vernon

You have no idea. For a little added context last Friday the A/C went out in the Tahoe - likely the compressor. I'm guessin' $1500 - $2000 there. Yesterday morning the Honda push mower was just sitting there idling while I picked up some dog poop when it went KABOOM and sounded like the entire engine exploded and now the pull rope is slack and there's just nothing there so I assume I either need to replace the motor or just buy a whole new mower. Quick $750 plus tax. Oh yeah, the main valves on my irrigation system need to be removed and replaced and my Mac is about dead and barely works. The Mac's gonna be around two grand and who knows about the irrigation as I haven't had it looked at yet. Ain't nothin' another dozen or so stimulus checks won't cover. Man, I could sure use a vacation......

I thought that was what the twelve extra batteries was supposed to do? 🤫

OK - a not so quick little story that I feel compelled to share in order to better illustrate a typical day in the life of Vernon. Picked up the new battery yesterday from Batteries Plus. That's the good news. The rest of the story goes a little like this: I placed the order online so as to get the 10% discount offer for all online orders. I immediately received a confirmation email that my order had been received and was being "processed". The email further stated that I would receive a second email notifying me when my order was ready for pickup. Great! Well, a day and a half passes and I still haven't gotten the promised "Order Ready" email. So's, I was over that way any who so I stopped in to see what the deal was and the girl tells me that, "The stores never see those order emails." So I asked her how would they know that I'd placed an order and she says, "We don't until you come in and tell us and we look it up on the computer". What? Well then it turns out that they don't have the battery although the online ordering system clearly indicated that they did and she she says that the online availability status "doesn't really mean anything." OK, so now what? Well, she calls another store and the guy tells her that they have one left but "it's being purchased at this very second." Hmm. Sounds to me like you really DON'T have one left. So she calls and second store that has none then a third and they're out too (although, again, the online ordering system indicated that EVERY store in the Kansas City area had them in stock albeit in "limited supply"). That's pretty limited alright. Finally she calls the Olathe store which seein's how I'm in north KC is about as far away as it can get but they DO have one. OK - please ask them to hold it for me. "NO CAN DO", she says. Rather, she explains, I have to use my phone to go back online and cancel the order I placed that she never saw in the first place and for the battery that they don't even have and then start all over and place the order with the Olathe store again in order to get the 10% discount. But wait, didn't you say that the stores never see the online order? "That is correct" she replies. I thank her for her time and "help" and head for Olathe but not until I call the store myself and talk to the guy and then place the order ON MY PHONE again. When I get to Olathe this guy is extremely friendly and helpful as well as very professional. I explain my prior experience not as a complaint but sort of in passing and he says he has no idea what she was talking about and that he's never had an issue with an online order. He has a guy take my new battery out and load it in the Tahoe and unload and bring my trade in back into the store. Couldn't have been easier. Now I think I know why the first store had signs up all over the place stating, "Store Closing Sale - All items 15% Off". Although I must mention that I asked the first chick, "So IF you had had the battery that I ordered in stock would I have gotten 15% off instead of 10%?" "No", she says. "Why not?" I ask. "Because you ordered it online." 🤦‍♂️ Of course I did. Thanks for coming........

I took your advice a couple of years back and purchased two of the Squirrel Tail rods and I absolutely love 'em. Although I got them specifically for Ned fishing they're so versatile and comfortable to fish that I use them for many other applications and wish I'd gotten a half a dozen more. Sorry to hear that they're no longer made. Guess I'd best take good care of these two!

I'm comfortably secure in my feminine side.💄👗🦹

We is nothing if not equal opportunity haters! Very even tempered however - pizzed off all the time.

And ya know I WAS in a pretty good mood what with the trip coming up and all but then all this talk about boat traffic, boat wakes, boat drivers, boat trailers and boats in general has started to become a little annoying. Hence the tornado warning which is pretty much just kind of a warning in general..... I'd tread lightly and be on my best behavior if I was you guys..... Cause if Vernon on vacation ain't happy NOBODY's gonna be happy!😠

Like it was yesterday!🤫 Amazing how 430 years can just fly by like that!

It's also one of the reasons that we always rent a boat slip so we only have to deal with boat ramp experience two times all week as opposed to multiple times per day (the other reason is we're lazy). The single lane ramps at the resorts we typically stay at can be another level of trailer/boat/driver incompetence than I've seen anywhere else in my tortured life! The one at Rock Lane also happens to be about six miles long, framed by trees with no protection from wind or wakes with a pretty good drop-off on either side. The parking lot and turnaround area are relatively unimproved, eroded, washed out rock that looks like you could snap an axel in if you happen to hit one of the holes at a bad angle. It's one of the ones that keeps Kathy awake at night!

Again - 🤦‍♂️

One day last year we were heading up lake from Indian Point and when we got to the Kimberling bridge it looked like the entire Spanish Armada was heading right towards us (in addition to all of the "usual" wave runner, bass boat, cruiser and ski boat traffic). I just peeled straight left and headed for the bank and sat there until the circus moved past us. Had to have been at least 25 of 'em running almost in some sort of Hell's Angels formation! All going the exact same water plowing speed with the wave runners zigzagging in and out jumping the wakes as they went. Reminiscent of the harbor scene in Caddyshack! You guys are doing some serious damage to my excitement and anticipation levels.......😬

Might wanna stock up on at least nine days of necessary supplies cause us showing up is gonna make any quarantine look like recess! 🌪️❄️⚡🌊☄️🌬️🧟‍♂️

And the "after" photo. Like using top shelf vodka to make a screwdriver......🤦‍♂️

I'm no expert on this (or anything else for that matter other than how to conjure up bad weather) but I swapped out all my baitcasters four years ago for the Lew's Tournament Pro's in a variety of retrieve ratios and have been most pleased. I'm not sure what they go for now days but they're no longer Lew's "top of the line" type stuff so they might be pretty reasonable. I used to buy three or four new reels every couple of years but now that I'm retired and broke and since the measly allowance that Kathy provides me doesn't allow for many expensive new toys these are gonna have to do me for the foreseeable future and I'm fine with that. Although I'd sure rather be buying a new reel than spending money on that danged cranking battery......😢

🤦‍♂️ People need to get back to work! Obviously for way more and important reasons than to get them off OUR lake but that sure wouldn't be a bad side benefit! And Thursday wouldn't be a bad day to start....

Yeah, well, all things considered that constitutes a journey of epic proportions! I think Dave's only had to put gas in that Ranger three times since he bought it. But that has only been around sixteen years so.....🙃

I like to say the only money wasted is money never spent and I've always believed that. Problem is now that I'm "on the fixed income" I don't have near as much to blow! If I was still working I guarantee I'd have that Garmin setup front and back and am still kicking myself for not having it installed on my boat when I bought it four years ago. I was shopping for my current boat and the Panoptix had just come out. I was at the dealership where I'd bought my previous boat at LOZ and the guy that owned the place was showing it to me and said, "I'd obviously really like to sell you another boat but I'm telling you if you end up buying elsewhere you've absolutely GOT to insist that this is the electronics setup it has. This is the most amazing thing to come out in forever and you'll kick yourself if you settle for anything else." Well, I didn't listen and he was right. In fact my leg is getting tired.🤦‍♂️

Do I know you? Sounds like we might be related!

Why is something deep down inside me somewhat skeptical of the true value associated with this deal?🤫 Nonetheless, at this point I gotta say it's somewhat tempting!

No kidding. I'll even do dishes!😉

Pick your poison.....🤬

I sure wish I was there to check it out for you although there'll probably be fifty boats on those banks now!

Should we take that to mean, "she gets it from her mother"?🙃

Good girl! There's a very good and directly related reason that my degree is in English! Not that I was any good at that either but it was way easier to bluff my way through...... Best of luck to your daughter - hopefully there's not a physics "3"! By the way - does she know anything about boat batteries?

For God's sakes man! Haven't I suffered enough?🤯 Coulombs now? Seconds instead of minutes? And MORE multipliers? Physics, schmizics!