Tool of the Month - October

Well, finally it happened, my Stanley Leverlock 26' tape measure finally gave out, losing it's spring and along with that it's ability to retract. How then, can I possibly award this pathetic little tool October's Tool of the Month? About five years ago I worked for 6 months with a framing crew, and for that job I used a bulky Stanley tape measure. For home use, I purchased a Stanley LeverLock tape measure, as it was smaller, lighter, and had an interesting release mechanism (the black lever on the length of the bottom of the tool). About four months into the framing job, having just bought my LeverLock about two weeks earlier, my boss was in a bit of a mood, having just lost two employees. In a bit of frustration, he started tossing out the few tools these guys had forgotten to take with them, including (you guessed it!) both of their tape measures, Stanley LeverLocks just like mine. "Useless people, just like the crap tools they used." he grumbled, and into the lightly ice-crusted pond on the lot across the road they went. Free tools, thought I, so I rescued them to provide a happy home. They had probably been used hard for a year or two, and being thrown 50 feet across the road, bouncing a couple of times on frozen gravel and dirt, and ending up underwater probably didn't help. Even then, they all get used regularly, the one I bought is pristine, and of the two I rescued, one still works fine, and as I mentioned, the other finally bought the biscuit, five years after it's rescue. Not bad all things considered!