The good, the bad, and the ugh! In some order

[caboose]

We had planned to clean out part of the barn; then, try to start the phaeton so we could move it over to the lift and finish up the work on the front suspension. While we were cleaning, a bird flew into the barn; no big deal, they general find their way out, certainly when we open one of the big doors. This one seem to have fun flying around, totally oblivious to any escape route. We decided to break for lunch so we propped up one of the doors so the bird could escape. Surely we thought, none of our miniature donkeys could possibly get into the barn while we were gone. When we’re there, they come in and generally soon leave unless there’s something that they can drag out to destroy or chew on, or some combination of both.
The bad: about 8 of our little donkeys got into the barn and knock down the prop, so they were trapped inside. As Ben Jabitoya so eloquently stated in Short Circuit, “With excitement like this, who is needing enemas?” The donkeys must have spread out looking for clean spots with things to splatter.
The ugh!: we spent several hours with a scraper, mop, squeegee, and broom cleaning up after the little jerks.
The good: the phaeton came to life and made it to the lift. Even though most of the suspension was not tighten down and the toe in was only eyeballed, the car steered like a dream: thanks to a Snyder rebuilt steering box, a shorten pitman arm, A & L steering balls, and Teflon seats (thanks to Rusty Nelson for getting me straighten out of these parts). And, so far as we know, the bird escaped.