Today’s lesson “NEVER POINT”

[MikeK]

My greatest fear is that one day I will die...
And my wife will sell my guns for what I told her I paid for them.

Same applies to tools

My wife surprised me one day while we were at the hardware store to buy some shelf brackets and then wandered to the tool section. She said "every new project is an opportunity for a new tool." She understands!

We don't hide any of our purchases from each other, and she no longer rolls her eyes when she sees me unloading a new box from the back of the truck. She knows how much everything in my shops cost, but doesn't necessarily appreciate the value. To help when I eventually pop my clogs, I maintain "The Envelope" in a location known only to her. It is unlikely that she will take up any of my hobbies, so The Envelope has a list of previously coordinated contacts to assist her in liquidating my tools and equipment so she doesn't have to worry too much about it or be concerned that someone will offer her a few hundred Euros to haul everything away. I keep the receipts for every significant tool I buy, so she will have the documentation to assist with the liquidation.

 

[XH558]

It is better to ask for forgiveness, than ask for permission. Works fine for me.

 

[Fergie 307]

I don’t think “That looks interesting” would go down well when my wife gets back from the hairdressers

Would still probably be an improvement on my usual sin of not noticing she has had it done at all !

 

[Cabinetman]

Mike, you look far too young to be worried about things like that and "maintaining an envelope" is almost fatalistic!
I just hope that it’s so long away in the future that the values are meaningless lol.

 

[Fergie 307]

We have an unwritten rule.

I don't ask how much her hairdresser costs and she doesn't ask how much the tools cost. All we say is "that looks nice/interesting"

It's worked for nearly 40 years!

We did once have an interesting conversation along the lines of " if I try and match a watch to each of your handbags who is going to run out first? " She has been fairly quiet on that subject since. I could have a similar conversation with my daughter, but in her case it would focus on shoes!

 

[Cabinetman]

Talking of wives in workshops, many years ago I had a female rep call every month and she once told me about her husbands workshop and his wood lathe, One day when he was at work she decided she wanted a go and the next thing she knew the chisel had just missed her head as it flew over her shoulder and embedded itself in the wall behind her, she definitely wasn’t going to try that again!

 

[paulrbarnard]

We did once have an interesting conversation along the lines of " if I try and match a watch to each of your handbags who is going to run out first? " She has been fairly quiet on that subject since. I could have a similar conversation with my daughter, but in her case it would focus on shoes!

I helped one of my daughters move to university. I loaded the car with the four large cardboard boxes she had packed and then into her room at university. She then asked if we could go buy paper, pens, food, cooking utensils and other essentials. I asked what we had brought in the four large boxes if she had none of the things I would have packed to go away with. She told me one box had her clothes and the other three were her shoes…

 

[MikeK]

Mike, you look far too young to be worried about things like that and "maintaining an envelope" is almost fatalistic!
I just hope that it’s so long away in the future that the values are meaningless lol.

Thank you! I'm in my mid-60's and hope I have a few more decades to go, but there might be a bus with my name on it.

The Envelope contains a lot of other information to make things easier on my wife and is part of our estate planning. It does seem a bit fatalistic, but not having a will or similar document does not affect the inevitable, and Mr. Reaper can visit any time. When my father died, my mom spent about six months on a voyage of discovery trying to sort out the monetary and insurance accounts, some of which she didn't know existed. If we both go at the same time, then we don't care who has to sort out everything.

 

[Thingybob]

I helped one of my daughters move to university. I loaded the car with the four large cardboard boxes she had packed and then into her room at university. She then asked if we could go buy paper, pens, food, cooking utensils and other essentials. I asked what we had brought in the four large boxes if she had none of the things I would have packed to go away with. She told me one box had her clothes and the other three were her shoes…

Thars why my wife is affectionally know to me by her pet name " My little centapede" at least 100 pairs

 

[Ozi]

My advice. Marry a woman with a big bum and keep the door to the workshop narrow - works for me buy if I put on weight I'm stuffed.

 

[manglitter]

Be like me my wife has never been in my workshops and the upside is I always know where everything is.

This is my dream.

 

[lucgizi]

My husband insists I discuss every tool purchase with him and threw a big wobbly when my shiny new mitre saw turned up which he wasn't consulted on (I kind of needed it in a hurry for a project). So I just calmly asked him how much his new graphics card cost for his gaming pc... He thought I hadn't noticed... His answer was "but I needed that!". I said I rest my case.

 

[Cozzer]

I had an MG Midget gearbox in our kitchen many years ago. It was a bitterly cold winter, so I sought - and obtained! - "permission" to do so, on the grounds that it wouldn't be taking "that long" to rebuild. It rested on a 4 wheel trolley with a couple of over-long, ankle-clouting planks to support it.
Suffice to say, it took weeks.
Finally complete, I spread some plastic sheeting underneath, and proceeded to clean it with some powerful degreaser trade stuff....which leaked everywhere, and turned the floor tiles into mush.

 

[Davey44]

Like the idea, but

like the idea. More difficult with motorbikes, the frames are harder to hide!
My worst capture was having my beloved return home unexpectedly to find a flat bed parked on the lawn and two hefty blokes helping me manhandle 3/4 of a ton of lathe into the workshop. "Just something I picked up on EBay" didn't prove to be an acceptable answer to " what the neck is that, and why is it on my lawn? " To cap it all the coolant tank hadn't been emptied, so mid interrogation the guys moved it a bit and a gallon or so if coolant slopped out onto the lawn, rather undermining my "it's grass darling, it's only been flattened a bit, soon spring back up". Not one of my better days, needless to say the movers found it very funny !

Wow, that just sounds like a bridge (sorry, lathe) too far! I often find it's a good ploy to have done a part exchange or a swap!

 

[danst96]

My one is, oh i just bidded on it on ebay, i didnt actually think i would win it! It was met by, oh yeh i have done that before as well actually.

 

[Stevekane]

I got caught with motorbike engine parts in the bath, My answer, you knew what I was like when you married me. You knew I would do this dung.

Your mistake was putting them in the bath, the dishwaher really cleans up oily engine parts, much better than you could imagine.

 

[Dangermouse 2nd]

I'm lucky. I'm married to a man !!

 

[PerryGunn]

How do I put this....

 

[novocaine]

well I collected another new bike on Tuesday. it's red.
but I told my considerably better half before it came home about it, a shake of the head and a "OK" was all I got. I'm lucky, my wife puts up with my antics. now it's time to find lots of 1998 mtb parts in the spares bin.

 

[Junah]