Got home from work at about 7-ish. I had leftover Chinese and hit the hay for two hours.
And then I got up.
We went to Menard's to pick up bird seed and a shed.
Then we went to U-Haul to rent a trailer. U-haul wouldn't rent one to me because I've got a ticket, not a driver's license. (Still.) We reserved a trailer.
Then we went to K-mart to buy a lawn tractor.
Then we went home.
Then we went to pick up my uncle, who does have a valid driver's license.
Then we went back to U-haul to pick up the trailer.
Then we went back to K-mart to pick up the new lawn tractor.
Then we dropped off my uncle.
Then we got home.
Then I cut the grass in the back yard. (45 minutes. Yow.)
Then I went back to U-haul to drop off the trailer.
Then I went home.
Then I went back to Menard's because they had given us the wrong damn shed.
Then I went home.
Then I assembled the shed.
Then I had a shower.
Then I ate pizza.
Then I collapsed.
...from 11:30 AM until 8:30 PM on two freaking hours of sleep after I'd worked all night. Jesus! Jesus Christ Almighty! Have mercy!
The pizza was Aurelio's, and I asked Mom to have it delivered. That made the pizza cost about thirty freaking dollars but both of us had wanted their pizza for quite some time, neither of us had the energy to cook, and I was not not NOT! going to drive anywhere else.
The pizza was so damned good.
On the plus side, it's nice to know that if I really need to, I can put forth such effort. On the minus side, everything hurts.
But mowing the grass with a lawn tractor instead of the regular mower--oh, it's so nice to be able to do the back yard quickly.
The tractor in question is a Craftsman 17.5 HP mower. It's got electric start. It's very easy to steer, so Mom ought to be able to herd the thing around the yard. It's even got headlights.
I'm thinking that we could probably buy a snow blade for it and use it to plow the driveway come winter, too.
* * *
We had discussed the relative merits of buying a shed, but ended up buying what I am now calling a "shedlet": it's barely bigger than the mower itself, but it's a box-like structure with hard sides and roof, and which can be locked. The roof slides partway open to give you access to the contents of the thing.
The walk-in shed would have cost $30 more. When I had to return to Menard's anyway, I came very close to paying the extra $$ and buying the actual shed, but I wasn't sure it would fit in the van. Pity; the actual shed could have contained not just the tractor but the push mower and the snowblower. *sigh*
Still, I can't complain about how the day worked out. I suffered reversal after reversal, but somehow managed to keep a level head and worked through the difficulties--despite lack of sleep.
I think part of it is that I expected it to be a major project. Just buying a lawn tractor by itself--when you need to rent a piece of equipment to get it home--is a major undertaking, but when you add the shedlet to the whole thing--and when you add all the fricking reversals I had to deal with--it stops being an afternoon's project and becomes an all-day aventure.
But I expected it to take all day, and I expected that it wouldn't be easy; and I think that's probably why I didn't get all that frustrated when roadblocks kept coming up.
* * *
And now it's early Sunday morning. The Indy 500 is today. I'm intending to watch it; it's the one race that I watch all year. Probably I'll have the laptop in front of me while I watch the race, though.
I've got to cut the front grass, though.
And I have the Friday night SF shows and the Saturday morning car shows to watch.
Blurgh. Well, it could be worse, I guess.