Having fun at the auto parts store....

So the fiberglass rope gasket on my woodstove came free last night from where I had glued it to the door. This is a really really Bad Thing, as without the gasket there is no way to control the air going to the fire....with the predictable results.

Yes, the house gets too hot and the stove glows like a crucible fresh out of kiln.

So I go to the auto parts store today for a tube of hi-temp silicone as a temporary fix. (the real fix entails peeling the rest of the gasket off, possibly damaging it and then chiseling.grinding the remaining cement off and then redoing the gasket and waiting 3 days for the cement to dry.) and ask 'em where the hi temp Permatex is?

"We got 3 kinds of hi temp silicone, what do you need it for?" dude says, trying to be helpful.

(I need the copper Permatex, as that is good for like 700F)

"Got a high speed muffler bearing that's leaking." I reply. The girl behind the counter is looking at me with wide eyes...

"Leaking from the front or the back?" he deadpanned

She looks suspicious, but as he replied so quickly, she's not sure if this is bullshit or not.....

"Leaking from both ends, but more the front than the back" I answer...

She blinks hard and looks at him, eyes wider yet.

"Use the black Permatex" he says.

Then I smiled and asked for the Copper stuff.

I explained that I was fixing a seal on a woodstove and I needed the highest temp possible.

Young lady looks much more relaxed as she realizes that the back and forth was the bullshit that she thought it was, but wasn't sure until now....