Saturday, March 28, 2009

Gutters...or Lack of Gutters

Good thing his birthday is over because I would have broken my promise about being positive! I am so @#$%$#%$%** MAD at him!! And of course he is not here so that I can tell him. I am all alone and the dogs won't even come near me..... they know.
The local grocery is having a good sale on items I need to stock the camp store. I carefully clipped corresponding coupons for these items so that I could take advantage of the sale. It is raining as I get ready to go. The temperature is dropping and I stick a sign in my door, knowing I won't be busy today. Drew offers to start my car (I have a VW bug, it's diesel and has to warm up to properly function), I am thinking how sweet he is as he even holds his jacket over my head as he walks me to the car. Umbrella is, of course IN the car. The rain is coming down in buckets when I end up parking in the outer regions of the lot. I have on an all-weather coat with a hood and I tuck my new hand-made purse carefully inside the coat, open the trusty umbrella and exit from the vehicle. The wind is crazy. It turns the umbrella inside out, so I shove it back into the car and walk briskly to the store opening, holding the hood onto my head. I stepped in some puddles along the way and now my feet are wet and cold. My hands are cold, too.
After loading the cart and checking out, I look out the store window to see that the rain is now coming down in sheets. Great, just great. My hands are still cold so I fumble in the coat pocket for my gloves; no gloves, they are in my other coat. Wonderful.
The rain pours down on my back as I load $200 worth of groceries into the back of the car--I say load, I was more like slinging it all in. My hands are so cold they are aching as I drive home. I can't turn the heat up or the windows will fog up. Thankfully I have seat warmers and I sit on my hands one at a time to warm them. I back as close as I can get to the front of my store (easier to go in and out without a dog escaping).
We have a new roof, really not so new anymore. But reinstalling the GUTTERS was not a priority for Drew. There is no sign that the rain is going to let up and I have lots of cold and frozen items to unload. I can't get the car close enough to the building to be out of the rain as I unload--and believe me I tried to back it right up on the sidewalk, almost wedged it in between two posts, but stopped in time. Now I wish I had backed it INTO the store. I sit there for a minute trying to figure out how I can stay somewhat dry and get only the refrigerator and freezer items out and just leave the rest. I usually load the items carefully with all the bags that need to come in right away grouped together. Didn't do that this time.
So , I bite the bullet, grab what I can carry and go unlock the door. The rain is bad enough, but when I pass under the eave that lacks a GUTTER the water pours down my back inside the jacket. I retrieve my gloves to protect my hands and after only six trips I have unloaded the vehicle.
Now here I sit, having stripped myself of all the wet clothes and donned a warm, dry sweatsuit. I am sipping re-heated coffee and thinking up ways to install the @#^##%^ gutters myself. It can't be that hard, can it?

8 comments:

Jilly said...

Not so much with the "love of my life" today huh?

lovelyprism said...

We lived in a house for a bit that had no gutter by the back door. As far as I know it still doesn't. I feel for the woman who lives there now. Maybe if you buy it, he'll install it? That's my new trick, I buy all the required components and tell hubby it's all ready to go! He usually gets to it pretty quick if it's already got everything he needs.

Kathy's Klothesline said...

Jilly, no, not at all, but anger fades and I wanted to capture it while my skin was still wet and cold
LP- sorry, guess I forgot to mention that we already have the gutter, just sitting in my back yard WAITING. Adds a whole new element to my story, huh?

Nancy said...

I threaten to hire someone to do it. It's amazing how quickly it gets done then!

Maybe a nice hot cup of tea and some big and chocolate?

Jo said...

Oh, no...! I could feel the water as I read this.

I gather someone is in the dog house!?

scarlethue said...

I'm alright now, just weak and sleepy. Who's to say I wouldn't be like that anyway though, as it is Monday. :)

We don't have gutters above our front door either. Thanks goodness for our garage. I don't think I'll ever buy another house without one!

Eddie Bluelights said...

It never rains but it pours, eh! Very frustrating when all the shopping gets wet - I've been there!
Thanks for visiting my Shakespearian post and you are always welcome to drop by. I'll have the umbrella waiting just in case. Eddie

Josie Moretti said...

I'm sorry that you have to go through such trouble at that time. I hope your husband has considered having gutters installed for convenience, Kathy. I also have our gutters recently installed, and I couldn't be much happier with the sight of rainfall being piled up on one side of our house. I hope you don't run

Josie Moretti