Tools that make me feel like a man

I come from a family of do-it-yourselfers. My father has always had more tools than he knows what to do with and having grown up on a farm he learned how to use them well. I have 3 brothers who have all worked construction at some point in their lives (though from what I hear Doug spent most of his time with a broom in hand). I never took a woods class in high school. I worked at Godfather's Pizza and never worked construction. Because of this (and an unfortunate desk scenario a decade and a half ago) there have been numerous jokes over the years about Jake being a thinker not a worker. I have used this to my advantage numerous times.

Knowing that I would want to get some projects done around the house I hit up my brothers for a list of must have tools before we moved to South Bend (I'm still waiting for the landscaping list). They came through with flying colors and I am the proud owner of a variety of power tools. The list was divided up into must-haves, almost must-haves, would be nice to have, and maybe someday when I have some more money to blow. One of my brothers placed a framing hammer into the must-haves section. He stated that while it is not absolutely necessary there is nothing like the power of a nice framing hammer to make you feel like a man. I have a couple of hammers, but I took his advice and purchased a framing hammer on one of my numerous trips to Lowes. I've got to say that after framing, and roofing my shed over the past few weeks he was right and I certainly feel more manly with my 22 oz Kobalt in my hand or hanging from my toolbelt. Thanks Mark.

The start to finish (sans paint job) of the shed should be the subject of post shortly.