A survivor

  My son recently acquired a new home. This property included a workshop. Now my son isn't the workshop kind of guy. I have taken possession of that shop. He, of course, can make repair requests through the proper channels, my wife must approve the project first, and I will take care of those things on his "to do" list placed there by his wife. I've been rather busy getting my shop together over the last few weeks now that the weather has warmed up. There is no heat out there, although I was using a portable propane heater to take off the chill. But electricity is available and lighting is sufficient. All in all the best shop I have owned.

 I began the process of moving all my tools, equipment and supplies from my attic to that shop. It is a slow process and requires sorting things out. It would appear that I have quite a bit more than what is actually required but there is no such thing as too many tools. I have rediscovered a few I had forgotten about not having a need for them. Still you never know when you might need a chain breaker or that back up belt sander. I do have a few tools that belonged to my father, the original do it yourself guy. With the exception of electronics there wasn't much he couldn't do, and do on a professional level. He worked in all the trades at one time or another and I remember that well. Dad passed thirty five years ago and so those remaining tools are getting scarce. 

 I learned a lot by watching him over the years and asking questions. He wasn't one to teach others much, he had little patience for that. He just figured most of what he knew was common sense. I can't say how many times I heard him say, any damn fool would know that. He simply assumed you already knew. I wish now that I had spent more time working with him on his various projects, he always had  something in the works. Mom would always complain that he didn't finish anything, there was always that last piece of trim to install or some other little detail. 

 Dad never had a real workshop. He did most of his work in the garage when he had one, in the basement sometimes and on a table out in the yard. But thinking about it, his projects were almost always on a bigger scale than the average home workshop would have been able to handle anyway. When he built, he built on a grand scale. His last project was a boat. You see, he had done a lot of work for this man, a chiropractor, and the man never paid him. Well, that same man had this small four cylinder marine diesel engine and dad took possession of that in lieu of payment. So naturally he needed a boat to go around it. He started building one. Sadly it was never finished as his health declined. Last I heard of that boat it was being used as a piece of playground equipment for the Methodist church. 

 When I was small I would often play with his folding ruler. That was something he usually had with him in a pocket on the side of his pants. Dad didn't wear coveralls like the carpenters you see on television. He did have that pocket for that ruler though. I liked taking it out and unfolding it, seeing how long it was while holding onto one end. It would bend, as you can imagine, and stress those folding joints. Then Dad would yell at me to stop that! You're going to snap that ruler in half, what's the matter with you! That was before he had any tape measures like we know today. I played with them too and got yelled at for that. 

 While sorting and moving my tools to the work shop I came across Dads ruler, the wooden one. Thoughts of him flooded my mind. It is one of those things that when you hold it you are taken back. I could hear his voice telling me that it isn't a toy! I could only imagine what he may have measured with that ruler, what construction relied on that tool. Although I don't recall him ever saying so, I heard a voice saying, measure twice, cut once. That's some very old advice from anyone building anything, that common sense Dad figured everyone had. I picked that ruler up yesterday and decided it should have a special place of its' own in the shop. It has earned that honor. It's a survivor! So I made a "frame" to hold it and mounted it next to a sign I had made earlier. A sign that says, Measure Twice, Cut Once" It's on a rafter above my table saw. 

                                                                          

                                                 You never know what will survive.