Wednesday, January 6th, 2010
I know I complain a lot about Winter. It’s in my nature. I always feel so stupid when I do because it’s not like I am the only one on the planet who has to deal with the cold. No one else seems to complain either. It’s a lonely job complaining about Winter.
This Winter has been a little different. Usually, I make it up to about December 20 and then start my ranting and raving about how much fun I am not having. This year, my spirits are still high. I think it might be because I have been making little adjustments here and there.
You know, Winter doesn’t have to be horrible.
So, what have I done to make Winter more comfortable for me? Here is a list:
- Sweatpants to walk around in instead of my just my boxers (I know, TMI)
- Slippers to wear instead of having just bare feet
- New humidifier to help the air actually feel warm
- All wheel drive vehicles to make driving in the snow something to look forward to
- Pellet stove to warm up my hands
- Snowblower to avoid 99% of shoveling
- Happy light to get some extra sun
- Jiu Jitsu to keep my endorphins on high alert
- An electric blanket to warm up the bed before I hop in
That last one is new.
Sunbeam Fleece Warming Throw - Electric Blanket
Let me tell you a little something. Jumping into a bed with cold sheets is a lot of fun in the summertime. During the Winter, not so much. I hate it. There is nothing quite like getting in bed, throwing the covers over my head and curling up like a ball and then breathing heavy just to get the heat going. I know I’m not alone in this one. If you didn’t grow up in an apartment building where the heat is always on 90 degrees, you know what I’m talking about.
I decided that getting an electric blanket is probably one of my last little Winter comfort items. I bought it yesterday at Wal-Mart for $29.96. There were a few other brands, but they were over $60 and some even over $100. I thought those were too much because all I wanted was something to turn on for 10 minutes before I get in bed. Something to take the edge off so I don’t have to curl up like a ball anymore. I’m too old to be doing that. I couldn’t imagine the guy down the road curling up like a ball, so why do I?
I tried it out last night. Unfortunately, the blanket didn’t get all that warm. I only had it on for about three minutes while I brushed my teeth. I turned it off and got in bed. While the sheets weren’t cold, they weren’t warm either. Not like the electric blankets of yesteryear. I figure the blanket needs a good ten minutes to warm up to give me that awesome warm feeling. Kind of like the feeling of sliding into a really warm hot tub. Now that is a good feeling.
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Saturday, March 28th, 2009
I knew this was going to happen sooner than later. I just knew it.
If you remember back when I purchased this latest vehicle, I told you that I had a nice, heavy duty trailer hitch installed. I even took a picture of it for display on this blog. Well, that trailer hitch has been looking at me all winter. The only problem is, I never got a trailer to go along with the hitch. Because it was winter, I really didn’t need a trailer. I mean, I could have saved a few bucks by picking up the snowblower, instead of having it delivered, but that was it.
Last week, I got a little ticked off at the high price of delivery for the mulch I purchased. $8 per yard just for delivery is ridiculous. I started thinking about all the things I have delivered and thought that I should bite the bullet and go get myself a little utility trailer.
We have a trailer dealer here that’s located fairly closeby. I figured I would try to throw them some business. You know, shop local and all that. Their name is Connecticut Trailers and they are located in Bolton, CT.
Last night, I browsed their website to see what kind of inventory they had. Their dealership looked like a really nice place that was full of trailers and I even picked out the one I wanted. The only thing that kind of threw me, was the price. The trailer I was interested in was a 4′x8′ Big Tex 15LT and it was priced at $1,218. Since the price on their website said “MSRP” next to it, I knew there was some wiggle room. After I looked at a bunch of other dealership websites that offered the same exact trailer, I discovered that the going rate was $850. I decided to visit the dealer this morning armed with this little price discrepancy knowledge.
I walked in the dealership around 11AM and was greeted by a nice sales guy. He took me for a ride on a golf cart to go look at the trailer I was interested in. I asked what the price was and he told me $1,218. I informed him that I was aware of the “real” $850 price that was being offered everywhere else on earth. He said he would check with his sales manager to see if he could get the price adjusted.
When we went back inside, we were visited by the sales guy’s sales manager, who was a very nice lady. We chatted for a while and she let me know that they couldn’t lower the price off of $1,218 because their price includes assembly, delivery and registration. I was kind of thrown for a loop because I would assume that if I visited another trailer dealer and they had a big “$850″ sticker sitting on the trailer, the trailer would be, 1) assembled, and 2) delivered (meaning sitting there in front of me).
Needless to say, I was really confused. I was the only customer sitting in this large dealership full of very nice sales people. I wondered why they weren’t willing to give me a little break, just to show that they are willing to work with a customer, especially since there aren’t trailers really flying off the shelves these days. She was even kind enough to suggest that Home Depot or Lowes might be able to help me if this dealership’s prices were too high for my budget. I though that was nice. You know, I did kind of feel myself shrink down in the chair a little bit after she said that. I wonder if she knew I liked to write on a blog to broadcast everything that happens to me.
I walked out kind of bewildered. Honestly, I still am.
Just for your own personal knowledge, I am the kind of person who runs off the “volume” philosophy, instead of the “get as much as you can for this sale” philosophy. If you think about it, if they gave me $200 off of the trailer, I would have been a happy customer and would be writing this blog post right now showing you pictures of the trailer I got from them, instead of telling you the story this way. My way is…give a nice discount, get the product out the door, let the customer tell their friends and acquire a new customer for service, parts, etc…Make sense?
After that, I did a little research and found a trailer place called The Trailer Depot in Northford, CT. I called them up and they told me they had a 4′x8′ Carry-On utility trailer for $825. I told the guy I was hopping in the car to come get it.
From what I can gather, the Carry-On trailers that I was looking at are a little more light weight than the Big Tex trailers. That’s why there is a price difference. I didn’t care too much about the weight issue because I wasn’t planning on towing anything really heavy. I just need a trailer for mulch, furniture, pellets, etc…
On the way to the dealership, I got to thinking and decided that I would purchase the 5′x8′ model instead. It was a little bigger and only $50 more than the other one.
When I arrived at the dealership, I looked around for a while with the lady who runs the joint and I told her all about the strange stuff that happened that morning. She was a little perplexed as well. I asked her to look up the price for that exact same Big Tex trailer, just to see if I was being told stories or if everything was cool. We went back inside where she did some looking on the computer. She glanced over at me and held up a piece of paper that read, “$975.” She said, that’s how much I can sell you the Big Tex trailer for.
Hold on. $1,218 minus $975 equals $243. How can that be? This place had the trailer in stock and it was assembled. Strange. I asked her about what was concerning me. I said, “How much time does it take to assemble these trailers?” She replied, “What do you mean, put the wheels on? That’s all the assembly that’s required.” At that point, I knew what had happened this morning. I forgot to take the big “IDIOT” sign off my forehead after I woke up. Silly me.
Okay, on a more positive note, I did get that 5′x8′ Carry-On utility trailer this afternoon. The dealer even traded ball hitches with me. I had a 2″ ball and they gave me the required 1 7/8″ ball at no charge. We just traded. They didn’t make me buy it. Amazing.
We registered the trailer with DMV right there and hooked everything up. Everything worked perfectly. As I was leaving, I said, “So I can take this thing on the highway?” The fella replied, “Oh yeah, these are highway rated tires.” I asked, “How fast can I go?” He said, “65, 70.” Good enough for me.
The trailer rides very smoothly. I can basically drive as fast as I want and don’t even know it’s there. Now, I can go get my own mulch, furniture and pellets, without having to pay people to drive the stuff to me. That makes me happy.
Here are a few photos for you.
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Carry-On utility trailer – left side view
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Carry-On utility trailer – right side view
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Trailer hookup on back of car
Oh, by the way, I am going to put short plywood walls on this trailer, so the mulch doesn’t fall out.
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Saturday, December 20th, 2008
I guess it really isn’t the morning after the snow, because it’s still snowing. I think it’s supposed to stop today, but I heard last night that we can expect 4-6 more inches tomorrow. Holly, the Norwegian Elkhound (snow dog), just loves it.
Norwegian Elkhound
The minute she feels snow under the pads of her feet, she rolls around like crazy, giving those weird snorts that dogs give.
Typically, I would be a little upset at the whole situation. I was hoping to avoid any snow at all this year. But truthfully, I am having a blast. I don’t know why. Perhaps it’s because I don’t have to scrape anything off the cars and try to shovel around them. That was always a miserable task. Also, I don’t have to shovel the end of the driveway. I used to really hate that part of the ordeal.
Remember when I was telling you about how I thought we could shovel the entire driveway instead of buying a snowblower? Yeah, I must have been on crack. There is no way in the world I would have been physically able to shovel this driveway. No way at all. Even if I had a team of my best friends on the job, half of them would have quit.
By this point, I don’t have to tell you that the snowblower is da bomb. I was so proud of it this morning, I asked Laura to come outside and take some action shots of me. She took a whole bunch, but these are my more fashionable.
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Clearing the first area of snow with the snowblower.
Jay, pulling the snowblower out of the garage.
Sure beats a shovel.
Snowblower eating the snow for breakfast.
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I did learn a few things while clearing the driveway this morning. First, blow the snow in the same direction as the wind. I nearly froze half my face by going against the wind once. Second, self propelled snowblowers are awesome. I loved watching those snow tires grab that pavement. No slip, no slide, no nothing.
That’s all I learned.
Go enjoy the snow. I’m outty.
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Friday, December 19th, 2008
They said it was coming. At noon, I didn’t quite believe them, but sitting here right now with wet pants on, I’ll take their word for it.
I just got in from using the new snowblower. What a trip. We have about three inches of snow right now and I swear it took me about 23 minutes to clear off the whole driveway. What was I thinking at the last house? Oh wait, I know what I was thinking; we had a gravel driveway. Oh yeah.
Of course I really didn’t need to go outside today to start clearing the driveway, especially since the snow is coming down very heavily. I could have waited until the morning. I just wanted to get dirty and see how the snowblower held up. I never used a real snowblower before and I admit, I am very pleased (those old electric ones don’t count). This one is a monster.
I thought it would be a nice idea to take a few pictures of the snow coming down, every two hours. I got three and then realized that anything further would be like taking the same shot over and over again. Tomorrow, I am going to get some pictures of me in action, clearing off the driveway. Oooo, yeah.
12PM - no snow
2PM - snow coming down
4PM - about 3 inches
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Thursday, December 18th, 2008
I really didn’t want to make the call this morning, but the predicted snow for tomorrow is steadily creeping up on me.
If you remember back a few months, I told you that I had only one more thing to buy…a snowblower. I planned for it and expected to get it in October. Then, I started thinking about how I might be able to get away with using a shovel on the very long driveway. Laura and I even talked about it; she would use one shovel and I would use the other. This, of course, was a conversation that was had when it was 60 degrees outside.
The day before the snow storm (today), the conversation changed. It went something like this:
ME: I bought a snowblower.
HER: Oh really?
That was about it.
Why did I get it? I’ll tell you why. It’s because of that dreaded end of the driveway snow. Last night while lying in bed, I had terrible flashbacks of that deep pile of snow the road plows leave at the end of the driveway. That snow is the absolute worst to shovel. There is no way I want to go through that again. I did it all last year and it really stunk.
One time, at the old house, my neighbor graciously came over and used his snowblower on the end part of our driveway. Man, that thing kicked some serious a$$. I stood there like a fool watching him. That proved there was a better way to get rid of the snow than using that green plastic shovel I was clutching in my hand.
So what did I do? This morning, I got on the horn and called my good friend Matt down at D.H. Marvin & Son, Inc. in Colchester. This is the equipment dealer I bought the John Deere tractor from. I told him that I wasn’t pleased to be speaking to him, because I was about to give him my debit card numbers again. He gave me a chuckle.
About 2 hours later, Matt showed up in the driveway with this…
Ariens snow thrower
Ariens snow thrower
Ariens snow thrower
Home Depot sells the same model, for the same price. I don’t know why I would buy it from Home Depot if I could get the additional support from a local dealer at no extra cost.
This is a nice snowblower. It is 24 inches wide and even has electric start. I am going to use the pull start, but if I needed the electric, it’s there.
I started it up and drove it around a little bit. It’s fairly simple to use. I am now hoping that it snows tomorrow, because if it doesn’t, I am going to be kind of mad that I just spent all this money on another garage ornament.
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