BUSY THREE DAYS AT ANDY'S PLACE...

...well, "busy" for a lazy guy that doesn't like to do much.

Thursday: I had told y'all about our near brush with death from a tornado that hit just blocks from our house, and about the damage we had. Well, I finally got around to getting a claim filed. Like I say, I don't like to do much.

My agent told me to get some kind of idea as to the dollar value of my loss. I have a one thousand dollar deductible, so a claim may not be necessary. So, I got an estimate of $1200 to replace the aluminum awning over my side porch that was destroyed. And, I have about 25 shingles missing, so that's worth something...and one broken window. I messed around, but finally called Allstate Claims.

Thursday the adjuster showed up...heckuva nice guy. So, he takes pictures, climbs up on the roof...and stays up there a long, long time. When he's all finished up he comes in the house and we sit down.

I was shocked. Allstate is gonna give me $1700 to replace the awning (shazzaaam...half my deductible handled already). And, give me $110 to replace a broken window (I can do it for $10...nother hundred down...only four more to go). And, they are going to pay to replace THE WHOLE ROOF! Can you believe that??? The whole stinkin' roof for a couple of dozen shingles missing. The whole roof...all 92 squares. Did I say 92 squares? I meant 29. My neighbor across the street is a good roofer, and he'll give me a deal. I'm gonna make a few coins on this before it's all over.

But then again, I should, seeing as I had to live through the fright and all. But by noon Thursday, I was feelin' prit-t-good! I am in Good Hands for sure.

Friday: I awoke to an e-mail from a friend entitled HELP! Now, I've had this friend for almost 20 years. You probably have him, too. You know the guy that lives right on the edge of a fat wallet and a flat one...you know...big idea guy...hard worker...heart of gold...hairbrained! Yeah, that guy. We'll call him Gomer.

I open the e-mail. "Andy, I'm stuck in the Ukraine with no money." Now, it didn't surprise me that he was in the Ukraine. Gomer's been seeing a Ukrainian woman that lives here in Louisiana. And, it didn't surprise me that his hairbrained self didn't take care of his junk before he went to stinkin' Eastern Europe either.

It's a long story I won't bore you with, but basically, he needed me to go load up his WalMart VISA debit card with $500 bucks, and he'll pay me back next week. So, I ask The Mrs. if she has $500 bucks she can loan me to loan Ronny Gomer. She just laughed..."Gomer hasn't changed a day, has he? Well, I guess I can't leave the boy stranded in the Ukraine. You know if he doesn't eat regularly, he gets a headache."

Now, adding $500 to somebody's VISA debit card at Wal-Mart is much more difficult than one might think. Especially if you can't explain to the chick working in The Money Center what you're trying to do. I finally got frustrated (probably not as frustrated as the 14 people in line behind me) and left.

He had said that I could do it at CVS pharmacy, too. So, to CVS we go. The little girl new exactly what I needed...A Green Dot Card. And I discovered that a Green Dot Card for $500 is "cash only"...no debit cards, no checks. So, to the bank we go...it was an episode...but finally mission accomplished.

The Mrs. said when we got finished. "You know Andy, Gomer might not ever pay us back." To which I replied, "I know...but that'll be a pretty cheap way to get rid of him." I made The Mrs. laugh...my goal for the day had been accomplished.

We had to go back to WalMart for groceries, and I stopped in at The Money Center to show the lady there that I COULD RELOAD A DADGUMMED WALMART VISA CARD, and she said, "Oh, that's a Green Dot Card. We sell those." I wanted to say something, but I was too close to cussing...

Saturday: More rain in the forecast (we have been swamped these last few months), and my yard looks like crap. So, I tell The Mrs. that she'd better get out there and cut the grass before the next deluge. So, she goes on out there and gets started...you know, I enjoy it when she mows & weedeats. It gives me time "alone with my thoughts."

And ooooohhhhh. I went out to supervise and make sure she was doing it right, and her single pink rose bush in one of the iris beds is just gorgeous.

Sure enough it rained...buckets, and tanker truck loads. I don't know how much rain we got, but the street was flooded, and I saw water standing in the yard where I had never seen it before. But it's all quit now.

And just one more something. I have told y'all about my Rubbermaid Storage Container Tomato Experiment, and that the Goliath something variety already had a 'mater. Well, lookie here! Adam has his Eve...



One 'mater, two 'mater...oh wait, I forgot, that's one tater, two tater... Don't they purty? They're about golf ball size, and gaining ground fast. I can't barely wait!!!