Stocking Supplies Amid Backwoods Adventure

The past few days, I've spent lots of money and made terrific progress. Thursday I drove all over the place hunting bargains and making deals. I went two hours to the southeast to get some windows. Dave was the guy selling them and we had negotiated a price by email without ever having a phone conversation. His pictures in the Craigslist ad were really bad and he didn't provide very much information. I talked him down from his asking price of $875 based on a worst-case scenario; if they were cheap-o windows, how much would I feel OK paying? Answer:$600 I emailed my offer of $500 and his reply came, "Holy buckets! How about $600?" I love that expression and I've only ever heard Minnesotans say 'holy buckets'. We settled on the price and I made the long trek. Dave was happy to get the cash, was a really nice guy, and like everyone else I meet here, we had a nice visit. It turned out to be a better deal than I could have dreamed because it was not at all a worst-case scenario. They were seven really expensive quality windows in brand new condition. One of the items is an egress window for which I was planning to pay $250. I'm so pleased about that. It appears Dave was telling the truth when he claimed these windows for which I paid $600 are valued at $1800!

From Dave's house, I headed 3 hours back to the northwest to Becida. I dropped off the windows and Sid's trailer I had borrowed to move them, hitched up a larger trailer I borrowed from Paul, and headed an hour south to meet the guy who agreed to sell me kitchen cabinets. I won the bidding war at $700 and still think that was a good deal for four nice cabinets, kitchen sink & faucet included. It should be plenty to outfit my kitchen. Now I just have to plan the floor layout to fit them all...

Besides the beautiful kitchen items, I bought from the same guy a bathroom vanity as well. It's a little cabinet with the sink and faucet all together. He originally wanted $80 for it, but I talked him down to $40 since he'd gotten so much of my money all together. He's the same guy from whom I bought those baseboard heaters pictured in a previous post. I think in the end we were both happy.

I made it back to Becida by dark and even got to chat with Lynea for a while before bed. What a fun, long day! I hope those widows and cabinets get installed in the semi-near future ;-)

Today, I went shopping again. I'm going to stop doing that soon, I swear. I just "needed" a few little things. Like flowery antique dishes, service for eight... I checked in with my kitchen purchases advisory committee (Phoebe, Christina, and Lynea) and the vote was unanimous: buy the dish set.

This morning after a backwoods adventure with Constable Bob and Sid, I returned to the shop where my dish set was awaiting. First, a brief report on the morning's activities: Bob said, "Let's go take a look at that oak tree." I got the impression he had a tree down somewhere he was giving to Sid for his cabin. We hopped in Bob's truck and had traveled a few miles down the road before I realized I had no clue where or how far we were headed. As we drove, the Constable pointed out which places he had killed a deer (it turned out to be all of the places, he's hunted everywhere). Eventually Bob turned down a two-track dirt road heading into dense woods, and I finally asked, "So who are we getting this oak from?" Sid answered laughing, "Don't ask questions, just move fast when we get out of the truck." Bob kept joking around about us getting caught (by whom, I still don't know) and couldn't make up his mind who to ditch/sacrifice if needed: the skinny guy (me) or the crippled guy (Sid). On the way in, we saw a coyote or a wolf (not sure which) and told stories and had a generally fun adventure. We left with a truck full of firewood and smiles on our faces. Back at his cabin, I helped Sid with a bit of felling and limbing before I returned to the world of commercial consumerism.

I wondered if Dave, the guy in the antique shop, would remember me with all the different customers coming through all the time. Business must be slow, because when I walked in, instead of saying hello or anything, he said, "I found your sugar bowl, but the creamer hasn't turned up." I asked if the $80 price still stood and he confirmed. I looked at each dish and the condition really was spectacular. He brought out some newspaper and a box and we wrapped it all to go. I knew he was my kind of guy when he said, because my hands were full, I could just carry them right out to my car and pay him when I came back in so I wouldn't have to set down and pick up the box. Back in the shop, I took one last look around to make sure he wasn't selling anything I couldn't live without. I found cabinet hinges to replace the ugly ones on my new bathroom vanity for 50 cents and a cast iron griddle skillet I've been seeking with a low rim for crepes.

While I was poking around, another customer came in and said something like, "Hey, remember me, I'm the guy with all the nuns who was looking for a dresser a while back? Did you get one?" Of course Dave the shop owner remembered him too, and indeed he had acquired what the guy wanted but it was down in his basement. He sent the customer out to the shop owner's car to get his garage door opener so he could take a look below. He liked what he saw, but didn't have the cash on hand to pay for it. Dave said, "Well just load it up, you'll pay me next time you come through." The customer protested, but Dave insisted, "I've done business that away my whole life. People could rip me off, but I know you won't. If a guy ain't good for his word, he ain't worth a crap anyway."

The customer thanked him profusely and asked for a hand lifting the furniture into his car. Last time I was at the shop, the owner told me about getting a toe amputated due to diabetic complications, so I offered to give a hand with the dresser. The customer introduced himself as Sal. While we loaded up, he asked me if I liked to read, and then gave me a copy of his autobiography with this warning: "I've lived a really interesting life, but it's kind of a crazy story. Just be prepared for an intense ride." Then he told me he owns a retreat for nuns on Lake George which is about 15 or 20 miles from Becida where my cabin is. He thanked me for my help and invited me to visit his retreat next time I'm in Lake George. The instructions were to stop anywhere in town and ask where the place with the nuns is and they'll know what I'm talking about. Here is his website http://blog.salsbook.net/?p=103 and here is a link to his book http://www.salsbook.net/ I look forward to reading his story!