Ahh, the big box stores.  There is a love hate relationship from the word go.  Love to go, love to roam around, love to feel the possibilities of improvements.  Hate to roam around looking for 32 gallon trash can because who knew they are not found in the lawn and garden section, hate the disappointment when only lidded 32 gallon trash cans are available, hate the fact the purchase total is never less than a $100.

Building materials are expensive.  Oh, by themselves they are moderately priced. Who can argue with a 3/4″ Zinc Hex Head Bolt for only $0.11. But who only buys one bolt?  No one I know.  Bolts are purchased in pre-counted boxes of 100 or 500.  Now what was cheap enough is adding up quickly.  The goal today was to buy materials needed to run water lines from the well to the RV and the outside shower and an electrical line from the meter to the RV and then to the well.  Distance covered: around 230 feet.  That is a LOT of PVC, conduit, connectors, and wiring in four different colors.

Of course, as with all projects, it is always the little things that add up quickly.  New PVC pipe cutter (which was oh so awesome and worth every penny or 4200 pennies in this case), PVC cement, connecting joints, and electrical tape.  And NEVER is all of the materials bought on the first trip.  Something or somethings are always forgotten resulting in another trip costing another Benjamin Franklin.  The trip took less than an hour to gather all the materials from the list.  Once bagged, the end result was not very impressive.  Three bags and the piping.  The damage on the other hand… The damage was overly impressive. From today forward, I will try not to complain when trips are a measly $100.

It was decided right there in the big box store parking lot that I was gonna NEED, gonna HAVE to have, gonna GET me some fast food to ease my heart palpitations.  Don’t know what’s worse, the bill total or the fact today’s spending was just the start.  Oh well, some salty fries and a diet drink will cure lots of problems!!!

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Unloading the purchased items took even less time than purchasing.  How sad.  All that excitement and stress at purchasing to come home and have it put it away in less than ten minutes.  What a let down.  With so much time left in the day, the second conex box removal tomorrow, and move in of the trailer at the end of the week, the rest of the day was used preparing the pad site.  Fill, dump, smooth, repeat.  It is was very zin.