Saturday

I woke up at 5:15 AM on Saturday. I had a cup of coffee while I composed the Blog entry.

I shaved, showered and got dressed, then headed out for the Saturday morning errands. I went to Meijer’s first. Now, normally I will only shop at Kroger’s but, since I had to go to Home Depot and, with gas prices as high as they are, I decided it would be cheaper just to shop at Meijer’s this time.

Gas prices do seem to be going down, BTW.  The high costs have spawned some very weird incidents in Detroit, however. The first was mid week or so, when the cops spotted a van parked over a gas station tank with hoses running out of the van into the tank. Sure enough, the perps had cut a big hole in the floor of the van and had a pump and a restaurant tank of some kind rigged up inside. One guy would distract the attendant while the other would reach down, take off the tank cover and pump 250 gallons into the van; creating what was essentially a rolling bomb! They had the same van on security cameras from other ripped-off gas stations, so they were looking for them and busted them.

I never did figure out who they would sell the gas to: some guy with a five gallon can or another gas station.

But the weirdest was on Friday, when a big tanker was refilling the gas at another station. Some guy ran up, grabbed the hose right out of the driver's hand and tried to stick in in his five gallon can! Needless to say, the pressure was a bit too much for the five gallon can, and all the guy ended up doing was putting hundreds of gallons of gas into the sewer. This created a hazmat situation and had that street corner shut down for hours.

Oh, and when they arrested the guy, he had less than one gallon of gas in his can...

I got my milk, eggs, cream cheese (for Father’s day) and a few more food items. I also got some kitty litter and cat treats. I made one impulse buy: a box of living grass for the cats. They are supposed to love eating it and it’s good for their digestive system

Then I went across the parking lot to Home Depot. Sidebar: Before I forget, they are building one of those huge Mennard’s on the other side of Middle Belt. I am going to be in DIY HEAVEN!!!

Unfortunately, I was in DIY hell at Home Depot. I found what I wanted (a 2x10x8-foot wolmanized board. But, they were crappy! All splintered and gouged. Worse yet, when I sorted through to the best of a bad (and I do mean BAD) lot, I couldn’t lift it! WTF!?!

Now I know I could have asked somebody to get it down, and even load it up for me. But, WTF would I do when I got home? And, they really were crappy wood (I know, I know, they’re for deck joists, but I don’t remember them being so screwed up). So, I went with a different, albeit more costly, alternative.

I loaded up the car and drove carefully back home. I got there about 9:30 AM. I parked outside and started on the first of many Saturday ToDo List projects. I finished the first at 2:00 PM. Well, I say “finished” but I still need more sanding belts and some 1 3/8-inch brads for the brad nailer to really finish. That will be a tomorrow trip!

So, I moved onto the shed. I took out the 6-foot level, some nails and a tape measure. I needed to figure out the placement of the 2x4’s to hang up my shovels and tools. Since the one I put in the garage was on drywall, and this one is not, I will need several 2x4’s for the handles to rest on.

I went back in the garage and cut down three of them to the correct length. I used the level to locate each 2x4. I drilled out at each stud and then screwed the 2x4 on with 3-inch deck screws.

I took the tools and the big level back inside and got a trusty hammer, some nails and my 6-inch level. I took each implement out, set it up and decided the nail placement. Then I used the little level to make the nails perfect (hey, I’m German, okay?) and pounded them in.

I gave the first spot (the place of honor) to the old, trusty pitchfork from 24 Mile Road. I have lugged that sucker around for 30 + years and rubbed the wood handle with linseed oil every fall. Why? Because I love the fact that it gave me my first scar.

I was just a little kid on a dairy farm and was jumping off the hay mow into the loose hay below that hadn’t been put up yet. It was scary-fun and I did it over and over again. Until I found that pitchfork someone had left in the stack. It went through my leg, just under my left knee (You know, the one that’s been replaced twice since, after later adventures). I don’t remember who the doctor was, but he couldn’t stitch worth a damn!

I wear that scar with pride!

Anyway, it was a long, but enjoyable process. Since I alone had envisioned this shed, I was essentially taking my blank canvas and making it my own. So, I took my time and gave it a lot of thought.

I finished up at about 5:30 PM and realized I was famished! Since I hadn’t eaten breakfast or lunch, that was not too surprising. So, I rummaged around the fridge freezer. I was torn between potato and cheese pierogies and the last of the frozen cod filets. I settled on the fish.

Since I had to have the oven on anyway, I roasted the rest of the Yukon Gold potatoes. I repeated the process, but this time used fresh chopped rosemary instead of thyme and a shallot.

I finally ate supper around 7:00 PM. I watched some taped TV, but went to bed early. I was bushed!