jon, I loved my kids more than anything and my marriage was good as well but there was nothing I enjoyed more than sitting in my shop with a beer looking around planning upcoming projects. Since I was a cop I was off a lot on weekdays and for about three years I would check the listings of estate sales and if any included the word "tools" I would go. I don't know how much I paid for them all but at retail prices I had at least 150,000 dollars worth. Example: I bought a drill bit at one sale that was a specialized wood bit. I paid ten cents for it. The next time I was at Lowes I needed a hole saw bit and while I was in the drill bit section I saw the exact same bit I paid a dime for and it was priced at 28 dollars. Now you might be wondering how I went from that to a tool box and a tool bag. Even though you don't know her, and never met her I promise, you're about to dislike my ex wife. I don't know how much you know about the divorce process but you pretty much hash stuff out until you both agree on all the stuff, then they type up a final draft for you to review just to be sure everything was good. Then one of the lawyers types up on the fancy paper two copies that when signed by the judge becomes your official divorce decree. We were divorced on November 17th and the agreement said I would have to have all my property out of the house by February 28th. Anything I left behind would become her property. A few weeks after the divorce I was looking at the decree for some. reason, saw and read something and I believe my exact quote was "you have got to ******* be kidding me" Her lawyer was the. one who typed up the official final one and there was a little one word change in the official one she typed up. The word "by" was changed to "on" So the two months I had to gather and move all my stuff, because of that little one word change I now had to remove all my property not by February 28th I had to remove everything ON February 28th and anything I didn't get out was hers. Towards the end of the day because there was a time period during which I had to do it all. As the clock was winding down I remember looking down at a real, ie; heavy safe of mine that contained at least 7,000 - 10,000 worth of coins that were part of my collection, but I still had clothes, all my financial and police records and my entire workshop. So I bailed on the safe and coins walked to the basement stood in my workshop and when I saw it all, there was no way it would even fit in my small, two bedroom fifth floor walkup in West New York apartment so I just shook my head and walked out.
