Close call!!!
I just learned, once again, that you can't take your eye off the ball for even a second.
I have some cargo in the bed of my pickup which would normally be adequately protected from the elements by the snap-on tonneau cover, but we've been getting rain with strong gusts most of the day, so I was feeling less than confident. Since I can't pull the truck into the garage because I'm using it as a temporary workshop, I decided to drape a tarp over the truck bed cover, and hold it down with cargo straps and bungees.
Now I'm no sailor, but trying to get that tarp fastened down in the wind and rain, by myself, must be a little like trying to control an unruly sail. After running back and forth a couple of times from one side of the truck to another, I finally decided to enlist the help of a couple of "paperweights." I grabbed a 4' section of mdf closet shelving, a 4' piece of 2x10, and a heavy, long-handled steel ice scraper that I use to break up ice on sidewalks and driveways, and placed them on the tarp at points crossing the front, middle, and rear of the truck bed. With the tarp temporarily "secured" in that fashion, I proceeded to secure it with the bungees.
The wind was gusting from the north, which meant it was blowing across the truck from the driver side to the passenger side. Naturally, I chose to begin on the passenger (leeward) side as it afforded me the most shelter from the blowing rain. I hooked the bungee to one of the tarp grommets, and bent down to hook the other end under the truck, only to be met by a sudden (albeit very minor) blow to the head. When I straightened up, the two boards and the ice scraper were laying on the ground behind me. A strong wind gust had lifted the tarp, propelling my three "paperweights" completely clear of the truck in the process! I caught a glancing blow from one of the items (most likely one of the boards) as they passed over my head, but it was nothing more than a tap. Had I been standing up when that ice scraper went airborne, I might have been taking my meals through a straw for a while (or worse.)
I have some cargo in the bed of my pickup which would normally be adequately protected from the elements by the snap-on tonneau cover, but we've been getting rain with strong gusts most of the day, so I was feeling less than confident. Since I can't pull the truck into the garage because I'm using it as a temporary workshop, I decided to drape a tarp over the truck bed cover, and hold it down with cargo straps and bungees.
Now I'm no sailor, but trying to get that tarp fastened down in the wind and rain, by myself, must be a little like trying to control an unruly sail. After running back and forth a couple of times from one side of the truck to another, I finally decided to enlist the help of a couple of "paperweights." I grabbed a 4' section of mdf closet shelving, a 4' piece of 2x10, and a heavy, long-handled steel ice scraper that I use to break up ice on sidewalks and driveways, and placed them on the tarp at points crossing the front, middle, and rear of the truck bed. With the tarp temporarily "secured" in that fashion, I proceeded to secure it with the bungees.
The wind was gusting from the north, which meant it was blowing across the truck from the driver side to the passenger side. Naturally, I chose to begin on the passenger (leeward) side as it afforded me the most shelter from the blowing rain. I hooked the bungee to one of the tarp grommets, and bent down to hook the other end under the truck, only to be met by a sudden (albeit very minor) blow to the head. When I straightened up, the two boards and the ice scraper were laying on the ground behind me. A strong wind gust had lifted the tarp, propelling my three "paperweights" completely clear of the truck in the process! I caught a glancing blow from one of the items (most likely one of the boards) as they passed over my head, but it was nothing more than a tap. Had I been standing up when that ice scraper went airborne, I might have been taking my meals through a straw for a while (or worse.)
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