Just in Case!

As she drove I thought about it for awhile and then I asked her.  “Why do you want me to go with you?” After a brief discussion she said I like you to come along “Just in case.”

At that point I realized we have a house full of stuff as a result of “Just in case” situations.  We have two cars.  I can count on my one hand how often I have driven without her in the car over the last year.  Like many of you we live a long way away from any repair garage.  We have road service, but they do not always respond in a timely manner. 

We talk about giving up the second car often but in the end we say, its paid for and it doesn’t need to be repaired very often, as long as we don’t have problems with it lets keep it, “Just in Case.”

I do the same thing with computers and their various cards.  I have built my own PC’s for over ten years.  I was told early on that whenever I took one to be repaired chances were they just put in a new part and if it worked that was all they did. I figured I could do that so I did.  I also figured it would cost me a lot less if I put my own PC’s together,  plus I could get exactly what I wanted without paying extra for it.

I have often been forced to upgrade computers because of a newer program or operating system.  Then there is also the guideline that has been established in the computer manufacturing world back in the early nineties.  Most manufactures have made sure they put a “new and better” program or PC component out at least within an 18 month period.

When I build a new PC I always keep the old one, “Just in Case.”  I don’t have to use it very often but when I do I tell myself that was a good decision. 

When it comes to power equipment for the yard we rank next to no-one for having a power equipment; one gas motor driven and one electric power “just in case.”  I could not think of all the weed whackers we have “Just in case.” We keep buying a new one because the old was next to impossible to start or the string needed to be changed by a genius.  I can’t figure out why I keep the old one if I felt a new one necessary.  I guess it is because I always think I may need a part or two from the old one.  I say that even though I know that the chances of being able to switch parts from one to another is next to impossible.

It is the same thing with tools. I used to do a lot of woodworking and house repairs.  My wife and I have built three decks together.  One of those was a three level deck that was a true test of our love and marriage.  In each case I bought a power drill prior to building it.  I have always felt that in most cases you can save a lot of money by doing your own work as long as you have the tools.  Even if you have to buy all new tools for each major job it was still cheaper. 

This was why I purchased my first modern cordless drill.  The only problem I had was when it came time to replace the batteries there generally was a sale on the next best cordless drill and it was almost the same cost as replacing the old battery.  In each case it would come with two batteries.  That led me to purchasing a new drill.  One problem is that I always kept the old drill, “Just in case.”  Now I have one new drill and two “Just in case” drills, of course the “Just in case” drills have batteries that either need to be re-charged to often to complete a job or cannot take the torque that is needed.   

There is probably no situation when we over do the ““Just in case”” theory more than when we are packing for a trip.  We take a spare or two of everything from shoes to under clothes to shirts and slacks. We take extra shirts and slacks “Just in case” I spilled something on myself.  Extra shoes “Just in case” the ones I had would get damaged. I had a reason for every “Just in case” item I took. In fact there were so many extra items we were taking that we needed a suitcase and half each time we traveled for one or two nights.

Several months ago, on one of our overnight trips, I noticed that the younger people were using back packs instead of suitcases.  When I was younger I would never have used a backpack instead of a suitcase.  If for no other reason than it would make me look like I was a hippie. Now 200 hundred years later all I care about is making life easier. 

A backpack could do just that.  I could carry it on my back even if I had to use my wheeled walker.  Then I could help with carrying stuff into the hotel.  When we got our first back pack we realized that we had less space so we had to lessen the load. Now I have very few “just in case” items. 

As I look around I can’t believe how many “Just in case” items I have.  They include old printers, old motherboards for the computer, old mini tape recorders, external hard drives and I could go on and on. At least I’m not like people who save everything, they say they just part with the old items –I have a purpose for mine they are all still here – “Just in case.” 

Note:  After reading this my wife said, “Tell them it is all true.”  Of course that implies that sometimes I take a lot of poetic license in my column, what - me.