Adventures at Lowe's Hardware

Time is always an issue when you're a mom/wife/home educator/etc. So my husband graciously kept his progeny out of my hair a few days ago, so I could don my jewelry artist persona for a day.

I was making some earrings in my favourite 20-gauge wire & wanted to solder them for strength. That's when things got complicated. What should've taken only minutes, didn't. I was low on oxygen! Not to breathe with, but for my torch. Dang! Grumble, grumble.

Out to the car I went, stompity stomp, stompity stomp. Sped to the Lowes, screeech! Bang! Straight to the gas tank aisle, clompity clomp, clompity clomp.

I don't know what it is about hardware stores, but I am seduced by all those tools. Despite not being handy at all, I have coveted power saws, air compressors, sanders, rotary tool & wheel kits. On this trip, I got this hair-brained idea that I must have a vise! (Ironic homonym, eh?) Even though I have a ring clamp that holds pretty much any jewelry I've been working on, a vise would be, er, twice as nice? *cringe*!

So I grabbed a tank of oxygen, a backup tank of propane & headed for the aisle where there were at least 6 different vises, all in blue (my favourite color!). How to choose? Luckily, an older guy was debating the same thing. He recommended this small one for jewelry-making, a steal at $19.99

It even has a built-in anvil! Wowee! "Which one are you going to get?" I asked, balancing the heavy box & 2 tanks of gas in my arms. "Oh, probably the same one," he answered nonchalantly, "I just need one for cracking walnuts".
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Epilogue:

I finished this pair of earrings...

...and Hubby lit up when he saw the vise. "Oh, I could use that!" I smiled benevolently & handed him the box, "Here you go, Honey. Thanks for watching the kids."