Issue 150

Unlikely Heroes

Have you ever had a product (like a tool, for example) perform far beyond your expectations? I had a drill driver like that. Years ago (when I actually worked for a living — unlike now where I just get to do this instead), I was on my way to a job site when I hit a curve on the freeway a couple of miles an hour over the speed limit.

This would not have been a real problem, except for the fact that I had put my really expensive drill driver (in its yellow and black storage case) on top of my truck, rather than inside of my truck. My last view of the tool was in my side mirror as it cartwheeled merrily into the median. By the time I got my truck turned around, it was gone. Now I was late to the job site and had no drill driver to boot. So I quickly swung by a big box store and bought a 14.4-volt drill driver for less than $100.00. This was both a sort of self-flagellating penance and an economically imposed decision. Well, I reasoned, by the time this cheap tool wears out, I will deserve a more expensive version. (And I might have saved the money for it by then as well.)

A funny thing then occurred. That inexpensive drill driver just kept working and working. I dropped it off of a ladder; kept working. It slid off the roof of my cabin – into a puddle — dried it out; kept working. Finally, about four years later, the charger quit working, and I decided I could finally rationalize that new driver. (Although technically, the old one was still working.) What was the brand of this EverReady bunny of drill drivers? Ryobi, the same folks sponsoring this special version of the eZine. Now I can’t say that all Ryobi drill drivers are as tough and determined as mine. But then again, I can’t say they are not.

– Rob Johnstone, Woodworker’s Journal