Toggle It

Toggle It!

I was outside one of my coffee spots. Yes I know, so far not a surprise or funny.

A store a couple of doors down is being remodelled. Two Sprinkler guys are on that site. Now so you know, Sprinkler Guys are Plumbers Lite.

So you’re aware of the degree of mental acuity, plumbers only know 3 things. Breaks are at 10 & 2, payday is on Thursday and Shhhh…. runs downhill. So how much can sprinkler guys know is a valid question except it aint question.

One sprinkler guy is trying to get a short length of 1″ ID pipe out of the van. There is flooring in the van and the pipe is stored under the flooring in different sizes. The flooring has compartments that are long enough to hold full lengths of pipe.

He’s tries one length of threaded rod to fish the pipe out. No Luck. Think trying to pull cotton or a pill out of a bottle with one finger and it keeps getting away. A friction fit. Next, the guy goes the same route but with three lengths of threaded rod. He eventually gets the about 2′ piece of pipe out of the van.

Guy puts a couple things away and says to me as he’s heading to the store, “How we doing”. Now he could see I was amused with his little adventure.

I said to him, “I’d of done that differently”.

He says, “What, drive backwards real fast then hit the brakes!

And I said, “I would of put a toggle bolt on the end of the threaded rod”.

Guy thinks about it for a couple seconds and says, “That’s a good idea”.

My way might not have worked but it sure beats mucking up the threads on the rod(s).

This also illustrates a point I like to make, when you encounter someone, you never know what they have in their repertoire. That person you encounter might just be a smart ass. Or just maybe that person is a smart ass who knows stuff.

I had said nothing to the Sprinkler Guy. Wasn’t pointing and laughing either. When you ask someone a question, if you don’t like the answer given that is your problem and not the problem of the person responding. I cover that in “The Rules of Life”.

We also see the Sprinkler Guy’s character in this. When it didn’t go like he thought it was gonna go, he was gracious and thoughtful. Those are a couple qualities I really like.

I didn’t enlighten him that I am a Tin Smith, Commercial / Industrial Air System primarily. I don’t do it anymore and you know what, I haven’t gotten forgetful or stupid.

A toggle bolt, also known as a butterfly anchor, is a fastener for hanging things on hollow walls such as drywall. Toggle bolts have wings that open inside a hollow wall, bracing against it to hold the fastener securely.

G.R.Hambley
April 13, 2017

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