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Lloyd Smale
02-12-2008, 02:46 PM
I about stole a 1911 from gander mountain last week but sent the old lady up there last night with a list of powders i need and told her to pick up a brick of any kind of rifle primer but wws as I have a case of them. The only powder on my list they had was aa5744 She picked up 2 lbs of that and a brick of cci sm rifle match primers and it came to a 102 fricking dollars. Sould have learned my lesson in the past sending her for stuff. She doesnt have a clue what stuff should cost.

rmb721
02-12-2008, 03:04 PM
I think they're all like that.

C A Plater
02-12-2008, 03:33 PM
I think they're all like that.

Gander Mtns or Wives?

Lloyd Smale
02-12-2008, 05:38 PM
niether has sympahy for a gun nut!!
Gander Mtns or Wives?

VTDW
02-12-2008, 08:32 PM
Mine will absolutely not buy me anything like that without a complete model # and description down to the color and still comes back with the wrong thing. But when I go to buy clothes she still tries to get me to buy what I don't want. Heck, what wrong with one red sock and one purple sock anyway.

Dave

garandsrus
02-12-2008, 09:44 PM
My wife will no longer go to the lumber yard and pick out boards for me... I can't imaging why [smilie=1:

John

400cor-bon
02-12-2008, 09:51 PM
my wife gave up buying me xmas and bday gifts
so now I can buy my own!:-D

NuJudge
02-12-2008, 10:02 PM
My wife, Santa and I have had this deal for years: I get exactly what I want, so long as I pay for it.

CDD

crazy mark
02-13-2008, 12:19 AM
Have sent my wife to the store with part numbers, descriptions and even pictures and she comes back with something else. Her excuse is always the salesperson said you needed this, not what you wanted. Was wiring a friends garage and I sent his wife for wire and such to a home improvement place. Of course 1/2 she brought back was wrong. Went back to the store with her and talked with the salesman and he told me I didn't know what I was doing. Got his supervisor and asked them how many years they had been electricians and of course they said none. Showed them my electrical lic and said it's very obvious and they had just cost this lady 1 extra hour of time. I did get a 10% discount on her purchases. A lot of time they are led astray by somebody who thinks they are a professional. Mark

hornetguy
02-13-2008, 10:20 AM
Have sent my wife to the store with part numbers, descriptions and even pictures and she comes back with something else. Her excuse is always the salesperson said you needed this, not what you wanted. Was wiring a friends garage and I sent his wife for wire and such to a home improvement place. Of course 1/2 she brought back was wrong. Went back to the store with her and talked with the salesman and he told me I didn't know what I was doing. Got his supervisor and asked them how many years they had been electricians and of course they said none. Showed them my electrical lic and said it's very obvious and they had just cost this lady 1 extra hour of time. I did get a 10% discount on her purchases. A lot of time they are led astray by somebody who thinks they are a professional. Mark


Oh, my goodness.... don't get me started on Home Depot "experts"....

One of my biggest peeves is walking into a home improvement store, and having someone ask me what I'm looking for.... I say "do you have any 1/2" dowel rod (for example)" and the first thing they say is "what do you need it for?" or "what are you trying to do?"

My initial response, usually before I stop and count to 10, is

"WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE, AND WHAT BUSINESS IS IT OF YOURS WHAT I'M GONNA DO WITH IT?"

Then I realize everyone is staring at me, and I feel bad....

I'm working on my attitude. :roll:

redneckdan
02-13-2008, 10:42 AM
My wife will no longer go to the lumber yard and pick out boards for me... I can't imaging why [smilie=1:

John

My wife can sort and grade lumber better than I can...she is a forester though..[smilie=1:

Kraschenbirn
02-13-2008, 11:23 AM
Oh, my goodness.... don't get me started on Home Depot "experts"....:roll:

A couple evenings back, I went to one of our local "Big Box" lumberyards looking for a repair part for our bathroom toilet...a replacement flush valve, to be precise. Now, I realized that the ol' crapper was a "vintage" model but it was a name brand (Elger) and, for cryin' out loud, a flapper-type flush valve ain't exactly rocket science.

By the time I got out of there, all three of the plumbing department's "knowledgeable staff" had chimed in and I was no farther ahead than when I walked in the door.

"I've never seen one like that. All Elger's current models have 2" tubes." (I took the old part along for comparison...but, if I had a "current model", why would I be replacing the flush valve. Are the new one's designed to fail on some kind of regular schedule?)

"I've never heard of an adapter to convert the older tanks to accept a 2" flush valve. And we wouldn't stock anything like that, anyway." (Gee, if they've altered the design...and no longer make parts for the old ones...wouldn't you think some kind of upgrade kit would be in order?)

"No, I doubt you can replace your old tank with a new style. I'm pretty sure the mating flanges won't match up." (I had a dimensional sketch of my old toilet base but none of the store "experts" was interested in opening a carton to compare it with a new one. )

"Well, if you can't find a replacement flush valve, we've got a sale on Kohler this month...with a special rate on installation by one of our bonded & licensed contractors." (I walked in the door looking for a $5 part and this guy's telling me what I really need is a whole new toilet...$188 + tax...installed by one of their wannabe pipe benders...another $155! Ain't no way; I was a remodeling/renovation contractor for over 20 years and have seen their "expert installers" in action. Most of 'em could've been a template for Larry the Cable Guy. )

Following morning, I went out to our local builders salvage and surplus yard and bought two complete Elger valve assemblies...I had to remove them from "take-out" units, myself...for $6.

Bill

PatMarlin
02-14-2008, 01:45 PM
When I walk into a store, and I don't care WHAT store it is and they have a product boxed for sale without one open so you can see it, I bust out my Gerber utility tool and open one up.

Even if I don't buy it, I leave it there on the shelf.

There's been a few fool employees that start to give me a look, and I glare back at em' with a big "WHAT" look, and they back off... :mrgreen:

Had to explain to an idiot employee one time that if they expect to sell a product they better have it out so it can looked at for cryin out loud... :roll:

Maybe people wouldn't have to continually open boxes if they left out a display? Ya think?

VTDW
02-14-2008, 03:16 PM
Pat,

I do the same much to my wife's dismay. I don't even bother looking around to see if anyone cares. Like you, I want to see exactly what I might be purchasing. I think I have come along behind you looking for items and didn't even have to break out the knife.:drinks:

Dave

bisleyfan41
02-14-2008, 05:02 PM
I have bought stuff from GM and still do some, but 9 times out of 10 I end up leaving the store because they don't have what I need. And it's not really off-the-wall stuff. And the stuff they do have, is usually high unless on clearance. The unfortunate part is that between GM and Dick's coming to town, the local gun shop that was my home-away-from-home closed last year as everybody had to go buy their stuff from the new big chain:( Customer service there is sub-par, but that's what we've got. It is what it is.

trk
02-14-2008, 11:40 PM
A couple evenings back, I went to one of our local "Big Box" lumberyards looking for a repair part for our bathroom toilet...a replacement flush valve, to be precise.
...
Bill


I'm working on putting in a vintage tank now - have two that I bought a few years back for $10 each - OAK boxes with lead liners. Meant to be mounted 6 to 8' above the floor! The old stuff is GREAT!

Stevejet
02-15-2008, 03:45 AM
In answer to my kids (26, 30, and 32 years of age) requests for what I would like for Christmas or Birthday gifts, I have told them for the last ten years - a carton of Small or Large Pistol or Large Rifle primers, any brand. I even write it down, with multiple brand names.

I get Barnes & Noble gift cards.

LAH
02-15-2008, 09:41 PM
I always pick out what I want and turn Barbara loose to do the buying. She will squeeze ever last bit of discount out of 'em.........Creeker

bearcove
02-15-2008, 10:02 PM
AMEN LAH,

I pick exactly what I want and sic my wife on them. Last time I bought a custom barrel she choked on the price of the custom dies. Ended up the lady she was talking to threw them in for free! I select she negotiates. Works good because she is much nicer than me. If I would have done it it would have cost $119 more.

Why is she with me, well I don't push that point.

:Fire:

crabo
02-16-2008, 12:31 AM
I asked my wife once, "How did I end up with you?" She replied, "Temporary lack of judgement" True story, but not the way it really is. I have a wife that puts up with all the guns and guitars. She says, "those are your girlfriends, they come and go. I'm your wife, I stay." Good woman.

hpdrifter
02-16-2008, 12:22 PM
Most of the time when I walk into a hardware store or Home Depot type and they ask, "Can I help you", usually in a low tone say "I doubt it".

whisler
02-16-2008, 09:51 PM
I work for Home Depot, part time, in the paint department and am a retired paint chemist with 35 years paint formulation experience. Our " electrical specialist" is a retired master electrician and our plumbing specialist is a licenced plumber. Ask one of us and you get good info. However, ask my 27 year old department head or the 21 year old girl that works in my department and you may or may not get the right scoop. I have tried hard to educate them and they seem to try hard to learn but it takes time.Some times they just say "come back when Dennis is here" if the question is off-the-wall. Some of the other people in the electrical and plumbing dept. just don't have the training or the experience either: they throw some generic training at them and then trot them out to the sales floor. Of course with some older equipment, we just don't carry it and can refer you to some place that may. Policy at Home Depot is " if we don't have it, try to help them find it"

I suggest that if you are looking for good advice, ask the sales person what their experience is in that area. If they have limited experience, they may be able to get the info from one of the "old heads" or refer you to the specialist. Also you have the best chance of finding a "specialist" between 7AM and 4PM Tuesday through Saturday, as that is their schedule if they are full time personnel.

Hope this helps.

PatMarlin
02-16-2008, 10:21 PM
Whisler I'm curious as to why you guys are working after retirement?

Is it because you just like to work and enjoy it, or is it because living expenses are some damn high nowadays?

Kraschenbirn
02-17-2008, 12:52 PM
The "Big Box" I referred to in my earlier post was NOT a Home Depot but, from past experience(s) with our local HD, I seriously doubt they're any better than Lowes or Menards. (I was a general contractor - renovation/remodeling of commercial properties - for over 20 years so I DO have a bit of a feel for the business.) But, I do agree with Whisler that the qualify of service is often a matter of who you're talking to and, sometimes, the location of the store.

Last Fall, I went out to buy a new snow blower - my old single-stage two-stroker was 15 years old and had already been "topped" twice. I'd done my homework and went straight to the local "Big Box" stocking the make/model I was looking to buy. Now, it was around 3PM on a week day and NO ONE in the lawn & garden department could tell me ANYTHING about assembly and set-up of a Troy-Bilt Snowblower!! About all that any of the store staff seemed certain of was the cost of assembly/delivery by their service department so I left with the intent of following up at a later date.

Well, as often occurs with the best-laid of plans, I never got around to going back.
So, last month, there I was: a "major snow event" in the 5-day forecast and the old snowblower still sitting in my garage. I was out "on the road" that day and, between appointments, dropped into the Danville store of the same "Big Box" chain I'd visited in Champaign. The fellow I found in lawn & garder was about my age and not only knew how to assemble/set-up one of the machines, he even went out with me to the parking lot and measured to make certain the boxed snowblower would fit in the back of my (compact) station wagon!! And, when I was going through check-out, I was quite (pleasantly!) surprised when a younger store employee came over from another check-out lane and asked if we'd need any help with loading the box. (I can't recall ever, even when I maintained a commercial account and was often in the Champaign store two or three times a week, having any employee of this same chain volunteer physical help with anything!) First thing I did when I got home was sit down and drop a note of appreciation to the Danville store with a copy forwarded by e-mail to the chain's customer service webpage.

What this all amounts to, is that the local outlet has pretty much lost my business for any "major" purchases 'cause I'm in Danville quite regularly and that's the store I'll check first when I'm shopping for "carry-out" type tools/equipment/materials.

Bill

KYCaster
02-17-2008, 06:11 PM
I went into the local Home Depot about a year ago to get 25 80lb. bags of concrete mix. I went there cause you can drive right up to where they keep the stuff (easy to load). Well, there was already an old guy parked there loading concrete mix (I'm 61, he was an old guy), so I had to park about 15 ft. away.

Went in, paid for the stuff and noticed a sign at the check out...."Need help loading, we're happy to help." So I sez to myself, "Self, yer gonna carry every bag of this s### halfway around a 1500 SF house, then pick it up again to put it in the wheelbarrow to mix it, and it's gonna be 100*+ before you get this job done." So I asked the nice young lady to find somebody to help me load it on my truck, thinking that Bubba would at least carry his eight or ten bags while I loaded the rest.

So out comes a forty-something housewife type and asked who needs help. I told her I'm getting some concrete mix and she sez, "I just love it when you he-men have to get li'l-ol'-me to do yer heavy work."

So I told her to get her supervisor to send someobdy who could actually do the job, and she said she is the department supervisor and she's the only one available to do it. So I said, "Well, li'l darlin', if you can't handle the job either take down the sign or go find a job you CAN handle."

Then I stood and watched while she loaded all of it by herself. The old guy that had just loaded his truck (looked like he was gonna have a stoke) got a good laugh out of it. So did I.

Jerry

Scrounger
02-17-2008, 06:48 PM
That was mean But it was a good story.

PatMarlin
02-17-2008, 07:31 PM
When I pick up a load like that they all scram... :roll:

But now I'm blessed with fork lift capability so everything goes on a pallet that comes here.

kywoodwrkr
02-17-2008, 08:26 PM
Pat,
Whisler hasn't answered your question, but maybe I can.
In July of 1992 I took an extended(5 yr) leave of absence from IBM after 25 years. Went to work for the Kentucky Lottery until Jan 1997 when I went to work for EDS(Electronic Data Services) having finalized retirement from IBM in 1996.
Started receiving SS November of 2006 and retired from EDS May of 2007.
I am now going to a technical school 8 hours a day Mon-Thur and 4 hrs Friday morning.
Reason-Some of us grew up working full time, all the time and quite candidly with enthusiaism.
As a result I just about went crazy in June after retiring and didn't have a job to occupy my day.
I ended up utilizing one of my previous employee's Employee Assitance Program for counseling.
Result of those sessions was-do something to fill your day/time, like going to school or work.
So, now I'm working toward another vocation! :mrgreen:
Friends all say I'm a happier person to be around now that I have my time taken up.
Some of us are just workaholics.
FWIW
DaveP kywoodwrkr

floodgate
02-17-2008, 09:29 PM
KYCaster:

There's a stumpy little gal at the local feed store, maybe 5 ft. and 180 lbs, 40 yrs. First time I met her I'd gone to get a load of el falfa; backed the pickup up to the stack; "Let me give you a hand with those, ma'am." "Outa my way; I've been doin' this at the ranch since I was twelve!," and she flang a bunch of three-wire bales (120# + each) into the PU bed faster than I could spit. We're friends now, and she lets me help straighten the bales.

floodgate

whisler
02-17-2008, 11:25 PM
I am 65 + and my wife is 57. I can get Medicare and she can't and we need medical insurance. Home Depot will give group insurance even to part time employees. It is not as good as the fulltimer's policy but it beats nothing. I have enough hobbies between shooting (cartridge and muzzleloader), home improvement projects, church work as an elder, and guitar, that I don't need the work to keep busy, but I sure need the insurance. You would be surprised at the retirees who work to get medical insurance.

PatMarlin
02-18-2008, 12:51 PM
Yep- I'm not surprised at the medical insurance.

I understand being a workaholic also, so I guess I was right on both thoughts.

You gotta be a rich man to retire and cover insurances now adays,.

That's the hardest part of living in the outback, paying insurance. Being self employed all of my life, I've had to always pay my own. I've never needed a dime of it, knock on wood, but as we get older it will cost me $4000 a year up front deductable to get fully covered on a major problem. Another $4000 for my wife.