In our immediate family, by agreement, the adults don't exchange Christmas gifts. We buy gifts for the children, and celebrate by gathering at my sister's house for breakfast.

OTOH, small trinkets and gag gifts are allowed. My favorite gift was from my wife. She proudly presented me with:


*** A box of hammers ***

Seriously. A couple of years ago, I gave to my son my Rick Mears special edition Snap-On tool box, with the hang-on side cabinet, all in pristine condition, and valued conservatively at about $14k (including the tools). Every specialty tool known to man was in that box. I spent 8-1/2 years spinning wrenches at a very successful automotive repair shop and had accumulated these tools over that span.

As I grew older, I used that fine collection of tools less and less, so I though it would better serve my son, who, like myself, is an incurable tinkerer. The only thing I missed from that set of tools was a decent hammer. Oh, I bought myself a set of Cobalt wrenches, socket sets, and screwdrivers for everyday use, but the only hammer in the house was a tiny finishing hammer my wife had in her toolbox. I believe it weighed approximately .0025 ounces.

Being the curmudgeon that I am, I frequently pissed and moaned about not having a decent hammer, and I often used a Ridgid 18" pipe wrench as a hammer.

This the story ends with my wife presenting me literally with a box of hammers for Christmas. I wondered for weeks what that present contained that was so damned heavy! And yes, they were Cobalt hammers!

Hope everyone had a nice Christmas! :)