I finally installed a fifth wheel hitch on my truck, now I am scared to go to the coast. Some years they scare us with shark attacks, some years the water is just ugly with the red tide. This year they amp'd up the creepy factor by pumping the headlines straight out of 70s and 80s B movies. The latest scariest thing is flesh eating bacteria in the water and sand. Who is going to want to hang out on the beach with headlines like that? To make matters worse, there are now three cases, so I don't believe we will be stepping on sand this summer.
Of course my mother likes to help, "oh yeah, the first victim looked just like you Junior, big and with a goatee, and everything." Thanks mom, I like to be compared to people fighting to keep their skin. After hearing about the first case, I still thought ehh, he was probably sick or something, but we are now on case number three. I had nail surgery, and it is still not completely healed. I can see the bacteria getting in through my toe, I don't think so.
Being a thinking man, I thought if the beaches and salt water are too dirty, how about a nice lake? Lake levels are back, the stories of them drying up was yesterdays fear. This year has been too rainy, which I think is contributing to the out of control bacteria. Too many things are getting washed down the land and into the rivers and ending up in the gulf. Normally, I would be scared of lakes too, but we haven't heard of people getting it through fresh water contact, only from salt water.
That hitch install was a hoot and a half too, since I mentioned it. I already owned the hitch, it was on my 1999 F-250 which I sold to my father in law. He said to take it, I just wanted a new one, but I saw that he painted it black and it looked pretty good. So I went to Crestview RV where we bought the two RVs we have owned and asked if they had the rails first of all. I had them on the other truck, but I could not remove them. I was not surprised when the guy said $199, even if they were just two metal bars. In the other two trucks, I also had wiring connectors inside the truck bed, and the wiring for that was $95. The best part was talking to the service guy. He said installing the rails would take four hours and the electrical would take one hour. I said fine, how much? He calmly said their hourly rate is $120. I thought he said $20, I was like cool, then he said it'll be about $600 plus parts and taxes. I could've fainted, a light "fuck" burped out of me involuntarily, and I stumbled outside. I told Wife, who was waiting for me in her car since we were dropping off the truck overnight. She made me go back inside and try to get a better deal. I went in suggested to the guy "what if I buy a new hitch, is install free?" I might pay a little more, but at least I get a new hitch was my thinking. He said no. He then explained that I could get rails specific to my truck, they would bolt right in with the screws holding down the box to the frame, but those rails cost $500. Less labor, but more expensive parts. Guy said, sorry, it is what it is.
I felt a little better today, the guy said they ran into problems installing the rails but he had already quoted me four hours, so they just worked on it until they finished installing it. I walked out the door paying over $1000 to install a hitch I already owned. My asshole is going to be sore for awhile, but the work looks good.
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