Tools of the Trade

This contraption is a big deal. Really, it is.

It’s a jar grabber. For years, I’ve been making jam. I’ve been making jam without a jar grabber. I’ve wrapped tongs in rubber bands or towels and extracted slippery jars from boiling water. I’ve never broken a jar, but I have, of course, scalded my fingers. Now, I have a jar grabber. I bought it from Amazon, and it cost very little, but what a difference! Stick it in the water, and it does what it was meant to do: Grab jars! Very nice. No more burned fingers.

Now, I’ve known that jar grabbers existed. I’ve just never actually gone out and bought one. It kind of made me think about how many other jobs I may be doing without the proper tools.

Of course, there’s something to be said for making do. After my last post about minimizing and getting rid of stuff, I couldn’t exactly turn around and start advocating buying every cool gadget at Bed, Bath and Beyond. But having a few carefully chosen tools can actually help in keeping things simple. I suppose that’s the key: Evaluate carefully and buy only those things that justify the space they’re occupying and the upkeep they require.

And buy quality items. If a bargain item falls apart after one use, you haven’t saved money, you’ve just collected more trash. Case in point: Above mentioned jar grabber. Take a look. Believe it or not, the rubber is actually torn down the middle after one use! Ugh. It still works, though. They don’t make things like they used to!