Sunday, August 17, 2008

Not Frog Herders









We made a quick trip to install the first of some security measures for the store. As usual what seems like s simple task became involved. The corner boards were not replaced when we did the face lift. We were faced with this being a wiring problem as well, so one day was spent installing three boards that were special cuts and required grooves and more to match the old ones which had justifiably rotted after 38 years. I can not say enough times how much more difficult it is to use typical nail/board applications where steel beams are involved. However, we now have this corner mended and one piece of a seven part security system in place.

The wire rack we found on our anniversary trip to Fredericksburg got a good scrubbing and a primer and coat of flat black paint. It does not look new but it does look clean. Something should be said for the scrubbing. I accidentally mixed industrial strength degreaser and ammonia...this resulted in a melt down of the paint and one layer of my skin thumb only. Be sure you label spray bottles or better yet discard anything left over.

The front of the posts got a few of the assorted objects we had hoped were an eclectic mix with an old/interesting look but not everything we bought took to the hanging so some wooden pegs are needed to support heavy objects with holes in the center.

Our son Will built some shelf parts and I assembled them with Bills help. Will's shelves will hold cleaners and paper products on one side and smaller food items on the other. We found Gorilla shelves for the right side of the store at Sams. They are both deep and sturdy enough at an unbeatable price. These will hold large bags of feed or other heavy products cheaper than we could make them from wood.

We found a source for small sturdy grocery baskets. They are as tall as the large baskets you find at Brookshires or Walmart but much easier to "drive". Versa Cart not only has the best product but they are allowing us to purchase just one so we can try it out and see what our needs are. Ginny Keaton is their sales person on line who can walk you through the steps.

We will be getting new windows in September on the 11th. Yes, 9-11...hopefully that date will not hex the whole process. We are excited about being wasp free.

We had a four inch frog come hopping through while we labored over the shelving. He was headed for the back door so we didn't try to herd him back out. We also think we have a mouse or something bigger so we left out poison.

The weather was unseasonably cooler. Unlike last years 100 plus days.

Thanks to his co-worker Mike, Bill installed an amplifier type devise to his cell phone in the hopes it would give us service in Kanawha. Unfortunately the results were somewhat undetermined.