Day 57 Thursday, September 27, 2001

Today there is an essay test for you. If you were, hypothetically speaking of course, to pick up something with the rear bucket on the backhoe that was heavy enough to make the machine pivot on the rear wheels causing the front wheels to balance several feet in the air, should you:

A) put the front bucket up higher.

B) put the front bucket down lower.

C) put cement blocks in the front bucket.

D) push lightly on the front bucket and watch a 15,500 # machine teeter.

Support your answer with any charts, graphs, SWAG's (scientific wild ass guess) or color 8x10 glossy photographs that you may need to prove your theory.

11 hours, cloudy, occasional drizzle and cool around 58.