Black holes in space are areas that attract and consume all matter that gets too close. The Queen refers to my shop as “The Great Black Hole of the Universe,” because it attracts wood, tools, and other artifacts. All goes in and nothing comes out.
I tried to explain that I need some tools and supplies to build stands and fixtures for the other tools. And some of the tools need repair and that takes tools. To me, the workshop is a place of perfect harmony where tools are used to make and fix other tools so all of them can have a comfortable existence.
The truth, of course, is that The Queen is more right than wrong. The workshop exists for my pleasure. I have puttered around in a workshop since I was old enough to walk. Now my shop is a place where there is one boss, no schedules and plenty of toys tools to play work with. But I do have to maintain a sense of domestic harmony. To that end, I try to be quick with house repairs. In addition I manage to kick a project out of the workshop every now and then to show how useful it is. So far that strategy is working and the illusion continues.