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Shoutout to the old guy at the hardware store who changed my mind about coax strippers

I was grabbing some fittings in Springfield last week and got talking to this retired installer, maybe 70 years old. He saw my fancy automatic stripper and said, 'Kid, I've had the same $8 manual stripper in my bag since '92, and it's never failed a drop test.' It hit different because I'd just spent 20 minutes fixing a nick in a line from my own tool slipping. Made me wonder if we overcomplicate simple jobs. Anyone else gone back to a simpler tool after something like that?
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4 Comments
leeknight
leeknight1mo ago
But don't you think there's something to be said for modern tools that save time and frustration? @ellis.nina's old boss might have kept his gear clean, but he probably didn't have a job stacking 200 lines before lunch.
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ellis.nina
ellis.nina3mo ago
Yeah, that's a good point... my old boss used to say the same thing about his hand tools.
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ramirez.caleb
Man, "my old boss used to say the same thing" really hits home, @ellis.nina. It's funny how those little bits of advice stick with you years later, right? Makes you realize how much you pick up from people without even knowing it. Sounds like your old boss knew what he was talking about when it came to taking care of his gear.
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lilymurphy
lilymurphy1mo ago
Aw, that's really sweet @ellis.nina. Bosses like that are rare.
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