A Putterer and a Tinkerer

I'm a putterer and a tinkerer. I putt in the garage, the kitchen, the yard and our basement. I tinker with my tools, my cars, my motorcycles and anything else mechanical that I can find. I'm happy as a lark just hanging out and performing menial tasks in some of the more manly areas of the FNN homestead. And that's exactly what I did this past weekend since ripping through the countryside on two wheels was not an option (yes, I'm still bitter).

I spent a good portion of the day this past Saturday and all of Sunday in the garage, enjoying the nice weather and getting in some solid, quality puttering. Since spring is right around the corner, I concentrated on getting some things cleaned up and ready for summer use.

The lawnmower was thoroughly checked over. It received an oil change, a clean air filter and some fresh gasoline. I cleaned and repainted the deck and performed one of my favorite garage tasks: sharpening the mower blade. For some reason, I just love donning some gloves and safety glasses letting the sparks fly.

I also prepped the snowblower for storage. I removed the remaining fuel with my brand new shiny transfer pump (I busted my old one), and gave it a good cleaning and a coat of wax.

"He waxes his snowblower!?!"

Yes, I wax my snowblower. It helps to keep rust away, and it helps the snow to slide off the paint in the winter. So what?

I also finished the small table I built for a friend's dog. It needed another good finish sanding and another couple coats of polyurethane.

The rest of the time was spent sanding and refinishing my workbench (winter projects had it pretty banged up), putting away the tools, odds and ends that had accumulated over the last several months, and giving everything a good cleaning and wipedown.

Now, that sure sounds productive, but I'll be the first to admit that a very large portion of my garage puttering is just that, puttering. I re-organize tool drawers, sort sandpaper, perform some basic cleaning, and just generally move stuff from here to there and back. But, I love it. I love listening to the radio (talk radio or baseball games in the summer) and just being around tools, dirt, and projects. I love the smells of gasoline, sawdust, and that wonderful hot-electricity smell that power tools emit.

If this is what retirement is going to bring everyday, I can't wait.

YFNN