Now All I Need Is A Gun Rack

Sara Jean has wanted one for years, since Mom gave us her set of "Friendly Village" dishware. We've had no place to display it. So a week ago I took my own advice...
By opening a "Macy's" charge account I got an additional 10% off a China cabinet that was already reduced 30% in price.
...No interest charged for one year, so I'll be paying the loan back with dollars that are of less value than the ones I borrowed. (See the post immediately below this one.) What a deal, huh?
We're far enough from the store, they won't deliver it... we gotta go get the thing. And that will be no small matter... the distribution center where we need to pick up our new piece is all the way on the other side of BigTown, a little more than two hours away. As you can see, this cabinet is a two-piece affair... the top is mostly glass to display the dishware. The bottom is fronted by two big doors which, when opened, reveal two shelves and two drawers for storage of flatware or the remaining small body parts of folks who show up on our doorstep wearing anything with Barack Obama's image on it.
Put together, the two pieces are 82" tall, 17" deep, and 50" wide.
Obviously, when we go to pick them up they'll be in big cardboard boxes...
Not a load we can shoehorn into the back of a 4-door sedan. I need a pick-'em-up truck.

How often do you find yourself in this position?
Me? I find myself needing a pickup three or four times a year, minimum. The last time I needed one was when I took five 30-gallon containers full of crushed aluminum cans to the recycling center. That effort earned me something like $78, which, considering I had to drive 3 hours round-trip seemed a little sad. Add to that the fact that I always return a vehicle with a full tank of gas and it was even sadder. Add to that the fact there was a stiff wind when I stopped to fill the gas tank that ripped the big door from my hands and slammed it into a short concrete pole protecting the gas pumps, dinging the door to the tune of a $120 repair on the borrowed truck, and the $78 for recycled aluminum ended up being philanthropic environmentalism on my part. Look, I care about the environment, but the only reason collecting and crushing the aluminum cans was attractive was because there was money involved!
I needed/wanted my own pickup.

My neighbor two doors down lost his job in the Spring. Unable to find work, he's slowly been selling off his possessions, including an old 1988 Chevy Silverado. When I saw the "For Sale" sign I asked "how much?"
"$800."
"What all is wrong with it?"
"It runs good, but the gearing is wrong, so 70 indicated is actually 55 m.p.h.. And the rear main seal leaks pretty bad... I just keep adding oil to it."
I drove it. It ran fine and sounded good. I paid him and brought it home.

So I've owned this ratty old thing now five months or so, and I've been waiting until I have the time to replace the seal myself, (I'd need help to do it right), or until I have the money to have an expert do it. And then I noticed something...
When I went out to start the truck a couple weeks ago, there was no oil on the dipstick. WTH?
A leaky rear main would not empty the crankcase while the truck was sitting.

I took the truck to my mechanic for repair and told him what I know...
"The former owner says the rear main seal is bad, but the oil is getting out statically, somehow."
My wrench-twister called me yesterday-
"The oil pan has a hole in it. Looks like someone scooted the engine across a concrete floor on the pan and wore a hole in it."
Me... "Fix it."

So now I have my pickup.
Ratty lookin', runs great... I don't have to worry about where I park it.
I paid $800 for the truck and $300 for this repair, and I'm kickin' myself for not having it fixed sooner. If it wasn't illegal, I'd put a gun rack with a lever action .30 cal rifle in the rear window.

We'll go get the China cabinet my first day off work...
In MY pickup truck!