On Sat, 8 Jan 2011 06:24:24 -0800 (PST), wrote:


In a way, things were easier in 1985 when I first put this together,
no one but the hardware store guy to ask questions of, and it turned
out okay, but now I wanted to do an even better job.- Hide quoted text -

God help you if you ask the hardware store guys at the local ACE here
anything. There is
one idiot there who immediately runs up to you as soon as you walk in
the store and
wants to get involved in "helping" you. For example, I was looking
for a small water
pressure gauge. First off, they didn't even have any. But along the
way he questioned
me whether it was a well system or city water, then proceeded to tell
me that city water
operates at 2 PSI.

Another time, I was looking for screws and he waltzes over and asks to
help me. I tell
him I'm looking for #10 round headed wood screws. He looks at me
like he never heard of
such a thing. Then he asks, what do u need them for? I felt like
telling him to shove in your
mama's behind. Next he tells me to use sheet metal screws, because
that's what he uses. Of course,
I could use them in a pinch, but they aren't what I really want, nor
intended for the application.
If the ass weren't there, I'd have found what I wanted 5 mins ago.
One can only imagine what
happens with the advice the jerk gives to novices.

Maybe you could make a tv show out of this.

Three hardware stores have closed on the shopping street near me since
I moved here 27 years ago. One was a real hardware store and though I
didn't ask for much advice, I think the boss knew a lot. He said he
didn't want to stay open late and on weekends, so he closed. The
other was a small version of a big box store, before biggg ones
existed. I can't even remember the third one.

There is another one a mile farther out, and they've been forced to
concentrate on lawn-mower repair and tool rental, all the way up to
frontloaders, and things requiring service. I hope they stay in
business, for the occasional time I need them. They sell motor
brushes, for one thing. They even hired a girl in her 20's who seems
to at least know what they have and where everything is, but I don't
epxect her to know what to do with things. The old man is still
there, but I forget the last time I asked him a question.