I have a story about a ratchet exactly like that one. In '90-'91 I was working part time at Sears in Evansville Indiana while going to school for electronics. I worked in the hardware department selling Craftsman tools. Whenever someone would come in to exchange broken or worn out Craftsman tools, we'd chuck 'em in a little bin near the register and give them a new replacement. Dead ratchets wound up in a different bin to be rebuilt. We'd always ask the customer if they wanted a rebuilt ratchet to replace their dead one. If so, we'd grab one out of a third bin and they'd be on their way. If they wanted a brand new one, no problem; we'd swap it out and off they'd go. When I started there, they had a ton of ratchets that needed to be rebuilt because no one liked doing it. Well, I was the ratchet guy after that! It gave me a chance to get off the floor and rebuild little 10 minute projects. One day, a guy came in and handed me a ratchet just like the one above. It was in great shape and I could tell it was just gummed up from not being used. I asked him if he'd like me to go through it while he shopped and I would give it back to him in perfect shape. He said no and that he wanted a new "normal" ratchet so I hooked him up. I took the cool ratchet back to my little ratchet lair in back and hid it (my Precious). Shortly after, I pulled it apart, cleaned it up, lubed it and reassembled it with all of the original components and stashed it with the few other cool, old no-longer-made ratchets I had squirreled away. At some point it would have migrated off of the premises to prevent it from being melted down with all of the other dead tools. Within a week, a customer came in and walked up to me and said she was trying to find a tool to replace one that her father had described to her that she wanted to give to him as a gift. She described the ratchet I had in back. I told her that Sears hadn't sold that ratchet for at least 35 years but asked her if she could wait for about 10 minutes because I might have a solution. I found the department manager and asked her if I could sell the ratchet. Going through the stacks of old Craftsman catalogs in back, we figured out what the "current" price should be. When I showed the customer her "new" ratchet, rang it up and bagged it, she cried. (Haven't seen another one in the flesh before or since.)
"expired Ilford Pan 100". That's s Holy Grail right there too. I still have a couple rolls of that in medium format. I save it for special occasions. Fits your little photo op perfectly. Andy
Garage Sale find. 12 rolls of it... This is the second roll I shot. The first lost all contrast, but this roll acted like a brand new roll of film.
I am constantly amazed how total strangers step up and make up for a thiefs wrong doings, Doug must be a terrific guy and the kind of person we all like to do business with, and his refusing to take compensation speaks volumes about his character. I am stoked you are able to start this long awaited project congratulations, Ryan, and a big thank you to Doug. HRP
The Jalopy Journal
