lost a hand-me-down tool today

[tpolley]

i started a new job in the sheet metal industry about 2 months ago. i dropped a small fortune buying tools. to help offset the cost my dad gave me some tools that he used to use when he was in the industry. one of them was a 30-some year old pair of vice grip duck bills made in De Witt, Nebraska.

today i left the damn things at a job site two and a half hours away. they're clamped to the gutter on an equipment shack. i thought about going and getting them but they're behind a big *** chain link fence with razor wire.

i should have noticed before i left. every tool has a pouch in the tool bag so i know if something is missing. i saw the empty hole where they go in my tool bag as i was putting everything away and thought "i wonder what goes there?" about that time the ******** foreman started yelling "polley, you don't have time to organize your tool bag, get that truck loaded!" i pretty much forgot about the empty pouch.

the more i think about it the more it burns my ***. the rest of the tool bag could have been thrown off a cliff and i wouldn't care but, my dad gave me the duck bills. i have to have them so i stopped on my way home from work and spent more money i don't have on a new Taiwanese pair which i should have done in the first place and put dads in my tool box at home.

 

[JeremyManning]

try calling the place where you left them maybe you could pay them to ship them to you

 

[tpolley]

It's one of them electrical substations out in the middle of nowhere. I'm sure the power company only goes out there when there's a problem.

 

[Syndicate]

That sux dude! If it were me, I might have considered a trip out there, let the super know what you done, I am sure they would let you in. You will be thinking about it till you do it. Go get 'em.

 

[EOC_Jason]

Two Words: ROAD TRIP!

Go get them... If they have that much sentimental value.

 

[tpolley]

I'd love to go get them but I doubt power and light will send someone two and a half hours to unlock a gate for me. Plus it would have to be during business hours so I'd loose a days pay.

 

[madbasser]

Just go get them, quit psyching yourself out.
Everything can be overcome.

 

[Boiler]

I'd chalk it up to "man this *****" and try to move on. As a tool goes, they aren't worth any of that effort. The sentimental part ***** though.

 

[Syndicate]

I'd love to go get them but I doubt power and light will send someone two and a half hours to unlock a gate for me. Plus it would have to be during business hours so I'd loose a days pay.

Are they worth more than a days pay???? Not the price for the pliers, but the sentimental value??? I would say yes. And if you left early one day, got there and then left you still might work a full day. Maybe they will let you work late? Either that or let them go. But I can tell that is hard for you. I do not blame you there. If it were me, I would be posting from my iPhone already en route to pick them babies up. Good luck either way, and I mean that!

I'd chalk it up to "man this *****" and try to move on. As a tool goes, they aren't worth any of that effort. The sentimental part ***** though.

If they were your pops tools, and you had nothing else but those, how would you feel then? Would you still not want to take that trip? It boils, (no pun intended), down to what is important. To me sacrificing a few beers, or even a days meal, is worth getting those pliers. But maybe that is just me.

 

[JoeyMitch]

Had an old screwdriver my dad gave me when I was about 5 years old while we were working on our new house. Dropped it in the water last year while working on an engine. Tried a magnet and everything for about 2 hours but no luck. I went swimming and found it within 2 minutes. Sprayed it with 6-56 and put it in my room to never be used again. So glad I got it. I would be kicking myself now if I didn't!

 

[Vvmvbb]

Go ahead and leave them there. It'll be one of those poignant little irritations that you'll carry with you always. And you'll always know exactly where they are.
Would your dad think you were a ******* for going back? Answer to that might help, I don't know.

 

[ihredo4]

I vote to go get them. Imagine the lost opportunity to pass them on to your child or niece/nephew. I have my Grandpas S&K tools and they go to my nephew even though I have daughters. It trickles down thru the males in my family. Plus my girls both have a set of tools I put together for them. It amazes me to see how often they use tools in the sets. Makes it all worth it.

 

[metaldad]

I'd go get them, and then retire them to the tool chest.
how's the new gig going?

 

[91bronc300]

Who says it has to be during business hours? Work your shift then drive down there, hang around 'til it's dark, put on your black jumpsuit and isotoners, whip out the bolt cutters, and get your vice grips back. And have a little fun doing it.

 

[RedFordTruck]

Id go get them. Road trip it up!


I have a pair of 10WR Peterson Vise Grips Stamped with Dewitt Neb on them That were my dads. I keep them in the back of my tool box so they dont get used much.

 

[Jarhead0408]

I'd go get them, and then retire them to the tool chest.
how's the new gig going?

X2 on that^^^

Since nobody's likly to be there any way take two ladders and drop one on either side of the fence. Get your tool and haaauuuulllllll BUGGGY!

 

[Sparkfarmer]

Who says it has to be during business hours? Work your shift then drive down there, hang around 'til it's dark, put on your black jumpsuit and isotoners, whip out the bolt cutters, and get your vice grips back. And have a little fun doing it.

Exactly what I was thinking. Fences can be fixed, go play James Bond. Just dont get caught . Then those things will have REAL sentimental value. Just think of the story you can tell your grandchildren. Life is short and gas is cheap (compared to what it will be when your grandchildren start using tools anyway). Clock is ticking though, I can almost here the rust growing from here.

 

[1stblack97ZJ]

Go get them man. You will kick yourself for the rest of your life if you don't. A little razor wire never hurt anyone

 

[BlackdogJunkyard]

Who says it has to be during business hours? Work your shift then drive down there, hang around 'til it's dark, put on your black jumpsuit and isotoners, whip out the bolt cutters, and get your vice grips back. And have a little fun doing it.

+1 This is the obvious choice. You obviously know the area. Cut the fence and get the pliers.

Sent from my DROID X2

 

[Eagle Point]

Is there anyone at that jobsite that you can call that could take the pliers down and hold them for you until you could pick them up or mail them to you?
I understand the sentimental value issue.

 

[kald]

Go get them!

 

[scott0]

Exactly what I was thinking. Fences can be fixed, go play James Bond. Just dont get caught . Then those things will have REAL sentimental value. Just think of the story you can tell your grandchildren. Life is short and gas is cheap (compared to what it will be when your grandchildren start using tools anyway). Clock is ticking though, I can almost here the rust growing from here.

X3 I would go get them back.

 

[DFW-LSX]

Road. Trip.

 

[darkk]

Road trip!

 

[EOC_Jason]

Go at night / evening or on the weekend.

Yeah, if it's out in the middle of nowhere, do they even lock the gate? Can you use a ladder to get over?

Just don't leave your bolt cutters there... lol.

 

[Bruce Lancaster]

Short ladder, a second light ladder, discarded carpeting to make the razor wire more comfortable...
Then...the things will carry not just memories of your dad but also of a neat commando raid carried out in his honor.
Or mebbe of 20 years in jail after Homeland Security decides you were attacking the power grid for Al Quaida...

 

[kidney]

If they are 2 1/2 hours north of you, I'd be game to hop a fence.

 

[Skin]

why cut the fence? I'd just cut the lock. You could even buy a cheapo to relock it when your done and leave the key in it (if it really is that remote of a location.)

is your father still alive? Does he have many other items that he will bestow to you? If yes to those questions just get over it. Spend the five hours with him watching a ball game instead of trying to retrieve a $10 pair of piers. My 2 cents.

 

[Souljer]

Hi,

Making excuses for failure is not necessary. You've already failed by getting distracted instead of focusing on collecting all your property.
The question is: What are you going to do about it?

If your plan is to do nothing -everything is impossible, the pliers are not worth the trouble- then why are you complaining? That's your choice.

If your plan is to figure out a way to get the pliers back then go down the list of choices and work out something that will lead to success. Anything from bothering to call up there and see what the actual situation is (instead of guessing "probably no" when you really have no idea - maybe someone drives out there once a week or month for some reason you don't know), to a full blown Blackhawk assault parachuting down from above. If you do that, please report back with pix.

Only two things to do in life:
• Decide what you want.
• Take the steps to make it happen.

While mulling that over, I'd suggest watching the movie "Pulp Fiction" just for fun.
"Fabienne, it was my father's ******* watch. Do you have any idea what he had to through to get me that watch? I don't have to go into it, but he went though a lot!"

 

[fireguy]

Today I got a final inspection on a suppression system install. I took my tool box into the kitchen and started to get set up. I pulled out a 3/8 flex handle. Etched in the handle, "FLR". Grandpa has been gone 13 years, so that tool is at least 45 years old, but I still smile when I use that tool.

 

[beelsr]

i'd figure out some way to go get it back. taking a day off work is tough but you'll appreciate having the tool far more than you'll miss the dollars. At least I would.

i have tools that my dad gave me and whenever we talk, i tell him about using a different tool. we get a kick out of it.

i got a bunch of my uncle's tools when he died. i think about him every time i use them.

 

[tpolley]

Got 'em.

Okay so yesterday I had to make some deliveries. As luck would have it my return route had me driving right past the substation where I left the duckbills. On my way back I stopped in front of the gate. The shack is about 20 feet from the gate. I jumped in the bed of the truck to see if I could see them clamped to the gutter. They were not there. I thought ”what the hell?” I got on the phone and called the Foreman I worked with the day before and asked him if he found a pair of duckbills, he said ”oh yeah, I grabbed those yesterday”

 

[B17E1943]

Cool!

Now retire them to a safe place, willya?

 

[Souljer]

Hi,

Outstanding. Congratulations.
See, when you focus on what you want, instead of making excuses for why it's impossible, life has a way of working out.

Now keep them safe and always take time to take care of what's important to you.

Good job.
Very happy for you.

 

[daveroy]

And the next time your boss gives you **** about taking hte time to inventory your tools at the end of job... tell him to get bent!

 

[jeffmoss26]

Lock those up in a safe

 

[DMAR]

I love it when things work out, congrats! You'll probably loose another tool in your life, but I bet it won't be those vice grips!

 

[t1r2u3s4t]

Happy ending indeed. Ain't tool meant to be used?

Cool!

Now retire them to a safe place, willya?

 

[Syndicate]

Tpolley,

So glad you got them back! Very happy for you! Cherish them every time you use them. But try to keep them for home use if ya can, at least if you lose them at home, they are still on your property right?! Good ending to it. I have a sneaky suspicion even if you did not have deliveries you would have headed there soon. Also glad the foreman is someone who is honest, as I know some who would of said no never saw them.

 

[Jarhead0408]

Happy you got them back dude.
Good thread.