“Remoted – Hybrid” – Day 708 (Saturday) – gate cap

It was in the high 50s today. In February. In New England. But the forecast for tomorrow is back to normal and in the 20s again. Mother Nature is keeping it interesting.

The coveted fence post cap.

Most of the afternoon was occupied by a visit to Lowe’s. I expected it to be busy due to the nice weather, but it wasn't bad at all. 

The objective was replacements for the missing gate cap and the fence post cap that was violently removed from the post by the neighbor’s recycle barrel as it was lifted by the machine arms to be emptied into the truck. The post cap was located on line, where it even indicated the aisle and bin number in the store, and took just a few minutes to locate and have in hand. That was a quick and easy $10 solution to one problem.

The elusive 3" x 5" cap.

The cap for the gate was less easy. That’s the piece that blew off in the big wind months ago. Unfortunately, that part doesn’t seem to exist as a single item, and the only solution appears to be buying a $180 gate kit in order to get the one 3” by 5” cap part number EPN-2044 that probably costs 99-cents. The associate at Lowe’s offered the additional helpful suggestion that I could make a fence post cover. Seriously? Out of what, exactly? Like, in my basement vinyl fence parts factory? Crazy.  

From Lowe’s, it was a trip to the St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store, because I was already out of the house, so why not, right? It was 50% off blue tags and 99-cent red tag day, so those were the focus. The $15 final haul was a long skirt and some fancy-ish red pants with a black lace overlay, perfect for an as-yet unplanned vacation, a cropped sweater for dance class, and a blue and green plaid shirt that is softer, dressier, and less lumberjack looking than the rest of the plaid collection. And "dressier" here is a relative term. It's  dressy for plaid flannel, as in, more tailored and drapey and possibly suitable for the office.

Once back at home, I wrote to the fine folks at Freedom Products about the Lennox Dog Ear fence gate cap part number EPN-2044. Again. This was already done months ago with no response, but hopefully, the second attempt will bear fruit, or specifically, a gate cap. Or at least a clue how to get a gate cap.

Maybe the newest plaid shirt will help me figure out how to MacGuyver a fence gate cap out of materials at hand. There are three bags full of plastic shopping bags in the closet. Maybe they can be used to fuse a material that will serve as a gate cap. If I can make enough of them, I could sell them to all the other people who likely are missing caps. I couldn’t possibly be the only one. Or more likely, the way things sometimes go, I probably am the only person in the world of vinyl fencing who had a gate cap blow off and disappear. Like I joked at Lowe’s, vinyl is final, until the wind blows or the trash truck comes. Nobody even chuckled. Looks like I need to brush up on my stand-up routine.