Today I spent the better part of 3 hours trying to order stuff from:

Major surplus, 45 min trying to get a line and 20 on hold.They had the fuel stabilizer,battery chargers,books I needed and will ship today.I guess living in LA has an advantage.

Cheaper than Dirt, 1/2 hour trying to get a line, 10 minutes on hold. The poor little texan I talked to sounded harried. She said things had been crazy since the end of the first week in Jan.Got the Cleaning kits and tech manuals on cd.

Harbor Freight 45 min, never got thru, 20 min trying to get their web site. Finally gave up.I guess there is a demand for hand tools and LPG fuel storage and consumption equipment.

Northern supply, 30 min, never got thru. Got disgusted and gave up. I really wonder what will happen to the poor souls who don't see the train til they are blinded by the headlight. At least I heard the whistle prior to the tracks starting to vibrate.

The only bright spot this week is my concealed weapons license showed up yesterday. Now I can legally do what I've been doing on road trips for years.

-- nine (nine_fingers@hotmail.com), January 29, 1999

Answers

Nine, you need a road trip to North Carolina. We've got just about everything coming out the gump-stump here. As I've said before the only thing I see in short supply are the dirt cheap woodstoves. If you're willing to pay $550 or up for a woodstove, we've got pleanty of those too.

-- Puddintame (dit@dot.com), January 29, 1999.

$550!!! Whoa! I saw some small ones at the local hardware store for $150. I was going to start looking around for a better price, but perhaps I should just figure out hom I'm going to get that one home!

Annie O'Dea

-- Annie O'Dea (tarotmaid@yahoo.com), January 29, 1999.

Annie, woodstoves aren't normal stock items in North Carolina (at least in the non-mountainous central and coastal areas) so the only stores that stock are specialty stores that sell Vermont Castings, Hearthstone, Jotul and other well-known makers. So our "shortage" is just reflective of the fact that they have never been stocked here. On the other hand, if you saw a good one for $150 I don't think you're going to see a much better price than that. If it's cast iron, you have to pay $75 or $85 to have one shipped to you from out of state. For what it's worth, I'm seeing very few woodstoves advertised in the classifieds and the ones that are advertised are selling very quickly.

-- Puddintame (dit@dot.com), January 29, 1999.

I'm going to wait for my neighbor to come asking for some food and supplies to get my wood stove. He has one sitting in his garage. I figure when he gets hungry enough he'll let loose of it.

-- barter (barter@barter.com), January 29, 1999.

I ordered a woodburning stove from Ace Hardware Tues Jan 12.

Price: $134.99 plus tax. Deposit: $44.00.

It arrived Thurs Jan 21.

I picked it up today (Fri Jan 29).

I have read that True Value sells the same item for $15. less, but I have a good relationship with the Ace store, so I went with them.

The chimney is extra. Triple wall (insulation to prevent accidents) is $20./foot.

With Ace (and I believe True Value) there is no shipping charge. They would have delivered it to my home for an $18. fee.

Order now before it's too late.

Good luck!

GA Russell

-- GA Russell (xxx@xxx.com), January 29, 1999.

Our local hardware store called Aladdin and placed our order for two of their lamps. The store called me later to let me know they could get the lamps I wanted, but said "sit down...the delivery time will be 6 months" He was stunned! (I hope that will get him to thinking about stocking a few & spare parts in the store!) Of course since I've been reading the 'net' I expected that. (now I know it was for real tho, sometimes I'm skeptical of what I read) Anyway, I told him that was fine and yes, I still wanted them.

-- LM (xxx@xxx.com), January 29, 1999.

nine -

congrats on the carry permit!

Arlin

-- Arlin H. Adams (ahadams@ix.netcom.com), January 29, 1999.

LM: Pick up extra wicks! I had to special order mine from Aladdin because Ace Hardware did not carry that particular wick. But, they were kind enough to order everything I needed. Also, purchase an extra mantle, I bought the last one Ace had on hand. I'm finding wicks for lamps, heaters, etc. are in short supply.

-- bardou (bardou@baloney.com), January 29, 1999.

Message to all and to "bardou" I have found wicks for lamps at several store @.30 each. But I have posted info to use for the problem of not finding wick material. Go to a Fabric store and check on belt material ( it's the same type) sure hope this gets thru to all looking for wicks ....

-- Furie (furieart@dnet.net), January 30, 1999.

Thanks bardou! I asked about those today. He assured me they had plenty in stock (probably because he collects the old aladdins - wouldn't sell me any of those - I probably couldn't afford them anyway!). Anyway, it would be a good idea to go ahead and get my spares now while they still have them and not wait until my lamps come in.

-- LM (xxx@xxx.com), January 30, 1999.

Furie: Thanks for the info on alternate wicks such as belt material. Have you used them before? Some of those belts are made with cotton and polyester blend material. Wouldn't the wick melt? I suppose you could go to a thrift store and buy a bunch of belts and test them out. All my wicks are made of 100% cotton. The Aladdin lamp I have is a very old lamp and wicks for these I understand are hard to get. I live in a very rural area and perhaps supply in demand is more here than where you are located.

-- bardou (bardou@baloney.com), January 30, 1999.

@2sd message to bardou, To answer your question No, I have not used that type of material for wicks >>> But I am saying look for belt material that is similiar to the wick material. You might be able to buy it by the yard, if it is from a fabric store. If it has polyester in it , it probably would burn differently and give off a sooty black smoke, So again look for the cotton material that looks like wick material..... If I find some how much do you need how many pieces ??? email me ...

-- Furie (furieart@dnet.net), January 30, 1999.