A Bigger Hammer

[Jolly]

Yesterday, I tried to break down one gang of a set of hippers. I needed to do that, because one of the sealed bearings self-destructed.

Y'all, that ain't been apart in sixteen forevers. With a 3/4" drive socket, breaker bar and a cheater pipe, I didn't make it. Of course, since they split me in half and then put me back together with baling wire, I can't bear down like I used to. Used to...Seems like I say that a lot nowadays. But I digress...

Anyway, I called a buddy of mine who's big enough to go bear hunting with a switch, and leave the switch at home. After a liberal spraying of panther pee, a longer cheater bar and a two-pound, then a six-pound hammer, victory was achieved. I was hoping for victory, because the next hammer I have is a sixteen pound sledge, which I keep for sentimental purposes. I don't think I'm man enough to swing a sixteen anymore, not without immediate chiropractic intervention. And I certainly ain't gonna admit that to my buddy who was helping out.

In the morning, I'll go prop myself up at the parts counter of a local shop that specializes in motor parts and bearings. It's the kind of place you don't see as much as you used to, and I enjoy the old place. White frame building, built in 1948 and the place is still owned and ran by the same family. They can match up just about anything with a bearing or just about any common diesel motor part. The place reeks of steel, oil and testosterone. And if the part don't work, they'll take it back, no questions asked.

Only thing, it's been so long since I bought this kind of stuff, I'm bracing for sticker shock.

[Mik]

I love stores like that..not the chains, the individually owned parts houses i worked in and loved. I loved the cast of characters I dealt with..mechanics, countermen, machinists, other drivers like me. I would have stayed forever if I hadn’t been more ambitious. Loved those places and there are very few left.

[Catseye3]

@mik said in A Bigger Hammer:

and there are very few left.

Don't know if there are any left, but when I first moved here you had little mom 'n pop stores, like food stores or gas stations, with a room attached that had a little bit of everything, all jumbled up. You could wander around and browse forever. There'd be stuff like a set of three (yes, three) hubcaps next to a nekkid Barbie doll with raggedy hair. A candy dish from Redondo Beach next to a bag of socket wrenches, usually incomplete. You could absolutely count on a set of some type of wrench that had some of the sizes missing.

These places oozed personality. They were great.

[George K]

@catseye3 said in A Bigger Hammer:

when I first moved here you had little mom 'n pop stores

Same here. My little town had two grocery stores and two pharmacies. Also, of course, a hardware store. One restaurant, ice cream shop and a couple of florists.

At the hardware store, they had a sign that said, "We have it if we can find it."

We're down to one grocer now. One florist. But, we now have half a dozen good restaurants.

[Jolly]

$38.95 for two bearings.

Eight feet tall shelves, probably 1500 square feet of them. Bearings and races from the floor to the ceiling. Nobody in any real hurry, just a half-dozen guys hunting parts and swapping stories while we waited.

Four of us determined we had the same daughter...