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Well, my "new" Ferret is still on the road, after being stopped and
searched as a possible "stolen vehicle". Here's what happened. The
transport truck driver made it all the way to Texas, where he was to
drop off one of the other cars on the truck. He stopped at the San
Marcos weight station (North of San Antonio), where some character had
questions about the paperwork on the vehicles. Apparently as soon as
the truck was opened up the the weight control officers (a part of the
Texas Department of Public Safety aka Highway Patrol) got all excited -
"Wow-Wee Hot Damm, a TANK!!". They probably thought that they had
nabbed "one 'a them TERROR-ISTS that they's been talkin' 'bout on the
tee-vee". This caused the truck driver to be immediately handcuffed and
placed under "detention" until the DPS Vehicle Theft Unit showed up.
When the other guys arrived they all decided to search my Ferret. This
included climbing in and out of the driver's hatch, and who knows what
poking around inside. All this time the truck driver was out of sight,
still handcuffed! Apparently when they found the dummy Browning 1919A4
they REALLY got excited, especially when they found a dummy .30 round
rolling around in there somewhere. They must not train these guys to
look at the base of the round to see if there's an empty primer pocket,
indicating it's a dummy.
So, at around 6:15 in the morining Seattle time I get a wake-up phone
call from one of the "good 'ole boys" in Texas, asking questions. I
tell them I have been a cop or been training cops for 34 years, and the
Ferret is a "collector vehicle" enroute to my home in Seattle. After a
brief explanation about where the Ferret was picked up, the guy says
good-by.
I have no idea what the DPS guys might have done in scrambling around
inside the Ferret, but I have been at many scenes where vehicles were
searched, and they were virtually trashed. I am now trying to get in
contact with Texas DPS to determine what they might have done, seized,
or otherwise mucked with.
Around 4 PM Seattle time I got a phone call from the trucker who related
all of the sordid details, and said that he was on the road again, still
trying to get to Washington State before Y2K....
The this rate the Ferret will be here sometime in Spring!!!!
Watch for further editions of the "Ferret Frolics", as the epoch journey
to Seattle continues...
Ian Wallace, "Ferret-Less in Seattle"
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed Jan 05 2000 - 22:42:33 PST