On the move...part 2

I had to rent a truck in order to transport my belongings to PA. My dad offered a suggestion that proved most amusing in the follow-through.

My dad is a fan of "Ice Road Truckers" and he learned a trick to check the tires on any large truck, in this case a moving van. It involves taking a baseball bat and taking a swing at the tires--if the bat bounces back satisfactorily, the tire is sufficiently inflated. If the bounce leaves something to be desired, the tire is probably flat.

The day of the move, I set out to pick up the 16 foot truck and trendy, matching tow dolly for my car. As the rental place was just down the street from my house, I walked. Before I left, I asked my dad for the offered bat, thinking he intended to provide me with a small souvenir bat--the kind you can get at baseball games and that looks like it would make an effective and easily-concealed weapon. But, no, the only bat he could find on such short notice was a tee-ball bat from my youth. So, I slung the bat over my shoulder and proceeded down the street.

Until very recently, I lived on one of the main thoroughfares in my hometown, so walking down the street, with the thoughtful, but somehow intimidating look on my face that I normally sport, I drew some strange glances and a few people gave me wide berth on the sidewalk. I walked into the rental place and without missing a beat, the owner said "If you're gonna rob me, you're gonna need more than a bat." No, I explained, the bat was for checking the tires on the van. He countered that he had already checked the tires and the oil. I said that I would like to check them all the same and proceeded out to the van, bat at the ready and I swung at all 8 tires [6 on the van, 2 on the tow dolly] and they all rebounded the bat to my satisfaction. I returned inside to a chuckling owner, who said he had never seen anyone do that before. When I told him it was an old trucker trick, he came back "I know! I used to drive trucks! In the 17 years I've been doing this, I've just never seen anyone do that before. I may have to tell some people about this."