I have lost my Away....

Re: I have lost my Away....

John Foster

After I brought home my last truck load, my wife made me swear off Kijiji and Bidspotter

I simply could not operate in my shop . . .

Yonak

. . . if I didn't know where something was that I needed to use. Nothing's more frustrating to me than looking around for a tool instead of woodworking.

Counterpart to Parkinson's Law,

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

which reads, "work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion."

In the shop, it's "stuff expands so as to fill every available space."

Re: I have lost my Away....

Hank Knight

Barry, you and I are in the same boat. Having a place for everything is essential to maintaining an orderly shop. Unfortunately, my "acquisitions" have overgrown my carefully planned storage space. I have a couple of miter boxes that haven't found a home and about a dozen router bits plus other miscellaneous stuff that migrate around the shop as I work. It's maddening. I do try to pick up and put away after myself on a daily basis, but I still need to do a major shop cleaning and pick up after several days of work. Otherwise, I find myself mired in a mess. It's frustrating.

I think it goes more like this:

Grant Smith

"Stuff expands to MORE THAN fill the available space"

And a follow on modern version "The available shop space is inversely proportional to the proximity and quality of a good tool auction".

I learned early on to think in the third dimension when finding places to stash things. Problem is, I have perhaps maxed out my ability to remember what is found in each 3d space. This condition makes things hard to find, but the corollary is every hunt is like finding a treasure, too (what was I looking for?). This can only get worse as age creeps up on me.

Ahh, well. As I tell my kids when they look sideways at a new find "Just think of the estate sale you will have when I'm gone!". Or its shorter version uttered at the store when I decide to buy something I probably don't need "It'll go great at the estate sale!".

Regards,

Grant in Iowa

Welcome

Jim Matthews

The "No thirteenth hammer" society was formed by those of us that can find a replacement faster than the tools we already own. Somewhere.

It's not hopeless until "The Path" into your shop (lined by unopened Priority mail packages) is one way - too narrow to turn around.

This is when building a shop dormer sounds like a good idea.

We live in a land of plentiful, cheap, high quality tools.

Rancid Crabtree's law states "It's always easy to find a bargain. It's only when carted home that you find the one you lost."

Jeopardy for Seniors....

Barry Irby

I hear they are coming out with Jeopardy for Seniors with categories like, What did I come in here for?, Where did I leave my glasses, Didn't I eat the same thing for lunch?, What kind of soup is on my shirt?, and Where is the last place you appeared with your fly open?

There could be a Wood Workers night with, Where is my pencil?, Which is my sharp chisel?, Did I leave my hammer at your house?, How much sand paper do you really need, Why are my tools rusting?, And which neighbor do I call to hold the board?

It is absolutely true that the lost item will reappear after you buy the replacement, but only after you open it and use it so you can't take it back. You can't trick the lost tool gods by just ordering one or buying one and leaving it in the package.

I have at least a truck load of stuff I am reasonably sure I will never use, but I MIGHT. The only way to know for sure is to give it away, sell it, or throw it away. Selling it only works if you sell it for about a tenth of the retail cost of the replacement you will need soon.

Walking around on lumber scraps I should throw away only makes me taller, right?

Re: Conspiracy

William Duffield

Are you guys making all this stuff up just to make fun of me?

Mebbe...

Jim Matthews

Could be we're all similarly afflicted, but don't get out much.

See Lowell George "Dixie Chicken" for reference.

"Then one night in the lobby of the Commodore Hotel

I chanced to meet a bartender who said he knew her well

And as he handed me a drink he began to hum a song

And all the boys there, at the bar, began to sign along

If you'll be my dixie chicken, I'll be your Tenessee lamb

And we can walk together down in Dixieland..."

Re: Welcome

William Duffield

His obituary read “Crushed by stack of unopened priority mail packages.”

LOL! At least, we’re woodworkers. If we were metal workers, it would take a much smaller pile.

I can’t count the number of times this has happened to me.

It usually starts with a small puzzle, something like this?

What tool can I use to get this operation done?

Oh, I know! I think I’ve got one of those around here somewhere.

Where do I keep it?

Nope, not there.

Nope, not there, either.

Nope, not there, either.

Maybe I left it out on the workbench?

Nope, not there either.

On the table saw? Nope!

On the radial arm saw? Nope!

On the router table? Nope!

Maybe it’s in that box I put everything it the last time someone showed up to get something built or repaired, and I put everything that was out on the bench in it.

Nope, not there either. Maybe, next time I come out here to put ten things away, I should start with this box.

A couple of hours later, and I still can’t find it anywhere.

Who would have taken it?

Nobody would even know what it is, much less how to use it, and especially what I’m using it for.

Did I leave it in the house on my desk next to my iMac? Nope.

Did I take it to a meeting or a show? Nope.

Did I sell it because I didn’t think I would need it again? No, that would never happen. In fact, I can think of a few tools I thought I had sold, but found again later. So far, the biscuit jointer has not shown up, so I’m sure I sold it.

I’ll just order another one.

Put it on the To Do List.

A week or so later, a package lands on the back porch.

I don’t remember ordering anything from these people.

I carry it out to the shop and open it.

Oh, yeah! Now I remember.

Where am I going to keep this, so I’ll know where to find it the next time I need it?

There aren’t a lot of places to put new tools in this crowded shop.

But, I think I know just the place for it. I might even be able to make room for it.

I walk over to the cabinet and open the drawer.

There is already one of them in there.