[geeks] Tools (Was Adventure in A/C)

[James Rice]

Snap-On cabinets (or Craftsman clones) are a cool solution until they 
become part of the problen.  I started out with one, now there are three 
of them in my garage.  One is a big mother, 6 ft tall and 8 ft wide; one 
is a tall three section one (base, middle and to chest).  Get one fill 
it up, when it gets too heavy to roll, get another, goto beginning and 
start again.  The last time I moved, it took three people to roll each 
of my tool boxes into the moving truck, and it had a liftgate. A point 
ot remember.  Always buy good tool chests with ball bearing slides.

My wife got tired of looking at the red metal Craftsman cabinet in my 
upstairs office.  She said it was too "industrial", as if  21 monitors 
and lots of boxes wasn't  "industrial".  So, for  Christmas this year, 
she bought me a very  "pretty" varnished hardwood  two section tool 
chest for my office.  Very "furniture" looking.  I moved my Olympus 
cameras,  lenses and motor drives as well as my computer and camera 
repair tools into it.  I will admit, it does look a lot better than red 
painted metal.

I've always had a tool fetish.  My dad is a wholesale tool dealer.  My 
got my first tool box when I was 4.  One day, when I was about 6, my 
father came home to find his brand new, unused Lawn Boy mower totally 
dismantled, down to the bare block.  He was not pleased.  I never get 
rid of a tool.  I still have special tools and service manuals for my 
Honda 100 that I had as a teen ager, for the AMC Javelin from the '70's, 
my 1974 Triumph Bonneville timing plug  and from my 1962 FIAT spider. 
 All of these have been gone a really long time, but I can bring myself 
to get rid of the tools. You never know when you might find a fellow 
1962 FIAT driver in need of a front suspension bushing press tool.