And I thought I was the only one to waste money on something I don't need. LOL

Jim

 

The little bit driver will be used. The underside of the van has a cover. It's held in place by a bunch of little torx screws. This tool is magnetic and will hold onto the little screws. I hate it when those screws drop and go rolling. My F-150 radio is held by 3 screws. Because i lost 1, over a decade ago. That was 15 years ago. Back then, I told myself that I was going to getting a magnetic bit holder. And it's ideal for all of those small electronics jobs.

The sliding t handle and ratcheting adapter will be good for when a 3/8 ratchet and socket don't have the leverage. Sometimes things are tight from over torquing or stuck from time, corrosion, and rust. And it will be good for lug nuts, with being able to fully leverage with the full bar, and spinning the bar from the middle. I know that this will be the "go to" tool the next time I have to take a cover off the cleanout access on a 4" drain pipe.

The speeder handle is more of a novelty, since very few applications have the clearance necessary. But it will work out for things like transmission and differential service, spark plugs. Or the occasional weird job like pulling a seat rail mounting bolt. I did that earlier this year. And it will be good for working on the motorcycle. Long screws and bolts, with a lot of threads. I can see how this would be good for panel removal for appliance repairs.

I prefer hand tools over power and air tools. I like to be able to "feel" what I am doing. Electric and air tools make it too easy to round off fasteners and strip threads.

The hobby is being cheap. Fix it myself instead of paying someone else. As a hobbyist, that's how things are. You spend money on the hobby. If I were a professional of any sort, I would already have these tools. As a do it yourselfer, I get into situations where I wish I had a better tool, or a "right tool". I either go get that tool to finish the job, or note that I will keep an eye out for the tool and buy it later. Sooner or later, I will buy that tool, and have it ready for the next time. So I'm just a simple homeowner who wants to fix things.

So now I have things like a chainsaw, a pole saw, a 1-handed mini chainsaw, a wood chipper, a weed wacker..... all of which cost less than paying someone to come over with those tools. You could easily spend $1,000 a year, for someone to come do yard work once a month. The $75 - $100 monthly gardener is just maintenance. Cut grass, trim hedges, collect leaves - usually no more than 30 or 45 minutes. They are not tending to your fruits and vegetables. They are not taking care of your flowers. That usually does not include things like cutting back trees, chopping down trees, chipping all the wood, and removal, For a few hundred in tools, I have saved over $10,000, in over 10 years.

I have a plumbers snake and a sewer jet. The cost of both tools was less than the cost of 1 plumber emergency service call. Of course, all plumbers calls are emergency service calls. You never call a plumber unless you have an emergency. The first time I had a clog, the tools paid for themselves. I've used the tools 3 times. That puts me a few thousand in the win column. In The City, with old infrastructure, the 4" drain line from the building, to The City's main drain line clogs. And sometimes it's not anything that you did as a homeowner or tenant. You have to access the line via a series of drain line clean out points. Not hard. But time consuming. It's just a matter of running the mechanical snake to punch through and/or pull out whatever debris is in the line. Then thoroughly flush it out with a high pressure sewer jet line. I've watched my neighbors pay $$$$, cash, as plumbers spent hours.

 

Last year I got one of these. You can't do much torque, but it's fantastic in tight quarters.

 

Happy Monday all. Grand kids are back in school. Sure, is quiet around here.

Jim

 

I've got something similar. It's what I have been using. Adapts a 1/4" drive to hold a 1/4" hex bit. I really like it. I can use a 1/4" breaker bar as needed for torque. The textured grip works well when your hands or gloves are greasy. It doesn't ratchet. It's not magnetic. The important thing for me was the magnet. Holding the screws, versus losing the screws, seems to be important.

 

Happy Tuesday Nor Cal. Feeling under the weather again. Drank some chocolate milk this morning that didn't taste right. It has an expiration date of Dec 4th, yet it made me sick. So, I threw the remainder out. Hopefully this feeling goes away soon. It usually does. Surprised me since it was still "good" according to the date on the jug.

Jim

 

The imported avocado from Peru were terrible. I got 12 of them for $5. 3 were okay. The rest were all problematic. Hard and rubbery. Blackened. Bruised. Rotting and not ripe. I've learned my lesson. Peru is too far to travel. They pick the fruit before it's ready, ship it to North America, and hope that they will be okay when it reaches the consumer. A huge waste of resources to sell bad food. I don't even want to think about how they sell South African avocado to places like Denmark. I've never seen avocado like that from Mexico.

 

Glad I didn't buy any. I don't know where the avocadoes at Walmart are from. I know they are currently selling for 68 cents, and they are small pool ball sized, but have never read the description to see where they came from. I haven't bought avocadoes in quite some time.

Jim

 

I am easily swayed by low price. 99 Ranch has a case of mango on sale. They are from Ecuador. I figured Ecuador has the right weather all year round. The fruit is beautiful and bright red. Not sweet. That's an 80 cent lesson.

I am now tempted by Sprouts. Avocado are on sale there also. It's an American corporation. Not an Asian market . I wonder if that makes a difference.

 

The December all topic thread can be found here:
Dec 2022 all topic thread - Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums (ford-trucks.com)

Jim