It's 33 F here this morning and supposed to go to 62 F by afternoon. Yesterday, I went to take a Christmas basket of fruit to my brother and called before leaving my house. He was upset because his Son-in-law had promised to take his old mower, but only moved it into the yard and then left it there when he discovered he could not load it. His son (my brother's grandson) stopped by to get the mower and he discovered that his jacked up 4WD pickup was way too high to load the mower. Now, the SIL makes his living driving a tow truck and the son has helped him since he was a kid. Their excuses are so lame it hurts. They don't really want to help my brother unless there is something in it for themselves or it is very easy.
Anyhow, I took my ramps and come-alongs with me to my brother's place. The mower looks new and has had very little use. It's a Huskee from TSC and had a busted belt a couple of years ago. My brother was in the hospital and the mower sat around unused until the battery died. It continued to sit until the rear tires went flat. What I found was a mower that looks brand new, sitting in the yard with two rear tires broken down off the bead because the mower had been pushed around without airing up the tires. I told my brother I'd take the mower and fix it and bring it back. He said he didn't need to be mowing and I could have the mower; he just wanted it gone. I told him that I didn't need another mower, but I'd take it, fix it, sell it, and bring him the money. That suited him fine. With the ramps and come-along, loading the mower in my pickup was a piece-o-cake, 10 to 15 minute job.
While loading out the mower, I saw 15 x 5ea-bundles of brand new t-posts and 4 spools of barbed wire. I asked if he was going to be building fences and he just grinned. He said those posts and wire had been in his garage for 10 years and he had no use for them. I didn't have room to carry them, but I told him I'd pay him $300 for the lot and come get them soon. Heck, the posts are selling at TSC for $3.89 each and similar wire is around $60 per spool. He told me he had paid $1.50 each for the posts and $35 for the wire. $300 is what he paid for the stuff. He will get his money back, and I'll get a great deal. He said I could have them, but I won't take them without paying because he needs the money. I'll take my grandson during the Christmas holidays and go get that stuff out of his garage so he has more space. I'd help him more often, but he lives just far enough away that it takes 3 hours driving plus work time to go do something there.
So, this morning I have a mower to fix and more work to do in the near future. There's no time to get bored around here.