A Little Too Frugal?
Many years ago when Johnny and I made a commitment to get out of debt and never return we had to make some lifestyle adjustments! They were indeed lifestyle adjustments, because years later, we still tend to carry some of those habits. For example--our solar dryer--works wonders! If you hear the "real" dryer working--that thing runs less than 10 cycles a year!
Next...we have cut our air conditioning on less than 5 times this calendar year. Our source of a breeze...
I have laughed a lot seeing a similar picture on Facebook, and it say "Remember this?" Remember it? We still do it! The result--our bodies obviously have adjusted. If we go somewhere and the temp is below 75--we are cold! If it is below 70--I am pretty much freezing! I guess we will have to leave the windows up when it starts getting colder so we can adjust to the colder weather as well! My point--we have a tendency to live frugally! Most of the time, that works for us. Occasionally, well...you have stories like this...
On the last trip I blogged about you saw where Johnny and John Gannon had a fun trip down the river. Well, here is the full story! As we approached the gorge area of the river, Johnny stopped at a small mom/pop type store that had a half inflated ducky out front advertising that they rented rafts and duckies. He stopped in with the hopes of purchasing a ducky. The boys and I stayed in the car as he went to hopefully negotiate this purchase. On the porch of the place, there were all kinds of things--porcelain dolls, wood carving things, dream catchers, cigarette advertisements, a covered up with a tarp yard sale...you get it? Well, eventually the lady and Johnny settle in on two chairs a mist all the stuff. They talked and talked and talked. Because it was taking so long I had decided they must be waiting for the "man" to come back to price the ducky so we could buy it. About thirty minutes pass and Jackson rolls his window down. I didn't think anything about it--he LOVES riding with the window down instead of the air on (not sure were he gets that :). He then screams, "What is taking you so long?" I felt no uneasiness at this point--it was what I was wondering. Unfortunately, I had been taught some stupid social rule along the way that wasn't appropriate to do. Needless to say, I didn't pass this rule onto to Jackson at this time! And hey--it worked. Johnny grinned, concluded his conversation, and joined us in the car.
Well, what about the ducky? She didn't want to sell but would rent one for $15/person. Oh my goodness!! What in the world took you so long? Well, she told me about how bad her life was and about all the stuff going on. I will admit it was some pretty serious stuff. You would think this would have been red flag # 1. Right?
Johnny wanted to go check down in the gorge with one of the commercial places that always have some for sale. It was about a 15 minute drive down into the gorge area to this place. This time, it didn't take near as long, he returned and said the owner said he had several he wanted to sell but they were renting out nearly every day. He said if we would come back on Labor Day weekend he would sell us one. His renting fee--$21/person. So you know what we do--we head back to the mom/pop store where the lady in need of a counselor is. Johnny even suggested that I offer to barter counseling services for the rental or possibly purchase of the ducky. So, 15 minutes later we are there. He goes in, she comes out, Johnny moves the car to the back of the building. He gets out and is waiting near the small stack of duckies. She proceeds to walk over carrying a small shop vac. He figures they have some leaves or something in the cracks she is going to suck or something. She then hands him a wrench and says, "I can't get these things off. Here, you loosen this valve." Johnny takes the valve off and she proceeds to use the shop vac to put more air into the ducky!! This should have been red flag #2. What? Seriously, a shop vac? I am pretty certain the shop vac isn't outfitted with the necessary stem to appropriately fit that valve. I watch as they both squeeze the sides checking the air pressure. Whenever they got enough air in them to suit, they moved the vac to the floor. At this point, I assumed all was fine. I see Johnny hand her a $20 bill, and he straps the boat on the car. I wondered why he only gave her a $20. When he gets in he says, "She only charged us $10/person. She couldn't get the floor to hold air. She said we would be fine and would have fun. Just stay on the seat." Again, you would think this would have been red flag #3! We were both excited about the good deal!
SO, fast-forward, and they are off!! Jackson and I proceed to travel to stop off points down the river to wave and snap a few pictures. At the second stop--the "good deal" starts to become a concern! If you have ever been to the Nantahala, you know about the year around freezing temperature of the water! Really--after a minute or so, whatever part is in the water will feel numb. Guess what? The bottom of the ducky has air in it to create a raised like surface--so some of the water goes to the side. Because their boat has no inflated floor--the water just pools. Therefore-numb feet. And guess what? Those shop vac inflated sides--were starting to loose a little air. "You think we will make it to the end?" What? At this point, my gut wants to walk over, rescue my precious John Gannon's smiling face out of the boat and let the adventurous man proceed on down to "see what happens." But I smile and say, "I don't know-but either way, it will make a good story!"
Needless to say, they did make it down the river! But every time they hit a large rapid the boat kinda folded up from the non-firm sides. You know what the best part of this story is? Johnny and several of the other men from church are at the river this weekend. Guess what? They rented a ducky from the same place! Hey, $10-$15 for a ducky rental--that's a good deal!
Live a Meaningful Life!
Next...we have cut our air conditioning on less than 5 times this calendar year. Our source of a breeze...
I have laughed a lot seeing a similar picture on Facebook, and it say "Remember this?" Remember it? We still do it! The result--our bodies obviously have adjusted. If we go somewhere and the temp is below 75--we are cold! If it is below 70--I am pretty much freezing! I guess we will have to leave the windows up when it starts getting colder so we can adjust to the colder weather as well! My point--we have a tendency to live frugally! Most of the time, that works for us. Occasionally, well...you have stories like this...
On the last trip I blogged about you saw where Johnny and John Gannon had a fun trip down the river. Well, here is the full story! As we approached the gorge area of the river, Johnny stopped at a small mom/pop type store that had a half inflated ducky out front advertising that they rented rafts and duckies. He stopped in with the hopes of purchasing a ducky. The boys and I stayed in the car as he went to hopefully negotiate this purchase. On the porch of the place, there were all kinds of things--porcelain dolls, wood carving things, dream catchers, cigarette advertisements, a covered up with a tarp yard sale...you get it? Well, eventually the lady and Johnny settle in on two chairs a mist all the stuff. They talked and talked and talked. Because it was taking so long I had decided they must be waiting for the "man" to come back to price the ducky so we could buy it. About thirty minutes pass and Jackson rolls his window down. I didn't think anything about it--he LOVES riding with the window down instead of the air on (not sure were he gets that :). He then screams, "What is taking you so long?" I felt no uneasiness at this point--it was what I was wondering. Unfortunately, I had been taught some stupid social rule along the way that wasn't appropriate to do. Needless to say, I didn't pass this rule onto to Jackson at this time! And hey--it worked. Johnny grinned, concluded his conversation, and joined us in the car.
Well, what about the ducky? She didn't want to sell but would rent one for $15/person. Oh my goodness!! What in the world took you so long? Well, she told me about how bad her life was and about all the stuff going on. I will admit it was some pretty serious stuff. You would think this would have been red flag # 1. Right?
Johnny wanted to go check down in the gorge with one of the commercial places that always have some for sale. It was about a 15 minute drive down into the gorge area to this place. This time, it didn't take near as long, he returned and said the owner said he had several he wanted to sell but they were renting out nearly every day. He said if we would come back on Labor Day weekend he would sell us one. His renting fee--$21/person. So you know what we do--we head back to the mom/pop store where the lady in need of a counselor is. Johnny even suggested that I offer to barter counseling services for the rental or possibly purchase of the ducky. So, 15 minutes later we are there. He goes in, she comes out, Johnny moves the car to the back of the building. He gets out and is waiting near the small stack of duckies. She proceeds to walk over carrying a small shop vac. He figures they have some leaves or something in the cracks she is going to suck or something. She then hands him a wrench and says, "I can't get these things off. Here, you loosen this valve." Johnny takes the valve off and she proceeds to use the shop vac to put more air into the ducky!! This should have been red flag #2. What? Seriously, a shop vac? I am pretty certain the shop vac isn't outfitted with the necessary stem to appropriately fit that valve. I watch as they both squeeze the sides checking the air pressure. Whenever they got enough air in them to suit, they moved the vac to the floor. At this point, I assumed all was fine. I see Johnny hand her a $20 bill, and he straps the boat on the car. I wondered why he only gave her a $20. When he gets in he says, "She only charged us $10/person. She couldn't get the floor to hold air. She said we would be fine and would have fun. Just stay on the seat." Again, you would think this would have been red flag #3! We were both excited about the good deal!
SO, fast-forward, and they are off!! Jackson and I proceed to travel to stop off points down the river to wave and snap a few pictures. At the second stop--the "good deal" starts to become a concern! If you have ever been to the Nantahala, you know about the year around freezing temperature of the water! Really--after a minute or so, whatever part is in the water will feel numb. Guess what? The bottom of the ducky has air in it to create a raised like surface--so some of the water goes to the side. Because their boat has no inflated floor--the water just pools. Therefore-numb feet. And guess what? Those shop vac inflated sides--were starting to loose a little air. "You think we will make it to the end?" What? At this point, my gut wants to walk over, rescue my precious John Gannon's smiling face out of the boat and let the adventurous man proceed on down to "see what happens." But I smile and say, "I don't know-but either way, it will make a good story!"
Needless to say, they did make it down the river! But every time they hit a large rapid the boat kinda folded up from the non-firm sides. You know what the best part of this story is? Johnny and several of the other men from church are at the river this weekend. Guess what? They rented a ducky from the same place! Hey, $10-$15 for a ducky rental--that's a good deal!
Live a Meaningful Life!
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