Archive for the ‘OOSTL’ Category

Observations Of Small Town Living (OOSTL)

Monday, February 24th, 2014

I suppose people in cities and suburbs talk a lot about traffic. In rural America, we do to… kind of. Here’s a text conversation I had with my wife last week. She starts the conversation by telling me she won’t be home when I arrive as she’s heading to town. And then the traffic reports begin. (note: please excuse the typos. The cause of which is not the operator’s fault.)

text.conversation

When I got to the aforementioned location of the road block I found this young moose at the end of our driveway.

moose

I doubt that moose are often mentioned in traffic conversations unless you live in a small town in rural America.

Observations of Small Town Living (OOSTL)

Friday, January 3rd, 2014

Sandpoint Drug Store is unique in a few ways. 1/4 of the store is a pharmacy, 1/4 of the store is a drug store, and 1/2 the store is a hardware store. I guess they want to make sure moms and dads can find what they want. In addition, there’s a used books section right there for you to grab a book to enjoy. No cost, no signing the book out. All on the honor system.

used.books

Observations of Small Town Living (OOSTL)

Friday, January 3rd, 2014

It’s the middle of a cold winter and I found this image taken when people place their bodies inside water, as apposed to on top of ice, for the purpose of recreation. Where I come from, this would be like Halloween where that lady left a bowl of candy out with a note that said, “only take one.” I repented of this thievery long ago but the memory still haunts me. Thankfully, not everyone would keep the life jacket.life.jackets

 

Observations Of Small Town Living (OOSTL)

Friday, November 1st, 2013

trick.or.treat

Halloween –  Is it a murderer begging for mercenaries to come to his door? I guess it’s possible but chances are they just want to welcome the neighborhood munchkins to come and get treats. After all, we were all set to hand out DVDs, but alas, no trick or treaters came to our door.  Of course, that could have something to do with the fact that we’re about 1000 feet from the country road (yet another consequence of small town living).

Observations of Small Town Living (OOSTL)

Tuesday, October 15th, 2013

Today’s entry speaks for itself.

hunting.season

If you think this is unusual, then you’ll love this post from a friend on Facebook. Before he hired a contractor he checked to make sure that… “None of these guys are hunters. I asked beforehand.” Around here, you have to make sure the service you’re requesting is going to be open at all during hunting season.

Observations of Small Town Living (OOSTL)

Tuesday, September 3rd, 2013

wood.cuttingTwo hours of wood cutting will serve to heat someone’s home for a few weeks this winter.

Observations of Small Town Living (OOSTL)

Monday, June 3rd, 2013

lumber.truck

When we first moved to the wilderness of North Idaho, I couldn’t figure out what the trailer on top of this truck was for. It turns out that in this configuration is the compact arrangement of a logging truck making it easier to drive on city streets. Driving around the area, you’ll see trucks like this in the driveway of people’s homes just like any business vehicle. The trailer on top of the truck is the back end of the truck. After unloading, the lumber company uses a crane to put the trailer on top of the truck. And in the forest, the process is reversed by an excavator.

 

 

Observations of Small Town Living (OOSTL)

Monday, February 4th, 2013

This is no ordinary envelope. It’s tax time when we get a few envelopes for various charities accounting for our donations. This one is from a small church in small town America, where envelopes are hand addressed. It warms my heart that someone took the time to hand write the address.

oostl.envelope

(Of course, for privacy reasons, I blurred out some details)

Observations of Small Town Living (OOSTL)

Sunday, November 4th, 2012

Went to vote. First had to wait zero seconds to find a parking spot. Stood in line to vote for zero seconds. Then I had to wait for a booth for zero seconds. Waited zero seconds to turn in my ballot. I love living in a small town. And they say that the lifestyle here is much slower.

Observations Of Small Town Living (OOSTL)

Monday, October 22nd, 2012

Observe the nice black and red HUSKY brand tool box in the picture below. Also not the medical crash kit and cardiovascular model on top.

This is not the back room of some doctor’s office and it’s not my auto mechanic. This is the regular doctor’s exam room and that tool box contains the tools of the trade for our doctor. If this box was painted white with a medical insignia on it, I’m betting it would cost $200 more.

Observations of Small Town Living (OOSTL)

Monday, September 17th, 2012

The smallest library in the world. This is the cutest library I’ve ever seen. Located in Vay, Idaho (near the Vay Cafe). Open 24/7.

Observations of Small Town Living (OOSTL)

Monday, September 3rd, 2012

The DMV Again. Way back in January of 2008 we got our first experience with the local DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles, also known as 7 hours of punishment back where I come from). If you haven’t read the prior article, you may want to do so. I wrote about the local DMV in disbelief. Below is an article from the local paper. It’s very likely that Mindy was one of the ladies that helped Jenny and I. The local DMV employees don’t seem to fit the mold of what we would expect.

We clearly live in an altered state of reality.

Observations of Small Town Living (OOSTL)

Thursday, August 16th, 2012

Full Service Gas Stations – while traveling through Canada we came upon a rare service and hardly knew how use it. In fact, I can count on one hand the times we filled up the card at a full service gas station. I was so tickled by the experience, I had to get a picture of these folks.

Observations of Small Town Living (OOSTL)

Wednesday, April 4th, 2012

 

If a tree falls across the road in a small town, the life expectancy before someone arrives with a chainsaw to cut it up is about 8 minutes. I know this because a friend called from the road and explained that he couldn’t get up because there was a log on the road. It took me no more than 8 minutes to get there and by the time I did, the tree was cut up and laying on the side of the road. Apparently everyone has a chainsaw right next to the spare tire in their trunk.

The image below of chain bar oil (for a chainsaw) is not very remarkable. Except that this is taken in our local grocery store across from the laundry detergent. Chain oil in the grocery store.

Observations of Small Town Living (OOSTL)

Friday, March 9th, 2012

Chick Days Begin. It’s official, there is almost nothing cuter than baby chicks. Want proof? Try not to say, “Awwww,” when you click on the images below. In rural areas, hardware stores that never sell living thing any other time of year, sell these little puffs right next to the chicken feed – go figure. In larger cities, the only place you see something like this is in a pet store. I’m guessing that these are not pets. Jenny, note, these are not pets.

Click image to feel good.

Click image to feel good.

Click image to feel good.

Note to my lovely wife: NO!