one red generator

September 24, 2005: San Clemente, CA, USA It’s gettin, It’s gettin, It’s getting kinda hectic. That’s right, like He-Man and SNAP alike, I’ve finally got the power. One thousand Watts of bona-fide elec-tric-ity. My mom and I rolled up to Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base between L.A. and San Diego, near "The Dolly Partons" on I-5 to meet David, the first Sergeant to get in on the trading game. I've never been to an U.S. Military base before, let alone to trade a stove for a generator, so needless to say, I was pretty stoked. Sgt. David J. was midway through moving the hard top of his Ford Bronco into his trailer in what was the first step to “move back to South Carolina.” Step two in his quest to get back to the Palmetto state involved Sgt. David J. shaking the hand of some random guy he met of the internet and doing a straight-up barter of one of his prized 1000W Honda EX generators for one coleman camp stove stove – with fuel. A win-win trade if there ever was one - I got the power I’ve always been dreaming of, and Sgt. David J can cook himself some tasty treats as he moves across the south back to South Carolina. Sgt. David J. was keen to tell me all about how the generator worked and I understood and faked my way to an appropriate 'one of the boys' level of comprehension. There was talk about 'hertz', 'cycles', AC and DC and a bunch of other stuff I can't remember. Only one thing really sticks in my mind: The one red generator fired up on the first pull of the cord - and in my mind, there ain't nuthin wrong with that. Click here to see who I traded Sgt. David J's red generator with.