mad for tools

the first time i thought i wanted to be a builder was when i was at crown paint buying some painting supplies for a building i was working on and i looked in the back of this truck in the lot and saw all these tools neatly arranged in their cases and i said damn i've got to have those. i stood looking at them for so long the owner of the truck thought i was going to steal them, and i had to assure him i wasn't, i was only looking. i was getting sick of painting, god i hated cleaning brushes, sprayguns every day and getting paint all over my clothes and truck. i'm one of those guys who just can't keep the paint off myself. i am an always will b e an expressionist. anyway, one day i was that guy who had my truck filled with tools. i loved my tools so much i'd bring them in the house and put them in the dining room against the wall so i could eat my dinner and look at them, have a spoonful of carrots and then pick up my drill. my wife used to say i loved my tools more than i did her. i just loved them in a different way. some tools you have a special relationship with. the heart and soul of a carpenters rig is his saw. the worm drive skill saw, a big hefty hunk of steel that takes a strong arm and a keen eye to run along with some nerve. you're cutting wood all day and you and that saw became one, it's an extension of your arm. it's a damn fine thrill to use the saw, the blade whirring, chips and sawdust flying. the best saw i ever had was my first, a used skill saw i bought from some framers going out of business. i must have had that saw for ten years, replacing triggers and switches along the way. it just had this certain heft and feel to it, and it fit my hand like a big metal glove. i really loved that saw and should never have sold it, but i did when i went back to college, thinking i'd never do construction again. big mistake, never ever get rid of your tools, you'll use them in some way the rest of your life. i mean who are you going to hire to work on your house? yourself of course. jgk