In the wake of all the public eulogizing and hagiography going on in the media for the past week I’m going to fly in the face of convention and express my grief over a loss that had a more direct, personal impact on me.

The death of my favourite tape measure.

It stood by me for twelve years, which was surprising considering that it was a freebie that I got at a Sony product knowledge training session. It originally had a Sony-branded cheat sheet on the side with the recommended placement angles for speakers in a 5.1 surround sound setup, but that fell off about seven years ago.

Anyway, long story short, I used that tape measure all the time, sometimes on a daily basis on both job sites and doing work around the house. It was just the right size, and more than robust enough to handle rugged use.

Then, alas, the spring broke, and, to add insult to injury, the clip. And that was that. Nothing lasts forever, although I was a little surprised at the depth of emotion I felt at the loss of my tape measure.

We all have favourite tools. In fact I still have a couple of other favourites, including a Philips screwdriver and of course my digitalmultimeter. I didn’t even feel a sense of loss when I retired my trusty old Radio Shack SPL meter, replacing it with an app on my iPhone.

Regardless, I haven’t replaced it yet. In truth I have two or three other tape measures, although none of them have a form factor or “feel” that qualifies them to be a favourite. I suppose I’ll move on when I’m ready.

If any of you have a favourite tool, whether or not you’ve been devastated by its loss, let us know in the comments section.