BAILING WIRE

Living 5 miles north of Parkfield makes me just about a one hour drive to our closest town, Paso Robles. The return trip takes another hour plus shopping time so what usually happens is that most of the day is gone by the time you return home. So, how do you fix things without going to town? Almost on a daily basis something breaks! A few years ago on the V6 Ranch there would have been an abundance of bailing wire. But bailing wire has been replaced by bailing twine which has filled the void with almost as many uses as bailing wire but not quite. For instance, you can check to see if a battery is charged by touching the positive pole to the negative with bailing wire and watch the sparks fly. Another instance happened the other day as I was driving my pickup down a rough dirt road; my steering tie rod fell off. So with no steering I was forced to stop and make repairs. Looking into my big tool box under my pickup bed there they all were waiting to save me from a long walk: 1. A nice big hammer to pound the tie rod end to the steering control box. 2. My handy tool box produced some old bailing wire to keep the tie rod from falling off with a twist from my Leatherman. 3. Then to really secure this repair job there was in its entire silvery grey splendor, duck tape. Now with all the confidence in the world I head for home. Several days later I drive to town for a proper repair job and wheel alignment. The mechanic grinned and said, “What do you need me for?” My bridal reins break, my horse is kind enough to stop, bailing wire again answers the call by sewing my reins together. And away I go. The uses for bailing wire in my era were endless so it is kind of sad to see an old friend put out to pasture. Good bye bailing wire. I’ll miss you!

See Ya,

Jack