The $41.25 Adventure

Earlier last week, we bought a pool table for $41.25 on a northern Minnesota online auction.   We had to go to Walker MN to pick the item up.   The night before we left, Harold plowed snow all around the basement walk-out door to make it easier to back the truck in with the table.   Of course, overnight, it snowed another 4 inches!   And got windy, too!  Well, we left for Walker and the roads were not even plowed yet.   But we only had two days to pick up the item, and one day was more or less out as we had to go elsewhere for an appointment.  We got there safely, and brought along a fairly strong friend to help with the loading.  A couple guys from the auction warehouse also helped us load the table onto our pickup truck.  We tarped it as best we could, and more snow was falling by this time.
     When we got home, we were able to unload the table easily into the basement.   But getting the truck back up the inclined yard was another problem with the added snowfall.  Harold figured he could pull the truck up the yard with his tractor/loader.   But it wouldn't start in the cold temps (it was almost 5 below zero by this time)!  So he took the battery out of my car, warmed it up in the house for a while, then put it in the tractor.   Now it started fine, and he pulled the truck up the inclined yard by the basement.  Nothing is ever simple, right?
     When the table thawed and the snow melted off of it, we put it together (the pool table was taken apart for ease of transport).   Here's a couple photos of our bargain table.  Not bad for $41.25, eh?  This table has had some real use, but it's still in good shape, and certainly good enough for us to have fun with.   It came with 10 cue sticks, a couple ball racks, a cue stick rack for the wall, all kinds of chalk, and extra balls, and a "ladies aid" cue stick.   I think we got our money's worth alone just on cue sticks.

Our new toy!   A nice used pool table!

Here's a closer view:

So, it may have been a horrible winter day when we went to get this, but we got there and back safely.  About 2 hours each way.   Our table technically cost us not just the $41.25, but also 3/4 tank of gas.   Still not bad.  Now, I just need to practice a little - because I sure stink at pool!