What a great place Ace Hardware is. We've got one in the nearby resort town, and they have a lot of stuff, but it's nothing compared to the bigger one in the nearby market town, which we visited for the first time today.

I love browsing in hardware stores, because there are so many things I didn't know I wanted or needed. These days when just about anything can be found on the Internet, it's fun to be able to touch and feel the merchandise.

I bought a clothes basket, a brush for cleaning the hummingbird feeder, and two Tin Cat mouse traps.

When I winterize the rentals, I'll put the extra traps in the garage here. No, I do not leave the traps down over the winter when I'm not here. Think about it - I'd come back to a bunch of mouse corpses in a tin box.

Do you know what's wrong with this picture?



That's right: it is extremely hazardous to pump gasoline into containers that are not sitting on the ground because static electricity can build up and cause an explosion. This guy is in Alabama, stocking up on gasoline, probably for his generator.

We got our car aligned because the tires wore unevenly, and the ones that it came with only lasted 25,000 miles. The guy at the Brakes Plus said that the best thing to do when you get a new car is get it aligned, because many times they aren't properly aligned in the factory. That, and the factory tires are lower quality than what you will probably get to replace them, makes for poorer tire life on that first set.

I want to get the windows on my car tinted. Mr. Troutbend doesn't approve, claims he could do it himself, but I'm tired of waiting for him, and I think it should be done professionally.

Here is the road to my house many years ago.



It's paved now.

This is the Dam Store at the mouth of the canyon.