Page 28 June 2012 Power hammer anyone (upper left)? No swinging required; works in the tighest of places. Sterotypical or not, the newest and shinest power tools remain popular presents for Father’s Day, along with barbeques and related equipment. Photos by Christina Sampson. Stereotype or not, tools still wanted By Christina Sampson Tools. Specically, power tools. The more high-powered or high-tech the better. Sure, it’s an old stereotype, but according to the experts at Howard’s ACE Hardware at 3111 E. Indian School Road, dads of all kinds still like their tools and gadgets. “Yeah, we see a lot of people coming in the week before (Father’s Day) buying dad basically the same stuff that’s always held true,” said Chris Mendez, the store’s oor manager. “The saws, the hammers, wrenches, power tools, things like that.” Cory Allen, a customer service representative at the store, agreed. He said he’s used to seeing a steady stream of wives coming into the store in June. “Every year they’ll get him a new drill or a screwdriver set or something,” Allen said. Tool shopping isn’t as straightforward as it used be, however. Thanks to technology, even the father with a garage full of tools may need to upgrade to more modern equipment. For example, something as standard as a hammer can get a high-tech twist. “The newest stuff, really, is Craftsman has come out with quite a few power tools that seem to be on the high-tech edge,” Mendez said. “They have a cordless hammer, which no one has seen before. You can get it into real tight places and you don’t have to swing it.” And, while battery-operated tools aren’t a new concept, they are a far cry from what they were 25 years ago. “All the new power tools have the very small, high-efciency lithium ion batteries, which are a lot more compact,” Mendez said. “They reduce the weight incredibly and the tools last longer and they charge faster.” He added the ion battery tools were “by far the biggest seller this year” when it came to power tools. Many standard tools, such as hand saws and power drills, also have lighter, plastic casings. Combined with the new ion batteries that makes today’s tools “probably an eighth of what they used to weigh before,” Mendez said. But not all fathers embrace the technological advances. “Some guys do not like the change (and) they want the steel casings where you can drop their tool and not have to worry about it,” Mendez said. “It’s a mix,” he said. “The younger guys buy what I call the higher-tech stuff. The older generation, the early baby boomers, they all kind of like to stick with what they’re used to. “I know it’s hard to get some of the older Continued on page 33 SPANISH SUMMER CAMP! 2-7 year olds June 4th - July 27th Wild Safari, Under the Sea, Have a Ball! Sports, Flavors and Cultures of the World Registration materials available online Little Big Minds Spanish IMMERSION Preschool Little Big Minds Preschool Ofce Phone: 602-910-4417 www.littleBIGmindspreschool.com We are located in the Biltmore Preparatory Academy Campus 4601 N. 34th Street • Phoenix, AZ 85018 F E A T U R E D B U I L D E R A R C A D I A H O M E Scott R. Jung, General Contractor LICENSED • BONDED • INSURED ROC# 163087 602-224-9899 • 3605 N. 44th St. www.SRJConstructionandDesign.com SRJbuildsit@cox.net “It was time to update! SRJ SRJ ’s team made it seamless and beautiful for us!” ~Homeowner’s remarks CURRENT TRANSFORMATION IN PROGRESS Before...

Page 29 June 2012 I.S.A . CERTIFIED ARBORISTS ON STAFF & CREWS Fully Insured / Licensed / Bonded Contractor - ROC # 251150 480-820-3939 Call for a Free Consultation Serving the Valley for over 25 years! Serving the Valley for over 25 years! Professional Pruning Root Zone Fertilization Insect & Disease Management Hazard Tree Evaluations & Removals Root – Rx Program Aerial Lift Technical Support by our Research Laboratories Cabling & Bracing Time to prepare your trees for the upcoming MONSOON storm season Arcadia’s Number One Real Estate Source Year After Year 602.989.8300 By Greg A. Bruns As some of our readers around Calle Redonda know, the last two or three months seems to have brought a rash of activity that goes beyond the regular stream of dirtbag deeds. There was a 10-day period in May when I received an e-mail nearly every single day that detailed some form of robbery, burglary or personal property violation of some kind. The other night I was on a walk with the dog when I came across what looked like a vehicle in the process of a crime. It was late enough and quiet enough to encourage over-thinking the situation so by the time I called 9-1-1, I thought I might solve the crime of the year. With our neighborhood on high alert, a well-timed gust of wind and a distant dog bark could have prompted an emergency call from me. The operator put me at ease, though, and let me know that the police are on the way and everything will be ne. Everything’s ne. Right. I called the missus when I was about 200 yards from the ‘scene of the crime.’ I explained what was happening and in the middle of my second sentence I heard it: the unmistakable whomp-whomp- whomp of a helicopter rotor coming in at a pretty good clip. “Um, do you hear that?” I asked my wife. “You mean the helicopter?” she replied. “That’s not coming out here because of my call is it? Is it? ” The missus asked me where I saw this “evil vehicle” and I explained where the alleyway was in relation to our house. Then she said something that made me feel really stupid for not listening to every syllable of every word she’s said for the past nine years. “That car has been there for weeks – months , maybe – guess it’s not running or something... I thought I told you about this?” “I gotta go,” I said as I watched the helicopter’s 1.6 Killowatt Short-Arc Xenon Nightsun pop and illuminate the streets in a blast of light, making every nighttime bug in the area explode like a tube of refrigerated country biscuit dough. Since I kept moving with the dog after the call the activity was now nearly half a mile away. My intention was to go back and let the police know about this Continued on page 30