How many trips to the store does it take to install some lights?

[rip]

I always use coveralls and have a pair in the bus.Just wash hands and your off.
   Don

[Hartley]

My wife says that when I die she will open a hardware store to sell
all the extra stuff that I have collected over the years.

I finally realized that "stores" and "sales" all have a special memory-eraser
somewhere near the front door. You walk into the store and your memory gets
erased at the entrance. Oh.. Yeah making notes and lists doesn't work either, Seems the eraser changes your ability to read and you end up with everything
neat that you really didn't need and when you get home you find that what you
went for didn't make it home.

Harbor Freight has the most powerful magnets in the land, Only offset by Lowes, Home Depot and Walmart.

Now.. Hmm... What was I doing??

[belfert]

So far on this project I haven't forgotten anything while at the store.  The issue has been breaking/missing drill bits or finding I need a screw or nut/bolt I didn't figure on earlier.  I should have made sure my drill bit set was complete when I started.  I've been to Menards/Home Depot at least 25 times since I broke or lost my 9/64" drill bit and never bought one and yesterday or Friday I finally needed that size.

I do need to go to Napa now to look at a replacement LED light for my third brake light issue.

[NewbeeMC9]

When I was a youngster, My dad had 2 five gallon buckets of nuts and bolts.  We always had search through those for that infamous needed fastener.   I would have sworn that they were all individually custom pieces and each one only fit one thing which we did not have.   I later found out that I could have ridden my bike to one of two hardware stores and bought that bolt for a usually less than a nickel(and a bike ride would have been more fun and quicker).  Now I don't usually look for bolts, just go to the store, (did i mention there is about 7 places to get ice cream on the way ).  Sometimes I just go before I start to see what I might need.  Like niles500 said, one more,  I go ahead and get it out of the way.

[Bob Gil]

awhile back I was at a buinsess that sold salvage and they were closing the store they had lost the lease on the building. 

They had just bought the bolt and nut slection from a ACE hardware store that had a fire.  I was able to buy most of the nut, bolts and screws for .10 cents a pound, now they are stacked in the grage where the new wife stuffed them 3 years ago and I still go to the local ACE hardware store to get my nuts I can get them faster that way.

Maybe some day I will get these sorted out and where I can get to them.

[JackConrad]

We purchased a nice metal box with an assosrtment of bolts (1/4" through 1/2"). When I get low on a particlar size, I restock that size when I am at the nhardware store.  When you lived about 15 miles from the closest store, you learn to plan ahead.  Jack

[FloridaCliff]

We purchased a nice metal box with an assortment of bolts (1/4" through 1/2"). When I get low on a particular size, I restock that size when I am at the hardware store.  When you lived about 15 miles from the closest store, you learn to plan ahead.  Jack

Jack,

As you well know we both live a ways from the nearest hardware.

My solution is to have at least 3-5 projects going at the same time.

If I need something for one, I don't run for the part, I write it on the big pad in the shop and move onto the next.

I stop at the local hardware about 2-3 times a week on my way home.

I can tell a few of the old guys in there are trying to figure out what I am going to do with all those unrelated pieces and parts I have just bought.   

Cliff

[Sojourner]

About drill bit….always has on hands at least 3 or more of your common broken or dull bit.

About getting bolt & nut by the pound….Tractor Supply has them of all grades & sizes. Stainless Steel as well coated ones. I buy a pound of each popular size to have on hand. Nut & washer from ¼ to 3/8 inch are always in my storage tray.

Remember…the cost of each trip to a store will automatically buy at least a few extra popular pieces every time…whether it 1 or 2 drill bits or whatever.

Sojourn for Christ, Gerald

[belfert]

Yes, I have several projects I can work on, but this project absolutely has to be done by Thursday afternoon so the bus can leave on a trip.  No lights in the rear would be an issue.  I couldn't drop this project and move on to something else.

I've been meaning to buy a complete new set of cobalt drill bits, but the money keeps getting spent on other items (mostly for the bus).  I also have in the back of my mind that I should buy a bunch of nuts and bolts in bulk, but again I never gather up the money to do this either.  No Tractor Supply anywhere close.  I didn't realize they sell stainless stuff in bulk.

[John316]

I have an account at Fastenal. They don't have good prices, off the shelf, but when you get discounts, then they have good prices.

They have a great selection of SS. I found self drilling (4 hardness), SS screws work great for drilling holes in the SS on the bus.

God bless,

John