Tools and Men  

Just reading the title of this topic has already caused many women's eye to roll up into their head. Hopefully out of site of their significant other cause I wrote it, it wasn't his fault and he doesn't deserve to have the look!

You know the look I'm talking about. The one he gets when he comes in carrying a shiny, expensive purchase that makes him almost delirious but he neglected to discuss with you first. Luckily the tool induced delirium we men are subject to acts as a shield against the look but if he got it after you read this topic title, you might want to stop reading and call him an ambulance. To date there have been no look related fatalities reported but there's a first time for everything.

What is it about tools we love so much? Is it that we feel more in control of our world if we have the ability to take it apart, lose a few key parts and put it back together again so that it now makes that satisfying odd sound?

I love tools and I would venture to say in actual dollar value, my tools signify a far greater percentage of my net worth than everything else in my house combined. What bothers me though is that I am now in a position where I continually supervise tool usage but rarely ever put my hands on them. I mean my truck is new and under warranty, the house has maintenance people and at work I am a supervisor.

Now that I have every tool I need to do absolutely anything I could ever want to do, I kind of wish I could go back to the days when I did everything with nothing and had far less time to sit around and think about things like this! It's sad really but I have a garage full of tools I don't really need anymore but I still love them.

I take good care of my tools, in fact, the other day I got to use some of them for a few minutes to fix one of them! I put new casters on one of my big mechanics tool boxes. It is a wonderful tool box with four large drawers to hold tools and a large compartment for odd size tools like chain hoist and tire irons. This must be the third or fourth set of casters I've put on this tool box and I noticed that the steel near the casters is stamped "Made in USA June 10, 1976" Wow! That box is over thirty years old and it used to be my father's. It's a Craftsman and it is one of four.

Which reminds me, I need to start shopping around for a large mechanics rolling toolbox. I have a set of wrenches that are used on large trucks and heavy equipment that go from 1 1/16" to 2 1/2" and they are too long to lay in a drawer. It's sad that they get dusty hanging on the tool box handles with D rings. They deserve a drawer!

Well, my wife has looked over my shoulder and seen the topic title so I better stop now before I get the look! I think she already shot it once at the title, luckily she was behind me but now I am typing fast so the page will scroll and she won't be able to read about the new tool box!

Guys: Does your sig other respond like this?

Ladies: How do you feel about tools and men?