Dust Bowl Week continues with this picture from 1935. It shows a couple of men changing a tire on a Model T. Changing a tire on a Model T is actually very easy. The car was light, so easy to jack up. Then there are four nuts around the outside rim. The tires are lightweight, so easy to get on and off. Now days they put the lug nuts on too tight at the factory, and if you have a flat, the little Micky Mouse lug wrench has almost no chance or loosening the lug nuts, and hence you are stranded.We had lots of spirited discussion in the comments yesterday. I enjoyed reading your thoughts and your experiences. For those of you who have been hit by a New Reality recently, our prayers are with you. Actually, I have always been very conservative in my spending. When I was in High School I had a lot of trouble finding a job. Minimum wage at the time was $2.25. I tried to get a summer job in the Cotton Gin doing maintenance, but they said they did not have a spot. I told them that I would work for $1 an hour if they would hire me. I told them I would not come back and ask for more money, but that if I did a good job, maybe next summer they would bring me back at minimum wage. They gave me the job. The Gin had no ventilation or air conditioning. With it 100 degrees outside, it got up around 120 in the Gin. I had to crawl up into the machinery, and take off the old cutting blades, and replace with new ones. There were tens of thousands of these little blades to be changed. If your hand slipped on the wrench, your hand would run into the little blades, and really cut your hand up. It was a hot and very unpleasant job. The funny thing is that to this very day, I still put purchases into terms of how many hours in the Gin it would take to buy something. So, if I am eating out, and a soft drink is $2, I think that was 2 hours of labor in the Gin, and I have a water instead.
