Southern Repurposing - Free Tools!

I am a tool freak.  I get into the mall, or out on the road and if I see a place that sells tools, I have to stop in.  My daughter used to call me the Tool Zombie.  Like something out of an old 50's movie, I'd see tools and suddenly my eyes would glaze over and I'd moan "tooooooooolzzzzz" and off I'd go, glassy eyed, arms outstretched, lurching stiff legged into the realm of the "tooooooolzzzzz!" 

You really can't fault me then for loving free tools. Yes, FREE Tools! I'm not talking about tools you get as a gift or the tools you find on the side of the road like an old rusty screwdriver or broken hammer (yes, I've found both and I only kept the screwdriver...) I'm talking about those free tools that come inside something else you purchased.  Sort of like those old boxes of cereal we had as kids where you'd be pouring some crunchy sweet goodness into your cereal bowl and suddenly - "Hey, there's a WHISTLE!  WOW, A FREE WHISTLE!"  (You can just imagine the fights that broke out over one whistle between me and my two brothers! - But again, I digress...)

I can't begin to tell you the number of tools I get this way. Not in cereal, but in other important purchases.  Beds, cabinets, bikes and even my new string trimmer all came with free tools.  Usually it's just an Allen wrench, or strange-sized vinyl bolt tightener.  The wrench pictured above is a freebie I got when I purchased... um... something. I can't remember what; but the free tool was/is great! A good southerner doesn't throw away such things, cuz let's face it, it's not like they're one-use...they're a permanent addition to any good Southern Tool box.  

Once I had built whatever it was that needed to be built (maybe it was the new range for the kitchen we put in back in '95) the freebie was not thrown out, but put in the tool box with the other honored gadgets until they are needed. This last weekend I was working on the mower (again) and needed to loosen/tighten a couple of half inch bolts and the nifty Free Wrench-Like Tool came in very handy. It's especially useful as it has a half-inch box wrench on one end.  The half-inch is the one wrench I always seem to need more than any other and of course it is the one size I've lost from my set of store-bought wrenches.

Has anyone ever figured out where lost tools go?  You use a tool, put it in the tool box with the others and then you go to use it again, and it's gone! I mean it's as bad as socks in the wash! Same thing with small screws and bolts.  You take them out, sit them down to continue working and when you reach for them again, gone! Some sort of Southern Gremlin, I expect.  He's got a nice colection of tools, though, I can tell you that. 

I wish I had a great ending to this blog this week, saying something about loving the South and such...but hey, FREE TOOLS!!