Sunday, November 22nd, 2009
I am going to tell you a short story. Okay? Okay.
The other day, my lady decided that it would be a good idea to clean out a closet that she had claimed a long time ago. She made it hers way back when we first moved into this place. It happens to be the largest closet upstairs. I was getting on her case about how she stole the closet before I even had a chance to say anything about it. She shut me up by reminding me of all the closet space in the basement that I am currently using for…you know…my garbage cans and wood pellets.
Anyway, as she was cleaning out the closet, she came across a sweatshirt that happened to be sized XL. That’s my size. She asked me if I wanted it and I said, “Not a chance. Look at that thing.” Then, I touched it and noticed that the material was actually pretty thick, like one of those heavyweight Champion sweatshirts. After that, I said, “Okay, you can put it over there.” Since that day (just a few days ago), I have worn the sweatshirt all over the place. I have worn it to Jiu Jitsu practice, worn it walking and I have worn it to bed.
The first time I put it on, I was alone. I looked in the mirror and put my face into my hand. It looked so nerdy. I didn’t care. I walked out of the room to find the nice girl who gave me the shirt. When I found her, she gave me a little smile. She knew what I was thinking. I looked her straight in the eyes and said, “You know, there are only a few times left where I can come up to you and say that what I am wearing looks really geeky and get away with still wearing it. After that, I become that guy.” I continued, “Also, there are only a few times left where I can say, Hey, at least I am aware of it.” I think we all know who “that guy” is. It’s the dude in the restaurant who decides to go to the bathroom, is gone for a while and then comes back to the table with his pants looking all tight pulled halfway up his chest. You know, that guy.
During our walk today, I said that I was going to write about this. I started talking about how people change as they get older. I think what’s most interesting is how fashion becomes less important and utility and feel become more important. We wear what works well and if it doesn’t…well, that’s just plain stupid. I’m not sure if it’s depressing or funny.
Is this normal? Am I the only person who is making different decisions…decisions that are funnier looking…decisions that are kind of embarrassing but feel so good (slippers)?
I will admit that I am very aware of what’s happening. It’s been going on for a few years now. I guess that’s the way it works. All these little steps creep up on you until one day you look in the mirror and say, “Oh jeez, what the hell happened?”
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Nerdy sweatshirt
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Slippers from Wal-mart
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Sunday, February 22nd, 2009
That’s a pretty good question. I thought four tons was more than enough. I think that’s 200 bags. Here’s the kicker…it’s February 22 and we only have 30 bags left.
30 bags of wood pellets
In the last house, I bought two tons per season and we had about a half of a ton left over towards the end of winter. This time, we get four tons and will run out in early March? What gives?
Well, first of all, the last house was smaller. Second of all, we didn’t run the stove all day while we weren’t there. I don’t think there is a third of all.
Since I am a man of many plans, I devised one to handle this situation. Next week some time, I am going to run out to Home Depot to get 10 bags or so of wood pellets. That should get us through most of March. Then, we’ll just burn wood in the fireplace as the temperature gets warmer outside. For next season, I am going to buy five tons of wood pellets (and not give any away to my brother).
How many tons of wood pellets do you usually use?
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Wednesday, September 24th, 2008
The pellets were delivered yesterday, all four tons of them. That’s 8,000 pounds.
What did I do with all 8,000 pounds of pellets? I moved all 8,000 pounds of pellets downstairs, alone. I did that all by myself in about an hour and a half. I don’t mean to brag about my feats of strength, I really don’t.
This feat was really nothing for me, moving all 8,000 pounds of pellets, I mean. It was annoying, because the wheelbarrow had a tire that was half flat and it was dark outside, but otherwise, everything was OK. I also had to navigate through the little doggy land mines, but I mostly made it.
Wood pellets by the ton
I put between 7 and 8 bags of pellets in each wheelbarrow load. At times, things got a little hairy going down the slight hill into the backyard, but again, this was but a minor challenge. When you have as much training in this type of thing as I do, it’s really simple.
Can someone please pat me on the back?
Of course I had to get a fire going in the pellet stove last night. The stove works really great, but I have to seal up the pipes again, just like the old stove. They leak slightly, which kind of stinks. I’ll get it.
The cool part is that when I am standing on the stairs between the basement and the main floor, I can feel a breeze going down, when I put my hand down towards the stairs and a breeze going up, when I put my hand up near the ceiling.
I think it’s going to work out just fine.
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Sunday, September 21st, 2008
I keep trying to tell anyone who will listen that they should get into the wood pellet selling business. I mean it. If you want to get into a “carbon-neutral” business, start selling wood pellets.
The demand for wood pellets has been rising like absolute craziness. There are no licenses and no classes to take. All you need to do is get a truck, find a vendor, put an ad in the Yellow Pages, get a garage and start making money. It’s pretty much a year round business now. You’re crazy…CRAZY if you don’t listen to me on this one.
I visited a website the other day checking out all different brands of wood pellets. This place sold and delivered to the entire state of Connecticut. They prided themselves on having the most diverse and best quality wood pellets in the state. Well, when I got to the order page, guess what? Every single brand of wood pellet was sold out. Even the pellet stove store I bought this pellet stove from stopped answering their phone. Now, you have to leave a message and they will get back to you. I had to stop by in person yesterday just to speak with them.
I am not sure about the margins for selling woods pellets, but I would guess they are flexible. You could probably make up for a lot in delivery charges, but I would expect the rest is pretty easy. Just think about it…if there were blogs back when people started delivering heating oil, you might have seen a similar post.
I swear, if someone doesn’t start doing this, I will.
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Thursday, November 15th, 2007
I went to the auto parts store yesterday to get some oil, an oil filter, some windshield washer fluid and an air tank. I have wanted an air tank for some time because I am getting a little sick of filling things up with a bicycle tire pump.
I went to AutoZone in Beacon, NY because it was pretty close to where I was. They had everything I needed, which was nice. I grabbed everything and the last air tank.
On the way home from work, I stopped off at the local gas station to get some air. I used the self-service air pump off to the side of things. I guess I got about 55lbs of fresh, clean, clear stuff into the tank. That’s ok, but the tank can handle 125lbs. I lost a little because I was fiddling with the attachments. Oh well.
It seems as thought I got this tank just in time, because I arrived home to see two tons of wood pellets sitting in the driveway. Yeah, I would need the wheelbarrow for that. I used my new tank to fill up the tire and went to work.
Adiós.
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Tuesday, August 7th, 2007
I am in the wood pellet mood. I am a planner, like an old farmer or something. Better yet, like a caveman. There have been times when I have wanted hair like a caveman…ok, I’ll stop there.
Anyway, I was doing some searches on wood pellets and came across a great post on a new idea, grass pellets. Check it out.
I really like the way people are always trying to come up with a better way to do something. The pellet stove is a great idea. It keeps the house nice and toasty and really doesn’t cost that much to run. I mean, I just spent about $630 for the whole season of heat. That’s not bad. It certainly is better than the three dollars per gallon of dirty oil fuel that I used to get. Not to mention all the diesel they burn in the truck to get it to my house.
If they can make stoves handle burning more types of pellets, that would be a good thing. I think the main factor with burning a lot of things is the ash content. People now mainly burn wood pellets and corn, but you need a special stove to burn the corn. I only burn wood pellets, so I don’t really know what type of heat the corn gives off.
Keep up the good work and keep thinking. There are quite a few people out there like me who search this kind of stuff all day while at work. HAHA.
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Tuesday, August 7th, 2007
I just placed a phone call to the local Agway to pre-order my wood pellets for the year.
Every year, (I have been doing this for two years now) I like to get my pellets in August. I always think I am beating the rush. I guess I am, but there are quite a few people ahead of me this year. The lady on the phone told me that there were three truck loads to be delivered before me. I am thinking, “Ok, like three pickup truck loads?” No, three tractor trailer truck loads. There are twenty two tons on each truck. That’s a lot. I am going to get my delivery after those go out to the other people who pre-ordered.
I ordered three tons on discount, because it is before the season. The price goes up after the season starts and the demand is higher. I paid $199.99 per ton with a $30 delivery charge. That’s not bad. I only ordered one ton last year and kept finding myself at various stores buying bags of pellets. I didn’t want to run out this year.
The pellets I am going to get are made out of hardwood saw dust and come from Pennsylvania. It is recycled from the lumber mill. Apparently, this is the good stuff. I was advised that the softwood clogs up the stove, which reminds me that I have to clean my stove out for the season. They say that you should do that after every one ton of pellets burned. Hmmm…maybe I will write a post about how to clean your pellet stove.
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