Tools

I have a lot of tools. I mean, a LOT of tools. Of some tools, especially hand tools, I have duplicates and triplicates and whatever plicates come after that. I have my dad to thank for most of them. He never misses an opportunity (birthday, Christmas, President's Day, third Sunday in August) to give me a new tool of some sort, usually something he found at a garage sale. Part of it is motivated self-interest: he can always borrow my tools, which meanwhile are kept neatly organized in my workshop; this spares him the trouble of storing them and then having to find them. It's telling that making the one-hour drive from his house to mine takes less time than finding, say, his 11mm wrench (I have five of them).

I love organizing tools. When I was young, my present to my dad each Father's Day was the reorganization of his workshop. It would only stay organized for about a month, of course, but he always loved the state of it during that brief time.

Last night, I finally got around to putting up a sheet of pegboard over my workbench. The previous owners of my house had never bothered to finish the wall there (they got as far as the vapour barrier), so it was only about twenty minutes' work. I had a 4' by 3' sheet of heavy pegboard that I bought at a local surplus store (judging from the pricetags adhered to it, it used to belong to a grocery store). It fit perfectly, so all I had to do was sink a bunch of 1 1/4" wood screws into the strapping. Then, I inserted assorted pegs (more gifts from my dad) and within an hour many of my hand tools had a new home. I liked it so much that today I cut out a section of drywall next to it to make room for another sheet of pegboard, only to find that the previous owners had forgotten that the vapour barrier goes up before the drywall. So, this afternoon I have a good excuse for driving down to Rona to pick up a roll of vapour barrier, along with some staples to secure the new 14-2, CAT5, co-ax, and phone wire that I've run throughout the basement. And while I'm at it, maybe I'll pick up a new backsaw. After all, I've only got one.