I always look forward to Saturdays here at Hill Hardware, not because I like to work on weekends (who does?), but because of mail. We don’t get street delivery here at the store, who knows why, it’s the post office. So I usually have to wait until Saturday to get the mail. The post boxes are available 24/7, but not the service window. So if you need to buy stamps, pick up packages or heaven forbid, pay a postage due (more common than you would think), you need to go during the day. Just don’t try at a convenient lunchtime trip, they’re closed (don’t go there). So Saturday is the usual default.
Mary Anne and I have a playful argument about this. She always complains that she has to carry my heavy packages back to the store, and I complain about hers. This week I thought I had her, as I had to carry a heavy box of hers, a large box of goat milk soap, back to the store on an unusual Monday. She got me though, as I had a whole stack waiting for her on Saturday.
Opening packages is always fun too, as you can never guess what might be in them. Last week I got a “Priority Mail” package that Mary Anne just couldn’t resist opening, “something important?”, it turned out to be a sample toilet seal, how disappointing. This week’s load turned out to be several things that I could not order from the regular catalog. Miniature rocker switches, special countersinks and small pipe nipples, also in a “Priority Mail” box.
The big, heavy one was one of my favorites. It was a mixed lot of hardware that I bought online from a place that went out of business. It is all new stainless screws and fastening hardware that I need to go through and sort. I love doing this! It gives me something to do between customers and is a little like Christmas, as I’m never sure exactly what is in the boxes. These are always great deals and a good way to make some extra money, and often to add new items to my inventor. Well, we just happen to be slow today, time to dig into that new box, here at the Old Hardware Store…