Sunday, November 20, 2016

new wheels!!!! (part i)

True story: for my 21st birthday, I sincerely requested from my mother a gift of a vacuum cleaner for my tiny studio apartment. Party hard, y'all.

...... So. Yea. I have been accused by my family and friends of being somewhat aggressively practical. And here we are, ten years later and my birthday wishes are still trending in the direction of some overly utilitarian be-wheeled tool.

so shiny and new!!
And when some presents last week arrived in the form of Amazon gift cards, I knew what to do with them haha. Sure, my loved ones maybe sighed deeply and rolled their eyes when I told them how their birthday cash would be used... but whatever.

spoiler alert: the cart arrives in a box. not pre-assembled, as one might have incorrectly assumed
This muck cart (the Miller CA500, thankyouverymuch) has languished on my wishlist for ages, but somehow always felt too indulgent, too frivolous to purchase myself. I could never quite justify the cost... but it seemed like the perfect use for gift carts!

Isn't that how birthday money is supposed to work?!? lol....

it's a WHEEL y'all!
Call me simple if you like, but it kinda caught me by surprise tho when this thing arrived in a decidedly smaller box than I expected. Bc, uh, apparently there's some assembly required. Oops lol.

I mean, in retrospect, it's kinda obvious that... yea, the cart ships a lot more economically and efficiently disassembled into parts that fit into a smaller space... It had just never occurred to me!

shiny cheap tools!
It's cool tho. Putting it together was more or less quite straightforward - they even include cheapo tools in the box, and there are only a few small pieces of hardware like screws and washers and such.

taking shape!
Aside from some confusion about where to fit which screws, and some jobs that required slightly longer arms than I have (think: attaching the wheels and tightening their screws), it honestly didn't take very long.

putting on the wheels!
So now I finally have my own muck cart! Perfect timing too since the new barn apparently doesn't seem to have wheelbarrows anyway haha, and it's a long walk to the manure pit from where I park my trailer.

ta da!!
So yea. Maybe not the most exciting birthday present ever (stay tuned for part ii for that, coming tomorrow), but it brings me an odd sense of glee lol.

Idk. Do you normally ask for horse-related stuff for your birthday? Or just cash? Is your list full of big-ticket items that you maybe wouldn't or couldn't get yourself? Or is it the plain practical stuff that may be boring but will definitely be put to good use? Or some of both?

39 comments:

  1. I've done that before where I got something and then went crap I have to put it together. If you haven't thought of it you might want to wheel it around a bit and then double check everything is tight. I learned that the hard way... oops :)

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    1. For some reason I just fully expected the cart to arrive whole and ready to go. And somewhat pitied the delivery person for it. But nope. Was (obvi) wrong lol

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  2. I do the same as you. And you won't regret that purchase- I bought one about 10 years ago and it's still going strong. I love it- it's perfect for shows and folds up to store in the trailer.
    Happy Birthday!

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    1. Thanks!! And I expect this one to last a good long while with care too. It's definitely going to make cleaning up after travel much easier in our new location!

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  3. That's an extremely exciting purchase to me. I loooove my muck cart.

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    1. Ha yup - you and others singing the praises of this thing's high degree of usefulness is what brought it to my attention originally

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  4. My husband is super mad at me right now because I can't think of a single non-horse related thing for his mom to get me for Christmas 😂 I'm thinking amazon gift card so I can buy my own super cool muck cart..... 😍 Awesome present!!!

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    1. Omg the horse things you can buy on Amazon tho!!! I swear they have basically everything. Grooming supplies, medical and first aid supplies... I've even bought tack on Amazon lol. Plus obvi all nature of tack cleaning stuff... Barn equipment and buckets and sponges... Really so much stuff haha. Amazon gift cards are the greatest lol

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  5. OMG. Another person who asks for things like this! I also asked for a vacuum (a Dyson (drool)) for one of my 20-something birthdays. I make attempts to not ask my family for horse things exclusively as history shows they don't get it lol. So to be practical, I'm asking for a Pelican case for my camera/lens instead! Waterproof and shock proof awesomeness.

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    1. Yessss!! While part of me gets annoyed that family would find buying camera stuff more palatable than horse stuff, it somehow doesn't surprise me. But practicality ftw!!

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  6. I totally get it and as you know recently purchased a wheelbarrow and it's the best. Enjoy your cart!

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    1. Haha yup!! It's so weirdly satisfying to get these new tools... I love wheelbarrows too but just don't have storage for it in the truck or trailer. This cart should do tho!!

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  7. Happy birthday! I totally do the same thing - birthday money/gift cards go towards things I'd never just buy for myself.

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    1. Thank you! And yup that just seems to be the best way to use the gifts IMO. Esp bc I will always remember that it was a gift and be grateful, vs something I would normally buy for myself, which might end up not feeling as special. Or something. Lol

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  8. Last Christmas my husband got me fencing screws and a hay tarp. It made me so happy!

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    1. haha yup that sounds pretty excellent to me too!!!

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  9. For ages, when my mother would ask me what I wanted for Christmas so she could pass it on to various family members, I would send her a wishlist of horse items from Dover with accompanying catalog numbers or later, website links. Poor Aunt Sheila never really understood what a longe line was and perhaps didn't understand that tack stores have gift certificate, so I always received a horse-related article of clothing or book or tchotchke.

    These days, everyone knows to send cash or gift cards. Johnny's parents are especially good at buying things from a horsey wishlist, although they've kind of stopped doing so since I started working at a tack store. Just because I get a discount doesn't mean I don't want it for free!

    I think the muck cart is a perfectly excellent birthday present!

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    1. ughhhhh the well-intentioned but totally-off-the-mark horse clothing or books or tchotchkes were the absolute worst. like... yea, thanks fam for recognizing my hobby... but like. those wasted gifts were kinda tragic (esp for ppl like me who imagine all the practical things the money could have gone towards lol).

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  10. Practical gifts are the bomb. I would be thrilled if someone gave me a vaccum cleaner..

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  11. I definitely use birthdays and Christmas to ask for horsey stuff. Rick has gotten to the point where he's refused to get me any more blankets lol My birthday is next week and he's begging for any non-horsey items. Happy Birthday to you! I love the cart!

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    1. haha thank you! and good luck figuring out a non-horsey thing to ask for for your upcoming bday too! it's so hard to think of other things lol

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  12. I deeply love that phrase "somewhat aggressively practical"

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    1. right?!? when i got a pair of lemieux xc boots i was secretly deeply satisfied with the packaging's tagline of "ruthlessly efficient." bc yes, that's something i can believe in lol!

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  13. Very practical gift indeed! Does that model have the solid rubber tires? Or the air-filled ones?

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  14. Love it! We have had one for two years now and it is my favorite barn tool. It was a barn gift when we moved to our friends. Practical gifts are the best.

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    1. and see, that's maybe the best barn-warming present a gal could ask for!! :D

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  15. lol bait and switch, thought you got a new truck or something.

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    1. Muahaha - but wait, there will be a part ii tomorrow!!

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  16. Nicely done and happy belated! I don't ever ask for horse related things because no one would know what to buy. Sigh, it's all up to me

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  17. hahaha I love being aggressively practical! I am trying to think of non-horsey things to send on a list of suggestions to my MIL, but I'm coming up short. People don't seem to understand that presents for the horse are the same thing as presents for me!!

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  18. I got this exact same cart for an anniversary from my husband. I'm not sorry about wanting it... I'm just sorry we had to assemble it. He's not a horsey person and assembled ours wrong. I might have just sent him this post and been like "This is how you do it right, now fix it.". Thanks for that :)

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  19. Cheers to practicality. People gave me a hard time about registering for a garbage disposal on my wedding registry, but hey, you need what you need.

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  20. You can never receive too many practical gifts. NEVER

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  21. Practical gifts for the win. Love them. I don't need more "stuff", I need things that help life along!

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  22. Uhh yeah for my 21st my mom is taking me to home goods (when I can walk again) and I'm buying some decor/new sheets for my house. Priorities?

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