Oh Snap!

July 13, 2025

Please forgive the departure! I just realized I never posted anything yesterday. My sincerest apologies to my devoted six readers out there. My bad! And for those of you that thought I must be dead, no such luck. For you see, I was too busy working on a project at the money pit over here in the foothills of Succasunna. Back in March I purchased new railings for my wrap around porch to beat the tariffs, and the materials have been sitting collecting dust ever since.

Many who know me were surprised that the project had not been completed yet. That's the sort of thing I would have banged out in a weekend or two back in day. But this summer has been a bit of an enigma. Between the rainy spring followed by the dreadful heat, I have been just plum dog pooped! I also managed to pick up a few more lawns this year, and maybe bit off a little more than I can chew. What's that you say, Mr. DeGraw, you are admitting defeat? Yes, yes, I am.

But the real skinny of this story isn't my new found laziness, or my excuses for not spending my free time doing even more physical labor...it's the final cost of this project. I realized that I needed just a few more things yesterday to get started. A few boxes of screws, some construction adhesive and one Sawzall blade. Yes, a few odds and ends and I have everything I need to make this porch pop! I grabbed $40 smackers from the rainy day jar and made my way over to the Home Depot.

And while a few of you thought I might be dead or mortally wounded after not posting yesterday, I did almost drop dead of a heart attack when I saw the price of this handful of items. $97.38! For a brief second I became my mother, as I questioned the price tag and demanded to look at the receipt. There must be something wrong here, the cashier must have accidentally rung up something twice! There must be something priced incorrectly. After careful examination of the document, and a squinted eye towards the helpless cashier, I was wrong. That was the actual price.

Holly Crap. This is insane! I think the scarier part is that the tariffs haven't even hit us yet. Like my brilliant move to purchase my railings in advance of the price hikes, so did most of corporate America. We're still sitting on that stockpile. How much will this handful of items cost three months from now? A year from now? When the dust covered inventory bought last March begins to run out, the shit will ultimately hit the fan. Luckily, this railing project is going to take a little more time than I thought. And pretty soon people won't be able to afford my landscaping services, so I'll have some time on my hand to get my lazy ass back to work on the money pit.

Unfortunately, I won't have any money either! Go America!

$98.36. Really, Home Depot? Really?