Here's what I found

We just got back. Went to Lowe’s first and got pictures of their product along with verifying prices. One of the things I wanted to check out was being able to transition from the insulated pipe to regular old stove pipe. Looks like I can do it without a whole lot of problems. On the label of the kit it shows using the insulated pipe all the way to the top though it does indicate regular stove pipe leading from the stove itself to the thimble. There is a transition piece for that joint.
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We stopped at Pet Smart on the way to pick up worm medicine for the puppies. Trixie has been having a problem with her stool and they both eat lots of grass which is the cause of Trixie’s problem. I mentioned this to Steve and he said it was a sure indication of worms and asked if we regularly worm them. I thought we wormed them when we first got them but the only medicine we found was for cats so there is a good chance we didn’t. Steve said that worming dogs out here should be a regular thing, especially if they are outdoors much. There were several types of worm medicine but only one claimed to kill four different types. The others were more specific, killing roundworms or tapeworms but never both. It cost $44.00 for both puppies. I was thinking ten or fifteen bucks. Oh well, they are worth it and more. We take care of our kids. Cherie also wanted to take advantage of a sale on dog food so we picked up a thirty five pound bag for nineteen bucks.

After Lowe’s we headed out to the Walmart on the south side of Midland because it is close to Tractor Supply where I wanted to take pictures of their chimney stuff. You know, efficient use of time and miles. Normally we shop at HEB but milk is usually cheaper at Walmart anyway. With that done we ran to Tractor Supply, which is only a block down on the other side of the street.

There are lots of Tractor Supplies up in Ohio so Cherie was somewhat familiar with them. It looks like I’ll be visiting them a lot because they carry much of what we will be needing as we build this farm. The first thing she saw was fifty five pound bags of the same dog food we just bought at Pet Smart for the same price. Oh well, we know where we will buy it the next time.

I led Cherie back to where the wood stove stuff was and showed her what they have. Even she could tell it was better. At least I think it’s better. Here’s the picture of the pipe. What do you think? I asked a young kid with a Tractor Supply hat on if a manager was around. “Yep” he said “What can I do for you”. You know, when you hit fifty plus everyone else seems to look a lot younger. I explained we were needing to replace our old chimney because of a fire and that there were people at our church who were helping so I wanted to get prices. Actually the way I put it was “I’d like to see what kind of deal I can get”. I’ve known for a long time that you can often negotiate a price at stores so this wasn’t new to me. Telling him about the fire and others helping because we lived on my disability check were to encourage him to be nice. I don’t know if that is wrong to do, you know throwing out stuff to gain sympathy, but I did it anyway. I also told him Lowe’s had a lower price on their stuff though I was honest about it and said it wasn’t as good as this was. But stores often have a policy of matching competitors prices so I figured that would help too. It did. He not only matched Lowe’s prices but beat them.
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So here’s the deal. The chimney kit he dropped from $245 to $200 where Lowe’s price was $217. On the pipe he came down from $76 to $65 beating Lowe’s $66 dollar price. Cool. On the illustrations on both of the kit boxes they show using the insulated pipe all the way to the top. To do that with the Tractor Supply chimney will cost $525.00 plus tax. It’s a bit over the four hundred we have but I think it’s the way to go and is a long term investment that will last decades.

I had the guy write the prices he gave us down to make sure if we came in tomorrow or Monday and he wasn’t in there would be verification of the prices. I mentioned that I would have a problem recognizing him when we came back because of the brain injury. “I know exactly what you mean” he said and explained he had similar problems after receiving a concussion. We talked about that and I told him the story of how Cherie and I were divorced because of the personality change I had after my concussion in 1981 (or 82, I don’t recall at the moment) Then went on and told of how we got back together after I woke from the coma. I gave him this blog address as well so Hey Dude, if your reading this Thanks for the help. By the way folks, Tractor Supply is a good place with great deals so give them a visit, and just for fun tell em I sent ya. Hmmm…I wonder if that will get me more money off the price???