How to Back Up a Trailer
and 101 other things every real guy should know
by Kurt Anderson
Overview
From the Publisher
Motor oil, beer, and charcoal-that's what real men are made of. A real man should be able to swap out the car's spark plugs and change its oil as his freshly caught fish smokes on open flame-all while shotgunning a beer. For how-to instructions on these and other equally manly activities, you need How to Back Up a Trailer. It's the ultimate guide to everything you better know how to do, like:
Rotate your car's tires and change its brake pads
Swing a bat like a homerun hitter
Build and light a campfire during a rainstorm
Install an electrical outlet in your home
Tap a keg for the perfect beer flow
My thoughts
This book is so awesome!!! OK, well, there is some history! A year or so ago I had the need to rent a U-Haul trailer to move some furniture to my daughter's apartment. After several unsuccessful attempts to back the trailer into the driveway, I rang my nephews.
"Help!" I cried. They are farm boys - they know all about backing equipment. They had a good laugh, shared what little there is to say about backing up a trailer (mostly that it takes a lot of practice), and eventually we got the job done.
Fast forward the tape to Christmas 2008. I was the hostess of the family event that year. My sister told her kids, my nephews, that they are old enough to do the adult thing and give me a gift for hosting the get-together. The boys put their heads together and came up with this book! And it's priceless! I laughed till I cried!
But then I opened the book and started reading ... and the book got passed around ... and excerpts were read ... and the rest of the day the book was in someone's hands, being read out loud to other party goers! It's a great resource book, good for helpful tips and a lot of laughs. As my college-aged daughter says, "Do you really need a book to tell you how to make a beer bong? It takes beer, a tube and a funnel! Use your imagination!"
Ah, but the segment on making a beer bong is comic relief for the section you, unfortunately, needed moments earlier: Pulling someone out of a ditch.
Great read with really helpful instructions.
Favorite Passage
Mrs. Harvey had made about six different stabs with the trailer, alternating her jackknifes in a drill sergeant cadence: left, left, left-right-left.One time, much to the general amusement of the people she had bypassed, she ran one wheel up on the dock, leaving the boat tipped at a forty-five degree. It was at this time that she stepped out of the struck and beseeched her hubby for help.
Ole Harvey just shrugged his shoulders. He was holding the sailboat in place, and there was little he could say, except "Keep it straight". Maybe he just wasn't all that anxious to get in the truck with her.
