The Grabblog

by C.Martin

For me, one of the best reasons to carry my Leatherman Wave is that I'm always fixing things. Especially toys. And for fixing toys, the Wave is very well equipped: Needlenose pliers, screwdriver, micro screwdriver, scissors, and even the file. Plus it means you don't have to go rummage around in your toolbox. All the stuff you need is right there, on your belt.

Today was no exception. My 9 month old daughter's rattle was making funny sounds. You see, it's an electronic rattle. A kind of multi-toy. It has plastic pellets to make rattling noises when shaken, it has a mirror so babies can marvel at their own reflection and it has an electronic component that plays a different sound every time the rattle's mirror is pressed. Oh, and there's the silly dragon-shaped creature molded onto the rattle.


This toy is a favorite of my daughter's, so she plays with it a lot. So much so that it gets dirty. You parents know what I'm talking about. Grubby baby hands and food-smeared mouth that transfer mushy, slobbery food residue from baby to toy. And which food later hardens to a concrete-like consistency.

Being a good grandma, my mother-in-law decided that this food-encrusted toy needed to be cleaned. So she put it in the dishwasher.


When my wife and I went to pick our girls up from grandma, we found the favorite rattle makiong moaning, stuttering noises like it had been possessed by really tiny poltergeists. My wife assumed the batteries were wearing out. My mother-in-law confessed to the dishwashering.Wave to the rescue! In no time flat, the micro screwdriver had enabled me to open the rattle up and inspect it's inner workings. No micro-ghosts, just a little rust on one lithium battery. Somethign a trip to Walgreen's battery section should fix.

But that wasn't my only Wave action today...

There I was in the kitchen, taking my turn in the kitchen to make dinner. Problem was, I forgot to set out the chicken breasts to thaw for dinner. Now what? I couldn't very well make chicken and fried rice with no chicken. If only the frozen three breast pack of chicken breasts was thawed. Or maybe smaller, so I could thaw it in the microwave...


Eureka! My Wave has this lethal saw on it. And, yes, you guessed it, the saw will cut through frozen chicken. Quite easily I might add. In under a minute, the 3 frozen chicken breasts were converted into two 1 1/2 breast packs of meat. One went back in the freezer and the other went into the microwave for defrosting.