Why I love tools (and not just for fixing my cars)
I am going to talk cars in a moment, I promise, but it's front of mind: the other week I had to put up a gatepost. Or rather two of them, joined back to back, at a pretty normal height of 1.5m but overall a hefty 20cm by 40cm thick.
I knew I'd need tools for this. In no definitive order, I needed a tape measure, T-square, spirit level, sledgehammer, ratchet strap, chainsaw, drill (with a very long bit), spanner (preferably ratchet), club hammer and crosshead screwdriver and coach bolts.
If I'd been missing any single item, the job would have gone, by varying degrees, from slightly more difficult to nearly impossible. And had I been missing anything, I wouldn't have tried it, and the only tool I'd have used instead would have been a telephone.
If there's something I find utterly exasperating (I'll admit that's quite a lot of things these days), it's not being able to do a job because I'm missing the right kit.
And so as a result: I love tools. It's not so much that I adore the tools themselves, not in the way I love cars. I don't spend hours poring over the Screwfix or Machine Mart websites in the way I might the Caterham or Indian motorcycle configurators.
I don't lovingly polish my trolley jack of an evening [I've tried various tools there to find one that doesn't sound too much like a euphemism]. I just love what tools allow me to do.
Although, given that they're tools, perhaps by definition that amounts to the same thing. If the feeling is analogous to the one I get from cars, it's that tools provide a sense of freedom. I can make things, and I'll enjoy it.
I can repair things, and while I might not enjoy it because it gets in the way of a cup of tea and an episode of Yellowstone, I have options on how, when and perhaps how affordably a fix will happen. And maybe I'll learn something on the way, too.
And without tools, there are some things I simply wouldn't have: a greenhouse, a stocked woodshed, a sim rig for Gran Turismo, a dining room table that will outlive me, two modified cars and a motorcycle that lives in a shelter I made for it.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Auto Express
an hour ago
- Auto Express
Car Deal of the Day: Spacious and sophisticated Kia Niro EV for less than £240 per month
Comfortable family SUV Three-year lease deal Only £237 per month The Kia Niro EV might not be the newest electric SUV on the block, but it's very good, offering sophisticated looks, a classy interior, comfortable ride and lots of space. Plus, it can be yours for only £237 per month, thanks to this deal we found through the Auto Express Find A Car service. Advertisement - Article continues below That price is being offered by First Vehicle Leasing, through Auto Express. It's for a three-year lease with an initial payment of £3,149, followed by monthly payments of £237. Included in the offer is an annual allowance of 5,000 miles per year, or you can extend it to 8,000 for less than £20 extra each month. Even though this is the entry-level Niro EV, it still comes equipped with 17-inch alloy wheels, dual 10.25-inch displays, sat-nav, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, smart cruise control with stop-and-go functionality, rear parking sensors, a reversing camera and various driver-assistance systems. Every Niro EV features a 65kWh battery that offers up to 285 miles of range and powers a 201bhp fount-mounted electric motor, which can propel the family SUV from 0-62mph in a little under eight seconds. The Kia's 72kW maximum charging speed isn't the fastest we've seen, and as a result, it takes at least 45 minutes to recharge from 10 to 80 per cent battery capacity. Inside, the sharp displays are housed in a single curved panel, below which is the same handy, dual-purpose touch panel as in the Kia EV6. Push one button, and the panel offers either the climate controls or shortcuts for the infotainment system. You also get an impressive 475-litre boot, plus an additional 20 litres of storage space under the bonnet. The Car Deal of the Day selections we make are taken from our own Auto Express Find A Car deals service, which includes the best current offers from car retailers and leasing companies around the UK. Terms and conditions apply, while prices and offers are subject to change and limited availability. If this deal expires, you can find more top Kia Niro EV leasing offers from leading providers on our Kia Niro deals hub page… Check out the Kia Niro EV Deal of the Day or take a look at our previous Car Deal of the Day selection here … Find a car with the experts Toyota GR Corolla hot hatch is on the way to the UK Toyota GR Corolla hot hatch is on the way to the UK The success of the GR Yaris has persuaded Toyota that there's room in its UK range for the high performance Corolla Car Deal of the Day: Blistering BMW M135 for a bargain £301 a month Car Deal of the Day: Blistering BMW M135 for a bargain £301 a month Not many hot hatchbacks are as complete as BMW's recently updated M135. It's our Deal of the Day for 19 June. Car Deal of the Day: a potent 335bhp Volkswagen ID.7 GTX for a rock bottom price Car Deal of the Day: a potent 335bhp Volkswagen ID.7 GTX for a rock bottom price GTX Plus gives some extra punch to an already excellent electric saloon. It's our Deal of the Day for 20 June.
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
The West must rediscover its ruthless streak in business
The competition is brutal. Lots of companies are getting eliminated. And even the biggest players are struggling to make any money. It might sound like a description of a ruthlessly capitalist economy. But in fact, it is a pretty accurate summary of China's booming electric vehicle (EV) industry. In truth, the UK, along with the rest of the struggling developed economies, should learn a lesson from an unlikely place. What China shows us is that competition is what drives economic growth, and picking 'national champions' and propping up failing industries only destroys it. Sure, in almost every other respect we would not want to be run like China – but the West needs to rediscover its ruthless streak, because that is what works. The Chinese EV industry is the most intensely competitive market in the world. We may only be familiar with a handful of the big names such as BYD in this country, but there are now an estimated 130 different brands fighting it out for every sale in China. With a mixture of regional players and companies moving into the market from other industries – such as the phone manufacturer Xiaomi – China has more domestic carmakers than anywhere else in the world. The result? EVs are very cheap in China, with popular models such as BYD's Seagull selling for just 58,000 yuan (£6,000), an incredibly low price for a well-made new car. The overall market has boomed, with more than six million EVs sold last year. And it is characterised by rapid innovation, with companies constantly adding new features, and making huge breakthroughs in battery technology, such as BYD's five-minute charger. Lots of people are still kidding themselves that Chinese EVs are taking a larger and larger share of the Western market because they are being 'dumped' by the state. Actually it is because they make good cars at very competitive prices, and, not very surprisingly, customers like that. True, the Chinese government may be worried that the market is getting out of control. Last week, it issued a warning to 16 of the biggest companies, including BYD, Nio and SAIC (which owns the British brand MG) not to let price competition become so ferocious that they all end up destroying each other. No one really thinks that 100-plus car companies will survive, or that it would be healthy for them to do so. Plenty of them will go bust, and many more will be steered into mergers by government officials before they drown in red ink. Three or four giant conglomerates will emerge, much as they did in the emerging auto industries in the United States and Europe a hundred years ago. The important point, however, is this. China is allowing a Darwinian struggle for survival to decide who will be the winners and losers. We see that most dramatically in the emerging auto industry, which has emerged from nowhere to take on the giants of Japan, the US and Europe in little more than a decade. And yet we see much the same process in phone manufacturing where dozens of brands such as Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo have emerged in a very short space of time; in airlines, where there are now dozens of domestic carriers, and the likes of China Eastern are emerging as major international players; or in televisions, where brands such as Hisense and Skyworth dominate the industry. The list goes on. At the macro level, China may be dominated by top-down state planning, with soft loans dished out to favoured entrepreneurs, and targets set for chosen industries. But at the micro level, it is also characterised by intense competition, with companies slugging it out ferociously for every sale. Sure, it will be a messy and ugly process. But we can be sure of one thing. The handful of auto companies that survive will be making great cars at rock bottom prices, and will be virtually impossible to compete with. The same will be true for phones, or consumer electronics, or almost any other industry. China may be notionally a Communist state. But it also believes that competition is what gets results. The contrast with the West is painful. Our political and industrial leaders are obsessed with endless rounds of consolidation, with creating 'national champions' and with forging partnerships with the government to 'pick the winners' in the 'industries of the future'. And we are spending more time and money on propping up declining industries, such as the recently renationalised British Steel, than we are on creating new industries. But with the sole exception of Airbus, just about every national champion that has been created in Europe over the past 50 years has turned into an expensive failure, while the record in the US since Joe Biden, the then president, launched his massively expensive programme of industrial subsidies is unlikely to prove any better. In almost every respect, we would not want to be like China. We would not want to copy its dominant one-party state; nor its lack of democracy; nor is mass surveillance of the population; nor its appalling record on human rights. And yet it does get one big thing right. As its booming, yet also brutally competitive EV industry has shown, it also believes in competition, and in forcing companies to compete for every sale. It is the only way to make sure that better products are made at a lower price, and in the end that is what succeeds. The West knew that 100 years ago, but has largely forgotten it since then. In reality, if the UK, the rest of Europe and the US are to have any chance of standing up to the growing economic might of China we need to rediscover the streak of ruthlessness that drives business. If we don't, EVs will just be the start – and we will keep on losing the lead in more major industries.
BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
Condition of rural Gloucestershire roads to be checked by AI
Artificial intelligence (AI) is set to be used to survey the conditions of rural County Council has been working with the Department for Transport( DfT) to implement the AI-based camera assessment on the road networks. It comes as councillors raised concerns over a lack of data from the last two years on unclassified routes in the county, the Local Democracy Reporting Service scheme is currently under development, according to the council. Speaking at a cabinet meeting on June 18, Minchinhampton councillor Chloe Turner said the data is "crucial" for motorists using rural roads. Conditions on larger unclassified roads were previously assessed with a specialised scanner vehicle every three years."Since the last assessment period in 2023 when DfT removed both the reporting requirement and standard by which to measure unclassified roads, all authorities have been working with DfT to implement an AI based camera assessment of their networks," Mr Harris said in a written response to Ms Turner. "This remains under development, but is likely to be the agreed method to be implemented in 2026," he added.
