Tim and I met Harley over twenty years ago in Stockton, California.  At the time we had a handyman business and were looking for Nile Tile to repair a one hundred year old farm house in an orange grove outside of Modesto.  Tim had heard by word of mouth that Harley was the man to see about Nile Tile and repairing tile roofs.  We were very green at our craft and knew  nothing about tile roofs.  There was nothing at the library about repairing such old tile.  We were anxious to talk to a pro.

Harley was none too polite when we drove into his yard and asked for information along with several tile.  But, we stuck with it and it turned out that Harley is a fine fellow and we’ve been friends ever since.  He and Tim even worked together for over ten years long after Harley “retired” and sold his business.  We are all still friends even now after all these years.  I think he is over 80 years old now.

Winter in the San Joaquin Valley of California consists of fog and rain.  Stockton sits in the valley on the edge of what is called the Delta.  Several rivers meet in this area and mix with the briny waters of the bay 80 miles west.  (Look for fishing stories in the future.)

The winter we met Harley was especially wet; way over normal, and the city had been having problems with the storm drains and low lying areas around town.  Residents were also having problems with flooding everywhere.  Some days it was just impossible to get around.  So when Tim and Harley saw a sump pump just laying on the wet road near Wilson Way, they jumped out to save it.

Tim asked around the immediate area but no one claimed it.  He even ran an ad in the Lost and Found for a week with no takers.  Neither Tim or Harley had any use for it but decided to make sure that it was in good working order before they offered it to anyone.

Tim put the pump into a five gallon bucket out in the front yard and filled it with water to the lip of the bucket.  I sat on the porch, well out ot the way while Harley plugged that baby in.  The pump starting humming and hummed some more.  Then there was a loud SLURP.  Then silence.  Harley stepped forward and looked into the bucket.  The words “Hell, there ain’t no water in there” had barely left his lips when the liquid contents of the bucket hit him square in the forehead, knocking his Raider’s cap out into the street and his teeth into the bucket.

I thought I was going to die trying not to laugh.  But, this was Harley, and dare we laugh at his expense?   Oh, you bet!  In fact, he was falling down laughing trying to get to his hat out in the street and met our hysterical neighbor on the sidewalk.  Tim was chasing him with the bucket, trying to give him his teeth back.  It was the most amazingly funny thing I’ve ever seen.  Even after all these years, it’s still a hoot and I loved telling it again.