More Dangerous than it Looks (a catch-up entry)

So Kim and I got after the Christmas tree thing in a very timely manner this year. We bought the tree, stuffed it in the car, and with only minor difficulty, got the tailgate closed.

Unfortunately, getting LED lights for the tree turned out to be a hassle. We went to Willamette Hardware, Jerry's Home Improvement, Home Depot, Target, Walmart, BiMart, and Costco. We only managed to find some all white ones at BiMart. To make matters worse, coming out fo Costco, I noticed an dent in the tailgate of our Forester. It looked like someone gave it a good tap with their bumper, no crease, but a dent a little bigger than a fist. I cursed my fellow man and we headed home.

As we drove along, I kept thinking about the dent. Something wasn't quite right. I just didn't think a bumper would have dented it without scratching it. But what else could it be? My mind flashed back to the Christmas tree lot. The tailgate didn't want to close. Kim got out and slammed it once. Then I got out and bumped it with my wide rear end. Surely I didn't dent my tailgate with my butt!

When we pulled into our driveway, I got out and took a look at the dent. I stood next to the tailgate and made the hip swing motion I used to close the tailgate when we got our tree. There was no question. Had I been on trial for this crime, this would have been the prosecution's smoking gun. My tailgate was carrying my butt print!

As I said, there wasn't much of a crease in the dent. The paint at the edge was chipping though. So I took the inside panel off of the tailgate and was going to hammer it out with a rubber mallet. Unfortunately, the bracket holding the latch mechanism was in the way. I managed to push it out most of the way by rubbing a variety of hammer handles over the dent. A little touch-up paint and it's almost as good as new.