I Love Buying Tools

I am nowhere near a handyman. I’m sure that anyone with a moderate level of competence with tools would laugh at some of my techniques and the janky way that I accomplish things. That being said, I keep getting better, learning more and more each time I need to tackle a new project. And I have to admit, building and fixing things is freaking awesome. I get to go off and be on my own, try, fail, try again, and usually succeed. Even the failures aren’t too bad because that likely means that it’s too dangerous for me to reliably accomplish or something is just straight up broken and needs to be replaced.

But there is no better feeling than running into a project and realizing that I do not have what I need to get it done. That means I get to buy new tools. I can’t believe how excited I get about buying new tools. It is the equivalent of a child getting a video game. It doesn’t matter the level of the tool, just getting a new tool is exciting. It could cost $5 or $100, but either way I am like a kid on Christmas whenever it is justified.

Most recently, I bought new vice-grip pliers. I didn’t have this tool, and now I’m wondering why I’ve been wasting my time with other pliers. They made a difficult job that I was exerting way too much energy into and made it ten times easier. It’s awesome. Now I just want to go around gripping things.

A year ago, I bought a reciprocating saw because I didn’t want to pay $400 to replace my mailbox. I ended up engineering a janky fix that nobody in the HOA has noticed. That means that I solved a $400 problem for $100 and I still have a cool tool in my garage. Have I used it since then? Nope, and I literally can’t even think of a project where I could use it. But it’s already paid for itself so it’s still a massive win.

Tools are awesome. Fuck yeah, tools!

What Would Men Do Without Sports?

This question never crossed my mind, because I didn’t know there were guys out there who didn’t like sports. Then I ran into real-life guys who had no interest in sports. I had always figured that, at worst, guys would have an interest in a borderline sport like soccer (I love pissing off soccer fans). But seriously, there are actually guys out there that have no interest in sports. I honestly don’t know what I would do with my life if I didn’t like sports.

When I’m at work, the only thing that gets me through the day is reading about sports in between the mundane and repetitive work that my job entails. I guess I could talk to the people I work with, but that is a situation I like to avoid as much as possible.

This doesn’t include all the time I spend watching sports on TV. Yes, there is a lot of good television on that does not involve sports, but just think about anytime you go out drinking. I went out for Cinco de Mayo, but also watched the UFC fights as well as the NBA, because the only alternative was talking with my idiot buddies. They’re great friends, but they are also much better in small doses.

Plus, how in the hell did people learn math without sports? Their teachers? Fuck that. I could multiply by 7s better than any other number, because of running up the score on Tecmo Super Bowl. I knew how to do division, because I needed to know how to figure out Kirby Puckett’s new batting average after going 3-for-4 in a game.

I honestly would have no idea how to push myself without sports. I remember being in junior high and running underneath the heater while bundled up in sweatshirts and sweatpants to lose that last pound so I could make weight for wrestling. I remember running sprints at the end of practice when my legs were screaming for me to stop, but to continue on through, not because I wanted to, but because that’s what you did.

Sports taught me emotion. The highest of highs and the lowest of lows almost always involved sports.  I remember watching the 2008 Cubs clinch the division against the Cardinals, and my buddies and I staying for an hour after the game just drinking and having a great time. It’s not always great. When the 1998 Cubs got eliminated from the playoffs by the Braves, I cried. I was fourteen years old, and I realize that that makes me look like a crybaby bitch, but I loved that team. RIP Rod Beck.

So what do guys do without sports? I actually found out recently. There I was, having a completely normal discussion about sports and the value that Hulk Hogan created in our society. They looked at me as if I wasn’t even speaking English. Then these two assclowns went back and forth on the Lifetime movies they like to watch. My jaw dropped. I couldn’t believe it. I wanted to tell them to get fucked. I wanted to tell them how worthless their lives were. I wanted to do society a favor and end them. Lucky for them, I needed to get back to my computer to see how my fantasy baseball team was doing.

See? Sports can even keep you out of prison.

Sports are the best.