59 South Tire Iron Sighting

On the way to Central Market today, I spotted a tire iron lying on the side of the interstate just past the Chimney Rock overpass on Hwy 59 South.  The tire iron was the standard black tire iron.  It was lying on the inside north-bound shoulder of the road.  There is probably enough room at that spot to pull over and pick up this tool, but I have a lug wrench and a 4 way lug wrench so I have no need to stop and the rules also prevent it.  I'm sure some one will pick it up or it will become fodder for the shoulder sweepers.

Hwy 280 Socket Sightings

On the way home from work, I spotted several loose sockets on the side of  Highway 288.  I don't usually go home this way, but I use this route for three weeks every year in March due to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. While the rodeo is in town my usual route home becomes too congested and adds too much time to my commute.  Since I have a  full socket set and lots of extras I probably won't stop to pick them up even though they could be obtained with little exposure to danger.

The sockets are located beneath the Yellowstone overpass on outside shoulder of HWY 288 South.  There were as many as 7 sockets lying across a 40 foot expanse.  Someone will be unhappy with this loss. If I do stop and pick them up I'm hoping they are Snap-on sockets.  I've never found any Snap-on tools (because they are expensive so people really take great pains to protect them).

Main Street South - Hammer Head Sighting

I spotted a hammer head lying on the inside shoulder of Main Street in the southwest bound lane (out of Houston)just north of the Holmes Road on ramp. The hammer head appears to be a regular claw hammer. In addition, there is a smaller hammer head lying approximately 100 feet from this hammer head on the same side of the road. This is a bonus for anyone seeking a twofer. Handles for hammers are inexpensive in comparison to a good hammer.

I spotted both of these hammer heads on my way home from work. My intuition tells me these hammer heads are probably inexpensive. Traffic is a nightmare when I come home, so stopping to pick these up is not an option. I may go rescue these early one morning on a weekend if a flight of fancy strikes me. I seriously doubt anyone will rescue them before the street cleaners come by and sweep them into oblivion.

Main Street South Knife Sighting

I had a really great trip to work today. I spotted a knife and I also spotted a cordless drill. The knife is lying in the median between the north and south bound lanes of Main Street on the north side of the South Post Oak overpass.

The knife appears to to be a kitchen style knife with a wooden handle and is approximately 8 inches long. I have no idea why a knife would be lying in the median, but as a tool I felt it should be documented.

Main Street South Hammer Sighting

On the way home from work yesterday I spotted a hammer lying on the side of the road. I saw it in a side mirror glance backward as I passed it. The claw hammer was lying on the inside shoulder of south bound Main Street (such as it is all 6 inches) approximately 3/4 of a mile south of the intersection of Main Street and Loop 610. The claw hammer appears to have a fiberglass handle. It is probably an off brand tool, but there is probably no way to know since it will be almost impossible to obtain this tool.

HWY 288 Hammer Sighting

I spotted this hammer on the way to work. The hammer is lying on the inside shoulder of 288 just south of the Wheeler Avenue overpass.

The hammer appears to be covered in cement. The hammer was all grey, indicating it was used in rockwork or to build and disassemble cement frames. Not a very valuable tool and defintely not worth stopping for since I have a dozen hammers at home.

Hwy 288 South - Lever Load Binder

I found this Lever Load Binder on the side of Hwy 288 South southbound just north of the Wheeler Avenue overpass. The load binder was lying about three feet off of the road on the inside shoulder. Traffic was flowing along at a swift 15 mph. I spotted the binder, pulled over quickly, threw my emergency lights on, jumped out of my truck, grabbed the binder, jumped back in my truck and upon turning my emergency lights off I found an open spot in traffic and continued on my trip home. The entire episode lasted less than 2 minutes.

The load binder was manufactured by Lebus. This is a simple lever load binder. There are more complex ratcheting binders. The binder weighs over 10 pounds and has an overall length of over 24 inches. To view the size scale of this tool I've included a second photo with a 16 inches by 24 inches metal square for reference. I also located some specifics about Lebus load binders. Overall the binder is in good operating condition, but like most well used binders it is covered in surface rust.

I've always wanted to stop and pick up a load binder, but the opportunity has never presented itself. Something has always prevented me from picking up the load binders I've seen in the past. Bad traffic, broken binders, binders in the middle of the road, late for work, this is just a few of the reasons I've passed up load binders I've seen in the past. Today the planets aligned and I picked up a load binder. Obviously, the binder dropped off of a tractor trailer or maybe even a wrecker. Binders of this type are relatively inexpensive costing around $30 +/-.

This tool epitomizes my odd penchant for spotting and picking up tools on the side of the road. I can say without any hesitation that I will probably never have a need for this tool. I do have a chain I found that I can use with this load binder, but I can't conceive of a time or task that will present the opportunity to use this tool. I will probably clean the binder to stop the rusting and then paint it red with Rust-oleum and hang it on the wall.

Main Street - 13mm NAPA Professional Wrench

I found this 13 millimeter NAPA Professional combination wrench on Main street when I was stuck in traffic for over 2 hours due to the traffic signal being out a Main Street and Loop 610 South on Tuesday.

The weather the night before and early that morning had been extreme in some parts of Houston. The area between I-10 and 290 received up to 11 inches of rain in some areas. Flooding was rampant in areas north of Main Street and especially in areas north of I-59. The light was out due to the weather, although the weather had not been as extreme on the south side of town.

I suspect a lot of the trash on the inside median had been washed away. With traffic backed up for over 5 miles I had plenty of time to scope out the median. This wrench was lying on the left median next to the retaining wall about one mile north of the Holmes road off ramp. The wrench is one of the high polish versions. There is a little surface rust on the wrench, but otherwise the wrench is in excellent shape.

The tools is marked NDRM53. This appears to be a tool sold by NAPA to student mechanics. Nice idea. Unfortunately now a student is without his 13 mm combination wrench. I suppose he will borrow one or she will buy a new wrench, but probably a different brand. Brand doesn't matter if you are working, but a matched set of wrenches is more professional looking.

Pierce Elevated - Screwdriver Sighting

I spotted black handled screwdriver on the Pierce Elevated/I-45 Southbound on my way home from work. The screwdriver is lying on the right shoulder of the road about 3 feet from the road. The rules and the sheer insanity of the decision to stop prevented me from even thinking about stopping to pick up the screwdriver. The screwdriver appeared to be a little rough like it might have been run over a time or two. I suspect it will lie on the side of the road for long time unless someone is forced to stop at this point in the road and decides to pick it up. The curb sweepers will probably get it.

Main Street Pocket Knife Sighting

Things happen. I've seen a pocket knife lying on the inside shoulder of Main Street just south of the fire station for about 3 weeks. The knife appeared to be a muskrat style pocket knife (two long blades one at each end). It appeared the handles were broken, but I did not have a chance for close inspection. Brand identification was completely impossible. I almost had an opportunity to pick it up yesterday, but the line of cars in front of me started moving so I let it go. The rules keep me safe so I try to use them whenever possible.

Today the knife is gone, and so is all the debris on the inside shoulder as well as the hammer handle in front of the fire station. Houston city curb cleaners do it again! Every so often the curb cleaners remove everything and we start over again. There is no rhyme or reason or even a schedule. The curbs in front of Reliant have not been cleaned in months. Rodeo came and went and the curbs remained uncleaned from before Ike, but now the section of Main Street on the south side of 610 is clean. I'm not sure I understand the scheduling or the logic behind it, but I accept it as a part of life.

The good thing about curb cleaning is that it removes the detritus blocking our view of other material goods. After a good curb cleaning the "find" opportunities increase. Every cloud has a silver lining or a clean curb.

Pierce Elevated - Steel Shafted Claw Hammer Sighting

On my way home from work today I spotted a steel shafted claw hammer on the Pierce Elevated section of I-45 South. The hammer is lying on the outside shoulder next to a road construction sign about 500 feet from the off ramp to 59 South.

The hammer is unusable unless you can figure out how to replace the handle. The hammer is bent like a slice of watermelon. Picking up the hammer is also problematic. This is one of the busiest sections of interstate in Houston. Thousands of vehicles pass by this spot every day. I have a special spot in my heart for hammers, but this one is off limits unless something unusual happens.

Main Street Adjustable Wrench Sighting

Traffic on the way to work today was horrendous. The back up on Main street was all the way back to South Post Oak. In addition, I was stuck behind a woman putting on make-up all the way through the Medical Center. She was slow to react to traffic starting or stopping. Heavy traffic prevented me from being able to pass. She finally turned off at Rice University.

During my trip I spotted an adjustable wrench on the interior shoulder of Main Street just north of the Holmes Road intersection. The wrench appeared to be an 8 inch adjustable wrench. It was very shiny and appeared to be new.

Hwy 288 Machete

I found this machete on the interior shoulder of Hwy. 288 northbound underneath the 610 south overpass. I passed by this tool for over 2 weeks before stopping to pick it up in July of 2002. This is an inexpensive plastic handled machete. There was surface rust on the blade. I did not bother to stop the rust since it was pretty severe. I use this tool to cut banana plants and to dig up deep rooted plants like passion flower water sprouts.

Main Street Logging Chain

I found this transport or logging chain at Mecom Fountain in the Circle at the intersection of Main Street and Montrose on my way to work in May of 2004. After passing by the chain I stopped on Montrose at the curb near the Houston Museum of Fine Arts and walked back to pick up the chain. The chain was slightly rusty which drove me to wash my hands immediately upon arriving on my floor at work.

The chain is 10 feet long and the hooks are made of forged steel in the U.S.A. according to the printing on the hooks. Ten feet of chain with hooks is handy for pulling vehicles, small stumps or holding to a tree trunk when using a come along. This chain was probably lost from a trailer truck or a wrecker.

Hwy 288 Phillips Head Screwdriver Sighting

My Monday commute home was actually more fruitful than just picking up a boxend offset wrench. I also spotted a Phillips head screwdriver. The screwdriver is lying on the inside median of the 288 southbound lane about 500 feet north of the Binz/Calumet overpass. Traveling at 10 MPH I could have easily stopped and picked up the screwdriver, but I don't need another screwdriver since I have many screwdrivers and bit sets. The rules strictly prohibit stopping for tools I already own.

The screwdriver appears to be about 6 inches long with a clear plastic handle capped by a medium blue base.

45South/59/288South Off Ramp Needle Nose Pliers Sighting

The trip home has been quicker since I began going home using 45 South to off ramp 59/288 South to 610. Today I spotted needle nose pliers lying on the inside lane stripe of the 59/288 South off ramp. In my honest opinion, no one in their right mind will attempt to obtain these pliers during daylight hours. The Pierce Elevated section of I 45 is one of the busiest sections of interstate in Houston. Hundreds of thousands of vehicles pass through this intersection daily. The only chance of ever retrieving this tool would be early in the morning or during stop and go traffic which happens occasionally on this stretch of urban interstate. If anyone of my readers retrieves this tool, I will post an article with your picture and the story of your exploits on this blog or if you are unsuccessful your obituary.

Armstrong 28-412 Adjustable Wrench

I found this Armstrong 28-412 Adjustable wrench sometime in August of 2005. The wrench was on the side of McHard Road 1 mile east of Turtle Creek Drive. I saw a glint of metal as I was driving home. I glanced over and saw the tool. I turned around and then u-turned to pull up beside the tool. I got out of the truck and picked up the tool then continued home. This is a really heavy industrial style 12 inch adjustable wrench. Another loss for someone and a gain for me.

W did Something Good

I found this multitool while taking down a George W. Bush sign in March of 2000 on McHard Road in Houston. The sign was off the road about 100 feet in a field. The person putting up the sign obviously lost this really nice tool while putting up the sign during the election in 1999. There is very little rust on this tool considering the length of time it was in the field (six months or longer). Just for the record, I recycled the sign and the metal fence posts the sign was mounted upon. Thanks W! This is the only good thing you ever did for me.