The photo is from 1978. My son, his truck. Behind him, my truck.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Craftsman 1/4 x 8 Inch Slot-head Screwdriver, Melted

Sunday, February 12, 1989

There's something inherently funny about screwdrivers.  As bananas are to fruit, screwdrivers are to tools.  The latent twelve-year-old in all of us wants to giggle.  Let's get over that.

Okay.  Now you can say what you will about Sears power tools (it's a whole 'nother subject), but the Craftsman people make darn good hand tools.  Like my Craftsman 1/4 x 8 inch slotted screwdriver.  Easy grip, precise head, solid construction.  It takes a while, but like a faithful friend you come to appreciate a sturdy screwdriver, especially when you're forced to grab some substitute with a point that's rounded or a grip that doesn't fit a human hand or a shaft that comes loose. 

Yesterday, I melted my trusty friend inside an accidentally energized circuit breaker panel box.

I always heard that Sears guarantees its Craftsman screwdrivers for life. 

Today out shopping with the kids, I stop at Sears in Mountain View and bring in my poor old Craftsman 1/4 x 8 inch slot-head.  It looks like I ran it through an experiment involving nuclear fission.  I expect them to laugh me out of the store.  Instead the salesman, without comment, hands me a brand new one.

It's true!  They actually guarantee for life, even if you use it like an idiot.  What suckers.

As long as we're in the store, we pick up two pairs of soccer shoes, a leotard, a yo-yo, a graphing calculator, a set of spark plugs, a floor pillow, a gas barbecue grill, and ten pounds of laundry detergent.

(Bear in mind, this happened in 1989.  I don't know if Sears still has that guarantee; but if they don't, they should.  And though slot heads are less common today, I've still got that same old driver in my toolbelt.)

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