jumper cables

after about four weeks of being moved into my new place the last thing on my list of funiture to get was a queen size bed for the second bedroom. for those of you that have purchased a bed recently, you can agree with me that they are expensive. since i had a roommate moving in with me soon, i figured that i would just bite the bullet and go buy a new bed last week. after buying the cheapest bed i could possibly find, i loaded it onto my trailer. it fit very snugly. not more than a half inch of room on either side (width wise) and only about a foot of space lenght wise. let me describe the trailer: solid wood bottom, side rails about 1 1/2 feet high on the front and both sides and then a five foot rear wall that folds down and becomes the ramp when loading is necessary. well, since the mattress fit so snugly (and it was snug) i decided that tie-downs would not be necessary so off i went. bad choice vincent, bad choice.
as i was getting on the freeway and picking up speed i looked back in my rear view mirror just in time to see the front of the mattress catch a gust of wind and then... swoop... the mattress takes flight. blows right out of the trailer, right over the five foot rear gate and then probably an additional five feet in the air. it was beautiful to watch, like a bird taking its first flight. it was flying, floating, soaring, spinning. this mattress was happy. it had done what few other mattresses have done and what other mattresses have never dared to even dream. it had escaped. it was now longer doomed to being a pad that gets slept on every night and jumped on by little kids. it was free now. then slam! it gets hit by a car. now mind you, i try not to swear when i dont have to but this was beyond my control.
i pull over as fast as i can, see it get run over once. son of a.... then i run over to it as fast as i can trying not to get hit by traffiic at the same time. then a semi runs over it. oh shi... err shoot. then i finally get a break in traffic long enough to grab it and drag it back to the side of the road. then i pick it up and put it on my head (a comical scene i'm sure) and back to the trailer for some rethinking on how to get the stupid thing home. by this time i'm thinking i need to tie it down-but how? and low and behold i see the most beautiful thing ever...jumper cables!! can we say white trash? so i finally made it back to my place with my run over mattress tied down to the trailer with jumper cables. my neighbors must have been wondering what kind of red neck they have moving in!
final thought: mattress are tougher than you might think, but tie them down anyway.