Bear With Us

Hick sent me a picture of his newest acquisition for the SUS2.5 (Storage Unit Store 2.5).

"My new bear."

Let the record show that Hick does not have an old bear. This is his first and only bear. That I know of. I don't know why Hick wanted a bear, other than for the ambiance of his SUS2.5. 

"How much was that? And where did you get it?"

"From one of my customers. It was $200."

"Did he shoot it himself?" 

[We do have black bears in our area, and Missouri has a bear-hunting season.]

"No. I don't know where he got it."

"Are you going to sell it?"

"I don't WANT to sell it. But if somebody offers me the right price, I will. I'd take $300 for it. I never plan on selling my deer heads, either, but I've sold about 10 of them."

Hick has plenty of things to sell. That's why he's paying rent on three storage lockers, I guess. This is in his main shop, that has a heater so he can sell through the winter. His high-dollar shop, with his most lucrative merchandise. 

Here's the big picture, to put that bear in context:

As I've said before, Hick's shop reminds me of that one in Gremlins, where the inadequate inventor guy bought the Mogwai. So much going on in this photo. I recognize some items, but others are a mystery.

Not sure what kind of firearms are hanging there. Most definitely not the high-dollar ones, which are locked up. Hick sells a lot of ammunition to hunters through the fall. And maybe winter. I don't think it's a seasonal thing. They don't want to run out, and they want it for a good price.

The headless horns are not doing this shop any favors, but I suppose there's a buyer for everything. I see a couple lanterns. A soldier with a musket. A powder horn for gunpowder. A gazing ball held by antlers. A toy UPS truck. Prince Albert in a can! Some plastic horses. And a weird thing that makes me think of a genie in a bottle.

I suppose the fishing lure market will become more lucrative as the weather warms up. Hick has a bazillion fishing poles that he buys cheap, and refurbishes. With a couple of state parks in the area, and assorted rivers, people buy them if they've forgotten or broken theirs. Hick is cheaper than Walmart.

Walmart probably doesn't stock bear heads.