In the past four days I’ve made three trips to local hardware stores. In retrospect I am sure at least one of them could have been avoided.

On Friday, I went to McLean Hardware and picked up some cute little black metal pots to plant the basil and parsley plants that I received from my CSA. They didn’t have any bags of rocks to put in the bottom (since there’s no drainage) but I figured I could find those anywhere. (A co-worker suggested styrofoam packing peanuts, but I ran a test on them and as it turns out, yes, water does melt them like I’d thought.) But I had the pots and they looked pretty cute, and also fit on my narrow windowsill.

It wasn’t until I was getting ready to leave work that I went to raid my bag of potting soil that I keep in the office and discovered that I’d used it up and forgotten. Whoops. So, on Sunday, I headed over to Cherrydale Hardware and got not only some dirt but also a bag of small stones for the bottoms of the pots. (It’s amazing how hard it is to find lots of little rocks when you need them.) I’d never been to Cherrydale Hardware before, although it’s just a few minutes drive away from me, but I love it already. Small hardware stores are just so nice; it’s probably just as well that I don’t own property or I’d have to take out a second mortgage to afford everything I’d want to buy. And hey, look how good the herbs now are on the windowsill! (I also had a dill plant but I gave it to my mom, since I’m not a big dill fan and she had expressed interest.)

And today? Another trip to McLean Hardware when I discovered that after buying a combination lock a month ago, I have forgotten the combination. Brilliantly, I wrote it down exactly zero places. With the new one, it’s now recorded in two different locations. The frustrating thing is that I remember looking at the combination for the other lock and thinking, “Wow, what an easy combination to remember!” Apparently, not that easy. I thought I remembered two of the three numbers, but all attempts to use those to get it open have failed so far.

Hopefully now that I’ve bought two different locks, the two padlocks that have gone missing in action in my home will finally show up. Argh. Oh well, at least the local hardware store got some more business from me. And now I have a lock to use tonight at the pool for my first lap swimming class. (While Fairfax County uses coin-operated lockers, I have been told that Arlington County pools use padlocks.)