Labor Day estate sale. The street was lined with cars and pickups for more than two blocks either way. The home was packed. At least, my wife said it was packed. I never got past the garage. The garage was way packed. Rows and rows of all sorts of material and gadgets. An entire wall bench lined with cardboard boxes packed with tools. Old tools, new tools, baggies of tools, taped bundles of tools. You name it. And the garage was crowded with shoppers. If I wanted something, I grabbed it, because if I didn't, someone else would.
Got a couple of utility knives for my collection, a great Y shaped machinery wrench, two identical HE 911 IH wrenches, a Pittman arm release wrench, a 4025A Dayton wrench in 7/8" and 9/8", a 1934-44 Craftsman 1/2" spinner (Underlined C and circled H), a no-name box that will be great for a 1/4" socket set, an Auto-Kit, and (Oh, Lordie!) a round-head Snap On ratchet in 1/2" with the handle spraypainted bright red.
I grabbed all this and headed for the cashier. Finally I found someone--I hope she was a cashier--to take my money, and headed out.
In the meantime, my wife told me that if the car was not there when I left the sale, I should not worry. I worried.
Eventually Mrs. Northwoods showed up, and we skeedaddled.
It was then that I realized that my Snap On was actually a Great Neck. And it was gutless. It usually worked in forward, and seldom in reverse. Gloom set in.
Long story short, I removed the red paint and took my POS Great Neck RA12 to the local Auto Zone and the nice young fellow there replaced it free.
Now I am the proud? owner of a brand new Chinese ratchet.
In two days, my happiness quotient had more ups and downs than the recent Dow Jones Average.
But all is well here in the great North Woods. The coffee is hot, the cookies are warm, and I am vertical. Couldn't ask for more.
