I’m no different from a lot of women. I’m not the only one who likes to shop. I’m just a little odd in where I like to shop, and with my concept of acceptable.

F’rinstance, I found it fairly acceptable to sit stranded in Stockton on Monday, an hour from home, on my only true day off (and not hunting) in a month. I was waiting for my beautiful new accessory to be installed, you see, and good things take time.

 

See, isn’t it pretty?

 

It’s a winch, a big one. I’m trying to spend some of my new-found income on things that I can use later if the contract goes away, and to keep my tax bill down in the process. I’m going to add a portable, truck-mounted crane to this setup so I can apply power in a vertical direction and lift those heavy concrete vault lids when I have to. And yeah, maybe the occasional deer or bear too. And if this tool can rescue me from hairy four-wheel-drive situations as well as move pipe around, well that’s good then, isn’t it?

I do love a well-made tool, and this one is a multitasker. It’s got an air compressor on board so I can reinflate tires if I have to drop the pressure for more traction off-road or if I want to get some air-powered tools. JJ suggested tweaking an air grinder motor into a blender bottom and mounting it right there on the brush guard, but I’m not a huge fan of the margarita. I’ll take the tequila straight please, and only the good stuff.

I’m not done with the project yet. They couldn’t put the front receiver on since I have a big aftermarket intercooler that gets in the way, and I’ll have to find a welder to make some drop brackets for that. And they didn’t get to fixing the gauges that someone else installed badly. And they just plain didn’t have my new tires in stock. But I walked away happy. Nothing that I’ve done to this truck is just for cosmetics; everything has a purpose. It’s an ongoing project, but this was a good step.