New Year's Resolutions in the South

No matter where you live, the first day of the new year it is considered tradition to set new goals, make changes in your life and set yourself on a better path with the "New Year's Resolutions."  Here in the south, I can only imagine the typical new years resolutions a Suthunah might make..."Get tickets to NASCAR"...."Drink less/more non-light beer"... or even "Clean up around the yard".  That last one got me to thinking.  No, it's not that I have a lot of rusting appliances, cars on blocks or pieces of projects yet unstarted laying about, it's about the biggest thing in my yard.  The Tool Shed.

My Tool Shed.  The ubiquitous out-building found on most Southern Plantations the size of my homestead.  Plantation may be a bit of a stretch, but let's not get too wrapped up in that.  Let's concentrate on that Shed.  I use my tool shed for storage of all my WGD (Weapons of Grass Destruction - aka: Lawn Mower) and storage for some of the stuff which I plan on working with on down the road, but mostly, I store my tools in the shed.  (Hence the clever moniker "TOOL" Shed. I am nothing if not obvious in my naming of outbuildings.)

Not too long ago, I wrote about my problem in finding and organizing my tools.  And so, it becomes my New Years Resolution (cue fanfare) to finally and once and for all, organize my tools in such a way as to be able to find them easily and quickly.

Yep, that's really MY tool shed.  

Now, of course, I have no idea how to do this, so I'm giving this a lot of thought (read: sitting here typing about it) before I go out with a new handful of designer bins and buckets.  I have two problems when it comes to this organization:  The first: Moisture. Even though the Shed is fairly dry (no leaks in its roof) the moisture in the air is enough to rust items sitting in the shed for any particular time.  To combat this, I have collected together an impressive array of plastic jars, bins and containers to package some of my more important tools.  (This means that even though I've gone to great trouble installing a heavy pegboard, I don't use it because anything hanging on the pegboard would just rust in its place. Go figure.)

The second problem may, in fact, be the most difficult: I have no freaking idea what I'm doing.  Yes, I have the plastic bins, and plastic jars and I have the determination to get this done, I still really have a long way to go.  My mind fairly boggles at the simple idea of where to keep that special $15 tool which is only for putting  wall mud in the corner joints of a room.  By itself?  With the wall mud?  In a designer bin labeled "Why did I buy this instead of borrowing one from my neighbor the Professional Handyman."  Sorry, getting a little off track there, but you get the idea.

So, that brings us to you...my regular reader (even the first time reader).  I'm enlisting your aid.  What I'm going to do is create an organizational set and hope to get your input on this endeavor.

So, here is my New Years Resolution Tool Organizational Plan (opus 1) I'm going to put the tools in groups.  Ok, this is nothing new, but I"m adding a new level to this group, the "Main Tools" or even the "Emergency Tool Kit."  This is that bag of tools which you grab when you need to do something rather fast, or even rather simple, and you know you keep all the standard tools - (and supplies such as Duck/Duct Tape) in it.  I can imagine it holding a Hammer,  Pliers, Screwdriver (both slot and phillips) and the aforementioned Duck/Duct Tape but there the mind freezes.  What else?  What do you put in to the "Emergency Tool Bag" that is important to keep handy?  And while we're at it, what other bins do you create over and above the first?  You can post here, or on Facebook, or even email me if you prefer to remain anonymous but your input is most assuredly needed and appreciated.

In a while, I will edit this post and give you the official list.  (Even then if you see something left out, let me know!)

First addition from Brother Bubba: I recommend adding to the emergency box: box cutter or all purpose scissors, a level (fer pitcher hangin'), and a jar of small nails fer said hangin'.  (I don't know why he talks like that, he's not from the south and he lives in Colorado.  Must be too much snow on his brain...)

Second addition: Neighbor Bubba suggests a large box of band aids, especially for me. Neighbor Bubba would like to be a stand up comic some day.  Don't quit the day job, Bubba.