I’m a little late with my blog this week. I don’t have an excuse, just that I have been busy, doing “stuff,” and I’m not sure what it is. When I worked full time, I didn’t have trouble getting things done, but this retirement business really messes me up. Columbus is a lovely little town and I like it a lot, but it’s goods and services are lacking a bit for those things that I deem necessary, even essential. Like Internet. And Netflix. And a shoe store. It has more churches than bars, which is the opposite of the town I grew up in. So sometimes, I have to find things to do. Yesterday morning for example, I asked the cowboy what we were doing, and he said, “Just stuff, the same as always. We’re retired.” Oh yeah, I forgot. “But today, we have to go to Billings. You know, med appointments and we have a long list of stuff to do. And we have to leave in fifteen minutes.” Oops, I still wore my jammies. I made my side of the bed…he had already made his side.
I threw on some clothes, grabbed a cup of coffee, and started my brain’s engine. Time was wasting. Billings has a Dillard’s Department Store with clothes and shoes directly across from the barber shop, which I was sure we would visit. What a great idea. We took his red Mustang convertible, which always promises lots of looks and whistles, but we drive slowly because it looks like it’s speeding, even when it’s not. First to the doc, everything is good, so onto item number two, one of the big box stores that deals with computers. Next, we went to the cleaners where we dropped off an armload, then the barber shop, and finally to Dillard’s! I didn’t need a new coat, but this Montana, right? Cold, snow, ice, brr so I bought a new coat. Woo-hoo! A shoe store was on the list, and we breezed in. Didn’t buy anything but I took note of $80 thongs. Are you kidding? This isn’t Rome, not even close. Time for a Mexican lunch. Then to the local Chamber of Conference to get a map so I can figure out where we are but unfortunately, they were closed, so I am still mostly lost. I was in the market to buy a treadmill in anticipation of the long, cold winters, so we stopped at a used sporting goods place. Nothing. Another used place. Nothing. Cowboy Bob suggested Scheel’s, which makes Cabella’s look like Cinderella’s closet. Yes! They had one, reasonably priced, but not assembled, but I had sprayed on a dab of perfume that I kept hidden in my purse and smiled as sweetly as this old girl knows how. Cowboy Bob sighed and said, “No problem.”
So, today, we had only one “stuff” to do, put together the treadmill. It has directions in several languages, a few diagrams, and all the nuts, screws, and bolts that he needed, but in no particular order. The cowboy nearly took back his promise when he read the first words in the directions, “Do not try this alone, hire a competent assembler to do this job.” Well, too late now, but he’s almost finished. Now, we just have to figure out where to put it.
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