My dad is a building contractor and had a massive workshop in the garage. We have a three-car garage and one whole car-space is devoted entirely to my father’s tools and equipment. He’s doing less hands-on work now that he’s in his 60s, but he still runs his business 7 days a week. Whenever I need scrap wood to make a few bookshelves, I’ll head to my parents’ house to see if my dad has anything on hand before I spend extra money at the hardware store. I shouldn’t take it for granted, but I’ll admit that I do from time to time. Honestly, I could lose my dad at any minute and I should be grateful that he’s there for me, no less as a person to get scrap supplies from. For instance, I was able to start a black smithing and welding hobby just because of a huge surplus of black steel rebar that my dad got from a building project that ordered too many supplies at the beginning. All of that extra rebar was going towards the garbage but my dad held onto it and put it at the back of his workshop. One day I was at his house and noticed the rebar and he made a joke about giving me the rebar if I had an interest in learning welding at some point. The funny thing is that I had considered doing this exact thing, so I took him up on his offer and started taking welding classes at the community center. Now I weld whenever I have time away from my day job. I wouldn’t have been able to learn as easily without all of that scrap rebar.