One thing about owning a 1929 house with a yard, as opposed to a 1999 new construction condo, is that you get quite familiar with the large box home retailers. We have lots of Home Depots around us and a Lowe’s about a 20-minute drive into a suburb. We have new homeowner 10% off coupons for each. And we’ll certainly be using them!
I was in a Home Depot Wednesday morning around 8:30, and in addition to the fascinating quantity and variety of goods (amazing even in comparison to grocery stores, Alex (where does he find a Wegman’s in northern Virginia?) and Don!), it’s a veritable cornucopia of people watching. Bleary looking new homeowners like me rubbing shoulders with contractors and builders procuring supplies for their crews, and with gardeners out in the nursery preparing their spring beds now that spring has come to Chicago.
Which made me enjoy all the more walking out with frou-frou paint chips and tile brochures, high-tech latex gardening gloves, a “Grass Hog!” weed whacker, and a really cool palm sander.
I must be a homeowner now; I own a weed whacker and a power tool that comes in a nifty case with a cool logo on it!