Somewhere back in my formative years when you were supposed to learn such things, I apparently skipped school on the day boys were taught about numbers. I don’t mean math, though I was never good at that either, but rather how to recognize the sizes of things. Okay, ladies, stop it. That’s not what I mean, even if all men are challenged that way.
No, I’m talking about numbers when it comes to tools. Tape measures, for example. If you want me to measure something, the best I can do is tell you that it’s two or three lines under ½ inch. If I really concentrate on a good day I can even find 1/4 inch on a tape measure. Beyond that, I’m lost. Somebody recently told me that they actually make digital tape measures, and now I know what I want for my birthday.
It’s the same way with wrench sizes. Terry or my son-in-law Ken Conrad, who is a mechanic, can look at a nut or bolt and tell you that it’s 1/2 inch or 7/16 or whatever, and immediately reach for the right tool. Not me. I grab every wrench in the toolbox that’s even close, and more times than not, I still don’t find the right one. And then some fool introduced metrics. Give me a break!
But I did find something handy on Amazon a while back, a universal socket that is supposed to fit every size from 1/4 to 3/4 inch, and 7 to 19 millimeter. As soon as I saw it I ordered it. I have no idea how well it will stand up, but if it works, it’s going to save me a lot of time.
Speaking of sizes, look at the size of this cicada I found dead on our deck yesterday morning. The other day I got bitten on my back several times by horseflies, and I’m sure glad they weren’t this big! I’m pretty sure I’ve flown on airplanes that were smaller than this critter. And if you think he’s big you don’t even want to know about the mosquitoes we have here!
Congratulations Lois Thurston, winner of our drawing for an RV camping journal donated by Barbara House. Barbara makes several variations of these, and they all have pages where you can list the date, weather, where you traveled to and from that day, beginning and ending mileage, campground information including amenities at RV sites, a place for campground reviews, room to record activities, people met along the way, reminders of places to see and things to do the next time you’re in the area, and a page for notes for each day.
We had 27 entries this time around. Stay tuned, a new contest starts soon. Note: Due to the high shipping cost of printed books and Amazon restrictions on e-books and audiobooks to foreign countries, only entries with US addresses and e-mail addresses are allowed. After 90 days, unclaimed prizes revert back to the drawing pool for a future contest.
And finally, here’s a chuckle to start your day from the collection of funny signs we see in our travels and that our readers share with us.
Thought For The Day – It’s better to have a short life that is full of what you like doing, than a long life spent in a miserable way. – Alan Watts
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
I would ask how big the cicada was, but that would require using the tape measure. 😄 I will just leave it at, it was BIG.
One size up from that Barbara. Real BIG.