Holding a nut in place inside tubing - GIF

[JoeVanGeaux]

Hats off to our collective 'old man'.

It's pointless trying to forget certain things individuals count as history. Nearly all those giant retail corporations vaporized, or so reduced to appear so. Cashways/ Payless, 84 Lumber, K-Mart, Thompson - Sutherland, J.C. Penney, Sears Roebuck, National Lumber (became Home Depot), Buena Park Lumber (is Ganahl) Eagle Home Improvement (now Lowe's)...lots of industrial suppliers too. Last three years, I've done a lot of driving, none of those are visible.
All had appreciable service, loyal customers, good distribution, identifiable brands, owners, CEO's.
Now, so few replacements equal those, aren't supporting US manufacture very well, and think online support equals that retired tradesman in hardware, electrical or plumbing.
Nope!

And, at least in my region of the country, there was Handy Dan and Builder's Square. I often ask the Lowes and Home Depot sales quads if they remember those guys when, for a simple example, I find a pipe/tube of a desired size and its matching plug/cap... but they don't carry the matching elbow or connector for that sized pipe "because we don't sell enough of them". That's when I empty my entire cart and go somehwere else (and often this is just back home to re-think an entire project!).