AND ANOTHER REASON

Having just read Sissy’s post about a worker taking her brother’s ladder and level claiming it was his… funny, I never thought about stealing… BUT, I must have years ago when I bought my super expensive (for me, back then) aluminum step/extension ladder. It is a 6 foot step ladder which opens up to 11 feet straight up or in different configurations for on steps or unusual locations. It is not painted all over, but it is painted a little with the florescent paint, because sometimes it is left out where it could easily be carried off… It is hanging in the barn most the time, but sometimes it is out.  I can’t imagine someone having the _____ to just drive up and claim something was HIS knowing dam’d well it wasn’t. But, the police wanted to know if there was any way to identify it as HIS ladder and outside a dent, he couldn’t. 

Hmmmmm, I’m thinking folks ought to take pictures of their stuff, tools and the like, just like folks do their belongings in their houses for insurance purposes. I have done quite a bit of that kind of photography for people for their insurance as well doing videos for people’s wills. Now, my neighbor across the street has a wheelbarrow just like mine – the big one, not the little red one that used to be green… And so, when I was painting my Adirondack chairs, I decided to slap a bit of paint on the wheelbarrow so it could not get confused with the one Frankie uses. He occasionally cuts down a tree or two for me and takes the logs home to burn. So, I made the wheelbarrow distinguishable from his, you might say. And the paint preserves the wood.

  While I was in the barn where the ladder hangs, I thought I would take a shot of some of the tools in there next to the ladder. Yeah, yeah, it is a mess, but it has been too hot to clean it up. And, yep, even the broom is painted. Had a kid help mow the grass a few years back. Rule was to sweep the dirt and grass off the mower before putting it away. He did. And he always left the broom leaning up against a tree or sometimes it fell into the weeds or compost pile and disappeared. The red handle seemed to remind him to park it in the barn.

Of course, the other advantage of a red broom handle, it is easier to find in the broom parking lot…

Sorry. The devil made me say that.

SPEND A LITTLE, SAVE A LOT

Many years ago, I had a guy work for me who, as it turned out, was usually more trouble than not. One of his most aggravating habits was dropping whatever tool he was using wherever he was and moving on. Even going home! He never put any tools away. He even lost my wheelbarrow one day! It was green.

Back then, I only owned about one acre, I didn’t have all the woods around me yet – good thing or I never would have found all the stuff he left lying around. I also didn’t own so many tools. So, in order to keep up with stuff, I invested in a few cans of spray paint. If you look in most any paint section, you will find bright fluorescent paint, reds, red-orange… In fact, you can even find fluorescent duct tape today, and I have used that, too. So I started to paint the handles of all my tools, from little spades and trowels to rakes, shovels and hoes. 

Possum’s hint – whether you have a gardener who leaves things in hard to find places, or if you occasionally drop something or leave it hanging on a tree branch… painting the handles of tools is one easy way to find stuff. It is also a help if you have a neighbor who borrows and then can’t find it or claims he doesn’t have it. It is hard to hide a Bright red handled hoe or shovel. How about a bright red wheel barrow? Or hard to lose it out in the back 40 if you suddenly have to make a quick trip to the house.

Part of this Possum’s problem is, well, she is getting older. She can start out doing one thing and end up doing 6 other things before she even remembers what she went out in the yard to do in the first place, if she remembers at all. So, some tools get taken out, left while another seemingly more urgent job gets taken care of, and then another, and then a phone call, a potty break, something… and then it is time to come in and fix dinner, or go pick somebody up… well, you get the idea.  So, the bright handles are a big help. I have seriously considered a bright red flag on the John Deere so I don’t lose it, but I have made a point to drive it to the back door if not back in the barn when I have to abandon mowing for a bit. In fact, I almost didn’t buy it because it was green. I never lost my red Murray!

Unfortunately, if you are color blind, you will have to pick a different color or a different method. If you have another trick, please pass it along here.