Sunday, October 19, 2008

Home Supply Stores Make Me Tired

I headed off to Lowe's and Walmart today. My list was short so I was hoping it would be an easy trip. First stop, Lowe's Home Improvement store. I only needed 3 things- blocks for under the shed, pipe to run my RV sewer hose through so that the sun won't eat it, and gravel to put under the blocks. I even brought my own gloves because employees can never be found when I need something dirty and heavy lifted in to my cart.

I found the bag of gravel first. All of the bags had ripped and someone had put the bags in to plastic Lowe's bags. The Lowe's bags were made of thin plastic and they ripped when lifted. It took a little bit of wrestling but I managed to get one in my cart. Next, the plumbing section. I found 10 foot lengths of pipe for $17. While I was looking for an employee to see if he could cut it for me so that it would fit in my truck, I noticed shorter 5 foot lengths of pipe for $13. $13! I would have to pay $8 more for two 5 footers instead of one 10 footer. Outrageous. I put on my best sad look and pleaded with the nice Lowe's guy for help. First he suggested that I lean the 10 foot pipe over the top of my truck. That didn't sound safe to me. I suggested that I could buy a saw, cut the pipe in the parking lot and then return the saw. He didn't like that idea. Eventually, he gave in, found a saw and cut it for me. Then the cashier almost charged me double. She rang up one piece and said 'those 2 are the same right?' No, no. They are 2 halves. That would have been very expensive pipe. I also located some blocks for my shed. After lifting them on to the cart, lifting them in to my truck and lifting them out of my truck...I never want to lift them again. That is exactly why building my own shed was a bad idea. I get tired just thinking about it.

After that it was on to Walmart, a place I hate to go because it is always crowded. They didn't have the cheaper RV hose so I had to pay a little more. And then I remembered I needed cat food. I spend $38 at Walmart and $38 at Lowe's. There goes all of my 'fun' money for October.

When I got home it was too hot to do anything so I waited until the sun started to set. The neighbor guy who does electrical work came by and looked at what I want to do for the mobile home. He said no problem. He only charges $12.50 an hour and he smelled like beer. Hmmmm. I also asked him about getting electricity and septic to the shed and he said no problem again. I guess he doesn't have any problems at all. I told him I wasn't in a hurry. With the holidays coming up and my trip to visit my parents and all of the cleaning and sorting I have to do, I won't be ready for electrical work until February. That's good because right now I'm feeling overwhelmed and I really haven't even started anything.

3 comments:

Sharon S said...

Hi there-hang on in there, you really are doing well!

Over the Cubicle Wall said...

If you have a sliding rear window on your truck, you can open it, and put long items through into the cab, all the way to the dash, with the other end resting on top of the tailgate. I saw someone doing it one day, and it was like an epiphany - 'why didn't I think of that?'. One or two tie downs in the bed, and it is pretty stable.

Daizy said...

Thanks sharon rose. So far it seems like I haven't really accomplished anything except spending money.

Yes, over the cubicle wall, I would have tried it if I had it. It is one of the things I said to the Lowe's guy...if only I had a window in the back of my truck (said with sad puppy-dog eyes) :)