New Tool Update & Vehicle Maintenance Tip

The multifunction tool (oscillating saw) I mentioned in my previous post is now on sale at Harbor Freight when you use the coupon from the sales ad in Sunday's newspaper.Now is the perfect time to test drive this tool. We have not had the chance to use our tool yet. This past week was filed with doctor appointments, rain, Taste of Home cooking school, plus R has been busy helping G with a daily driver project.

While you are at Harbor Freight you might as well use that 20% coupon to buy some sanding pads or additional saw blades for your new tool. Of course don't forget to use the coupon for the free flash light. I know these go fast so don't dilly dally if you are going to get in on this deal.
Also on the next page of the sales ad is a coupon for a heat gun for $8.99. I bought this same heat gun at Harbor Freight last week for $7.99 using a coupon. The way I see it is that you can never have too many heat guns. I am forever dropping them off ladders. Plus, I really liked the feel of this heat gun. It was lightweight but still had sufficient power. I also own an expensive Milwaukee brand heat gun and it is far too heavy to use for more than 10 minutes.
I DID use a coupon for 25% off at my local consignment shop, even though I didn't use a coupon to buy my oscillating saw. While running errands the other day I decided to stop in at Second Act Consignment in downtown Grand Blanc.

This lovely black wooden tray called my name.Unfortunately, in my haste to use my coupon and score a good deal...I locked my keys in my car. I was so embarrassed. The local Grand Blanc police used a jimmy to unlock my door and I was soon on my way......on my way to my local Ace Hardware to get a spare key to put in my wallet.

Which reminds me......if you use your car door lock remote exclusively and never use your key the lock may freeze up. This especially happens to the driver's door in vehicles driven in colder climates. The driver's side door is subjected to extra salt and road debris during the winter months whenever you pass oncoming traffic. Think about all the slush that hits your door when you pass oncoming traffic when the roads are slush covered (which is 50% of the winter here in Michigan).

Make sure you spray a lock lubricant into the lock. Or spray your key with WD 40 or a 3 in 1 oil and then insert the key into the door lock. Lock and unlock the door several times and repeat the spraying of the key several times. Remember to do all your locks. Harbor Freight might have spray lubricants and you could use your 20% off coupon.

My 2003 Tracker driver side door lock is froze but the vehicle has 300k miles on it so I am not surprised. My rear entry door lock to the cargo area is still functional and will allow me access if I my remote did not work.

New Tool

Due to the extremely strong winds we have had this week we were forced indoors. We were pleased that all of our tree trimming resulted in very few downed branches. Actually, I have picked up just a handful of large twigs when in the past, a storm like that would have left behind a two hour job of picking up and cutting up dead branches.

Unfortunately during our tree trimming this summer we encountered two large broken branches that we could not reach. We were sure that they would have fallen by now because they are just dangling there, moving with the slightest breeze. But even the windstorm of the century could not budge them. I guess next spring I will have to hire a tree trimmer with a cherry picker to remove them.

In the meantime, I've been busy stripping the paint off the french doors and matching storm doors that we purchased just before Christmas of last year. R spent this week working on the windows.

Some of the windows were missing one or both of the hook and eyes that keep the storm windows tight in the opening or missing sash locks. Another storm window needed to be removed because one of the bottom corners was rotted and needed repairing. That storm window was of course in a second story window and the wind was blowing a steady 35 mph with gusts that would almost knock you down.

This predicament reminded us of an episode of Two and a Half Men where Charlie's satellite dish needs repositioning and he says "I'll call 'the guy' to do that on Monday." Alan then replies that you don't need to call 'the guy' and that he can do it. Of course it is all down hill after that. Whenever Alan tried explaining how he came to be in a neck brace, he was always met with "why didn't you call 'the guy'?"

I say that little phrase a lot around 'The Gear' and R always replies "I am 'the guy' ". Long story short.....he didn't fall, the window is fixed, and his bird can still fly (you have to view the video clip to understand about the bird). If R's bird couldn't fly, he couldn't drive!

Oh that's right.....the new tool. Well, as I have mentioned in previous posts, we need to trim down the width of the window jambs in the sun room so that we can trim them out to match the rest of the house. The windows in the front of the sun room required new jambs because they were rotted but these windows have jambs in perfect condition. So we are trying a new tool......an oscillating saw or in this case it is called a multifunction tool.These tools range in price from affordable to down right stupid expensive. We have no idea exactly how many times we will use this tool or whether this tool will even work for the reason we purchased it.......so I went with the next to cheapest...no wait...next to least expensive. I could have save 10 bucks but that one came without any attachments which when priced out came to around 25 bucks. I could have spent 10 more dollars and bought the same one with a carrying case.

Price? $59.99 at Harbor Freight. The tool comes with two different cutting blades, scraper, sanding attachment, and replacement brushes for the electric motor. This tool also came in a pneumatic version which I believe R would have preferred but I figured we would probably use this tool inside the house and the air compressor is sooooo loud so the electric version won.Keep your fingers crossed that this tool does the job for which it was purchased. I am getting antsy to finish shingling the north side of the sun room plus snow flakes will soon be here. Brrr.