Lumbering (I got dissed!)

Yesterday Mr. A was at our local big giant lumber store and saw a bunch of “farm lots” of various sizes all trussed up and ready to go, for about half what you would pay for the same wood off the rack. The boards are fairly rough, though, and some of them are a little twisted, so rather than just buying them he asked me to run in there this morning and check them out. I did that, and then I had some questions, so I went into the contractor’s office to ask about them.

I guess because I grew up around people who are always building things, and never felt like being a woman was any kind of issue when it comes to construction – let alone a detriment – I easily forget that there are a lot of people in this world who believe the building of things is a task – possibly even a sacred duty or privilege – properly executed by men, exclusively. The man who “helped” me this morning falls into this category of person. While he never came right out and said, “Come back tomorrow, and bring a man with you,” he did basically refuse to answer my questions (answering them with more questions, subtly indicating that he believed I didn’t know what I was talking about) and I just generally got the vibe that he didn’t want to deal with me.

Was it because I was wearing lipstick, and a dress? Or because I made the mistake of telling him that my boyfriend had sent me in to look? Was it (and this I could kind of understand) because he has four people out sick today and an office full of burly impatient guys with lists in their hands, and was not in the mood for a leisurely chat about lumber with someone who didn’t seem clear about what she (I) wanted?

Whatever. In a past life, or on another day, I would’ve seriously considered making a stink over this. But today, I had to get to work. And he was right about one thing, anyway – I’m not ready to buy anything today. If nothing else, I don’t like the idea of buying a big bundle of boards without being able to look at each one and make sure it’s reasonably straight and not sloppily cut, hideously splintered, full of knots, or otherwise unacceptable. They might be half price, but half price is not a bargain if you can only use half the wood in the pile.

So I’ll go back with Mr. A tomorrow, or Friday, and we’ll take a look and possibly buy some boards. I have a lot going on this weekend though, and even if I didn’t, they can’t deliver anything until next week – and then, the weekend after that is the bluegrass fest – so maybe I really will try to take some time off for a working vacation, instead of trying to get it all done on weekends.

Luckily, this is not a race. And slowly but surely, progress is being made.

P.S. I did not get that couch, by the way. It was too new, too "nice," and too expensive. We are possibly getting something else that's old though – a 1973 Alfa Romeo GTV! It looks kind of like this, only it's silver and it's a convertible. I'm not all that interested in cars but Mr. A is what you might call an aficionado, and he thinks it's the cat's pajamas. The question of why two people (one of whom hardly ever drives) should own three cars is ... well, that's a question for another day.