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I was struggling with getting out exhaust gaskets and dipped into my dad's tools, again. The little nail remover did the trick. He always had these around. He had every tool known to man. I thought I did. Now I have double most stuff but when I find something of his that I use, it brings back memories. He had funny names for everything, a tack hammer was a thumb-thwacker, for example.
He was a character. He had dozens of wire strippers and I finally figured out he was lonely and would go to the local hardware store to chat with the ladies at the register and keep on buying the same stuff over and over. Same deal with power strips. He had about 50. He passed away at 87, having lived an amazing life, smoking, eating whatever he wanted (bacon and eggs every morning!), and generally avoiding anything healthy except good old-fashioned hard work, having fun, and going full-steam ahead no matter what. He was a force to be reckoned with.
So when I was looking in his toolbox, I noticed the funky little 1/4" drive flexi-dealie-bob as he'd have called it. Why is the handle so short? Well, when I was about 9, in around 1970, I begged for a speedometer for my bicycle. I never got much for presents but this he delivered on. I rode around trying to set the land speed record but eventually the little plastic secondary gear at the front wheel broke. No doubt due to my blazing speed. My dad looked at it and said hmm, I think I can make one of those. I remember watching him work the hacksaw and file to create a replica of the gear driving the speedo. It worked. I was mightily impressed. After he passed on, I found it in the tool box, after all those years. I'm not an emotional person, generally speaking, but, well, yeah.
He was a character. He had dozens of wire strippers and I finally figured out he was lonely and would go to the local hardware store to chat with the ladies at the register and keep on buying the same stuff over and over. Same deal with power strips. He had about 50. He passed away at 87, having lived an amazing life, smoking, eating whatever he wanted (bacon and eggs every morning!), and generally avoiding anything healthy except good old-fashioned hard work, having fun, and going full-steam ahead no matter what. He was a force to be reckoned with.
So when I was looking in his toolbox, I noticed the funky little 1/4" drive flexi-dealie-bob as he'd have called it. Why is the handle so short? Well, when I was about 9, in around 1970, I begged for a speedometer for my bicycle. I never got much for presents but this he delivered on. I rode around trying to set the land speed record but eventually the little plastic secondary gear at the front wheel broke. No doubt due to my blazing speed. My dad looked at it and said hmm, I think I can make one of those. I remember watching him work the hacksaw and file to create a replica of the gear driving the speedo. It worked. I was mightily impressed. After he passed on, I found it in the tool box, after all those years. I'm not an emotional person, generally speaking, but, well, yeah.
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