Apparently I’m Old

Yesterday was a busy day for us and we got a lot accomplished. I know because my credit card started crying by the end of the day. And I also realized I must be old.

We started the day at Gordo Tire Center, where I had them repair the tire from our cargo trailer that went flat on our last trip up from Florida. It had a bolt right through the tread, and I will use it for a spare from now on.

I was standing outside of the shop waiting for the tire to be fixed when a gentleman got out of his pickup and said, “Hello, Nick.” Since we have only lived here a few weeks and don’t know many people at all, I said hello, then apologized to him and said we must have met before, but I didn’t know his name. He said no, we had not met, but he’s one of our neighbors from just down the road. News does get around in a small town, doesn’t it?

With the tire repaired, we drove into Tuscaloosa to drop off a couple of items at the UPS Store to be returned to Amazon. The store is in the heart of the university district, in a busy area with lots of vehicle traffic, as well as lots of pedestrian traffic from the students. I parked across a busy side street and went over to drop my packages off, and when I came back out, I was standing on the curb waiting for a break in the traffic to get across the street. A very nice young lady must have thought I was a senile grandpa type or something because she touched my arm and asked with obvious concern, “Sir, do you need some help getting across the street?” I was very tempted to tell her thanks, but no thanks, I was holding out for a tall, leggy blonde coed. But instead, I just thanked her and told her I was fine.

Our next stop was at Lowes in Northport, where we bought a new Whirlpool low profile microwave oven to replace the nearly 20-year-old unit that came with our house. It’s the same model Whirlpool we put in our Florida house a few months ago and was on sale for $100 off. While we were there I also bought an electric transfer pump to move some of our standing water away from the house, a couple of 50-foot hoses, as well as a shovel, yard rake, and hoe for some of the chores around the place.

All we had for breakfast was half a bagel each, and by that time in the afternoon I could feel my blood sugar dropping and knew I needed to eat. A place called Mr. G’s, a short distance from Lowes, is popular with the locals and we wanted to try it out, since we don’t have a favorite pizza place here yet. We still don’t. It wasn’t a bad pizza, but we were spoiled by Stavro’s back in New Smyrna Beach, and this place wasn’t even a close second. Or third.

Our next stop was at Tractor Supply, where I bought a pair of knee-high Ridgecut muck boots for getting around in the mud. I say they are knee-high, but on a real person they would probably be more like calf high. It sucks to have a 24 inch inseam. You have no idea how hard clothes shopping can be when your size can best be described as dwarf portly.

Our last stop of the day was at Walmart to pick up a few things, and by the time we were done there the sun was low on the horizon. When we got home and got the truck unloaded, I carried our trash cans down the hill to the road for the garbagemen to pick up this morning, and we called it a day. I was hot and tired, and parked my elderly butt in my recliner for the rest of the evening.

And finally, here’s a chuckle to start your day from the collection of funny signs we see in our travels and that our readers share with us. I guess this warning is for people who think they need more roughage in their diet. Thanks for the picture JanieAnn Slade 😊

Thought For The Day – I’d love to have the body of a 30 year old. But after a week or so they start to smell, and people begin asking awkward questions.