Doc1
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Some days God is just smiling on you. We've all had good days like that and, unfortunately, there are other days when you think the Devil's on your tail! Yesterday was a good day.
I'd gone to a nearby city to visit with a friend, help him with some problems he was having with his truck and do some "pawnshopping." My small, south Mississippi town only has one pawnshop. His still small, but somewhat larger town has three. A lot of people despise pawnshops, but we enjoy bargain hunting at them and especially looking for deals on firearms.
My mission of the day was to find a new-to-me circular saw. At the first shop we stopped at, I scored an almost like new Dewalt saw for a really good price. Note that a lot of people look at the price tags in a pawnshop and think those figures are carved in stone. They're not and most pawnshops are willing to negotiate. Try it some time! The line, "Cash sale, no receipt" can sometimes work wonders.
Though my personal mission was accomplished at the first pawn shop, we still had two more to go. At the second shop we didn't find anything that screamed out "take me home," but the staff fell in love with my '68 Ford F100 pickup and filed out for me to give them the deluxe tour.
At the last shop, my buddy almost bought an antique Winchester rifle, but my attention was caught by a tray of finger sandwiches on the counter. I quipped that this was the first time I'd seen a pawnshop offering hors d'oeuvres and the guy behind the counter instantly retorted with, "Well, we also have a dress code, sir and you need to wear a tie!" Personally, I enjoy the 'ell out of repartee like that.
He went on to explain that the sandwiches were leftover food from a reception and that they'd had them for lunch. The shop's customers were welcome to the rest. I didn't need to be told twice. Instant lunch!
About this time, a rough-looking guy came walking in with a Poulan Pro 20" chainsaw, wanting to make a deal. An older lady behind the counter - who I think may have been the first guy's mother - loudly proclaimed "No thank you! Every Poulan we've ever taken in wound up in the dumpster." I'm thinking to myself that while Poulans don't have the best reputation compared to, say, Stihls, they aren't bad. I've owned a couple and had no complaints. The first guy, the one who'd offered me the sandwiches, told the guy, "Sorry. We can't take it."
Okey dokey. They've turned the deal down and I'm free to do my own dickering. I sidled up to the guy and asked what he wanted for the saw. He replied, "Twenty bucks and it runs good." I asked him to step outside where he fired it up with one pull and showed me that it did indeed run well. A twenty immediately went from my pocket to his and the chainsaw went into my truck's bed. It's a nice, good-looking saw; the muffler hadn't even begun to rust!
With that, we headed back to my friend's house to work on his truck and then I headed home.
But my luck didn't end there. As I pulled into my quiet, rural neighborhood I noticed a tree crew working on the site of a new home that's under construction. I pulled over and asked the boss if I could have some of that wood. He told me to swing by tomorrow and they'd load up my truck! My luck and blessings continued to shine. When I finally got home, I asked DW what we were having for dinner. She said that she'd found a container of my homemade seafood gumbo hiding in the back of the freezer and was preparing that for me!
So, yesterday there was certainly an angel sitting on my shoulder and he was obviously busy keeping that Devil off my tail :-)
Best
Doc
I'd gone to a nearby city to visit with a friend, help him with some problems he was having with his truck and do some "pawnshopping." My small, south Mississippi town only has one pawnshop. His still small, but somewhat larger town has three. A lot of people despise pawnshops, but we enjoy bargain hunting at them and especially looking for deals on firearms.
My mission of the day was to find a new-to-me circular saw. At the first shop we stopped at, I scored an almost like new Dewalt saw for a really good price. Note that a lot of people look at the price tags in a pawnshop and think those figures are carved in stone. They're not and most pawnshops are willing to negotiate. Try it some time! The line, "Cash sale, no receipt" can sometimes work wonders.
Though my personal mission was accomplished at the first pawn shop, we still had two more to go. At the second shop we didn't find anything that screamed out "take me home," but the staff fell in love with my '68 Ford F100 pickup and filed out for me to give them the deluxe tour.
At the last shop, my buddy almost bought an antique Winchester rifle, but my attention was caught by a tray of finger sandwiches on the counter. I quipped that this was the first time I'd seen a pawnshop offering hors d'oeuvres and the guy behind the counter instantly retorted with, "Well, we also have a dress code, sir and you need to wear a tie!" Personally, I enjoy the 'ell out of repartee like that.
He went on to explain that the sandwiches were leftover food from a reception and that they'd had them for lunch. The shop's customers were welcome to the rest. I didn't need to be told twice. Instant lunch!
About this time, a rough-looking guy came walking in with a Poulan Pro 20" chainsaw, wanting to make a deal. An older lady behind the counter - who I think may have been the first guy's mother - loudly proclaimed "No thank you! Every Poulan we've ever taken in wound up in the dumpster." I'm thinking to myself that while Poulans don't have the best reputation compared to, say, Stihls, they aren't bad. I've owned a couple and had no complaints. The first guy, the one who'd offered me the sandwiches, told the guy, "Sorry. We can't take it."
Okey dokey. They've turned the deal down and I'm free to do my own dickering. I sidled up to the guy and asked what he wanted for the saw. He replied, "Twenty bucks and it runs good." I asked him to step outside where he fired it up with one pull and showed me that it did indeed run well. A twenty immediately went from my pocket to his and the chainsaw went into my truck's bed. It's a nice, good-looking saw; the muffler hadn't even begun to rust!
With that, we headed back to my friend's house to work on his truck and then I headed home.
But my luck didn't end there. As I pulled into my quiet, rural neighborhood I noticed a tree crew working on the site of a new home that's under construction. I pulled over and asked the boss if I could have some of that wood. He told me to swing by tomorrow and they'd load up my truck! My luck and blessings continued to shine. When I finally got home, I asked DW what we were having for dinner. She said that she'd found a container of my homemade seafood gumbo hiding in the back of the freezer and was preparing that for me!
So, yesterday there was certainly an angel sitting on my shoulder and he was obviously busy keeping that Devil off my tail :-)
Best
Doc
