You may have missed it but a few weeks ago I brought up an issue I was having at the shop with a broken hammer handle. It seems they are difficult to replace due to liability and legal issues. We are such a litigous society now that the tool companies are afraid that if someone installs the hammer head incorrectly to the handle and it flies off IF it strikes someone they will be sued. So the solution is the hammer company now only sells complete hammers and warranties the broken ones. Think about that. We now warranty broken hammers. And in doing so we have taken away our future. A skill set is gone; that of working with your hands and making/repairing something. A future generation will miss that skill someday. Last week I read an article that discussed how the military is now using mules to transport materials and supplies in their hunt for terrorists in Afghanistan and other mountainous regions since mules are the only way to get up and around in this type of enviroment. So a new generation of soldier are learning the skills that their fathers and grand fathers and perhaps great granfathers all knew and used in previous conflicts and wars in defending the country. But it was a skill that was replaced by technology and "the future". So it was forgotten and lost. Think for a minute about all the things we no longer repair on cars. The skill of setting points, adjusting carburetors, repairing fuel pumps to name a few. More skills in the art of the mainteance and repair that the current generation of technicians no longer use or in many cases are even aware of. Now you can say they will never need those skills but before you do did you ever think the military would revert back to using mules for transportation? The next time you can't find someone to perform basic services on your car or work on your house or place of business remember this is being cast as something we don't need to do anymore. Sending a young person to trade school is frowned upon in many parts of this country.
Just because something is old doesn't mean it's no good. The foundation of the country was laid by various skill sets from different tradesman. We are allowing it to wash away and if we don't wake up we are going to find ourselves looking for certain skill sets that we can no longer find. Our future lies in realizing how we got here to ensure we can continue to move forward. For want of a shoe the kingdom was lost.....
See ya on radio,
BTW the podcast of the hammer show (as its now being called was the first hour of the October 24th show.
In a previous blog, “A Runners Wife” I spoke about my husband training for the NYC marathon. All I have to say is that the months of training all came together of an amazing race. Race day is a grueling day for runners, and the family. But a miracle happened...
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder testified before the senate judiciary committee and basically shrugged when asked if any other enemy combatant captured overseas had ever been brought to civilian criminal court to face justice. Talk about an incompetent boob, not to mention a disgrace.
Here is a list of wines all from Spain, and menus from restaurants in Brooklyn where a crew of us did a food / wine crawl through Carrol Gardens and Williamsburg recently
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