Some friendships start on the wrong foot

      Last summer about this time I had a conflict with a vendor selling produce where I have been selling BBQ. Now I have never had a problem with yard sales or others joining me on the road .The more selection the more traffic for both. But this man was setting up in the exact spot I always have been. For 2 weeks I never said a word to him and his grandkids . Finally he came over and asked why I seemed mad about him selling his extra produce ? Well your welcome to sell but that spot where your table is  flat that's why I always have used it. This spot I have is sloped for water when I had the parking lot paved for the old gas station, in this trailer the tilt is terrible.
   Danny climbed in and said it feels like he was sliding and could see the pots would slide on the stove. The next day we swapped spots and struck up a conversation . He told me he took that spot so I would be more visible he didn't know how sloped the ground was .I have been there so long customers know my spot.
    By the end of the growing season he had a lot of regular customers also . This weekend he joined me selling nice to have a friend back . We trade food and lies back and forth between customers and have become friends. Today I cooked fried squash green tomatoes and had buttered new red potatoes. All picked yesterday morning. Next weekend he will have a bigger variety ripening and should do good .It could have turned out differently (in a bad way) I am glad it didn't .

Its yardsale season Time to hunt.

     A quick post with the nice weather yard sales are popping up everywhere  . If your like me you have plenty of junk but some thing are to good to pass up. Today I stopped at one before I went to sell BBQ and picked up 2 nice kitchen aid mixing bowls a large and a small for a buck each. When I got to my BBQ spot there was a yard sale to the side of my spot (the man had asked last week if id mind) and so I tried to buy 2 ammo boxes but not for sale .He had his tools in them . I did find a military  not duffel but personal effects bag for 3 bucks . I have one that I store camping cloths and odds and ends. Be selective and yard sales can be bargains , remember Shop Quality or its just their junk is now your junk .

A good time to get gear cheap !

     I know this time of year most people are shopping online or in big box stores looking for gifts. Now if your like me we men tend to wander off at some point to the automotive, Sporting goods and Hardware. Last weekend I skipped out to the pawn shop next door to a store my wife was in .Usually the prices at most pawn shops are high but last week I got a couple of good tools cheap and a lot of the prices were a bargain . The ladies at the register said sales were low during Christmas but pawns were high so they had to clear some room and generate cash. I bought a electric chainsaw a Homelite43120 with new chain and bar for 20.00  and a Milwaukee skill saw with a high end blade for 10.00. They both are in great shape . Most the electronics were still high but tools camping gear and out door items were cheap. Now a lot of people feel giving someone a used gift is wrong but if someone needs something and you can find a bargain  at a pawn shop or thrift store now may be your chance. 

P.S. The chainsaw and skill saw are going to be gifts to me from my wife. We have a deal where I buy the gift she gives me and she buys the gift I give her :) it works.

Propane tanks do have a expiration date.

    Last summer i was out making a round of yard sales in my area.They are a good place to pick up great deals on some items.On one trip came across 3 20 lb. propane tanks for 20 dollars.Of the 3 two were old and didn't even have the new safety valves on them but one was newer and almost full so i jumped on them.I have been using the one that was full on my vending trailer but it ran out just before Christmas.
    I took all 3 down to the local ACE Hardware to be refilled this week.I have dealt with this store for years they are good people.They put 17 to 20 lbs in a tank for 12.00$.The last time t carried my other tanks they showed me how 20 lb tanks are stamped on the collier with different weights of fill.I always assumed a 20lb tank held 20 lbs .

   This trip they refused to fill the tanks.The 2 old ones were made in 1997 and one i had used was made in 2000.The man showed me the date stamp and informed me they wouldn't refill any over 8 years old and by law any over 12 had to be re-certified as safe.I do go in there a good bit so he told me to take them to Wal-Mart and swap them out.If i could he said grab the newest of the 17lb plus ones. I swapped the 2 oldest ones for 2 made in 2011 that held 15 lbs but are stamped as 17.8lbs safe for 36$.The other tank i will take later with one i found i already had that was dated 8/07 its being used first.
       I now have 6 tanks my goal is for them to be all refillable with 17+ lbs and under 4 years old so i can refill them before swapping them out.Around here a refill is 12.00$ for what a tank is rated a swap is 16.00$ for 15 lbs.
     P.S. Propane never goes bad but the tanks do have a refill date for some its not an issue but for me it is because some months i can run through 3 or more tanks.


   

a new tank has a date and fill weight stamped on collar