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Re: Tonight's Auction

By: Decomposed in 6TH POPE | Recommend this post (0)
Sat, 05 Aug 23 3:49 PM | 37 view(s)
Boardmark this board | 6th Edition Pope Board 		Msg. 44754 of 60008
(This msg. is a reply to 44753 by Decomposed)
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We had another auction pickup yesterday (Friday). It was the biggest in terms of quantity of lots, the most expensive - because it included nine area rugs (5' x 8', 8' x 10', and 7' diameter). Rugs are expensive, even at auction. And it was the farthest away, Billerica Mass, a two hour drive.

But now I need to back up to Thursday, when we learned that Friday would be rainy. Auction pickup hours ran from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., and the rain was supposed to start at noon. During the exact hours or 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., the forecast worsened, from "Scattered Thunderstorms" to flat-out "Thunderstorms." Great. Some of those rugs are wool and can't get wet. One of the items we'd bought was a sofa chair for the living room. It can't get wet either. The 8' x 10' rugs wouldn't fit in my truck's 6.5' bed. So, what to do? Cross our fingers and hope the forecast is wrong?

My wife thought to check U-haul. "Hey, we can rent a 4' x 4' x 8' trailer for $15," she said. There were some other fees, but the total of $22 was a lot better than ruining a few hundred dollars worth of furnishings that can't get wet. So we opted for that.
My wife paid U-haul and made arrangements for pickup at 10 a.m.

During the night, I woke abruptly, realizing that the flatbed trailer had been locked onto the truck for a month . . . and do we know where the key to the lock is? Uh oh.

Sure enough, we couldn't find it. We usually put it into the truck's cup holder, but not this time. We checked in the tool chest, where we keep unused locks, to see if the key was there. Nope. I checked our keychains, and even the pockets of my many pairs of jeans to see if maybe it was still in one of them. Nope.

About this time, it started to rain heavily. It was only 9 a.m. and that wasn't supposed to happen until noon. So I got soaked.

We were on the verge of having to eat it on the U-haul trailer fee and also having to use the flatbed trailer for our pickup when it occurred to me that I had a set of barbed-wire snips in the garage. It cut through the cheap lock like butter - one of those rare times when things actually went as they should.

We set off for town and the rain let up. We left early since we needed to buy a one-and-seven-eighths inch ball and put it onto our existing hitch. Then we found that the existing ball was held on by a huge, 1.75" nut that exceeded the capacity of any of my wrenches. I have pipe wrenches that could do the job, but they're stored in the barn... too far away to go get. So we went to an Auto Parts store. My wife batted her pretty eyes and asked the guy there if he could remove the ball from the hitch for her so we could put on a smaller ball. He put it into a vise and put all his weight onto it before telling her he couldn't do it. It was rusted on. %#$! A hitch-with-ball was available for $51.99. That's a ripoff. We said "No thanks" and left. We checked a second auto store and it was even worse. Same for Harbor Freight. At some point, my wife called U-haul. They sell a drop hitch and ball for $29.99. Can you believe that?

So, we headed to the U-haul store, bought the hitch, hooked up the trailer and set off.

From here on out the trip was uneventful. Totally uneventful. Do you remember my saying that the rain had let up? There was no rain while we were dealing with the hitch problem, or while we got the U-haul trailer. In fact, there was no rain the entire rest of the day!

#%@#$! WEATHER FORECASTERS!!!

About all I can say in defense of renting that U-haul trailer is that we didn't have to tarp up nine heavy rugs like we would have if they'd been sitting on a flatbed trailer awaiting the presumed torrential downpour. The enclosed trailer made our trip easier, that's for sure. But it was essentially a waste of money. Oh well.

I haven't proofed this post, but there's no time. Hopefully it's readable, but we need to hit the road once AGAIN. This time, there's no rain scheduled . . . which probably means RAIN.




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Gold is $1,581/oz today. When it hits $2,000, it will be up 26.5%. Let's see how long that takes. - De 3/11/2013 - ANSWER: 7 Years, 5 Months

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The above is a reply to the following message:
Re: Tonight's Auction
By: Decomposed in 6TH POPE
Sat, 05 Aug 23 3:02 PM 		Msg. 44753 of 60008

We're heading out in a few minutes to retrieve winnings from two auctions. One involves driving down an unmaintained road. The auctionhouse warned us to have a 4-wheel-drive vehicle and was a bit concerned when we told them we'd be towing a long flatbed trailer. They did assure us that we'd be able to turn around on the property. But getting there?? Hopefully it will go well. Ironically, we're going there to get ONE item, a table. We wouldn't bring the trailer at all, but the second pickup has numerous items including the refrigerator/freezer from Thursday night. We need the trailer for that.

My wife sent me the following meme. Wow, is it on the money!

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