... it's supposed to get below zero tonight, with the wind chill. Heavy snow tomorrow night; four to six inches, at least. Sigh. The firewood guy picked a good night to not show up. Kept telling me he was on his way, but never made it here.
I also decided against the fireplace insert after doing some random checking on installation. First, I've got a metal firebox, and most inserts don't do so well in those. Second, I'd have to climb to the top of the roof and drop a 50-foot tube to connect to the insert. I really don't like getting on top of my roof ... so maybe there's someone out there with a masonry fireplace who really needs it.
Up fairly early today, waiting on the firewood guy. Waited until 1030a, then went to the post office to mail some bills. Ran into Brattleboro and grabbed a few 2' x 4' plywood sheets from the salvage place ($1 each!). Went across the street to get snow tires, which had to be done. Of course, since I've got a Subaru -- all-wheel drive -- I had to get four. Damn expensive. Went by the grocery store (Diet Coke and dog food), hardware store (bird suet and nails), and feed store (hay and corn). Back home, and the firewood guy still hadn't shown. Called, and he said he was on his way.
Went outside and used the plywood to create a duck box. For some reason, the ducks just don't like going in the coop with the chickens. So I figured for $6, I could build them a reasonably decent shelter in the run. Of course, now that it's built, they're camped out in subzero weather outside. Fed and watered them, which took longer than usual, since their watering cans were frozen solid. I'll have to start moving watering cans inside at night. They still gave me 14 eggs today. I called the firewood guy, and he said he was having truck trouble but would be there shortly.
Which gave me an idea. Lisa was making kale pie (and bread, and chocolate pecan pie, and turkey soup) and needed milk. I ran down to our little valley market to get some milk. I don't do a whole lot of my shopping there because it's geared more for tourists than residents -- i.e., expensive. True to form, it was pretty mobbed. There were probably more people from Connecticut there tonight than anywhere outside of, say Hartford. Anyway, I got my milk and chatted with the owner's wife about the possibility of selling some organic, free-range green eggs. She sounded interested, but we'll wait and see what happens when her husband gets back next week.
Got home; still no firewood. I think I need to look at other firewood providers here, really quickly.
Here's my screaming outrage of the week. What the hell are these people thinking? I generally don't advocate random vandalism, but if I saw a vehicle (picture at the end), I might be tempted.
THE magician, dapper and gray-haired, got laughs with card tricks and other feats that were already old when he was still young. And as he deftly linked and separated steel rings, Dick Stoner drew a crowd around an enormous banner that read “Crossroads” — the company paying him so that it could stand out from more than a hundred other manufacturers at the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association’s annual dealer convention in the cavernous Kentucky Exposition Center.
It’s no small trick to attract throngs from some 15,000 footsore attendees at a show that covers 925,000 square feet and is packed with vehicles costing $5,000 to $1 million. But Mr. Stoner is very good at his craft, and his patter is timeless. He blends punch lines and prestidigitation with frequent repetition of the Crossroads moniker.
After all, the $15 billion R.V. industry could use a little magic just now. To read news releases, of course, things are going really, really great! Public relations materials sent to reporters in the weeks before the trade show noted that the current five-year sales period was the best in the last 30 years and that a consumer survey from the University of Michigan had projected a 3.8 percent rise in shipments to manufacturers in the coming year.
In fact, though, things are not really, really great in R.V. land. Sales are slipping. Winnebago announced during the show that its revenue was falling for the first time in six years. And the industry association released updated projections indicating that industrywide sales would probably decline 4.8 percent next year compared with 2007.
It’s easy to see why sales are off. With an uncertain economy, tightening credit and gas prices through the roof, many would-be captains of land yachts are rethinking their dreams. Other issues also loom in a world increasingly worried about waste, sustainability and global warming.
It might be getting harder to love a beast that gulps a gallon of fuel every seven miles.
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