So Lonely Again

Every spring we seem to go through a little drama in our house on a few key fronts, and this year seems to be more of the same. One of the issues I have to confront is the old quest for firewood, which doesn't play well into my OCD neurosis because I have to obtain the wood well in advance of actually using it. It not only has to dry, but I need to cut and split it, and it takes awhile to get all that done. If, for instance, someone says they can get me wood and then at the last minute the deal falls through, then I'm out of luck. Actually, that's not completely accurate, because in a pinch I could purchase cut, split, and even dry wood, but that costs an arm and a leg; at least 2.5 times per cord compared to what I pay for log length, and the shock and pain of buying 5 cords at that rate would cause irreversible damage to my emotional well-being. Plus, it wouldn't allow me to continue my real man training of cutting it up.

For this reason I am very neurotic about getting all the wood in order, and there's nothing quite as comforting as seeing that pile of logs out in the yard. Better yet, having 10 cords split and drying in the sun, but that's in the realm of dreaming (a guy can dream, can't he?). Our usual wood guy, TB, has been reliable in years past, but he has a tendency to disappear and not return my calls. I usually have to call him three or four times, and in the last I have to tactfully allude to contacting my other suppliers if he can't come through. This of course is a complete bluff because I don't have other suppliers. In fact, log length wood can be hard to come by since it's more profitable to sell split wood, or better yet, sell it for pulp.

This year TB hasn't returned my calls, and it sure is a lonely feeling when your wood guy is blowing you off. I requested in my last message to at least let me know if he can get the wood since things change from year to year, which usually elicits at least a reply, but this year I heard nothing. Mom says to just be patient and keep trying, but at some point it seems like someone is trying to tell me something. Plus, there is the issue of courtesy. So, I started sending out feelers for other people who might have wood, and I probably contacted 7-8 potential suppliers and 3 of them got back to me. One is too far and too expensive, even for log length, but two are actually in town. How can you beat that? Not only that, but I am pretty good friends with one of them, which is even better.

One of them has a smaller truck so it works out well because I can buy smaller truck loads, which means less money. Granted, I have to buy more of them, but it still ends up being less money, I think. At this point, I'm not in a position to be too nit-picky. I'm just happy to have found some wood. I won't, however, start celebrating until I have the logs in our front yard.

On other fronts, I dusted off the lawnmower and tried to fire it up, but it showed no signs of life. That, however, is a story for another time.

Until then, thanks for reading, and thanks to jacki-dee for the pic.