A good day but a long one....

My Tuesday started out as most any routine day in the life of an oxygen delivery man. I drove westward on the interstate and climbed the hills past the big wind farm until I reached the high plains flat area at Russell, KS and saw some of my customers there. I even saw a pretty nice old 48-50 Ford half ton pickup truck next to a stop I was at so I took a photo of that.

Now time for my morning coffee break and was heading towards McDonald's at the interstate when I passed by my friend Dennis' old shop and I saw the wood smoke coming from the chimney and it looked inviting on a very cold and clear day that never climbed out of the 20's. So, I stopped and spent my break time with him. It is a treat to go there and is like stepping back into time. His Dad (Walt) started this repair business back in the early oil boom days of the 40's I think. And there is still lots of oil production in this area. Anyway, Walt has been gone a few years and Dennis carries on the tradition using the same tools and equipment as Dad. Lots of old items adorn the shelves with  hardly any signs of modern technology at all.No computer, no printer, and all transactions still hand written at the old counter. He still keeps his Dad's old Model T roadster too for parades and it is a nice one.

The wood stove was kind of modern I guess....but boy did it feel good in the front of the store when you first walk in.

I like this big old neon clock that used to hang outside the building and still works good. He said it has an advertising header that goes over the top part.He thinks it is from the 1950's.

And I liked this old dealer sign that was Walt's original when he starter out. Dennis still repairs starters and magnetos for the stationary engines that pump oil.

 And this swing away tractor seat is still attached to his work bench and is polished from many years of use. He said he used to swing back and forth on it as a child while his Dad would yell at him to stop cause he might "pinch a finger" or something. ha ha--

Very old wooden test bench for magnetos and is a factory built unit from American Bosch and has Stewart Warner gauges on it.

Soon my time there was up and had to move on down the road. thanks for the good conversation Dennis....see you next time.

A 20 minute or less drive to the east brought me to Dorrance, KS where I saw a customer and then took this photo of an old gas station that I like.

Then it was east a few more miles but not far to Wilson, KS where I saw lots of cool things and had a good lunch.

After seeing a customer there, I moved north thru some big hills and over the dam at Wilson Lake.Beautiful country......

Then I arrived in the funky folk art capital of KS which is Lucas, KS. I could do a whole story on this town alone and will someday. I saw a customer there and she lived near the "Garden of Eden" so I took a couple of photos of that.

And driving down an alley I saw this cool old truck box that some delivery driver like me must have driven all over the midwest bringing goods to the small stores and shops on his route.

Then I went a couple of blocks and stopped to say hi to my friend Margaret who is 80 years young and lives in a very cool post war modern gas station. She said it was rough when she bought it 5 years ago and she converted it to a studio style home. I met her there in July of this year and she invited me and a friend inside to see the place. She is a great gal and fun to visit with.

As I headed back towards home base I paused long enough to take this photo of an old barn.
Thinking my day was about over I was to be very surprised to find out I had many more miles to go as some new business came in at the end of the day for me to do on call that night. It was to be a 14 hour and 425 mile day but I survived and we got some new customers.......I call that a good day. :-)