I didn't know gus worked at Home Depot

With the best of them, Drew... with the best of them.

He was probably upset once he realized you DROVE there. Because that's upsetting...knowing women are out there haphazardly driving cars, along with old people and Asians.

She might not even ask her husband how she should vote.

In defense of Chai, she was able to navigate the aisles fairly well and she only stopped for about twenty minutes to read the gossip magazines.

This is the kind of thing that makes me love you, Chai.



Every industry seems to be female dominated these days. I don't see many men in the workplace. Where the hell are all the men?

I think they went underground to get away from all the women in the workplace! Heeee!!

trying to find a few nuts

well, I finally got all the godamn wires cut. Now my wrist hurts.

We bought a new stove last year from HD. She's a beauty, gets really hot and everything.

We got there and we went our separate ways in the store (thank God for cell phones, it usta be I'd spend an hour trying to find his ass so we could go home). Anyway, I got the job of looking at stoves...one guess why.

So, I'm pulling specs and operating manuals out of one of them to see the features, and orange apron siddles up to see if he can help me. "no thanks, I'm going to look at a few manuals on the ones that I like"

OA: well, what do you want to know?
me: um...I want to see the features on various ones. I can just read these manuals, and I'll find you if I have any questions.

OA: well, what kind of oven do you want?
me: you know, that just depends on what I find out here.

OA: well, what do you want to know?......

It's like he thinks I'm hiding something from him. I told him I really wanted to read about them rather than have him tell me, and anyway (here's the zinger) he'd probably have to pull out the same manual to answer my questions, so leave me the f*ck alone, okay? (well, I didn't say that last part)

Before giving up, he incredulously asked me if I was planning on reading "every single" manual....

me: Maybe. So what if I am?
OC: (grumble, grumble....dang old female....grumble)

jeez, it's not like they're on commission or anything.

Then she may have been better served with her hands in Gus' pockets.

My husband cracked that horrible joke on me...

Took the stud finder and put it to his chest...
The little light register said 'close'

I took it, put it to my shoulder and the beeper went off.

IM the stud around here..





( bone density registers as a 'stud' , but mister didnt know that... )

pine nuts maybe........

Actually (though I may be wrong), I think that the appliance sales etc. ARE commission sales in Home Depot.

nuh uh....how do I know? Because he made a big point of telling me amidst his grumbles how he was just trying to help, he wasn't on commission or anything.

See, that's the common answer of a man who runs across a female who not only knows what she wants, but has the nerve to tell him she can figure it out herself.....

"Well, I was just tryin' to help"....with an unspoken "bitch" thrown in there.

why, I've even had men imply I wasn't a "real woman" since I wouldn't accept their help.

I guess my response was supposed to be...."well....I'll just show you! HELP ME!!!"

he just wanted to see your boobs

I try to stay out of the Home Depot unless an emergency comes up where proximity dictates such actions, but when I do go in there the employees seem somewhat competent (a few of them anyway). There's an old dude working at the local Home Depot who is a retired plumber and I've had some very informative conversations with him. He really knows his stuff and is a very friendly guy who knows when to talk and when to listen.

Now, on the other hand, have you ever been to Lowes? Oh my friggin lord! Lowes has just invaded this area and, until recently, I had only seen them on road trips.

I went inside the new Lowes several weeks ago. Clean, spacious, organized.

I wandered around a bit and as I was passing through the outdoor section with all the barbeque crap I noticed the "team".

"Oh God", I said to myself, "Not the dreaded team concept."

There was this dude running this particular team that had the look. Clean cut, vanilla-looking guy with glasses and a desperate need to be in charge. His minions surrounded him as he doled out their daily assignments. Several of them appeared to have been recently sniffing chemical in the janitor closet and one was staring at me and the look I got was the same kind of look a cow gives a bike rider when one passes by -- a vacant, bemused look, a look that says, "Oh my... something is moving. Should I take action? Should I run? Or is there no threat?"

He seemed to finally realize I posed no serious threat and that I was only a passing customer and then he went back to listening to the team leader's harangue.

The whole time I was there customers milled about the store but there was no help to be found because the team leaders were busy in their various departments assembling their teams and coming up with a "game plan."

I don't think I will be going back to Lowes.

I'm not part of the team.

Consider for a moment's pause going into Home Depot as a female landscape architect...

who can't find the connector for her new sink.. because... it's not with the sinks. The connectors are over by the toilet plungers.

Landscape architecture is a very expansive field and no one person knows every damn thing. Probably true of architects too. Contractors know bunches of stuff but perhaps not everything in the world. Some house wives are very handy, perhaps even more than x architect, or at least the local M.D.

The contractors who go there often probably get a pass from one orange apron or another, until Mr. or Ms. Apron leaves.


Sigh. Oh, for the old lumber yards....

and Busy Bee Hardware in Santa Monica, may it rest in peace.

Aha, it's still there.

There used to be a near totally blind guy at the cash register, who would ask you to read the 'receipt' to him.

People who worked there knew everything...

http://www.smmirror.com/volume5/issue49/busy_bee_hardware.asp

Adding, toilet plungers were aisles away from the sinks.

I love places like that, Osso, and also I like hanging around the architectural yards. You know, the big sprawling places that are like junkyards, but instead of cars they have miles of household and garden items.

One can find some pretty damn good bargains if one is patient and vigilant.

LA Wrecking, may IT rest in peace...

And what was that?