Posted on 03/16/2009 4:32:51 AM PDT by raybbr
Last summer I was at my parents' cabin in rural Virginia and I noticed a dead mouse in a rusty old trap. I tossed it in the trash. Later that day I told my dad about the mouse, and he asked, "Where's the trap?" I told him it looked as though it were falling apart, and I'd thrown it out with the mouse still attached. He looked at me as if I'd punched him in the face. My mom chimed in: "We've had that trap since we got married!" I wasn't sure she was joking, and they got married almost 50 years ago. I sheepishly dug it out of the garbage and loaded it up with cheese again. Now it's become one of those perennial things they bring up every time I go home: "Remember when Steve threw out the mousetrap, mouse and all!?" This is followed by shuddering and head shaking, as they silently wonder where it all went wrong.
In today's cratering economy, my parents are looking pretty smart all of a sudden. President Obama talks a lot about personal sacrifice, and we all need to look for ways to cut costs these days. Maybe he ought to consider Bill and Joyce Tuttle as the nation's first thrift czars, because when it comes to pinching pennies and saving for the future, my parents are extreme.
Here are some real and true examples: my mom does not use a clothes dryer. "Why would I ever need that as long as we have the outdoors?" she says. (I'd like to answer that: there's nothing like pulling on a pair of frozen Fruit of the Looms straight off the line on a sleeting January morning. Thanks, Mom.) They don't own a credit card.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsweek.com ...
Unfortunate that the money his parents have saved all these years by being frugal will be left to their idiot son who will probably go through it in no time.
But, so were wages.
Not only was the gas cheap but with a fill-up, which was considered to be seven gallons, you frequently got a free drinking glass. My mother still talks about the matching set of glasses dad collected, each with the logo of the Philadelphia Phillies.
As your muscles begin to atrophy, your ligaments, bones and tendons start to take over the work. As your muscles strengthen, they take the load off your bones.
My Jewish landlady once told me “There is no fortune so great that a meshugganeh can’t go through it in their lifetime”.
Her daughter majored in theatre. “It’s nice but you can’t eat with it.”
heh..one of my earliest memories was going down to the local gas station (wood floor, wood burning stove to keep warm) with my dad where the attendant would hand pump, via vacuum, from the under ground tank to a glass container on top of the pump, then let the gas flow into the car by gravity..I couldn’t have been more than 5 years old or so..(late 1950’s)..
Steve Tuttle sounds like a good kid. Maybe rather than Newsweek changing him - he can change newsweek. I’ll bet Mom and Dad are proud of him.
Lots of elm, different breed than the ones killed by Dutch elm disease.
They grow like weeds then up and die for no reason. I can count on a cord or two of dead elm every year. On one hand, its nice not to have to take down live trees but on the other hand, it is a PITA to split the bigger stuff.
The only way I’ve had any luck is to let it sit for a year, cut into the end with a chainsaw about 4 inches then go after it with wedges and a sledgehammer. Needless to say much of my elm does not go into the stove.
Interesting you bring that up. I worked at US Steel making about $7/hr starting wage. The company I worked for last year the starting wage (and if you look around) is about $8 - 10/hr. Not really that much of an increase for starters. A gallon of gas was twenty five cents and I made seven an hour now gas is two bucks and starting wages are eight to ten - a much greater percentage. Not to mention taxes, insurance, etc.
But when you look at the executive, upper middle class and union wage, it is much higher now than in the 70’s. That is why a car cost about 1000% more now. In the early 70’s one could buy a new pickup truck for about $2,800 to $3,800 dollars. We did and making about $5.00 an hour.
Dude, you and me both. However, there will soon be a law against this, and you will go to the death camp. sorry about that.
BTW, his folks are just like my late mother and father. And you know what? They were right.
And bread was 4 loaves for $1. I remember those days, too.
And hamburger meat was 3 lbs. for a $1.
The link to #5 is broken. Can you give any more info about the tool?
Specifically how much does it weigh and is is available with a fiberglass handle?
I'll bet that if you go to some big place like Lowe's, Tractor Supply, or Home Depot they will have them. (I got mine in a tiny local hdw store in Norfolk, MA ...)
Don't recall what I paid, but wasn't terribly more than for a plain maul.
Whatever the price, IMO, it was worth it in saved effort, stuck mauls, etc...
I have a 6 lb. maul with a broken wooden handle, it’s on my to do list.
I wore out the fiberglass handle on my 8 lb. maul this winter, didn’t know you could to that but I got about 50 cords out of it.
I have one of those 12 lb metal monster mauls, the handle is too short and I don’t like the ballance, but I finished the season with it. It makes me tired but I’m a big guy and I went through the last four cords pretty quickly with it.
I also have a 3 lb hammer, 8 and 12 pound sledge hammer with a small collections wedges inclucing a wood grenade, none of them are particularly fun to use.
To sum up, I’m open to a variety of tools. I’ve been looking for a new handle for my 8 lb maul and have been in several hardware stores including HQ and several small mom and pop operations, I’ve never seen a maul like that one. If they’re not too expensive, I would buy one out of curiosity. I wonder how many cords it would last. It may be a little light for my taste, I’m getting older and momentum is easier to generate than speed when your joints start getting less limber.
I wish I could find a 10 to 12 lb. maul with a normal length handle.
Sorry if I’m a little wordy, it’s bedtime and it’s hard to be pithy when drowsy.
BTW, while I was searching for info on my maul, I found this listing for three different fiberglass maul handle replacement kits:
http://www.shopping.com/xPO-Fiberglass-Replacement-Handle-881-43323368
It even has animations of the mechanism and demo movies of it in action.
And, I found a review/test/comparison article. It refers to the weight as "seven pounds"...
Apparently, I was wrong: it comes with a wooden handle. Stupid me -- the one in the picture had a wooden handle... :-(
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