Episode 93: The Toolbox Debacle
Ok, if it's one thing that I fucking despise, it's when people want to use my shit but not put it back where they friggin' found it. I have absolutely no problem with people wanting to use anything in my home. Hell, I encourage it but the only thing I ask is that it be put back in it's place.
Recently, I acquired three roomies and, while I love the hell out of these three, Phoenix has one minor flaw...it just so happens to be the flaw that happens time and time again.
Now I told you that to tell you this. About two months or so ago, I finally broke down and built a toolbox for the house and some hobby projects. The way I had it figured, constantly calling the landlord to send someone over, causing me to stay up late was more of a pain in the ass than just fixing it myself. All I really lacked were the tools. So, I stood there in a place called Nichols which is a local micro version of Wal-Mart with the exception of the prices. The bad part about the prices is they get you on one thing. These people know that if you drive the 15 to 20 minutes out of town to obtain the things you can find at Wal-Mart then you'll be spending about the same amount of money. The sad part is, it's true. After feul costs and time, you're gonna be spending more. This way, you're paying for the convenience.
I'm off track here. Ok, back to it. So anyway, I build this multipurpose toolbox and now I can work on just about anything. Another reason I built it is because I'm notorious for buying small toolkits and losing parts of them. Why? I loan them out to roomies who never put things back where they have found them. How do they get away with this? Well...if you guessed that they'd have borrowed something for so long that I'd have to go borrow it back, I'd have to say you'd be right. By then, I'd find pieces missing only to receive the explanation that those that had the toolkit last weren't sure WHAT happened. Yep, that's right, all those really important pieces mysteriously vanished without a trace. So, naturally, building a toolkit of my own and actually shelling out the cash would be a nice motivator. I mean, if I build a big, heavy toolkit of my own, I'll keep better tabs on my stuff, right?
The one addition to my collection of tools is the one thing I was really wanting for multipurpose tasks; a Dremel rotary tool. Now, this thing only has two speeds...stop and go. I'm not sure how fast the bits rotate but when that thing kicks on, it sounds a lot like one of those proton packs from the movie Ghostbusters. A flip of the switch kicks into gear this little WHIIIIIIRRRRRR sound that can equal a handsaw only just quiet enough for you to hear someone else talking to you. You'll have to turn it off to fully understand what the hell it is they're saying but you know what I mean.
I got this thing because of the things I've seen it do. I mean you can use the little bastard for anything as long as you have an outlet in which to plug it. It came in handy when I cut a 6-foot staff in half and needed to sand the ends that my mitre saw had eaten through. Still, I wanted this thing because I had an idea and I really needed one of these tools to make that idea happen.
That's when Phoenix came into the picture. When I first met him, he was working at a little occult shop in a nearby town. The shop was called Celtic Light and he was in the business of making runes for divination purposes. He was actually cutting wood and making sets of runes out of wood, marking them using a woodburning pen...I'm getting one of those soon. It wasn't really his work with the wood that I found particularly interesting but his flair for making polished runestones that I noticed. Bloodstone, hematite, amethyst...it didn't matter. As long as he had a Dremel, some diamond bits and a decent paint pen with a fine tip...he could make a set of beautiful runestones that he'd use in lieu of tarot cards. He actually did a reading on me and I have to say...I don't think I want him doing that shit again. He knew too much about me and I'd just met the guy.
Anyway, I got word that he and Deb were comin back down from Wisconsin. I'd had the idea for some time to do these things...no time like the present to get 'em done. So far, we've made about three sets of runes using wood. They didn't exactly come out like we'd have liked them to but what makes this thing awesome is that we've gotten a good start. We've got a woodburner on the way and we're also going to be making some other things. We've even got a name for the online shop; The Rainmakers. We started this thing into motion on a rainy Monday and since there is a shortage of places right here in this area that makes or even sells them, we figured, hell...why not?
Here's where my complaint comes in. Now, I'd helped in the cutting process of the whole ordeal and started the sanding. Phoenix finished the sanding and started cutting the runic markings into the pieces. The next day, he wanted to mark in the grooves with a black pen and spray the clear coat onto them for the finish. We don't exactly have a woodburner yet so burning the runes in is problematic. Problem, he wants to leave the Dremel, the hacksaw, the bits...everything...out of the box simply because he might use it the next day.
Right then, I have to stand my ground. Granted, the Dremel didn't exactly break my bank but why take unneccessary risks with the tools, right? Unfortunately, I had to find a nice way to insist so naturally...that means a short lecture on my part. I hate that. I hate having to do it. Why? After explaining the very night they got here that I don't mind them using my tools, watching my movies, using my dishes, blah, blah, blah, I'm having to explain this again?
Ok, granted, they're not his and I understand that but when you spend about $200 or so on tools, you kinda like to have that respected. Granted, I'm well-known but I'm not exactly well-funded yet. Maybe later on I'll have a more expensive set but, until then, I'd like to take care of what I have here. I'm not hacked at Phoenix's terrible lapse in judgment too badly but it's just irritating to have to explain that kinda thing.
Deb's daughter, Melissa actually did a really cool thing with my movies. See, my DVDs are all sitting in an aluminum case that looks like a small trunk. The DVDs are in a file system of sorts and the only real way of finding the movie you want is by pulling them one at a time until you run into the one you want to see. Well, bless her, she took it upon herself to manually go through each and every one of my nearly 400-some-odd movies and list each sleeve number with the corresponding title. Now, if I want to watch something...I just go through the catalog that she'd handwritten. That's got to be one of the coolest things that any 18-year-old has ever done for me. That act was nothing short of gnarly.
So far, I haven't run into any other problems of the sort but judging from that one...I'm hoping like hell there won't be another incident like it.
Recently, I acquired three roomies and, while I love the hell out of these three, Phoenix has one minor flaw...it just so happens to be the flaw that happens time and time again.
Now I told you that to tell you this. About two months or so ago, I finally broke down and built a toolbox for the house and some hobby projects. The way I had it figured, constantly calling the landlord to send someone over, causing me to stay up late was more of a pain in the ass than just fixing it myself. All I really lacked were the tools. So, I stood there in a place called Nichols which is a local micro version of Wal-Mart with the exception of the prices. The bad part about the prices is they get you on one thing. These people know that if you drive the 15 to 20 minutes out of town to obtain the things you can find at Wal-Mart then you'll be spending about the same amount of money. The sad part is, it's true. After feul costs and time, you're gonna be spending more. This way, you're paying for the convenience.
I'm off track here. Ok, back to it. So anyway, I build this multipurpose toolbox and now I can work on just about anything. Another reason I built it is because I'm notorious for buying small toolkits and losing parts of them. Why? I loan them out to roomies who never put things back where they have found them. How do they get away with this? Well...if you guessed that they'd have borrowed something for so long that I'd have to go borrow it back, I'd have to say you'd be right. By then, I'd find pieces missing only to receive the explanation that those that had the toolkit last weren't sure WHAT happened. Yep, that's right, all those really important pieces mysteriously vanished without a trace. So, naturally, building a toolkit of my own and actually shelling out the cash would be a nice motivator. I mean, if I build a big, heavy toolkit of my own, I'll keep better tabs on my stuff, right?
The one addition to my collection of tools is the one thing I was really wanting for multipurpose tasks; a Dremel rotary tool. Now, this thing only has two speeds...stop and go. I'm not sure how fast the bits rotate but when that thing kicks on, it sounds a lot like one of those proton packs from the movie Ghostbusters. A flip of the switch kicks into gear this little WHIIIIIIRRRRRR sound that can equal a handsaw only just quiet enough for you to hear someone else talking to you. You'll have to turn it off to fully understand what the hell it is they're saying but you know what I mean.
I got this thing because of the things I've seen it do. I mean you can use the little bastard for anything as long as you have an outlet in which to plug it. It came in handy when I cut a 6-foot staff in half and needed to sand the ends that my mitre saw had eaten through. Still, I wanted this thing because I had an idea and I really needed one of these tools to make that idea happen.
That's when Phoenix came into the picture. When I first met him, he was working at a little occult shop in a nearby town. The shop was called Celtic Light and he was in the business of making runes for divination purposes. He was actually cutting wood and making sets of runes out of wood, marking them using a woodburning pen...I'm getting one of those soon. It wasn't really his work with the wood that I found particularly interesting but his flair for making polished runestones that I noticed. Bloodstone, hematite, amethyst...it didn't matter. As long as he had a Dremel, some diamond bits and a decent paint pen with a fine tip...he could make a set of beautiful runestones that he'd use in lieu of tarot cards. He actually did a reading on me and I have to say...I don't think I want him doing that shit again. He knew too much about me and I'd just met the guy.
Anyway, I got word that he and Deb were comin back down from Wisconsin. I'd had the idea for some time to do these things...no time like the present to get 'em done. So far, we've made about three sets of runes using wood. They didn't exactly come out like we'd have liked them to but what makes this thing awesome is that we've gotten a good start. We've got a woodburner on the way and we're also going to be making some other things. We've even got a name for the online shop; The Rainmakers. We started this thing into motion on a rainy Monday and since there is a shortage of places right here in this area that makes or even sells them, we figured, hell...why not?
Here's where my complaint comes in. Now, I'd helped in the cutting process of the whole ordeal and started the sanding. Phoenix finished the sanding and started cutting the runic markings into the pieces. The next day, he wanted to mark in the grooves with a black pen and spray the clear coat onto them for the finish. We don't exactly have a woodburner yet so burning the runes in is problematic. Problem, he wants to leave the Dremel, the hacksaw, the bits...everything...out of the box simply because he might use it the next day.
Right then, I have to stand my ground. Granted, the Dremel didn't exactly break my bank but why take unneccessary risks with the tools, right? Unfortunately, I had to find a nice way to insist so naturally...that means a short lecture on my part. I hate that. I hate having to do it. Why? After explaining the very night they got here that I don't mind them using my tools, watching my movies, using my dishes, blah, blah, blah, I'm having to explain this again?
Ok, granted, they're not his and I understand that but when you spend about $200 or so on tools, you kinda like to have that respected. Granted, I'm well-known but I'm not exactly well-funded yet. Maybe later on I'll have a more expensive set but, until then, I'd like to take care of what I have here. I'm not hacked at Phoenix's terrible lapse in judgment too badly but it's just irritating to have to explain that kinda thing.
Deb's daughter, Melissa actually did a really cool thing with my movies. See, my DVDs are all sitting in an aluminum case that looks like a small trunk. The DVDs are in a file system of sorts and the only real way of finding the movie you want is by pulling them one at a time until you run into the one you want to see. Well, bless her, she took it upon herself to manually go through each and every one of my nearly 400-some-odd movies and list each sleeve number with the corresponding title. Now, if I want to watch something...I just go through the catalog that she'd handwritten. That's got to be one of the coolest things that any 18-year-old has ever done for me. That act was nothing short of gnarly.
So far, I haven't run into any other problems of the sort but judging from that one...I'm hoping like hell there won't be another incident like it.
posted by Lord Genocyde at 8:50 AM
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