open to the light of day

I decided that I wasn't going to take the tank to Chuck, the welder, on the trailer. No title, no license plate, no brake lights. Besides, I wanted to cut the tank open, see what was inside, and clean it up with a wire brush.

I rolled out the cutting torch, scribed a cut line all the way around the tank with white chalk. Even though I knew that this was only a water tank, it still always makes me nervous when I apply the torch to the tank sides. There's that moment of apprehension when the torch melts through and the shower of sparks fills the dark tank interior. Round the tank I went--12 ft in all--saving the last 2 inches at the top so I could be out of harm's way when one 1000 lb hunk of metal became two halves.

Ugh. Looking inside, I found a bottom covered in muck and a dead rat. I climbed in armed with a garden hose and cleaned things up and out. I'll wire brush the rust and paint off and then figure out how to load the tank halves in my truck to take to Chuck's.