No, the casino was Farmer H's plan for later in the afternoon. He was trying to finish putting the metal roof on his new Freight Container Garage, with the help of HOS, his oldest son. When I left, he had HOS up on the roof already. The temperature was 27 degrees, and the wind blustery. I did not envy HOS his freelance work. Especially not with Farmer H being his boss. Farmer H was going to pay HOS for working with him this week, so I needed to withdraw some cash. Of course we pay HOS off the books, because we're not book people, and he's a relative who might just have done that work for free. That wouldn't have been right, though, for his three days of effort on top of a garage.
I also made two stops before I got to the bank, looking for a calculator. Nothing fancy. Just something to make sure I'm accurate when tallying up the grand total of our tax bills before sending the checks. Farmer H used to fancy himself a future land baron, and bought up delinquent properties on the courthouse steps. So we might owe $5.93 here, and $12.47 there, assorted amounts that I don't think warrant a separate check, when I can just cut one check for the real estate tax total. Sure, I COULD use my computer's calculator. But it gets clunky trying to carry New Delly around with me, and Shiba has no mouse, only that touch pad thingy, which I find cumbersome. Technology is not my friend. Don't be surprised if you see me enter the bank one day with an abacus strapped to my back.
Anyhoo...Dollar Tree did not have one calculator in the whole store. I'm pretty sure I looked at every item in there. I went on to the bank, then stopped by The Dollar Store. They're not the same, you know. I found one in The Dollar Store. It cost TWO DOLLARS! Another case of bait and switch, methinks! Oh, and I used to have a calculator JUST LIKE IT that was my favorite! I used it for years (and years [and years]) while I was teaching. When I retired, it somehow got misplaced. I know I didn't leave it at Newmentia! It's here somewhere. But spending two dollars was easier than looking for it.
Well, now that I
Funny how that happens...
5 comments:
I get my calculators at a discount store too, they work just as well as ones that cost ten times more, and I like the lovely big buttons and screen. They're also cheap enough to just go and get a new one when the battery eventually runs out because replacing those tiny things is ridiculously fiddly.
You know what's funny. My writing critique group exchanged scratcher tickets. I got 5, and all 5 were losers.
River,
Well, I hope you don't try a Dollar Tree store! Because they don't have calculators! At least nowhere you might expect to find them. I looked in all the logical places: school supplies, home office, crafts (?), by the checkout register.
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Sioux,
Why does that seem entirely plausible to me? You are SO MUCH LIKE FARMER H!
We don't have Dollar Tree, we have Cheap as Chips and The Reject Shop, both have calculators in their stationery sections.
River,
I KNEW I was looking in the right place! Stationery is by the school supplies and home office. Most often they're with the school stuff, though. Or at the checkout.
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