My brother came to visit

Marie5656

Marie5656

Well-known Member
Location
Batavia, NY
This is the brother who has been helping me a lot during these last weeks. He lives in Connecticut and we have not seen each other in a while. We spent a nice day on Saturday, and he took me to lunch. Now, as a reminder, my brother is well off financially, due to doing well in a business he started back in the 70's.
Anyway, he has always offered to help me out if I needed anything, financially now that I am on my own. But I am trying to be as independent as possible, and do not want to take advantage of him.
So, due to the work he did, Rick had a lot of tools. MANY, MANY tools. All well made, and not cheep that he bought over the years. Over lunch I asked my brother what I should do with them, as I did not need them all. So he said he would come in after lunch and look at them. He said that he thought my niece would want many of them (she'd pay) and I should talk to her. He also said maybe he would want some. So, there were lots and lots of wrenches, metric tools some in unusual sizes, a good drill, and bits, and all that, My brothers opens a drawer, sees all the metric tools (by Snap on, which is a good brand, I guess) and he said "I want these" and started gathering up some. He asked, can I buy these from you? So he took about a coupledozen of those things, and a drill.
I helped him carry them out to the car. Then he said, let me give you some money, opens his wallet and hands over $300!! Then he said, I will look these up, and if they are worth more, I will send you a check. Now, I know he uses these kinds of tools, as he works on his cars and all. But part of me wonders if he did it to make sure I took some mon ey from him. He knows I will not just ASK for money. And I had mentioned a couple things I want to buy for the house...a new vacuum, kitchen chairs and a few things.
But it ended up being a double blessing. I got rid of a lot of tools, and he kind of met his ulterior motive of giving me some cash without me thinking I was asking for, or getting a hand out.

But we had such a nice day together. He is 15 years older than me, and we have never been as close as our middle brother and I. He even shared some things in his life that are making him kind of sad...a good friend is terminally ill. He saw his friend while he was out here, and he knew he would not be seeing his friend again in this life. I could tell it really bothered him.
My niece lives up in this area too, so he spent the week with her.
 

Sounds like a wonderful day with your brother Marie, glad you both enjoyed it! He really sounds like a good guy! My husband has a lot of tools also, he's the type to fix things himself if he can and do his own labor on home projects. Good tools are expensive, and SnapOn is a quality brand and not cheap. Very sorry to hear about his friend. :(
 
Sounds like a nice day and an honest exchange with your brother.

The Snap-on truck has consumed the weeks pay of many young mechanics over the years, I think that your brother was being fair and honest not charitable.
 
About all those tools. You don't sound like you really know the value of those instruments. You seem to indicate that there are a great many tools. If they were well cared for, they could be quite valuable. I emphasize the "could". I don't have any idea either. Before you start giving them all away, you'd better get a good idea of what they are worth. You might be giving away a hell of a lot more than you think. You might try inquiring at a local auction house- those who do estate sales. They could put you on the trail of someone who knows tools. Maybe our fellow forum members might have an idea.
 
@fuzzybuddy I am not giving any of them away. If my niece takes any she will pay. My brother gave me $300 for the tools he took, and said he would research their value from home and if he feels he owes me more, he will send me a check. I trust my brother to do the right thing.
But thanks for your concern, I do appreciate it.
 
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I'm glad you got to reconnect with your brother. Nice that he gave you the money for the tools and even offered more once he researched them to see what they are worth.
Tools are very hard to get rid of for most women. My Dad had many and I had a garage sale. One very nice man came and bought several and even told me the ones I should keep and how to use them. I really appreciated that and have used the ones he told me to keep.
 
Yes. Paul even told me which ones I should keep, just in case I need them for something around the house. He said even if I did not know how to use them, if I had a friend or someone come to help me, I would have the tools.
 
If you're handy with a camera and computer and want to take the time to do it, Ebay is a good way to sell unwanted items.
 
gennie said:
If you're handy with a camera and computer and want to take the time to do it, Ebay is a good way to sell unwanted items.
Click to expand...

I thought of that. But my brother called me Sunday. He talked with my niece, and said she is definitely interested in looking over what I have and may want to buy it all from me. The whole toolbox, except for what I will be keeping. It is one of those big workshop boxes, on wheels.
 


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