Saturday, February 28, 2009

There must be a tool for that

This afternoon, after my post surf session siesta, I found
myself sitting outside at a friends house with a few others
hanging out, talking about the the nothing in particular.
As is usually the case in situations like these topics came
and went in no particular order, often blending one into 
another in a stream of consciousness manner. 

Elliot had spent part of his day removing grout from tile. 
He was raving about how he'd hit upon a tool and system that
seemed to work really well.  After a few minutes of  us
teasing him as he described how he did it, Scott smiled and 
with a wink announced sheepishly "there is actually a power
tool for that...could have made your job much easier".

Leon talked about a new gadget that he was installing
to boost a mobile phone signal.  It's an essential
tool for him.  He loves to pace when he's on the phone
and lives in a place where when he paces he looses the
signal and call.

I described a problem I was having with a screw that
holds the cross bar in place on my car roof rack.  I've
tried all sorts of tools to hold the thing in place, spent
hours on it before giving up.  My problem became
a group challenge.  After a number of attempts using
surf wax to hold the back of the plate in place, Dave 
hit upon an idea.  We needed something that had a 90
degree bend that, with the help of the surf wax, could
secure the plate in place as the screw was aligned.
He rummaged through the garage and came out with a
saw.  A saw, a punch, a screw driver, some surf wax 2 
men actively working and 3 watching.

My roof rack is fixed!  There must be a tool that 
would have made the job easier but certainly not as
much fun or as memorable.



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