My Good Luck Returns!!!

First of all, Lynea is here, yay! She arrived on Sunday and we spent some quality time together before I was ready to share her with everyone else. We went swimming, ate some monumentally bad Chinese food (uncooked chow mein noodles?!?), and wandered around Menards home improvement store to do some dreaming out loud.

On my way down to get Lynea in St. Paul, I ordered $4,000 of materials from Menards to be delivered to my cabin. That should be enough to build the shell from floor joists to roof shingles. I need a couple doors yet, but I'm on the hunt for some cheap ones.

A day or so before Lynea arrived, I went to Home Depot in Bemidji to get some green treated 2x6 boards for the sill on top of my basement. I thought maybe I could get one more step done before her arrival. I was pained to spend $75 for 8 pieces of lumber, but this was not a place to scrimp. As I checked out, the cashier handed me my receipt and must have noticed the funny look on my face when I saw the bill of just $50. He said, "I gave you $25 dollars off," and to my quizzical look, "because, well, because I can. I thought I'd make shopping easier for you today."

My reply was, "Uh, should I go get some more stuff?" He kind of laughed and said, "Sure, if you want to. I'm only working here till Friday." I said, "Wow, thanks," stuck my hand out and said, "I'm Jon." He said, "Oh, you're welcome, I'm Steven."

I took my cheap lumber to my truck, thinking all the while about what had just happened. I worked up a little nerve, went back into the store, looked to be sure there wasn't a supervisor around to ruin everything, and walked back to Steven's register. I asked him, "Were you serious about giving me another discount, because I need a bunch of stuff?" He said, "Well, what are you building?" and I replied, "A house." I told him I really needed to get started on my walls in the basement which would be about 35 2x6s. I asked how much he could give me off that purchase. He said, "Well I can't give 'em away free, but I could take up to $50 dollars off."

I loaded up what I thought would fit in my truck bed and headed back to the register. My tab of $110 came out to $60, just like he said. Wow. I took the lumber to my lot and stacked it neatly next to my basement. I spent a couple hours trying to get the sill plate on and it was pretty difficult. I want it to be really square and accurate so I can match the upper parts of the house to it as I go. I didn't get very far with it, but I have a pretty good idea of what to do next.

Today Lynea and I are relaxing at the Burns's place in Becida, listening to the rumble of thunder as heavy rain patters down on the roof of the DNA lab. My nice new boards are getting soaked, but I hope they dry as quickly as they get wet. I had a tarp on them yesterday, but took it off so the condensation on the inside could dry out. Oopsie!