From the Archives:  1/9/2014

Well, I am definitely one of the proud, few girls who asks for power tools for Christmas… and for this Christmas I finally asked to upgrade from randomly failing cheapie cordless drills to nice Ryobi One+ tools.  It is really more than just drills, because the batteries interchange with dozens and dozens of cordless tools.  So it is more of a “System” though I usually scoff at the term being applied to tools. I did a lot of research into what the best drills and tool set would be for me, and while a few choices fit my tiny hands better, the Ryobi One+ was the best combination of power, durability, and reasonable price.  They were still more than I really felt 100% comfortable paying, but the thing that won me over was that they use the same style of battery year after year.  Not only do the batteries fit many tools right now, but they also fit the tools from several years ago, and promise to fit the tools of tomorrow as well.  And since I have never had a drill fail before the battery did and then could never find a battery to fit the drill again, this promise of always replaceable batteries really hit a home run in my book.

I also did a lot of research on the durability and quality of the tools and while several other makers got higher marks, they also cost several small fortunes.

At the same time as accepting the fact that I really need to upgrade my tools, I finally accepted the fact that we will not be getting a garage or a workshop any time in the near (or even moderately distant) future.  While this is sad in many ways, accepting that fact really made me think about my tools and how much of a mess everything is every time I want to do a project or two.  I have frequently spent 4 to 5 times the length of time trying to find my tools in assorted boxes in the spare room, dining room, and shed, than I spend on the project itself!  Then… it is no wonder that I am loath to put anything away since I know I will need the same tools for the next project.  And when I finally put things away, they all get shoved back into yet another box, because nothing has a proper home.

With my new found acceptance, I resolved to outfit a “Mobile Shop”.  With two goals in mind:  One… to have all of my most used tools, hardware, and other supplies, placed into proper tool totes, etc, that would not only be mobile, but also give each item a proper home so that everything could be found (and put away) easily.  Two… to have the least amount of totes, etc, to keep the whole “shop” easy to move to needed work locations around or outside of the house, but also able to put away into a corner of the spare room or wherever, so there would not be boxes and such spread all over the house.  Not too much to ask, right?

So on the Turkey Day sales, we ordered a nice Ryobi Drill and a nice Drill-and-Circular-Saw set.

Then I found a Ryobi One+ Shop Vac on craigslist. (They don’t even make those any more!) and Hubby found an open-box finish sander for a discount price at the Home Depot. So we picked those up for cheap… and the beginning of my Ryobi One+ set started.