Side-Track-Up a Creek Without a Warranty

While we are on the subject...
Not long ago, I bought a used stereo receiver in a pawn shop.

I brought it home. It didn't work. I took it back.  I explained  to the man at the counter, that it turns on, but after about 30 seconds it shuts off.  The man had a bald head, and I only mention that, because his head and ears turned BRIGHT RED when he told me that I might have experienced a power surge in my house.  I asked him to plug it in.  He did.  It turned on but after about 30 seconds it turned off.  I asked him if HE just had a power surge in his store?  He was red and silent gathering his thoughts. 

He said, "You might have jostled it." He kind of have a lisp.

I said, "Did you say, jostled it?" To my surprise, I also had a lisp. (You try it...jostled, out loud...now imagine saying it in a heated argument.)
He said, "Yes you might have jostled it taking it to your house."
(When he sold it to me, it still had the box with that rigid white foam and we put it in that box when I took it home.)
So I said, "Most of this stereo equipment travels 5000 miles from Japan being jostled the entire journey, so how can you possibly say I jostled it taking it home in the cab of my truck."
He was silent, his head and ears were still red but his lips were thin and white. I called on my magical  powers, snapped my fingers, and gave him the Rocky Mountain Quick Steps. 
The conclusion of this little story is a bit anti-climatic.  That word, jostled... threw me off.  It calmed me down.
So I said, "Your not going to give me my money back, are you?"
He said he was not allowed to do that.  I looked around. He looked like the owner to me, and I thought to myself. "What are you going to do, fire yourself?" 
So I said, "FINE! Thank you very much, you have a nice day."
 I had to take it to an electronics repair shop.

That is all I have to say about that.

Except this.

Last summer, Cari filled her unleaded car with diesel.  I know what you are thinking. You can't do that, the nozzle is larger than the hole.  (Unless you stand there and hold the nozzle manually for however long it takes to pump and top off 15 gallons of fuel.)

Side-Track- Taken to the Cleaners

Several years ago I bought 40 cannon balls.  The story goes like this.  I went into an antique store near downtown Denver on Broadway.  I was looking around and spotted a couple of what looked like 20 lb. cannon balls.  I picked one up and asked the fine looking older gentleman if these were real cannon balls.  He most assuredly said that they were indeed, and told me that back in the old days (of honor and integrity) they used to heat them up first before firing them into the enemies ship to cause more damage and catch things on fire.
 I said, "Wow, this is splendid."  OK...I didn't say splendid, but I did say, "Do you have any more?"
 He said, "OH YES! Quite a few."
 I said, "How many would I have to purchase to get a price break?"
He said, "FORTY."
My heart began pounding. With a beam in my right eye and a mote in my left, and trying not to show any signs of intense satisfaction, I said, "Very well."
He had his young assistant, (scoundrel in training) go to the back and help me load my newly acquired treasures.  This was Saturday morning so when I came home I found no one around for the moment, so I stuck them in a base cabinet in the garage where they sat growing in value over time, similar to what stored gold bars might do.

 A few months later on another beautiful Saturday morning Cari shook me and said,"Are those cannon balls in the garage???"
I said, "How did you know those were cannon balls?"
She said, "Your the only one I know who would actually buy 200 cannon balls and hide them in them in the garage."
I assured her that this was going to be well worth the purchase.

Today I decided to pull these babies out of their treasure chest, clean them up a bit, and dive into the world of militaria.  I found some sites selling cannon balls and my heart jumped out of my chest when I saw how much some of them were worth.  I hobbled out to the back where Cari was planting some flowers and told her that she may be able to give her 2 weeks notice.  THEN!  I saw a site about FAKE cannon balls with a picture of what looked like MY cannon balls, and once again, my heart leaped out of my chest but for the opposite reason.  This was the best of times and the worst of times. For sure.  (These are actually grinding balls from a ball mill, used by the mining industry to crush raw ore in a giant tumbler.)

  Does anyone have any ideas of what you can do with these?

If your interested I'll sell them to you for my cost.
I've seen deck railings where the post had wooden balls on the top, maybe a nice five inch, 23 lb steel ball might look nice.  What about the bottom Newel post on a stair railing? A four poster bed? A door stop? A paper weight?  A conversation piece?  I even took one to a good friend to cheer him up when he had a bad week. (This is when I thought it was a real sacrifice)   

That's about all I have to say about this.

I can now put this behind me and go onward and upward.