UP DOWN, UP DOWN, UP

 YAY I found it!!  No, I didn't.  YAY it works!!  No it doesn't.  It was that kind of day.  Highs of excitement, then lows of OH CRAP!!  You know, a typical day for me.

It started out nicely enough, cooling my bones on the patio.  I discovered someone around here must have a huge kennel of dogs.  That morning siren was met with screams louder than any coyote pack I've ever heard!!  I laughed, only because I don't live next door to them!

I headed out early to town, looking for some kind of cutter to take down a steel T-post stuck very nicely in concrete.  It's far enough into the slab that I can't just push it over, although I thought that would be awesome to try using my trucks bumper.  It needs to be cut.  

Of course my first call was to Mr. Chance.  What kind of cutter do I need?  I was completely distracted at Home Depot by a good looking gentleman in the power tool department, who I immediately asked for help.  Whoever owns him, he's a keeper!!  That was followed up by two female employees with opposing views.  Add in one more guy for good measure and we had four differing opinions.

I was finally convinced that this grinder with the right discs would fit the bill.  It was $44 compared to the others at $140.  SOLD!!  I was so excited ... and a little scared to try this new skill.

Upon arriving home, I was utterly disappointed.  Take a good look at the box.  See anything that says batteries not included?  Me either.  That's because it has an actual cord you have to plug in.  I told the gals I wanted battery operated since I have several Ryobi tools.  I'm not so excited any more and will return it ... some day.

My second reason for buying that cutter was to make quick work of this 2" root growing alongside the sprinkler.  Having been run over by errant delivery people, this sprinkler and one other need extensions, which caused the digging and the uncovering of the roots.  

In spite of the root, I was able to dig out to the bottom in order to remove the sprinkler.  I put in the extension and replace the sprinkler.  It worked perfectly!!  Another big YAY!!  

Let's just turn on the water and check out my handiwork.  Back down in the dumps I fell.  Water is streaming out underneath the top.  Apparently the root has cracked the sprinkler.  I guess there's another trip to town in my future.  Of course I will have to dig out the entire hole once again!!!  My tip of the day ... always check by turning the water on BEFORE you fill the hole in.

Back inside, I got a disturbing message from the Sheriff's Department.  Here I was so happy to have found Food For Less with food that actually cost less, until I read this.  Wonderful!!  This isn't the town I live in, but it WAS where I was at on the Fourth of July.  YIKES!!  Guess I won't be shopping there after all!!

At the end of the day, I thought there might be one way to end it on the UP.  Maybe I could cook something that actually turned out okay.  This Fierce Korean BBQ spice for meat was a suggestion from a Facebook friend.  HE cooks amazing meals for his kids.  What better recommendation than "the kids like it"?  I ordered it online and it came really fast.  Unfortunately, it's very expensive!!

As you can see, it's only a 4 oz can that came to about $12.  No I won't be buying that fabric I need to finish a quilt until next month.   It says to use with chicken or beef (even rice), but my plan was to try and make bulgogi.  I chopped up the hamburger, sprinkled on the spice and let it sit before dumping it in the frying pan.  

Once nicely browned, I added in a package of carrots (finely chopped) that Jonathan has decided are not on his dinner menu.  It's better than throwing them away, right?  At the last minute I added in green onions leftover from the potato salad.  That's two things not thrown away.  The final concoction went over the remains of the ugly Mexican rice and THAT was dinner.  It was SO GOOD!  Probably even better without the rice!

On a day of ups and downs, I ended on an UP.  I hate returning things, but I'm heading back to ACE to return a hose splitter that didn't work, Home Depot for the grinder and the Sprinkler Store for more risers.  I'm completely staying away from Food For Less!!