As far back as I can remember, I had a tool in my hand. It probably started with being a mechanics daughter and unlimited access to toolboxes that when you slide the drawers open you were met with gleaming rows of wrenches, sockets, and pliers of all shapes and sizes. As a child, I began to understand there is a tool for every job. Growing up with the neighborhood boys, and two younger brothers, who were always working on their bikes and building ramps for jumps I had to learn quickly how to fix my own bike. Now, don’t ask my dad about me “borrowing” his tools, because most of them he found when he mowed the lawn. When I was younger, I wasn’t exactly great about putting things back from where I got them from. Sorry, Dad. But it was growing up watching him take things apart and put them back together that I understood and appreciated what tools can do.
Fast forward a few years, ok a lot of years, and I found myself needing work and went to a day job temp agency. I worked many days doing odd jobs, but construction was one of the main industries that used “day labor”. That’s where I picked up my introduction to power tools. The roar of a skill saw the hum of a jig saw, and the machine gun feel of the Sawzall, had me grunting along with Tim “The Toolman” Taylor. ( If you don’t know who he is… this may not be the section for you). The only tool I really didn’t like was the tape measure. It’s not a friendly little piece of equipment. First, the tape itself is made of skin-slicing thin metal, that is just waiting to take a bite of your hand or a finger that strays too close as it reels in at Mach speed back into the housing. And it took me years to figure out all the little lines in-between the inch marks are eighths and sixteenths. Apparently saying the little line on the other side of the long line isn’t an exact measurement.
Keep the fast forward button on, and my learning curve continues when I married Mike S. He had a general contractor’s license and rental properties that he liked to do as much of the work as he could. That’s how I learned I do not like electrical work. No, I didn’t electrocute myself, but the electricity is just waiting for its chance. I did however learn to work with tile, plumbing, and drywall, and even re-roofed one of the houses in three days. Over the years I learned different skills that gave me basic knowledge and a desire to learn more.
Fast forward again, where MikeyG and I buy a house that needs a bit of work. I’ll share those stories later, but I learned a lot more and had a lot of fun working with tools, learning new “tricks” and really getting to enjoy the fruits of our labor. Being familiar with tools has helped me out many times in my life, and it’s also a lot of fun.