# New tool - but from who??



## wareagle (Oct 1, 2008)

My wife came in the house a minute ago with a box and a puzzled look on her face. It had a note on it that had been printed on a printer that said, "Saw your frustration centering the rotary table the other night and though you might like this". It is a wooden box. She said, "This was on the front porch." I opened it and inside is a brand new in the wrapper Fowler Coaxial Indicator set. 

SWMBO swears she didn't buy it, and I believe her as she doesn't have any idea about the tooling out there. Just got off of the phone with my buddy, and he swears he didn't send it. The last time anyone one was with me while I was locating the RT was he, and my boy (the reason for frustration? Mini-me was turning the Y axis handle while I was turning the X axis handle. He's _helpin' _ daddy!). I can positively rule out my son as he's four. I never new a new tool could cause so much wonder and confusion!!

I'm flattered, dumbfounded, and speechless.


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## Hexbasher (Oct 2, 2008)

thats hilarious


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## seagar (Oct 2, 2008)

Never look a gift horse in the mouth.LOL.

Ian


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## Maryak (Oct 2, 2008)

Well it wasn't me 8)

Fantastic and good luck to you, I'm sure you deserve it ;D


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## baldrocker (Oct 2, 2008)

Funny about that!
by the way did I tell about the trouble I am
having with my clapped out 4
jaw
Myford chuck?


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## MadKad (Oct 2, 2008)

Nice one, some one is being very nice out there to you, I wish this would happen to me.

can any one see you when your are working?

maybe some one is watching you and fancy getting you a gift  stalker?


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## rake60 (Oct 2, 2008)

NICE GIFT W/E
Where ever it came from!

I don't own one myself.
When I need to use one at work I borrow from one
of the maintenance men.

He always loans it willingly with the same words:
_*"Break it and I'll kill Ya." * _ LOL

Rick


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## wareagle (Oct 2, 2008)

I have been pulling my hair out trying to put the pieces together and figure out the origin of the gift. My wife isn't very good at pulling stuff like this off, and I quizzed here twice last night and once today. Frankly I think she's getting irritated at me for my persistence.

My best logical guess would be my buddy, however that one is tough to get to due to their financial situation. Single income blue collar household with a young child tends to make me think that is a little pricey for them to pull off. Maybe could fathom a smaller item, but not a coaxial indicator. Those things aren't that cheap, even the "lesser" brands.

Really I'm clueless. It might be the enigma tool in my shop! I just hope I don't go mental trying to figure this out!! 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





W/E  
Who is the confused but proud owner of a shiny new coaxial indicator and really really thinks it is very cool!!


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## jack404 (Oct 2, 2008)

obviously someone who knows you ( to deliver it unseen)

maybe someone you have done a favour for?
or helped out in some way

keep on doing favours, help those who need it ( and are worth helping)

Karma is a funny thing and help creates a long memory in good people.

life is tough for some folks but everyone gets a chance once in a while to return favours

take it as such and keep on doing what you do to have created this responce

cheers to you and your anonymous benifactor!

Jack


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## wareagle (Oct 2, 2008)

Jack, thanks for the kind words! Yes, I do help out the people who live around us when I can (and as you say are worth the effort). 

For instance, this past summer there was a mother pushing a stroller up the street with a tiny little one inside, and she had two kids on bikes with training wheels. It had to be every bit of 100 degrees and it was mid afternoon with no breeze. One of the bikes had an extremely low tire, and a flat tire. The little boy pushing it couldn't have been older than four. Bless his little heart, he was out of breath, sweating profusely trying to keep up with his bike, while the mother was frantically trying to keep up with the other kid on the bike who seemed to keep just far enough away for comfort. The little boy asked the mother how far they had until they were home and she said it was only about a mile.

I ran out and caught the little Houdini child, and had the mother and other little boy come and sit in our yard for a few minutes to cool off. All of them were parched, so I gave them bottled water and while they cooled down I put some air in the boy's bicycle tires. The lady was literally in tears with the little I did for them. I told her of my son, and said that I did nothing for her other than to help them make safe passage to their house. "If my wife was in the same situation, surely someone would come to her aid". I offered them a ride, and she politely refused (don't blame her!). I packed up another bottle of water for each of them and gave them the travellers as they left. I also kept an eye on them until they got out of sight, and they were managing much better.

We had a garage sale this past spring and the lady and her husband stopped by. She told my wife the tale of me helping them out and that she couldn't begin to thank us enough for the aid that day. Her husband said she was on the brink of collapsing when I helped them out. I told her that them getting home without heat stroke was payment enough for me, and my wife said, "Oh, he'll bring you a drink, but he won't for me?" _Just kidding, that's not what she said! _ She really said that she was not at all surprised by my reaction, and that she has seen me watch over others as they were my own family ever since she has known me.

_________________________________________________

So what comes around goes around! My wife had started a new med a couple of months back, and didn't realize that it would affect her in the heat. She took my son to our local theme park to ride the coasters, and during the course of the morning she passed out. My 4 year old son was suddenly with mommy who just all of a sudden started taking a nap and he was confused. He was a big boy and stayed with her as the park's medics wheeled her to the first aid station, and then when they asked him where his daddy was, he said, "I don't know, I think he's at work. I'll call him now." He grabbed he cell phone and dialed my number. When I answered, he said, "Daddy, mommy is in the hospital. Bye."   It took them a minute to get the phone from him so they could give me the skinny.

When all of this transpired, a lady that was there apparently grabbed my son who was running off away from mommy when she collapsed. Without her involvement, I am sure that my son would have had a terrifying experience for a while! Don't know who she was, but I really would like to thank her for helping my family at the time of need! The only way I can is by continuing to watch over others as I always have done.


Now that this thread has taken the left turn down the dirt road, I get back to the topic. My neighbor said that he thinks it is the Presidential candidates trying to buy my vote. :big:   Still have not a clue.

Madkad asked if I could be seen in the shop, and the answer to that is "no". The only way I can be seen in my shop is to be out there with me unless the door is up, which is very rare. And certainly not when I am machining. My shop is climate controlled, and I have three windows looking into the back yard. These have blinds which I keep pulled down and closed. No view form the street or neighbors through them, anyway. On the front, there isn't any windows, and the man door is on the side and is only visible from the house.

I thought of my neighbor who is the crusty old retired machinist, but I discount him buying a new one as he has a couple in his chest. I had the honor of seeing his tools once, and he must have one of every measurement tool known to mankind! Among everything he has a pair of Blake Coax Indicators, and another tool that looked similar, but was about three times the size. He had stuff in there I have never even seen before, and it was all in very well cared for condition. (I think he's giving it all to his great grand baby). I figured if he was going to to something of that nature, he'd pull from one of his boxes. _I offered for him to come and play on my machines anytime he'd like, and his typical crabby response was, "If I never saw another lathe or mill, it would be three months too soon. I have spent fifty years of my life sweating over those @!%$^@ $&*#!%@$ greasy old noisy machines, and I'd never dream to want to touch one of those $#@%&! machines ever again."_ Point taken.

So, as bad as I want to know, I guess I am going to have to choke on it and accept it for what it is and move on with life. I'll certainly get some use out of it! And as long as I don't know the person who gave it to me, it will hold that mystique for the rest of my days. Maybe it's better that way!

Thanks to all!


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## John S (Oct 3, 2008)

Some people have all the luck.
I ordered a new co-ax indicator and nearly a week later they tell me they have delivered it to the wrong address 

Baldrocket,
Best thing to do in your case is jack the 4 jaw up and fit a new lathe underneath :'(

.


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## Kludge (Oct 4, 2008)

John Stevenson  said:
			
		

> Some people have all the luck.
> I ordered a new co-ax indicator and nearly a week later they tell me they have delivered it to the wrong address


That would be W/E's new coax indicator. :big:

Best regards,

Kludge ... who also believes in karma


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## ronm (Oct 4, 2008)

Santa Claus...he's pretty old, maybe he's starting to confuse his dates...


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## tel (Oct 4, 2008)

No suggestions to offer, but it'd be a wonderful way to get something I perhaps shouldn' ha spent money on past the finance manager.


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## wareagle (Oct 4, 2008)

Tel, my finance manager is way smarter than to fall for that bit. She's never climbed on me for any of my tooling purchases, anyway, so I don't have any reason to try to hide a purchase form her. That's not to say her eyebrows don't raise when I buy a higher priced item.

I can rule out Santa. I have been on his naughty list for too long!!  

Kludge, you might be right... John, your coax indicator is very nice. Excellent choice.  :big:


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## Kludge (Oct 10, 2008)

wareagle  said:
			
		

> I can rule out Santa. I have been on his naughty list for too long!!



Perhaps, but his judgment is also based on karma and all of us here (and I'm sure many others) know you're one of the Good Guys. Besides, like God, he's prone to work in mysterious ways while people tend to prefer more straightforward ones. 



> Kludge, you might be right... John, your coax indicator is very nice. Excellent choice.  :big:



Hmmm ... wonder what it'll take to get someone's misdirected toys ... 

Best regards,

Kludge


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## wareagle (Oct 10, 2008)

Kludge  said:
			
		

> Perhaps, but his judgment is also based on karma and all of us here (and I'm sure many others) know you're one of the Good Guys.



Good for what?  :big:       Just kidding; thanks for the compliment! Lorn knows I try, but sometimes I see myself surfacing in my young son.... :-\



			
				Kludge  said:
			
		

> Hmmm ... wonder what it'll take to get someone's misdirected toys ...



Heck, I sent that at the first part of the week... You haven't seen it yet??  ;D


John, speaking of your missing package... Did that ever get straightened out? Hopefully it did. Stuff like that just irritates me to no end!


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## Kludge (Oct 11, 2008)

wareagle  said:
			
		

> Lorn knows I try, but sometimes I see myself surfacing in my young son.... :-\



That's a good thing. Build on it with the positive nature you've shown here.



> Heck, I sent that at the first part of the week... You haven't seen it yet?? ;D



Shipment by balloon has to circumnavigate the globe due to prevailing winds. It'll get here sometime next Spring. ;D



> John, speaking of your missing package... Did that ever get straightened out?



One can hope!

Best regards,

Kludge


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## John S (Oct 11, 2008)

wareagle  said:
			
		

> John, speaking of your missing package... Did that ever get straightened out? Hopefully it did. Stuff like that just irritates me to no end!



You mean the one that was pretending to be yours ? British humour is an acquired taste ;D

.


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## Kludge (Oct 11, 2008)

John Stevenson  said:
			
		

> You mean the one that was pretending to be yours ? British humour is an acquired taste



Okay, let's see. Are we talking Douglas Adams, Monty Python, "No Sex, Please; We're British", Fergie, Sharon Osborn, Terry Thomas etc? It comes in so many delightful packages and in a few cases passes for serious conversation unless one can see the speaker's eyes. Or can catch it in conversation. 

Of course, it's also how I get a few comments past my psychiatrists who are never quite ready for me. ;D

Best regards,

Kludge


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## wareagle (Oct 11, 2008)

John, that one was right over the cranium!  ;D



			
				Kludge  said:
			
		

> Shipment by balloon has to circumnavigate the globe due to prevailing winds. It'll get here sometime next Spring. ;D



Kludge, that must have been what happened... I did send it "air freight", but didn't specify which vehicle to place the package on.  :big:


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## Kludge (Oct 11, 2008)

wareagle  said:
			
		

> Kludge, that must have been what happened... I did send it "air freight", but didn't specify which vehicle to place the package on.



Shippers tend to use cheapest method unless one is very specific, and government surplus weather balloons are really, really cheap. ;D

BEst regards,

Kludge


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