John had a '62 Chevy II in the garage. It was honestly, cross-my-heart, a one owner by a little old lady living on St. Rd. 32. He loved that car. Then someone hit him in the radiator.
It got parked 'cause parts that old, especially the grill, were difficult to find. He eventually put a '63 grill on it.
Next door neighbor boy had a BB gun.
I called John at work.
"I'm so sorry, but the neighbor boy just shot a BB through our garage door window. It went through and hit the windshield of your car!"
"Did it hurt it?"
"Well, the windshield's suffering, I'm sorry."
"I'll be home soon!"
He headed for the garage side door in a panic, I had to stop him short.
"April Fool's!"
***
Years ago, when we first moved into the story and a half barn style house, I pulled a prank on John for April Fool's day. I switched his cereals.
When I switched the yellow crunchy squares with the flaky flakes, it was a fun day.
You see, to get to work hubby John would get up before the rest of the family. A bit later the boys would wake up to prep for school. But the night before I had been busy.
I opened two NEW cereal boxes from the bottom, and pulled out the wax bags of Cap’n Crunch, (Quaker) and corn flakes (Kellogg’s), and switched them. Then I resealed both with glue. I was sure the glue would be dry by morning.
He came un-glued. When he sat down at the table with bowl, spoon, and cold milk, and opened the flakes, out came the yellow crunchy squares! He did a double take!
Later, telling the story to others, he said, “I was getting ready to call Quaker’s 800 number to tell them they had no quality control out there. Their Cap’n was a quack!”
But how did Kellogg’s get into Quaker and Quaker into Kellogg’s?
He had looked at me with a squint.
I said the only thing I could say, “April Fool’s!”
You see, to get to work hubby John would get up before the rest of the family. A bit later the boys would wake up to prep for school. But the night before I had been busy.
I opened two NEW cereal boxes from the bottom, and pulled out the wax bags of Cap’n Crunch, (Quaker) and corn flakes (Kellogg’s), and switched them. Then I resealed both with glue. I was sure the glue would be dry by morning.
He came un-glued. When he sat down at the table with bowl, spoon, and cold milk, and opened the flakes, out came the yellow crunchy squares! He did a double take!
Later, telling the story to others, he said, “I was getting ready to call Quaker’s 800 number to tell them they had no quality control out there. Their Cap’n was a quack!”
But how did Kellogg’s get into Quaker and Quaker into Kellogg’s?
He had looked at me with a squint.
I said the only thing I could say, “April Fool’s!”
***
We can't forget the April Fool's day "for Sale" sign. While we lived in Elwood, John also owned four acres in rural Noblesville on the highway. He would pass it twice a day to and from work, so I put a "For Sale" sign on it. When he saw THAT he braked and veered, entered the side ditch, and whipped it out of the ground. Cha-ching! In the truck! "Lucy had some 's'plainin' to do when he got home"!
***
And then there was the tit-for-tat,
John had to get me back.
"John, there's white smoke coming from the mini van!" I'd called him at work. I wanted to know what to do about the yellow caravan overheating. "Shall I drive it home anyway? Or should I park it and call for help? Sweety, this is NOT an April Fool's joke!"
"Ah, honey, it's ok. Go ahead and drive it home." So I did. Called him again.
"Are you sure it's okay to drive? There's white smoke billowing out and the gauge reads hot."
"Really? There's smoke? This is April Fool's day."
"I'm serious, John. This is not an April Fools! It's not!"
"Yah, it's alright. There's nothing to worry about."
"I mean it, John! I'm not trying to April Fool you! The smoke is rolling from the engine and coming into the house! What do you want me to do?"
I had parked the van at the gate, the smoke was wafting along the side of the cedar sided house and was drifting into the sliding glass doors. Of course, it make us choke!
"Go ahead and drive it." He turns to his co-worker buddy, "It's April Fool's day."
But....I wasn't fooling. The machinist at B & C said he could fix a cracked head, until he saw it. Where John took the engine in to be turned, the man said, "There's so many cracks and fine lines, it's like some one intentionally drove it without any water!"
That little Fool cost us $750!
In the meantime, John had been planning a little trick on his own on me. I got a phone call from a John's co-worker.
"John's stuck at the Marathon station at 37 and Greenfield Ave. He said he needs you to come pick him up."
So I did.
John wasn't stuck,
he just wanted me to pick him up,
he was still thinking I was pulling a prank.
Fooled him!
The caravan truly ran hot and smoked!
And it truly needed a new crank!
(crank - get it? pun fun)
***
Then there was the time we were waiting and waiting for a new countertop to come in.
In the kitchen I'd been seeing unusual bugs.
Then John got to inspecting and we had water damage, the dishwasher had been leaking,
Well, the previous owners had laid parquet flooring over top linoleum, so the water was being held, or puddled, between the two. It had ran to under the cabinets and warped everything,
Needless to say, insurance paid for us a new floor and new cabinets and the countertops had to be especially made.
One day, we were coming up on the holiday seasons, in October I got a phone call. "Ma'am, I'm sorry to tell you this but we've had a factory fire, and losses included your counter tops."
"Seriously? A facory fire? How long does that put us back? I really need my kitchen, I've got a bunch of boys to feed!"
"Ma'am, I don't know how long. It's going to be a long time. Several, several weeks!"
Then there was a commotion in the background. John came on the line (we had landline telephones back then), "Hi honey."
"What are you doing there at the factory, and a fire? Whaaaaa?"
He said, "It's not true. There was no fire. April Fool's!"
Oh, I could've killed him!
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