What I Did on My Weekend

Ya know, I get asked all the time about exactly what it is a Redneck does on the weekend. Well, to be frank, it is usually my wife asking, and usually on Sunday evening, and usually while perusing my undone task list, and usually its more like “Exactly WHAT did you do this weekend?”

Well, this weekend I fixed my brother’s dryer, fixed my small lawnmower because my youngest broke it, mowed the yard (with a pushmower mind you; no rider for me), weeded a couple of flower beds, staked up the wife’s tomato plants and posted 3 entries on the blog.

I also watched one of my new favorite shows. Its on the TRU channel, and its called ‘Man versus Cartoon’. Basically, a team of engineers works on replicating some of Wile E. Coyote’s greatest gags. Basically it is an excuse to play with physics and blow stuff up. Kinda like ‘Mythbusters’, but with a narrower focus.

I also fixed an electrical short in the wife’s car and got her radio working. Which led to a little sore spot for me. There is a parts house nearby that I have been using for 35 years. They used to have EVERYTHING in stock, or could get it to you next day. Hell, I walked in there one day and asked for a rebuild kit for a ’46 International KB-7 engine. They had it on the shelf. Now these young punks probably don’t even know what an International is.

The last few times I have been in there for simple stuff they haven’t had it. Fender washers- Nope; don’t stock ‘em. Nuts and bolts- Nope; don’t stock ‘em. Yesterday it was fuses for the wife’s car. Nope; don’t stock ‘em anymore. I had to go across the street to one of the el cheapo national chains (where I HATE spending money) to get a couple of 69 cent fuses.

What the hell is going on in this world when an auto parts house doesn’t stock fuses for your CAR?!?!?

I’ll tell you what it’s coming to; Hell in a hand basket. No fuses one day, no parts the next, until everybody is putt-putting around in Volts and Priuses and throwing them away after 4 years like you do with every other modern piece of (expletive deleted). I miss the days when you could fix something instead of throwing it away. There is an argument I could agree with the wacko environmentalists on. Let’s make it a law that anything sold in this country needs to be repairable, so we can keep some crap out of the landfills.

Or what about returnable bottles? Is it just me, or did we start having all the brouhaha about ‘filling up the landfills’ about the time we stopped having returnable beer, soda and milk bottles? Lets stop being a throw away society, and become a reusable, repairable one!

That really didn’t come out quite right, but you know what I mean.

Oh- and start stocking car fuses in the flippin’ auto parts store!