Shopping

I went shopping today for a snowblower. Well not a full-blown snowblower. An electric shovel.

We had a strong young fellow shoveling our walk for the last two winters.
It cost $140.00 for the winter.
Not bad. Money well spent.

"You'd better give him a call to make sure he's still shoveling this year." Hubby advised me.
I called him.
An answering machine came on, so I left a message.

Two weeks went by.
"Call him again," suggested Hubby.
"No. I left him a message. I'm not calling back."
"But what if he didn't get it? At least try again to see if it's his voice on the answering machine."

Called again. A generic voice. Could be his home, or it could be he's moved.

"Last year he didn't call us back, but showed up the first time it snowed, remember?" I said to Hubby.
"I still think you should call him back and leave another message."
"Oh, he'll show up." I assured Hubby.

That night we had our first real snowfall. Early the next morning, I looked out the front window to see our driveway contractor zooming into our driveway. He looked as happy as a little kid, driving his snowplow. I think his radio was on full blast, since he was bouncing around in his cab. In a matter of minutes he had cleaned our driveway and zipped across the street to the neighbour's.

"Where's our walk-shoveling guy?" Hubby was getting anxious.
"Don't worry, he'll show up." I figured he was at school and would show up towards evening.
He didn't.
I called back and put another message on his machine.
He still didn't show up.

Hmmm. I went outside and tried a bit of shoveling, but the snow was wet and heavy. It wasn't long before my shoulders and back began to ache. Meanwhile Hubby searched the ads in the local newspaper. Nobody was shoveling snow. Considering how much snow we had last year, no wonder!
I thought I'd try calling the town hall to see if they could recommend anybody. Nope. Nobody.

Hubby was totally frustrated at not being able to do the work. And upset that I should try and lift wet, heavy snow and risk straining or injuring myself.

"It's not the end of the world" (one of my favourite expressions), "I'll look for an electric shovel."
"A what?"
"An electric shovel. Why? Are they obsolete?"
I remember my mother using one to clear their front walk when my Dad could no longer shovel snow. That was about 30 years ago.

So off I went to the local hardware store. No, they didn't have any.
Figured I might as well check out the Mall.
And came home with:
2 packages of pot pourri
1 bottle of Vitamin E (for my skin)
2 bottles of body lotion (on sale - 2 for the price of 1)
1 tube of Olay facial cleanser (also on sale)
2 T-shirts for Hubby (not that he needs any, but they were on sale too) Stocking stuffers for the grandkids.

No electric shovel. They are on back order.
At least I know they still exist.
And hope when I find one that it doesn't come in a box all in pieces......