Tools of all trades

My family went together and got me a set of knives for my birthday. It was a very expensive set, and they should not have gone to so much expense. I would have been thrilled just to get the chef's knife, the one that I use most.
My parents and siblings knew to get me that sort of thing though, because they know that I enjoy cooking, and have always wanted some quality tools to do it with.
That's what I want to talk about today. No matter what the job you want to do, it always pays to buy the best tools that you can afford. Then take care of them, a tool is only a good as the way you maintain it. In the case of the knives, that means keeping them clean and properly sharpened. When it comes to the tools we have, it means having a good, dry place to store them and keeping the moving parts oiled.
My wife inherited a set of good, well used and cared for hand tools. They will last a lifetime, if only we take good care of them and use them properly. The correct tool for the job. Would that we had a proper workshop where the wrenches could be hung up, and the screwdrivers sorted by type and size. It would be so easy to do those small repairs if we knew exactly what we had and where it was.
For me, the obsession with good tools goes right down to the kind of pen I use when I'm writing. It has to be a fine line, in black ink. I'm left handed, and that sometimes means messy writing. I also have a tendency to write small, hence the need for a very fine line pen. This seems like a stupid thing to most people. A pen is a pen. For me, it's a question of feel, and without the right one, everything creative goes out the window.
It isn't easy to get quality tools today. We live in a society of do-it-yourself convenience. You buy a cheap tool every time you want to do a job, then throw it away. It shows in the final product, which also tends to be something we "throw away". I like to buy my father tools that he needs, and that will last him until the end of time. When he uses that tool and feels the quality, he will think of that, and put the same care and attention into what he is building.
At one time, people did a lot of work on their own homes. They didn't just buy a house that was in the right location for the time. People got married and set down roots in a community. The house was built to last, and sometimes went from generation to generation. Now we buy houses just for the sake of getting it inexpensively, reside there for a few years, and then hope to make a profit and move up to something better.
This post has moved from the subject of quality of tools to something about the values we hold. It seems like a natural progression. If you want to know what a person feels is important, take a good close look at the things that they use everyday. It is the tools of our lives that tell who we are, and how we approach the things we have to do.