Ack!!! I Waited Until the End of the Season to Purchase Odd-Sized Garden Trimmer String!

I know better that to wait until the end of the season to buy more string for my garden trimmer. It uses an odd size. Sometimes I wait too late and there is nothing left to buy. I have no excuse. I knew the garden trimmer was very low on string--I've been carting the empty container around to remind me to purchase more, and most importantly: what size to get--for months. 

Last year it took me several trips to the store because I bought a small trimmer that uses an odd size string. Luckily, I finally found a single roll of  "universal" string in approximately the right size that worked. I sweated it though. I thought I might have to buy another trimmer, or pay someone to mow my tiny side yard. But then I found the string that worked. And this year, when the roll got low and I loaded the last little bit on my trimmer I kept the container in my SUV as a reminder of what I needed so as to avoid all the trial and error I went through last season. 

Then D-Day arrived. Or rather, T-Day. AKA Trim-day. I decided the day to do some long overdue yard work had arrived.  Sure enough, the string popped after about 6-12" (yes inches) of trimming. So off to WalMart I went--my empty container in hand.  I was hopeful that WallyWorld would still have string.  Surely not every isle is Back To School. Or Christmas.

Not to worry. Wally World, the place you can purchase just about anything, had plenty of string. Ought Oh. There actually is a worry. All the string I found was on sale for $5 each. Unfortunately I only found a different size than what I needed. I resigned myself to making a trip to Sears after work the next day. I would have to suck it up and fight the traffic (the store is in a high traffic location prior to work and after work. Turning into the parking lot is a breeze. However, it becomes dicey when you attempt to leave the parking lot, especially at 7:00 cam and 4:30 pm. The rest of the day it's okay.).  The good news:  Sears would most likely have the correct size string since this was where I bought the trimmer. The bad news:  it wouldn't be as cheap as WallyWorld. Even if Sears was having an end of the season sale. 

Then I looked up (actually I looked up, around the corner, and finally on a catty-corner end cap that housed a bunch of odds and ends).   There is where I spied not one, but three spools of the odd-size trimmer string I needed. Better still, they were on clearance--not at $5 each--nope, my odd-size string  was only $2 each.  That's a first for me--usually my odd size stuff (e. g. tires, alternator, clothes, shoes--you name it)--my odd-sized stuff is always more expensive.  This $2 stuff was a welcome change. The only problem:  They were too tall. Or I am  too short. Nah--they were too tall. So I found a barely taller-than-me Sales Associate.   He confirmed the price and handed me a thread spool he deftly plucked from above our heads. 

Big spender that I am, I said, "I'll take all three off your hands."  I prayed I actually had enough cash in my wallet to cover the six bucks and tax.  Since the wallet I use doesn't have a change pocket, I was praying for $7.  That's pretty sad. But even if I had no cash,  I decided I would ring up a $6 credit card charge--no matter how embarrassing that would be. I could think of nothing else I need to drive up the sales price, and I'm on a spending diet, so I might have to bite the bullet if I didn't have the cash. 

At the register my new BFF rang me up and we found out the spools were not marked correctly.  Of course not! If there is a wrong or missing price, I will be the one to bring it to the register. It's like a law or something. Oh well, at least there would be no embarrassingly small credit card charge. I thought to myself. 

I reached inside my wallet. The Clerk intoned a shocking price. The spools were $1 each! 

I love a deal. Now I have no excuse for not tidying up the yard--except I have activities planned every night for the foreseeable future.  That means I may be trimming the yard by moonlight. But I have enough string to finish out this season, and next season--and maybe even the season after as well. It was a very well spent three bucks. 

Now, if only I could find a sale on cheap, fashionable, and comfortable shoes....