My dad did not believe in paying anyone to accomplish anything that he thought he could do. From pouring concrete, to roofing, to car maintenance, to small engine repair; he would figure out how to do it. The results of this included the need for tools. Lots and lots of tools.

He was not one to buy new tools, rather he would scour garage sales and buy up anything that looked interesting or needed. This resulted in many tool boxes overflowing with no sense of organization. So, if you needed a certain specialized tool, good luck. You might spend more time looking for the tool than doing the job.

The real benefit of his garage sale picking was when he found a broken Craftsman or Snap On Tool. It being broken he could dicker the price way low and then return it to the store for a brand-new version. Both of these companies had free tool replacement on broken tools.

One year for Father’s Day, I took it upon myself to clean and organize his shop. This feat would never happen again. Dad was so upset because he could no longer find anything, not that he could before anyways.

Dad kept a paring knife in the top of his tool box. Old worn and sharpened many times. When asked why this well used knife was part of his tool kit and not discarded, he would respond, “See when you start a job the first thing you do is pull that knife out and cut your finger. That way the pain and bloodshed are out of the way and the job will run smoothly.”

Every year for Christmas us kids would buy him a set of screwdrivers. If could not find the right driver for a job, he would grind one to fit. This action would ruin the temper on the tool and make it next to useless. The pile of tools included many ground screwdrivers that resembled scratch awls.

In high school, I worked at Sears for a few years in the hardware department and began to assemble my own tool set. I, being anal had to keep them well maintained and organized. Wipe them down after each use and store them in their designated location. Dad was overwhelmed and began to ‘borrow’ the easily found tools. After a few times of finding my tools missing, I began to lock them in the trunck of my car.

From all this I learned how to accomplish many tasks, some I hate doing and will hire them out. Dad was not a patient man, yet you learned to accomplish a job or else.

Roy Richard
2023