Some house keeping

Today was all about house keeping, getting things organized and ready for the season since it's right around the corner.

The first order of the day was getting a frame for my Level II coaching certification that came in. This has been in the works for a while, entirely of my own doing. I took the test last year and passed but forgot to send in my First Aid/CPR licenses so I decided to wait and retake the test - mostly to pick up more information and shop talk - and sent it in this year. Now I'm officially a Level II coach, something that I can add to my resume.

One of the best Christmas presents I've received this year was a brand new tool bag for boat/regatta tools. I'm unreasonably excited about this. The last three years I've lugged around a very large tool box that has steadily been gaining weight in terms of wrenches, tape, rigging tools, etc.

As I've accumulated tools, the tool box got upgraded to the point where I looked as though I were prepared to build a house. It was difficult to store and difficult to carry around while still attempting to use both hands. Thankfully, this new bag came around and while it was be somewhat confusing since Ryan has the exact same bag, I am looking forward to something more streamlined.

In addition to getting this cleaned up and kitted out, I also took the time to sort through the gear that I have. With wrenches being extremely expensive when bought separately and in over abundance when bought in a set, I haven't been all that keen about dragging around the entire tool box. When you're getting ready to launch boats and rig or de-rig, tools often get taken, used and then left or handed off and at $16 or more each, losing tools due to helping hands is an expensive proposition. This new kit now contains all of my older tools, the ones that were I to lose I wouldn't be tearing my hair out. To make life easier I did include a couple of ratcheting wrenches - what did we do before these? - but for the most part, the expensive tools still reside in the main tool box.

Tomorrow we have team photos with the SID, so another part of house keeping has been locating all of the gear that I had this fall. Three jackets, three polos, and I hope that I'm not forgetting anything. I swear that keeping track of clothing is 3/4 of what I do in my spare time and I'm notorious for forgetting or losing coaching polos.