Go Big Or Stay Home

My father-in-law Paul often says 'go big or stay home'. Typically we hear these words spoken aloud during a card game called auction 45s. In the world of poker, this is known as going 'all in'.

Paul applies the 'go big' approach to more than just card games. He also applies it to roofing and home heating, having installed the Cadillac of roofing on his house, and the Mercedes of air exchangers in said house.

I take a more modest approach, personally. My windsurfing gear is very nice, but not generally the best available. Some of my equipment could be considered low end Cadillac, but most of it is somewhere between Ford and Lexus. I never buy the latest and greatest models, preferring to nab close-out deals on gear that's a year or two old, though still new.

Every now and then I do 'go big', and nothing illustrates that better than my recent purchase of an outdoor fireplace, or fire pit. Years ago I bought one from Canadian Tire. It was an attractive unit, shaped like a Mayan temple. The only problem with it was that it was an absolute piece of shit. Forgive the crudeness, but I've got to call a spade a spade (in keeping with the card game theme). It was made in China and it lasted about a year and a half before disintegrating. Where's the value in that? Like much of what we North Americans ask the Chinese to make for us, it's absolute rubbish. We are fools, and the Chinese are capitalizing on our stupidity.

The fire pit I recently purchased was Made In Canada, more or less, and it's bullet-proof. When global warming rids the Earth of humans and polar bears, there will only be a few things left that will roam the scorched landscape: cockroaches, my fire pit, and lingering odor of Canada's Senate scandal. And Paul's roof!

My fire pit (and Wendy's!) is made from an old propane cylinder. It is, in a word, huge. It's thick-walled, sturdy and industrially attractive. It was made by the metal working students at the Mathieu Martin High School in Moncton. It's exactly what I've been looking to purchase, though it took me a few years to find. I discovered this unit on Kijiji (Kijiji be praised).

Last night we fired it up and it was a huge success. It looked great, burned beautifully and didn't cause a stink in the neighbourhood. There's something primitively attractive about a fire, don't you think?