Pa Rock
Retiree
The sun is preparing to set on what has been an unusually busy day. It took three trips to town to complete all of my chores, but fortunately the town is close!
My initial stop was at the barber shop for my first Missouri haircut in nearly a decade. The barber cuts my grandson's hair as well as the hair of all of Boone's maternal relatives. He is nearly my age and quite an interesting guy. He raises, among other things, peacocks and Boer goats. Boer goats are large animals which are used primarily for meat production. He told me that is possible to pay $10,000 to $15,000 for an exceptional Boer for breeding stock! (I may have a few goats at some point, but they obviously won't be Boers!) I have had peacocks (and peahens) before, and would like to have a few at my new location - for their colorful presence and jungle screaming. Peacocks make the place seem more exciting and exotic.
I met a plumber who managed to talk me out of installing a garbage disposal - and out of giving him a job. I think I will go strictly with composting. I also met a mechanic who serviced my car - and while he worked on that I had an interesting conversation with his wife. Locals will talk about almost anything, and they are an excellent source of information on the history and culture of the community.
I met a glass cutter who replaced the glass on an art print that got broken during the move. He gave me a discount when I told him that I did not need a ticket. Tomorrow I will take him another one. He is very quick and reasonable. Later I talked to a couple of store clerks about lawnmowers. Unfortunately, they had sold the one that I had had my eye on. Tomorrow I will start the search again.
A lady at another store sold me a couple of lamp shades. She will never know how close she came to selling me a coffee table that had a foosball game under its glass top. (My reduced retirement pay has curbed the urge to splurge.)
I also met a very patient fellow who sold me two sets of the doodads that screw down on top of lamp harps and hold the shades in place. The first set was plastic and probably cost three cents each to produce. Ace Hardware sells them for $5.00 per pair. Those didn't work, so I drove back across town, returned the originals and bought two brass ones that did work. Those were a mere $3.79 each! Those of us who refuse to shop at Walmart pay dearly for our pride!
Between all of that running around I managed to re-frame a print, get two lamps operational, hang some art and family photos, feed the birds and the squirrels, argue with Direct TV for thirty minutes over a five dollar charge (next time I'll send them two plastic doodads from Ace Hardware), and consume most of a box of chicken livers while cruising the highways and country lanes of West Plains.
Life remains good.
Retiree
The sun is preparing to set on what has been an unusually busy day. It took three trips to town to complete all of my chores, but fortunately the town is close!
My initial stop was at the barber shop for my first Missouri haircut in nearly a decade. The barber cuts my grandson's hair as well as the hair of all of Boone's maternal relatives. He is nearly my age and quite an interesting guy. He raises, among other things, peacocks and Boer goats. Boer goats are large animals which are used primarily for meat production. He told me that is possible to pay $10,000 to $15,000 for an exceptional Boer for breeding stock! (I may have a few goats at some point, but they obviously won't be Boers!) I have had peacocks (and peahens) before, and would like to have a few at my new location - for their colorful presence and jungle screaming. Peacocks make the place seem more exciting and exotic.
I met a plumber who managed to talk me out of installing a garbage disposal - and out of giving him a job. I think I will go strictly with composting. I also met a mechanic who serviced my car - and while he worked on that I had an interesting conversation with his wife. Locals will talk about almost anything, and they are an excellent source of information on the history and culture of the community.
I met a glass cutter who replaced the glass on an art print that got broken during the move. He gave me a discount when I told him that I did not need a ticket. Tomorrow I will take him another one. He is very quick and reasonable. Later I talked to a couple of store clerks about lawnmowers. Unfortunately, they had sold the one that I had had my eye on. Tomorrow I will start the search again.
A lady at another store sold me a couple of lamp shades. She will never know how close she came to selling me a coffee table that had a foosball game under its glass top. (My reduced retirement pay has curbed the urge to splurge.)
I also met a very patient fellow who sold me two sets of the doodads that screw down on top of lamp harps and hold the shades in place. The first set was plastic and probably cost three cents each to produce. Ace Hardware sells them for $5.00 per pair. Those didn't work, so I drove back across town, returned the originals and bought two brass ones that did work. Those were a mere $3.79 each! Those of us who refuse to shop at Walmart pay dearly for our pride!
Between all of that running around I managed to re-frame a print, get two lamps operational, hang some art and family photos, feed the birds and the squirrels, argue with Direct TV for thirty minutes over a five dollar charge (next time I'll send them two plastic doodads from Ace Hardware), and consume most of a box of chicken livers while cruising the highways and country lanes of West Plains.
Life remains good.
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