I Bet You Can't Wait See The Ammo Case

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So I got to thinking about the old cellar stairs

All weekend I was thinking about the old cellar stairs. Why did I say they went up to the old front door? Cellar stairs don't go up to the front door. They go up to the basement door or a bulkhead and rarely to the FRONT. I thought and thought and thought about it.

THEN

I remembered this photo

 HOT TAMALES!! There is a bulk head on the front right (left?) corner of the building!!

It was really fun

So last night my daughter and I were making this amazing rainbow cake together.

 And she got all evil and up in my face.

 So I had to do the It's-Me-I'm-Great-I'm-Right Dance to reassert my dominance.

Which she tried to thwart by chasing me with frosting. 

But I prevailed!!!!!!!

Now

Playing at a Blog Near You

The Righteous Me Dance Project

YAY ME!!

The Solar Panels

Wow, it was a beautiful day yesterday. I sorta noticed. I was in a hard working mood and bustled around putting out all the new Stonewall Kitchen stuff which had come on Thursday. And Nabisco delivered so I had to stow that and then put out all the fresh crackers and cookies. And it was AG order day so I had to hustle around with the ordering gizmo zapping grocery shelf tags so the world would be safe for gum and sugar and flour and cereal and ham hocks. And I had to take a thousand photos of the world. So by 3 pm I was filthy and tired and the beautiful day was only a blip on my radar.

Anyway, here are the solar panels. And the Boot Room is behind those beautiful blue windows.

Hey! Look at this pic! I took it from one of the Boot Room windows last week when I was poking around up there. Back when it was still winter.

Ths archeologist is IN

Compressors and fans are everywhere underground.
The Red Compressor has always been particularly interesting to me.

That is my Raisin/Popcorn Backstock Storage Area directly to the left of the Red Compressor. The astute observer will be able to identify the location of the red shopping baskets.

On Wednesday I heard it chugging, which is fairly unusual,
so I went to stare at it for a while.

I puzzled over why it would be chugging and I suddenly knew what the Red Compressor was for -- THE AIR HOSE ON THE OUTSIDE WALL BY THE SODA MACHINES!

And then I realized what THIS box is for. This is a NEW box. It controls the NEW solar panels on the roof. They were installed about 2 years ago.

SO... my befuddled brain told me that if this box is for the solar panels, and this box is on the wall next to the Red Compressor, then I must be standing under the coffee area by the registers. 

But I was waaaaaay wrong.

It is waaaaaaaay more better 'n that.

As I slept on it Wednesday night it became clear to me that things weren't adding up. The Stairs to Nowhere go to the air hose wall and the Red Compressor and Solar Panel Box are one basement over from those stairs.

So when I went in Thursday morning I paid special attention.

 Looking to the left I could see the peak of the old original Merrill & Sons building.

See the blue fence wall thing on the lower left? Those are the customer restrooms.

And when I saw that I GOT IT! The Red Compressor is  UNDER THE OLD OUTSIDE WALL OF THE ORIGINAL STORE BUILDING! So I went back down to the Red Compressor area, to the last aisle where I found the J. R. Liggett's Old Fashioned Bar Shampoo, and saw THIS... THESE ARE THE ORIGINAL BASEMENT STEPS GOING UP TO THE OLD ORIGINAL FRONT DOOR!!!!!!


Now doesn't that just blow your skirts up??
Click here to see where these stairs are.
(partially hidden to the left behind the circuit panel board thing)

(I will be examining the old floor joists and foundations and sill plates 'n such. I think the wine cellar is a good place to start.)

What Valentine's Day Means To Me

It means trying to sell off the large boxes of Lake Champlain chocolates by dressing up Register #3 all pretty. As of 3:00 pm today one had sold. I almost sold another but when I rang it up the lady went into real bad sticker shock and I had to administer an emergency Void-Ticketectomy to save her life.

By the way, meet the NEW Dairy Queen. She took over the dairy coolers when Verne deserted us. She runs a real nice dairy. Today she got in a new yogurt flavor -- Key Lime Graham Crumb And White Chocolate. I saw her try it this afternoon. Her face said, "EWWWWWWWWW."

A Surprise

Dan Dan!

aka Young Dan, Dan the Man, Simon Legree, The Boss

Mystery Thing #1 More Clues

The Hot Sauce Expert came by the store today and we went down to the basement to look for more clues about the Mystery Thing.

We were really naughty and wiggled that post thingee off becuase we wanted to see what it was covering.

Then we couldn't get it back on and we got really worried that George was going to catch us. But he didn't. And we did.

Another Basement Mystery

It is down in the basement,
over by the candy shelves, behind some crates of nuts and dried fruit.
It used to be hidden by hugely tall stacks of candy and plastic bag boxes, so I never saw it until someone recently revamped candy and plastic bag storage.

It looks like half a rabbit hutch.

It is sitting on an old freezer case.

It looks like it has some sort of cash register in it.

It has cash register-like signs posted on it.

(Holly Moose was IN TROUBLE!)

It is like a lean-to for a cash register.

Was it outside once?

If so, why?

It must have been for the gas pumps.
That means Jeremiah definitely knows where this was and why it was there.
I bet he used it before they moved his card swiper to the entryway and gave him a cash apron to wear.
I don't ever remember seeing it outside.
BUT... sometimes I can't remember yesterday.
What makes me think I could remember 10 years ago?

The back has a D&W's bumper sticker.

The sides have nice brackets and handles.

Cardboard is used everywhere to pad, layer, or protect.

 This cardboard is from a case of American Flatbread Co. Pizza.

This is from the American Flatbread Co.'s website.

Their pizza looks good but I have never bought any. Too expensive.

All the places I saw box cutters last Friday

My secret hidden one on a top shelf upstairs in the Chip Room. Now I will have to change my hiding place, I suppose.

 Up front by Register 1.

On my personal shelf in the Lost Underground World. Touch it and I will drop you where you stand.

 On the Wine Cellar desk.

On+ the shelf by Sam Daniels.

On+ Rasta Girl's personal shelf in the Lost Underground World.

In+ the Produce Room.

On+ the Grocery Czar's Podium out back across from the Hardware Desk.

In Got Dinner's pocket!

It is a box cutter you can count on.

Animals Taste Good!

Once upon a time my harp wanted to marry his harp and have little harp babies

Things I Never Told You

There is an UPSTAIRS!

Turn left to go into the  the Screw Room. (Note the Surveyor's Tape Department over the doorway into the Screw Room.) Turn right to go upstairs. There are lots of things upstairs. Like the Chip Room. And the Baggie Backstock Room. Like Belts, Fan and the Spice Endcap Staging Area. But most importantly...

The Boot Room!

It is a wonderful place full of Venerable Old Stuff. It is usually quiet and empty and the floor creaks when you walk on it. You can hear things going on downstairs and it feels like you are all hidden and secret. It is a good place to go to be alone for a bit. Except it is cold in the winter. The wood stoves are, after all, a long ways away down in the basement.

My favorite boots. I like to visit them.

Sale Today. Yay!

New Chips