There is a Tom at Pro Tool Reviews. Heโs a contractor. A professional tool guy. He can rattle off specs of the latest DeWalt or Milwaukee driver from memory. He wrote that review that made you smile or curse. Heโs the one that you can aim like a gun. โHey, Tom, that guy over there? Heโs thinking of buying a new toolbox and needs suggestions.โ Two hours later, Tomโs happily beginning the second of four โmust haveโsโ of toolboxes as you laugh over in the corner. Tomโs a great guy. Very useful. You should meet him.
Iโm not that Tom.
Iโm the guy that will look at a name and snicker when everyone else doesnโt see it. After School Special? Snicker. Information for Financial Aid Professionals? Guffaw. Interior Updates and Design. Iโm rolling. Intestinal Worm Assessment, Negation, and Knowledge? Okay, stop. Youโre killing me.
When the Pro Tool Reviews guys came up with the idea of a tool review magazine and website that was created by professionals for professionals, they needed a name. Pro Tool Reviews was what they came up with. But, before theyโd put pen to paper, they came to me.
โHey, Other Tom.โ
They donโt like to mix me up with the useful Tom.
โWhat do you think of the name โPro Tool Reviewsโ?โ
I didnโt laugh at the name so it stuck.
But Iโm not completely without my uses. Iโm also the guy that breaks things. You have a friend just like me. He calls you up and tells you heโs got a project that heโs started and just needs a little help on. You come over thinking youโre in for thirty minutes or so and then it is on to beers and pizza. What you find makes you wish youโd brought your heavy duty reciprocating saw and a blow torch.
Or maybe dynamite.
So thatโs me. Other Tom. They donโt often send me tools. When they do, itโs to see if I can find out what can go wrong.
So why did the PTR guys, admittedly fine writers in their own right, ask for me to do this back page column?
Because I make them laugh. I donโt look at tools the same way they do. They think about RPMs and torque and battery life. I think about whether or not it will cut, drill, or chop through a plastic cutting board. I look at the model number and wonder why manufacturers seem to think that putting an โXโ in there will convince us that it is somehow better than the others.
You know, just like how the XFL was better than the NFL.
The Tool Foolโs Stool is about finding the funny in the world of tools. There is a lot of it out there. No one is as excited about finding it and pointing it out as I am. Let the games begin.
Of course, in the end, what is important is that TFS doesnโt spell out something dirty.
