Article for Coochie Island News, November 2019

Had you been in Mooroondoo Street a couple of Thursday ago, you may have observed a curious procession.

The Men’s Shed had undertaken to deliver a decrepit unregistered car to the Coochie Volunteer Fire Brigade, so that the Firies could gain valuable practical experience using the Jaws of Life, an essential lifesaving tool often deployed at crash scenes to cut people free from wrecked vehicles.

As it happened on the day, our stalwart Fire Brigade, resplendent in their uniformed glory, led the way with lights flashing. Max followed, towing the sad wreckage of the vehicle with me driving, while Ash came behind, also flashing, to deter any speedster who felt to unwisely overtake our convoy.

At the top of Mooroondo Street, it was decided that, to avoid any possibility of me driving the wreck into the back of Max’s relatively unblemished car, the tow would be cast adrift, and I would motor down the hill using gravity only. The experience gave me a sense of how it must be to drive an almost silent electric vehicle, apart from the distraction of wrestling with failed power steering, the grinding of partially locked brakes, the rending moan of a broken fender rubbing on a hub and the various shrieks and wails of metal parts that would prefer to not be moving.

As I rode past the dump today, I noticed that the Brigade had already done their best work, and the vehicle now looked even less like a car than it did before we moved it. At the Men’s Shed, we love our Firies.

The Shed members have also been undertaking various projects over the past month, including Shed President Bob Corpe finishing some very impressive stained glass renovations, the motorbike slowly coming to life again, and an interesting garden chair being resurrected.

It’s a rich life at the Coochie Men’s Shed.