don't set yourself up for disappointment, plan your shopping trips better to
be more successful

calling ahead to see if they have in stock what you want minimizes wasted
trips

you're better to buy off the net or over the phone sometimes by the time you
factor in transportation costs and the cost of your time to "go
shopping",,,,,,,,,and,,,,,,,,,driving around in a vehicle to "go shopping"
can create significant physical and mental stress in humans (evidenced by
your last sentence)

do your animals need water 366 days a year in leap years? ; )


wrote in message
...
I just came home from a Menards store. I needed to buy another
livestock watering tank. The store only had one 70 gallon and one 100
gallon tank in stock. Both were stored outdoors. The temperature is
zero today. I decided to take the 70 gallon one, paid for it, and
went outside to the lot to get it. Now. you tell me why they had them
on the shelves with the OPEN side UP. The tank was half filled with
ice, and it took 3 guys to get it off the 5 foot high shelf, and load
it in my truck with all that ice in it. I am now running a stock tank
heater inside of it, (still on my truck), so that I can bucket out the
melted ice and unload the thing. WHY, WHY, WHY don't they put them on
the shelves upside down? It don't take a rocket scientist to figure
that out????

It's a good thing I didn't buy the 100 gallon one. That one was about
12 feet up on the shelf, and since it did not have other items above
it, like the one I bought, and was on the top shelf, I have a feeling
that one was entirely filled with ice. There is no way we could have
lifted that.

This just makes no sense to me. Even a complete moron should be able
to figure out that they should be stored with the OPEN side DOWN. I
am not cutting down Menards, I do a lot of business with them, and am
generally satisfied with their products and customer service. But
this is just plain assenine. If I weren't for the fact that I needed
the tank immediately, they would have lost a sale, and I would have
gone elsewhere to buy one. But then too, could I have found one?

This brings up another gripe of mine. When the stores are full of
Christmas items, and I mean ALL stores, they dont stock "normal"
items. Last week I was at Walmart and decided to buy another garden
hose, since I had one break. I bought a hose at Walmart during the
summer and found it to be one of the best hoses I have gotten for the
price. Well, I was shocked to find they did not have one single hose.
I asked the clerk, who had to call the manager, who said they do have
them in storage, but can not get to them, until all the Christmas
merchandise is gone. Well, excuse me..... I have nothing against
Christmas decorations, but my animals need water 365 days a year.
They dont stop drinking at Christmas. I also use my manure fork all
year round, as do I use shovels and other yard type tools. If I break
one of these, I need to buy another, and can not wait until all the
Christmas decorations are put away. Even the local farm supply store
is lacking in farm items, but well stocked with Christmas decorations.
They were out of electric fence gate handles the other day, and those
things break more often in winter due to ice, than any other time of
year. Yet, not a one in the store........ This is very inconsiderate
to their customers and it really ****es me off !


Mark