My Christmas present just arrived!! The nice man in the big truck put it on a dolly and wheeled it into our garage, with me cheerfully snapping pictures the whole way to commemorate the momentous occasion (so I could post the pics here and let you share my joy). Some of you will think that getting an unwrapped Christmas present delivered to your garage on December 4th is somewhat anti-climactic—that the holiday surprise was spoiled—but allow me to assure you that this was not the case. There never was a surprise to be spoiled, since I already knew what was coming. In fact, I picked it out! So, I’m happy as a lark with my December 4th non-surprise gift.
Ked and I never buy wrap-and-put-under-the-tree gifts for each other. When we were younger, we couldn’t afford them and didn’t think it was wise to spend money on presents when that money ought to go for bills and necessities. (I’ve never been big on wrapping up socks and calling it a gift. Although that’s a perfectly valid present, especially when money is tight, I just could never see spending money on wrapping paper and making a big deal about something that basic. Maybe I’m just no fun…) Later on we have tended toward getting some bigger ticket (for us) items together that makes us both happy, again bypassing the whole “do not open until Christmas morning” thing. Anyway, this year, my wish list got consulted and our Christmas purchase is a beautiful, wonderful, spectacularly useful new Grizzly G0444 - 10" 1-1/2 HP Single-Phase 110V table saw! Whoo hoo!! (Yes, men, you can envy my husband over this one. Not that many women get excited over the thought of a power tool for Christmas, let alone put it at the top of their list. He gets to buy a new tool, and say it’s a gift for me. Talk about the best of both worlds!)
Our old table saw met its very timely end over a year ago, and we have frequently lamented the lack of a replacement. Thing is, though, we were not satisfied to replace it with another of the same quality. It never was a good enough tool, with a fence that made a gross generalization look accurate, and we didn’t want to get something else that we’d have to fight as much as the old cheap model. So, we waited until we could get something better, and that day has finally come!! Not a day too soon, either. I really need this saw for a project that I’m doing at my church. I have windows to install that require a specific kind of shim, trim pieces to bevel, a cabinet to construct, etc., and this is really going to aid in those endeavors. After that, I get to finally finish our sewing room/ art studio/ music room. It got torn up four years ago and never put back together for various reasons, mostly involving time and energy. Now that it looks like I’ll be able to get on that project in the not-too-distant future, I’ve been toying with the idea of custom building the cabinetry to meet our specific needs for this room, and this saw would make that project soooo much easier. Not sure it’ll happen that way, but having the saw gives me options. Power tool options. This is always a good thing.
Yay! The Fed Ex man arrived right in the time window when they said he would come. It's always nice not to be kept waiting when you're waiting.
He was such a nice Fed Ex man, too. He was very friendly, and when he found out the saw was for me, he expressed great delight at meeting a "Power Tool Babe." His wife used to work at Home Depot in the tool section, and is a PTB herself. He told me some interesting stories about how customers would assume that she was just an ignorant girl, insist on going to talk to a man, and then end up being sent back by those same male employees to talk to her, because she was the one who actually knew what she was talking about. I'd like to meet this woman!
Here's my toy, still in the box. Sometime in the next few days we get to put it together. If you're interested, I'll let you know how that goes, and give you our power tool review after we've used it a bit. In the meantime, you can be happy for us that Christmas came early to Meowville. I certainly am. I get to play!
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