$3.51

Chimney #1 in House #1 is still coming down brick by brick by brick by brick by brick.  We have the first chimney removed all the way to the ceiling of the basement.  The front porch, however, is covered in a pile of bricks waiting to be hauled to the rip rap at the Cat Ranch tonight.

Big Red is a 1/2-ton pick-up truck and we don't want to overload it.  We've figured that each story of the chimney inside the house is two truck-loads of bricks. 

If there is 2000 pounds in a ton.  Each brick weighs about 5 pounds.  That's 400 bricks per ton.  Big Red can carry 1000 pounds.  That's about 200 bricks. 

Sorry, I didn't mean to make a math word problem. It was an easy one.  No trains heading east or west were involved. 

Our first load this past weekend was 161 bricks.  We always leave room on the end of the bed for 6 buckets of plaster, mortar, and brick dust.  Plus the two tired passengers. 

If we take more bricks in a load, I might have to walk home. 

At least we are through to the basement.  Now we can back the truck up to the back door and haul the bricks out without climbing steps!  At least for this chimney.

Last week when the guys were away hunting I ran a few errands in the morning and indulged myself in a quick stop at the thrift store.  I'm always looking for work jeans and I refuse to pay $20 for jeans to rake leaves and haul bricks.  I can get Walt Kowalski new (NEW) work jeans for $10, but good luck finding that in the women's section.

I am also always looking for long sleeve t-shirts that are in a color that matches the color of hard work.  In other words, something other than white. I found a couple of pair of jeans.  They were WAY longer than my legs, but for cutting trees and hauling bricks, and the price of $3.51 I can roll them up.  I also got a new gray and red fleece to wear for clean-up, maybe even to work. 

I love fleece.  It's soft, it's warm, and it hides layers of clothes and bulges from too many beers.  Today was a good day for a fleece. Tomorrow will be another.

I also love fleece when it matches a pair of pants that have been hanging in my closet, with the tags on, since 2006.  I know they have been hanging in my closet since 2006 because I know I bought them (and 2 other pair like them) at Kaufmann's.  Yes, Kaufmann's.  It closed in 2006.

I miss Kaufmann's. 

I bought them when it was closing and everything was on clearance and I'm certain I had a coupon, too. 

So for $3.51 I got a new outfit to wear to work this winter.  I'm not even counting the price of the pants because I bought them so long ago that I wrote it off the books already.  Now they are like free pants. 

For the record, the pants are a little tight, but they still fit.  :)