Things that make you realise you are getting older

[Lazy-Ferret]

I have suddenly spotted a load of things that make me feel old.

When I was a kid, there were things that dad wore out, that you only wore out by the process of using them over many many years. It was a sign that the owner was old....

Wood Chisels that had been sharpened so many times, they were a couple of inches shorter.

Ratchet drives, where the ratchet had worn away, and should have been thrown away.

Trolley Jack, that was so used, there was no paint on it, but there was no rust either, as it was used so much, it had a perpetual layer of oil and grease from his hands protecting it.

Tool boxes the same as the trolley jack, but with the hinges replaced, and a couple of clips riveted to the side to hold that all important tool, so it was easy to find.

One thing that my dad used all the time, at home and work, was his Stanley Bridges drill, it had an attachment for everything, from becoming a lathe, to a hedge trimmer, Jigsaw, circular saw, drill sharpener, and it even drilled and did screw driving... It was used so much, that had to go in every so often to have the gearbox repaired, and the brushes replaced.

While going through his stuff recently, I found 3 sets of brand new spare brushes for the drill, still in their packet, which he kept as spares, since he went through them so often.

As I grew up, my tools were all brand new, so nothing ever went wrong, but over the last few weeks, that has changed... I looked at my tool box, it now has hardly any paint left on it, one of my ratchets has started to slip, and I have had to replace the brushes in my Bosch Cordless drill, then my Dremel, but the final straw came tonight, when my first ever electric drill, a Bosch 400w tiny thing has just burnt out it's first set of brushes...

In the last few weeks, I have changed 3 sets of brushes, having never changed a set ever in the past, and even considered ordering a spare set, to keep "just in case"...

I feel old.......