NOlathe's Blog

I started this post more than two months ago and have since verbally shared it with many of you.  It just seems too simple to be meaningful but a good mechanic, a problem solver, maintains a full toolbox.

I tend to mechanically place folks into one of two categories: those requiring adjustments and the adjusters.  The adjusters are my toolbox.  I can attend a problem with what feels like the right tool, looks like the right tool and may even say it’s the right tool.  But it doesn’t fit and I end up with scraped knuckles and band-aids.  Do I as a responsible fixer-upper punish the tool for my trust and throw it away or place it back in my toolbox for the next time in need of choice?

Too often I hear it referred to as a circular firing squad, we tend to shoot each other at times.  I would rather use some first-aid on my knuckles and trust that tool the next time necessary.  My tools are more significant in solving our problems than the problems we collectively confront.

If your scraped knuckles are more important than the outcome, you’re in this for the wrong reasons.  Maintain a full toolbox and trust the reasons they are there.  I thank my tools for their service to this GREAT Nation.