddle them and pick up another one.
There was one time when the box boy was trying to help her find her car. He was asking her simple questions like what color it was and poor Rose could not remember. Of course these were the days before remotes and being able to hit the panic button to find the car. Thankfully the Safeway did not have a huge lot and they eventually found the car.
There was at least one time that Mick went out for his afternoon donut and he sold his car at the donut shop and ended up walking home.
It was his form of entertainment.
There was also another time that my Dad was looking for a new truck for use around the ranch and while at the Donut shop Mick got a "hot" lead on a potential truck.
So he got the details and passed them on to my Dad. My Dad was still working at the time. Well turns out this guy and his truck was at the KOA campground. So Dad gets talking to this guy and this guy in addition to the truck had a bunch of tools he was also looking to sell. Anyway Dad is not getting good vibes from this dude but he plays along but is starting to put two and two together. This guy had no idea he was talking to a federal law enforcement officer. So he tells the guy he will get back to him. He the calls the local cops and give them a rundown on this guy and all the stuff he had.
It turns out the guy was on the FBI's Most Wanted List and all the tools and other stuff he was peddling were stolen goods. Dad got recognized for getting this guy off the streets Anyway, we had some laughs over that over the years.
Well enough old stories for today. My poor brother-in-law Jim has many more about Mick and his car trading days and how it cost him money but those are stories for another day.
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