I slept through almost everything this morning. Deb was up, took care of the dogs’ needs and feeds, had her shower and got all dressed up for work before I ever opened my eyes. I didn’t hear a damned thing.
That’s not like me. I wake up first, wrangle Scout and Smudge, and serve as Deb’s alarm clock.
Not today. The exhaustion is real.
If I were a bender of metal and a fabricator of useful things, one fixture I would’ve built myself is a firewood rack for the hearth next to the woodstove. But I’m not, so Deb ordered one from Amazon. It arrived in yesterday’s mail.
I assembled it this morning.
Included in the parts kit was an Allen key and a cute little stamped-steel wrench. Those bits would’ve gotten the job done, and I do appreciate it when a product requiring assembly comes with the necessary tools (however rudimentary), but I prefer to use my own.
I put the rack together with the help of an electric screwdriver and a 10mm combination wrench.
Sitting now in its place on the hearth, the rack looks good. It’s plenty sturdy enough. It’ll work.
I’ll build our outdoor firewood rack myself, probably from a combination of pressure-treated pine, rough-cut red cedar and a salvaged roofing panel.
Sticking to the woodstove theme, I unboxed the small fire extinguisher we’d bought Sunday at Home Depot and mounted it to a wall stud inside the front door. We’re big believers in fire extinguishers, especially after we used one three years ago to keep our motorhome from burning to the ground.
It dawned on me over the weekend that we still needed a set of fireplace tools. A shovel and a poker, at least. I scanned Amazon and concluded that we could spend $30 to $45 and come away with cheap Chinese shit — or we could drop $50 to $70 and get more expensive cheap Chinese shit.
I didn’t like those options. I launched Facebook Marketplace to see if anyone local had a set for sale.
I found just one — advertised as “solid brass” and “vintage” (both of which I took with a grain of salt), the four-piece set with stand was listed at $35 “firm.” Judging from the photos, that seemed fair.
And it was close by, in Flippin.
I contacted the seller, arranged a time to meet and got his address. He was all the way up by Stetson’s, a half-hour away, and turned out to be someone we’d done business with before. (We bought a pair of Adirondack-style chairs and a tool chest from him exactly a year ago.)
The transaction was smooth and friendly. I brought my purchase Home and placed it on the hearth between the woodstove and the newly assembled rack. Perfect.
Yes, it needs a little TLC. I’ll clean it up and tighten the handles, maybe as soon as tomorrow. I doubt that I’ll give the brass finish a spit-shine — just a thorough cleaning, addressing stubborn spots with vinegar and fine steel wool.
I did give everything The Magnet Test, by the way. I’m sure that the weighty base of the stand is cast iron, as is the head of the poker. The log-grabber, the shovel and all of the shafts are steel. Since the magnet didn’t stick to the handles, they may well be brass.
But was it a real bargain?
Home Depot currently offers a set identical to this one, albeit with a slightly different handle design. The price is $155.32.
Let’s do the rest of the math.
With sales tax, the price of that new set of fireplace tools jumps to $170.67. Adding the cost of gas to get to Mountain Home and back brings the total to $178.87.
The Facebook Marketplace deal was $35, and it was half as far from The Mountain as Home Depot, so the total I have invested is $39.10. That’s a savings of $139.77, or 78%.
A set of fireplace tools, provided it’s complete and none of the tools are broken, doesn’t really wear out. It functions as well old as it did new. And that’s why the set I bought privately today was a genuine steal.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath #Ungovernable
#LetsGoBrandon #FJB