More shopping news, farm work

In all our shopping on Friday Mama and I ran across a microwave on sale at the Lowes in Wichita Falls. It was reduced enough in price that I thought we could go ahead and get it. The only problem was that they were out of stock. We prepaid for it and were scheduled to come back to pick it up on the 4^th. That was okay since there were other things we could do when we made the return trip – but it was not my preference.

On Saturday we were in Decatur for a practice run for the RU program the church is starting. While we were there we went to Wal-Mart to finish up some Christmas shopping for the grand kids and decided to go to Lowes to see if we could pick up the microwave there vs. Wichita Falls. It was not that easy.

It turned out that they had one in stock but we were required to cancel our order in the Wichita Falls store and repurchase the item in the Decatur store. Mama got on the phone right away. It was all working out really well – even though I would have to wait several days for the money to be returned to my account. What happened next made the entire experience so much more fun.

The young lady doing the return in Wichita Falls pressed the wrong button on the register and gave the return in cash. The only problem was we were eighty miles away from her register, so she got the idea to put the refund on a gift card which we could immediately use in the Decatur store. Getting someone there to understand what we needed from them proved to be the next hurdle.

After some explanation, Mama handed her cell phone to a lady who wrote down the gift card number, and called up the purchase, which the appliance clerk had already put in the system. She put in the gift card number and pin and the purchase cleared without a hiccup. It turned out better for me because I did not have to wait on the money to get back into my account and it was a brand new experience for the lady in the Lowes at Decatur. (It is amazing how quickly people can get put out of their comfort zone.)

Also on Saturday our friend going to Mexico came out the farm with his family. He and I replaced the plugs and wires in the little truck while Mama and the ladies talked. There was one plug Grandpa was particularly worried about but we got it out without too much trouble. The hardest plug to replace was on the back of the engine with no room to get the socket onto it – but the Lord helped us with that one also.

Two of the plugs were in very bad shape but the rest looked pretty good. That is a little miracle since as far as Grandpa knows they are the original plugs from 1994. The truck runs so much smoother now it is very noticeable. I also put in a new air filter and replaced one broken vacuum line. I still have a vacuum problem but I will have to trace it down later.

Last night I got out the tiller and worked on the ground in front of the apartment. I am going to cut it down far enough that when we pour the porch the concrete for the porch will sit below the level of the slab for the apartment. I made the first pass last night then moved on to the garden where I tilled that ground until just before dark.

I am trying to run the tiller out of gas before we let it sit for the winter. Last year Grandpa had to take apart the carburetor three times before we got the sludge out of it and got the engine to run. I do not want that to happen again this spring so will make sure all the gas is out of it before it begins its long wait for use next year. I was hoping there was less gas in the tank than there turned out to be.

It may take a while to run it all through – but Mama will have a nice looking garden plot when it is done.