MattStrube
02-04-2004, 12:45 PM
Well, I was in Turlock, CA for my annual trip to get ripped off at the most expensive swapmeets in the land. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif My two brothers, one you know as SamIYam, the other John, and I decided it would be fun to camp out, drink some beers, and protect our swap goods from the night. (Actually, they thought it would be fun, I thought it would be a little crazy, especially with the 30% chance of rain) I agreed to camp out when I saw that there would be some heat to help us through the night in the form of an old school smudge pot.
However, John thought the smudgepot would be a good way to recycle some of his old oil and tranny fluid. "I thought you were supposed to use diesel fuel in these things" Sam says, as I thought the same thing in my head.
"No, Dude, this will work great" replies John
Watching John light the smudgepot with a torch, we all had our doubts to the viability of the oldest brother's master plan to keep us warm. The beer kept our hopes up and we finally commended John on his efforts when the thing lit up and made that familiar sound of a burning smudgepot. Once that baby started going, the heat was intense. We sat for about a half hour or so enjoying the heat when...We started noticing a strange gurgling sound comming from the pot and whitnessed the metal around the smoke stack turning a bright red..."I don't think that sounds good, maybe it's getting too hot", says the little brother.
We sit back down in our chairs and continue toasting our feet when all of a sudden, a little bit of flaming oil spills out through the vent hole and spills on the top of the smudge pot. "That's not good" someone says, and no sooner than the words roll out of thier mouth, there is an Exxon Valdeez size spill cascading down our glorious Swap Spot, holding a flame some 15 feet high. The flame grows and approaches big brother John's nice new truck. As little brother Matt approaches the truck for his camera (A photojournalism opportunity for the night) John yells to Matt, "move the truck!"
"I don't have keys!" I said as I grabbed my camera and snatched this shot.
Luckily we hadn't put out our merchandise for sale yet, and Luckily, the fire went the way it did, or we would have had a couple truck fires to deal with. What a trip.
However, John thought the smudgepot would be a good way to recycle some of his old oil and tranny fluid. "I thought you were supposed to use diesel fuel in these things" Sam says, as I thought the same thing in my head.
"No, Dude, this will work great" replies John
Watching John light the smudgepot with a torch, we all had our doubts to the viability of the oldest brother's master plan to keep us warm. The beer kept our hopes up and we finally commended John on his efforts when the thing lit up and made that familiar sound of a burning smudgepot. Once that baby started going, the heat was intense. We sat for about a half hour or so enjoying the heat when...We started noticing a strange gurgling sound comming from the pot and whitnessed the metal around the smoke stack turning a bright red..."I don't think that sounds good, maybe it's getting too hot", says the little brother.
We sit back down in our chairs and continue toasting our feet when all of a sudden, a little bit of flaming oil spills out through the vent hole and spills on the top of the smudge pot. "That's not good" someone says, and no sooner than the words roll out of thier mouth, there is an Exxon Valdeez size spill cascading down our glorious Swap Spot, holding a flame some 15 feet high. The flame grows and approaches big brother John's nice new truck. As little brother Matt approaches the truck for his camera (A photojournalism opportunity for the night) John yells to Matt, "move the truck!"
"I don't have keys!" I said as I grabbed my camera and snatched this shot.
Luckily we hadn't put out our merchandise for sale yet, and Luckily, the fire went the way it did, or we would have had a couple truck fires to deal with. What a trip.