After three days of laying on the couch with an ear and tonsil infection, I decided enough was enough. My fever was down (thanks to some good drugs), and I was feeling good enough to get back to work.
I walked in around noon, and much to my surprise, the workbench area looked like a BOMB WENT OFF! Tools were everywhere, the tool board was naked (and painted a new color), and things were not in their “normal” places. I guess the guys decided to make a change. I hate missing days of work. I love being in on executive decisions BEFORE they happen… I’m a control freak. That’s just me.
The board didn’t look bad. Instead of the normal “peg board brown,” it had been painted a flat black… adds more contrast to the white walls, keeping the yin and yang of the shop area intact… I can dig it. My tools and all my gizmos, gadgets, and personal pictures and memorabilia had all been pulled down, too, in order to paint and reorganize the wall. To a certain extent, I didn’t mind that, either. At least it was done with some care.
Here’s where it kind of got a little weird: during the rearranging process, the “good tools” were moved away from my bench and closer to the middle left of the bench… effectively phasing out my bench area’s immediate reach of the “good tools.” “My” bench area seemed like a back-up apprentice bench at best… I felt sad. I missed my easy reach of the tools already.
There’s a good reason for it. I told the owner of the shop, Kevin, that I was going to spend more time out on the floor and in the front of the store… that is where my strong points are – people. I’m a good salesman and some of our mechanics don’t like to mess with people. Recently, we’ve been getting lots of 2010 orders and new product in, so my presence at “my bench” has been sparse while getting those sorted and merchandised.
Fortunately, I still like to wrench on things in my spare time… even at home. Now that I’ve got some “bench mojo” and some personal tools that need a new place to live, I’m getting started on a new garage workbench project very soon. I drew up some technical drawings tonight for the new workbench that I plan to start on next week. I’m going to document the construction and plans on VeloReviews.com coming up shortly.
As much as I try to resist change, it will still happen. I struggle with change because I have control issues. I just need to get over myself and those issues. On the really bright side, as I move closer to another, somewhat less greasy area of shop life, it gives me an opportunity to create and build something new at home to satisfy my urge to wrench on things… which makes me happy.
PROBIKEWRENCH 