November 5, 2003
Our tax dollars at work...
I took today off so that Jen and I could drive the 280 miles from Seattle to Spokane and back again.
The reason I did this was because I was the winner in a government bid for this fine piece of farm equipment - a John Deere leaf sweeper. As you may know, Jen and I recently purchased 31 acres of land and we are putting in a cider apple orchard next spring. This is a cool thing to have especially since the winning bid was $65 - COOL!
Anyway, as specified on the invoice, I called the on-site agent this morning, let them know that I was coming directly out from Seattle and would be there this afternoon. Fine - no problem.
We get there at 3:30 that afternoon to find that the agent has gone home for the day and that there is no one else that can help us. The WA State representitive for the company that handles the auctions ( Government Liquidations - excellent web site! ) was at another base 45 minutes from Seattle and about 330 miles from the one in Spokane.
The Soldiers at the visitors center were more than courtious but there was nothing they could do - understandibly so.
What gets me is that I took a day off work so this means a hundred bucks that we will not see in the next paycheck. We also drove a truck and towed an equipment trailer over the passes so that added up to about $100 on gas.
Tomorrows phone call is going to be an interesting one to say the least... Blogging will resume then.
Good night...
UPDATE:
The person in charge of the DRMO office there is arrainging for this unit to be trucked to the DRMO office in Fort Lewis. Much much closer...