Grandfather’s Workbench
I�ve always wanted my grandfather�s workbench.
Sawdust-free and empty, except for the vise bolted near one corner, it waited, ready for any project. A huge pegboard rose against the wall above, perfectly placed hooks holding two dozen tools: wrench, pliers, hammer, saw. Screwdrivers lined up short-to-tall like the von Trapp family in The Sound of Music�Phillips over here, standard over there.
The other day, I went downstairs to arm myself for fixing my daughter�s bicycle. I stared up at the pegboard sprinkled with pitifully empty hooks except for a couple of lonely C-clamps up high and to the right. I checked the toolbox for the crescent wrench and vise grips. Nope. They finally appeared under the painting shirt, fluorescent light fixture, and box of old food processor parts mounded on the bench�s workspace.
I tell myself my grandfather didn�t have to cope with distractions like the Internet and cable TV. Then I think of the occasional person I know whose photos all live in albums, whose paper all finds its way into proper files, and who keeps the post office busy delivering cards for birthdays and graduations.
But I know a lot more people who always arrive late, bring store-bought cookies to the potluck, and use vacation time to clean out the storeroom.
For those of us more like that second group, Kentucky Living has started a Get Organized club through its Web site. By going to www.KentuckyLiving.com and signing up for Get Organized, you�ll receive a monthly e-mail newsletter about getting and staying organized, a chance to submit questions to the organization expert, a project of the month, and information on products and places to help keep your life in order.
It costs nothing to join. Instead, we�re asking for some information about yourself. We want to know more about the Kentucky Living readers who use our Internet site so we can do a better job of delivering useful information to you. We�ll only use that information for our own purposes, and will never sell or let anyone else use our subscriber list, just as we have always done in the past.
Maybe the Internet can help all of us get my grandfather�s workbench.
