Well, it all started out so quietly. A calm balmy Saturday with a few things to do. And when its this calm, that's when you really need to be on your guard… or else!

Oh…. Let me take you back a couple of months. Our little Mean Green Machine called a Daihatsu Terios, (our car) has been in the wars with the sun. Like us, it probably needed lots of Sun Tan Lotion. Us humans either just go lobster pink, or if you're really lucky, a beautiful tanned colour. But our car? Well, it has been doing something that we as humans do when we've been in the sun for too long. As humans, we peel.  And our little car's paint has slowly been coming of as well leaving the undercoat showing. And it's looking not good at all. So because we love the little machine; and its running superbly decided to give a new lease of life and get it resprayed.

Well, I have what we call a brother, but by a different mother who's name is Augustus. A truly superb person and a wonderful; wonderful friend.
'Hey Mike, I know just the right place to have you car resprayed. He does a great job and he doesn't charge that much.'
I liked the idea instantly.
'I'm working on Saturday, but why don't you come over and I'll take you to his workshop.'
'OK.', and that's how quite innocuously it was arranged. Sounds like a piece of cake… or as easy as a walk in the park perhaps?

So on Saturday I went to the building site where he was working. 'Hey Mike, I've just got one more load to do and then we can go. Hop up into the cab.' Now, Augustus drives a truck capable of carrying up to 30 tonnes in the back of his hydraulic lifting back box.  And as I've never been in such a huge truck climbed up and settled into the passengers seat. WOW! Fully air conditioned; lovely comfortable spring seats and all the modern stuff you would expect in one of these vehicles. And so high up above the ground as well.
'You've never been in a truck like this before?'
'No. First time. I'm excited to be here.'
And with that he steadily backed the huge vehicle up the side of a relatively steep hill to where they were removing topsoil, and taking it down to an area at the bottom of the hill so that it could be used for the future gardens after all the construction had finished. Up and up we went till a bout halfway up where a Volvo excavator was waiting.
Then inextricably, huge bucket load by bucket load it started filling the back box. Reaching over and started filling from the cab end and working back towards the back. And with each load it dumped I could feel the truck shuddering slightly and settling lower on it's springs. Time and time again till it was completely full. Then with a little toot of it's horn (the signal), told Augustus he was full.

Steadily, he manoeuvred his fully laden vehicle whilst in first gear, down the reasonably steep slope; and backed it into the area to dump the on-board load.

'We should be OK here, Mike,' and with that started the hydraulic ram slowly lifting the huge load at the back. Up it inextricably went; higher and higher. Wow!  Till it was right at the utmost height and then it automatically stopped.
It's amazing how small things can get you so excited. This was a first for me. Sitting in a cab lifting a huge amount of soil. Listening to the clanging noise as the back retaining gate of the box opened allowing the soil to fall out.

And here's something quite important that I did not know at that particular moment, and it goes like this. If the soil is slightly too damp; it sticks to the sides and bottom of the box. And,….. well, the box was going up and up and up, higher and higher with not too much apparently coming out. And then it was as high as it could go. SO now, and here's the catch, and the laws of basic physics; we were much heavier at the top than the bottom. (Definitely NOT a good idea in anyone's language). And Augustus, (probably not thinking too hard), thought most of the soil had run out and decided to move the truck forward a couple of meters so that the final bits could run out.

'Hmm!'Augustus said as he slowly moved the huge lorry forwards so to allow more to fall out. The noise of debris falling out suddenly stopped.
The truck started to give a little shiver. Followed immediately by a slightly larger quiver…...
'Oh Sh-t', Augustus cried as the huge truck began shuddering and swaying sideways.
Obviously NOT a good sign.
And it didn't get any better. In fact…. in an instantly it was decidedly worse! With a huge groan of twisting steel the box, precariously balancing above us started toppling sideways; pulling the cab over as well. The hydraulic ram shearing off and breaking in two. Hydraulic fluid under enormous reassure spurting from the ruptured hoses spraying everything in sight with the smell of this hydraulic fluid filling the air. 
Hmmmm! Quick thoughts going through my head as we went from vertically to nearly horizontally….. I wonder what more than twenty tonnes of debris on top of the cab would look like? Will Augustus, who is now well above me and clinging to the steering wheel fall directly onto me and crush me into the door? Will the debris cover us up in the cab? Are there enough people outside to dig us out?
And with an enormous metallic bang suddenly stopped going sideways. We were nearly on our side.
And no soil covering us up. Now that's a good sign if ever I needed one!
'Let's go Mike!' Augustus shouted and with a superhuman effort pushed his door up towards the sky.
It's amazing how the adrenaline kick in and things that you thought were impossible suddenly are not a problem at all. Like a frightened jack rabbit I was following Augustus through the upturned doorway. And not having to ask any questions about what to do.
Phew! Safely on the terra firma. And away from the overturned vehicle.

Fortunately there was a digger/excavator on site which was able to right the truck after emptying out the soil and removing the broken hydraulic ram. And all this took a couple of hours, so I never got to the car painting shop at all!
So all's well that ends well. Hope you don't mind that I pinched tat quotation for the Bard himself… William Shakespeare.