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Dirt is not dirt cheap
Made from more than 60 eight-foot-long railroad ties, the 6-by-30-foot retainer replaced a fallen wall of stone.
The stones used to build the old wall were from a time when men were men and many had hernias. Island slaves long ago rolled these stones to make this wall. Archeologists have wondered for years how they managed to lift them. After two pots of my wife's coffee, I found the answer.
Caffeine.
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I love the smell of creosote in the morning.
It smells like ... landscaping.
Once the retainer was finished, the chain saw and sledgehammer put away, it was time to back fill. I ordered a truckload of 2B limestone to be delivered.
After paying the dump truck driver almost 200 bucks, I realized that never before had I paid so much for so little.
Two hundred dollars for a truckload of gravel?!
The price of gravel was quickly overshadowed by the cost of dirt.
What I needed to complete my landscaping project was, roughly, a triaxle truck's worth of fill dirt - not anything special, mind you - just dirt. I wasn't looking for topsoil. I did not want to order potting soil. I didn't need a manicured mushroom and manure mulch mix.
I was looking for plain, ordinary, cheap American dirt - the kind that's in the ground.
When the first dirt broker quoted me a delivered price of $400, I scoffed and hung up. When the next landscape delivery outlet quoted me a price of $520, I scoffed and hung up. When the third stone and gravel dealer told me his price was $480, I called the first place back and spoke in a fake voice.
Four hundred dollars for a truckload of dirt?!
Many would wonder why, when you own a farm, would you pay for dirt?
It's a good question.
The answer is simple. My tractor is too small, and my brain is too dumb. Instead of buying the affordable but new, smaller machine, I should have gone with a bigger, used tractor, one capable of lifting heavy loads, like gravel and dirt.
Instead of dropping out of college to play guitars and spin records, I should have stayed in school and gotten that degree in business.
That way, instead of being the man paying, I could be the man selling.
I've heard the argument, truck drivers of America. The price of diesel fuel went through the roof and never found its way back down to Earth. You don't set the prices. You just haul the dirt.
Dirt? Not dirt cheap.
To hear Scott Paulsen's column, visit www.observer-reporter.com. He can be heard each weekday afternoon from 3-7 p.m. on 1250 ESPN Radio.
Dirt Free : 5/23/2009
HaPpY bIrThDaY!!!!!
