Did Monkeys Invent the Monkey Wrench?
Sep. 14th, 2002 02:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ralphmeltonAfter playing minature golf, we decided to make a lazy day of it and drive a bit of the Green Belt to get home. This involved some driving among the very nice houses of Fox Chapel.
On the way, we stopped at a bookstore/coffee shop called The Book Cafe. It was so-so as a bookstore; it seemed to have a selection little better than a used bookstore, but it had new-book prices. But it had a lovely atmosphere, with lots of nice art and lovely shelves; I could easily imagine sipping tea and reading there.
I got three Perry Mason books that I hadn't read, which was a pleasant discovery. As I was checking out, then, I noticed a book called Did Monkeys Invent the Monkey Wrench? (by Vince Staten), about hardware stores and the products they carry. On an impulse, I bought it.
I've enjoyed reading it a lot over the past few days. It tells lots of entertaining stories about hardware, like the invention of the Phillips screw, or of Black and Decker's invention of the pistol-grip drill. I am seriously considering giving it to my father-in-law and/or my father as a Christmas present.
On the down side, it's an extremely fast read; I probably read the whole thing in less than five hours. But pleasant all the way through.
On the way, we stopped at a bookstore/coffee shop called The Book Cafe. It was so-so as a bookstore; it seemed to have a selection little better than a used bookstore, but it had new-book prices. But it had a lovely atmosphere, with lots of nice art and lovely shelves; I could easily imagine sipping tea and reading there.
I got three Perry Mason books that I hadn't read, which was a pleasant discovery. As I was checking out, then, I noticed a book called Did Monkeys Invent the Monkey Wrench? (by Vince Staten), about hardware stores and the products they carry. On an impulse, I bought it.
I've enjoyed reading it a lot over the past few days. It tells lots of entertaining stories about hardware, like the invention of the Phillips screw, or of Black and Decker's invention of the pistol-grip drill. I am seriously considering giving it to my father-in-law and/or my father as a Christmas present.
On the down side, it's an extremely fast read; I probably read the whole thing in less than five hours. But pleasant all the way through.
