How Many People Can We Get In There Again?

Second weekend in a row that we had family come in. This time it was mine and it was good to see them. They really didn't come to see me, it was The Southern Ideal Home Show at the fairgrounds that brought them. That and to see the oldest boy before he deploys.
Saturday greeted us with bright and sunny skies so our plan was simple; cruise by the house, head to fairgrounds to see the home show, then the girls were going to go shopping and I was going home to do some stuff around the yard. The first part worked out OK as we got some measurements we needed and decided on a few more things. Off to the Home Show!
Now every weekend there's a big flea market at the fairgrounds. And this year it is even bigger. So now we have the home show and flee market. Oh wait, let's throw in a boat show too. If that's not enough we'll schedule roller derby on the same day in another building. And to top it off let's have the pipe and tobacco show in another building. You want to talk about a cluster f**k? It was.
This is the second home show of the year and much better than the first. Attendance was very good and there were a lot of vendors that were offering services and products we could actually use.

We ended up spending a good 2 hours roaming the aisles. By this time it was middle afternoon and the oldest boy wants to go out to eat tonight with his girlfriend and everyone else. Great, can we just cook out? No.  Ahhhhhhh. So, we decided to cruise the flea market instead and the girls will go shopping on their way out of town tomorrow. 

And there was crap everywhere. Everywhere! You can easily spend 2 hours walking the outside vendors. And there's more inside. 

We cruised outside for a while. Talked the wife out of a tobacco basket as I told her no holes in the vinyl siding. Went inside and found the perfect desk for the dining room turning into office.

The guy told us it was in a doctor's office and it had the original hardware on it. This thing is big! Showed the wife and she was convinced. Went to the other side of the building where his main station was to wheel and deal him on the desk (the wife did, I hate doing that) and found a perfect table to go along with the desk. It matches the kitchen cabinets great and can seat six.

He takes old furniture and refinishes them and he does great work. Sorry about the desk picture, I know it's shit. He made us a great deal on both pieces and said he would store them until we could pick them up. 

Off we go to one mall for makeup on sale, then to the busiest malls for dinner at 6:30. Cheesecake Factory had a 2 1/2 hour wait (why?) so Japanese Steakhouse it is. Did my first and last Saki Bomb and the food was great. Got home, went upstairs to change, sat down and took my shoes off. Woke up about 1/2 hour later and decided to be rude and went straight to bed. I was beat. 

Sunday was spent transplanting more peppers and eggplants and I started more tomatoes, cukes, cantaloupe, and anything else I could.  

I did another starting last week of watermelon  and miscellaneous items and they were sticking their heads up when I left this afternoon. This is a sight I never tire of. 

There was one thing that we've been considering and I'm sure I've brought it up before but I am too lazy to go back and look. There was a booth set up for solar energy. I talked to this person for a little bit and after considering a few options, she told me a system for our home would run about $30,000.00. But with the government credits, the local power company credits and tax rebates, our out of pocket expense would be about $4,000.00. She said return on investment would be a little over two years. Maybe it would, maybe it wouldn't. Even five years would be good. Here's a link that may provide more info.

Stay away from the fair grounds and see you later!