nags of a similar ilk

A couple years ago (probably more, now that all of my years are blurring together), Mike came over to borrow my chipper shredder. It was a small electric chipper shredder, more shredding than chipping. I would continually tell Kris to stop cramming that 3" branch into the feed, smell that burning smell? that's the branch you're trying to shove in there, nothing over 1" wide.

I should have told Mike 1/2".

MIke took the chipper home and started chipping the branches he and Kate had cut down around the house. The chipper was so loud, not that I knew this when I was using it, that I could easily hear it 100 yards away.

I could also hear when it went from straining to BAM to clackity-clackity-clackity-clackity.

"That didn't sound good," was about all I could manage at the time.

A few hours later, Mike wandered back over to the house. "Yeah, well, how much was your chipper-shredder?"

"Couple hundred bucks. Why?"

"Well, it's more expensive to replace the blade than it is to replace the whole thing."

"What?"

"Here."

I kept the blade, because the story was so humourous to me. This may just be the first of my discard-with-a-story items.