05/23/2026
I love my customers. I also love what I do. That’s quite the combination. Being able to help people out and make a couple of bucks doing something I love. Here’s a very cool story. Or at least I think it is.
Many years ago, I bought a new boat and I needed electronics for it and I was referred to a business. I believe they were in Hingham. The guy who helped us was a co-owner with his brother. He sold me what I needed and was very patient in instructing me how to use it. Sadly, a couple years after I bought this, I learned he passed away. Never had any occasion to go back to that store because I never needed any more electronics. Fast forward to at least 20 years later I got a call to work on a pool in that same vicinity and the gentleman‘s name was the same last name as the deceased gentleman from the electronic store. Turned out he was the other brother in the co-owner. The first thing I noticed as I walked into the pool was this giant dock cleat he had as a pool ornament so I asked him about it commenting what a great ornament. It was for a pool side . The story behind it was was this gentleman‘s father worked at the Quincy shipyard way back in the day and this cleat sat in a junk pile for years so one day he asked the foreman if he could take it. Permission was granted and it sat in the gentleman’s father‘s yard as a yard ornament for God only knows how long. When his father passed away, it ended up at this pool owner’s house. I fixed his pool, probably three or four times and each time I would comment on this item and I jokingly told him if it ever disappeared he’d know where to find it. and his reply was if you can lift it you’re welcome to it. So I think it was two years ago he called me up and told me he was moving and he was going to a condo and could not take the cleat with him and if I wanted it, I’d have to come get it and come get it really soon because he was signing papers in a couple of days. This thing has away an easy 300 pounds. It had to go across his pool deck over some grass then somehow into my truck. Well, using rollers and a two wheeler and some ingenuity men a friend got it out into the driveway. But how were we going to get it up into the truck? I had brought a come along and a ramp and that was the plan, but then we noticed he had an approximate 3 foot high retaining wall that lined up perfectly with my tailgate. All we had to do was pull this monstrosity up the driveway, across more lawn and my tailgate would line perfectly up with the top of the retaining wall and allow us just to wheel it right in to the truck. It actually worked, no crushed toes or sprained backs. However, I was on my own to get it out of my truck and onto the top of this wall. I did crush a finger but not badly transferring it. The only tragedy there was a loss of a fingernail and some brief pain. So here this historic relic sits. I’m the new proud caretaker of it. My neighbor whose yard this butt is a fisherman as well so he’s got an appreciation for it. I will be sure in the paperwork of my house to tell the story of this so any future owners will know why it’s here. Hopefully future owners of this will have as much appreciation for it as I do.
