One a Day

One a Day
Well I’ve got some time to kill waiting for a one of my favorite shows to come on TV. Get ready to laugh – It’s “Ask This Old House” on PBS. I nearly never turn on commercial television – because I love commercials so much, note: that’s irony. If I knock out a couple blogs ahead of time I might have a clear slate when it’s time to go to a woodworking show in Merriam, Kansas (that’s near K.C. in case you were beginning to wonder). Lie-Nielsen Tool Works (pronounced Lee Neal sen) will be there; that’s primarily why I want to go. I have many of their tools; each year when we go on vacation to our River House in Maine we stop along the way at various tool stores so I can try and buy tools first hand. We’ve spent a quite a bit at Lie-Nielsen and have become regular visitors over the past decade; they offer a showroom discount and we don’t pay shipping so we save twice, what a deal. We wouldn’t buy anything though if the quality wasn’t there. Lie-Nielsen is a small 100% American made company that builds high quality tools at price that takes a bit of getting used to, but once you’ve experienced their quality, anything less is a serious compromise. The company is very ethical and has always treat us right and for this, we return year after year, we don’t always buy – but most times we leave with bright new tools sometimes many new tools .

We’ve stopped in many different states; because we travel by truck we have room for all but the mightiest tools. We have frequented stores in Delaware because they are tax free; when we visit Pauline’s sister. There’s great selection and tax free is often a significant saving. We have visited several manufactures and bought tools directly from the company, even the owner in some cases. We make the most of our vacations visiting families in different states and stopping along the way to buy (all kinds of things); if it will fit in the truck we’ll haul it across the country, no questions asked. We found several antiques on the road some have stayed in Maine and others hitchhiked back to Wichita. Pauline would stop at every yard sale if she could – so don’t give her any incentive or we’ll never get to the House.
It’s a very long but we enjoy it; we always see new things along the way. Once we stopped to give a person down on his luck some money as we were leaving Lenexa (a Woodcraft Store). We traveled halfway across Missouri without stopping be now we needed gas. We pulled into the, oh so familiar, Quik Trip “it was packed like sardines.” I pumped gas while Pauline grabbed a couple refills, she returned with two fountain drinks and a smile. What’s going on I thought; just then she held out her hand she found a twenty dollar bill. Pauline gave away ten dollars to a stranger and when she parked the truck she immediately found 20 more, in a parking lot so busy it couldn’t stay there more than mere minutes without being picked up. That was the bizarre coincidence if you believe in coincidence, I do not, it was destiny.