A Tool for All Seasons

By Gordon Hopkins “No more wire hangers ever!” - Faye Dunaway as Joan Crawford in “Mommie Dearest” Technology advances, things change and time moves ever forward. The only constant is change. Time marches on. Despite these cliches about time and change and all that, there are some things that don't change, and others that can but shouldn't. Mankind continues to develop more and more tools to make life easier. Yet, there is one tool that will never change. It is the single greatest weapon in the do-it-yourselfer's arsenal. It is a tool that will never be improved, never be surpassed, never be replaced.I speak, of course, of the wire hanger. Yes, it can be used for keeping your clothes off the floor, but it is good for so much more. For example, last weekend I threw a load of laundry in my washing machine. Once clean, I transferred the sopping wet load to my dryer and set the timer for an hour. Usually that is plenty of time. After an hour, I stuck my hand in and found my clothes were still very wet. So, I ran the dryer for another hour. I checked. Still wet. Another hour goes by.And another.And another. Okay, by this time I'd figured out there was something wrong. I dreaded the prospect of having to hire someone to fix my dryer, mostly because I didn't want to clean my house, which I feel obligated to do when I have someone over. It was suggested to me by someone more mechanically inclined than myself (my sister) that maybe there was lint clogging up the dryer vent. There was only one thing to do. I found an old wire hanger, untwisted the hook, and shoved it into the pipe that led from the back of my dryer to the outside of my house. Sure enough, not unlike performing an angioplasty on my dryer, I dug out a big blockage of lint, big enough for at least three sweaters.And now I have a nice, warm, dry basket of laundry for my cats to sleep on. I cannot help but marvel at the versatility the wire hanger. I remember as a kid seeing my father use it to do everything from cleaning a drain to improving the reception on the TV to unlocking the car when the keys got locked inside. Plus, as I noted previously, it is great for keeping your clothes off the floor.

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