A Drill Cannot Drive

So. From time to time I decide that things need to happen in this house. A new heating element in the stove. Toilet ball cock replaced. New curved and fancy shower curtain rod. You know. Little basic house odds and ends. NO BIG DEAL. I bust out my fancy little zebra striped tool kit and knock it out. I have managed quite well with my screw driver and hammer. On the rare occasion that power tools have been required, my brother has popped over whooshed those little screws into place with his power gun tool thing.

And here we arrive at the problem. For all my badassery. I have zero freaking idea what the difference is between a drill and a driver. I get that a drill can drill and a driver can drive. But in my head. It seems like those are the same thing. Like it is literally JUST twisting things into other things. The drill makes the hole and driver fills the hole. Righty tighty, lefty loosy. RIGHT???

So. Today. I have accumulated a small number of things that actually require, well, not require but would be MUCH more manageable with a power gun tool thing. So I decide that I'm going to buy one. Fine. I'm going to get a black and decker one so that the battery and charger I already have for the weedeater will ALSO work with my power gun tool thing. Great. Wal-Mart carries them. I go there, and there are drills and there are drivers and then there are Drill/Drivers. Wait. What?

I text my always helpful and willing to answer my question SO. "What's the difference between a drill and a driver?"

The reply is quick, "Why? I'll bring both tonight." Shit. So clearly there is a difference. He has a crap ton of tools, BUT he's also super efficient. So if he has both, there is a damn good reason. WHAT IS IT?

So I reply. "Not why I asked."

He then adds, "Driver is more powerful, used more for screws. Drill is used for drilling." And my brain circles back to trying to figure out why those two things are different. Sings the "righty-tighty, left loosy" song. I decide that I don't want him to really know that I'm a helpless female, after two years of feigned badassery. I reply that I've got it, and distract him with questions about his day, and funny tweets from Jesuit Priests about Donald Trump. (No, I didn't just make that up.)

I decide to get the Driver/Drill that comes with a crap ton of bits and stuff and a level and tape measure, which I totally need because mine is broken.

Now. This evening. I need to assemble a 6 cube storage center for JT. His dresser is toast and he's been without two drawers and he's annoyed at the laundry backlog. I happily get everything together and get my tool gun thing and begin to righty-tighty the screw in with the powerful tool I have just fully charged. It righty-tightys, but not tightly into the wood. I have to really put some elbow grease into it, and finally MINUTES later, the screw is in tightly. I kind of think it went faster with my hand and a screwdriver. I do the second one. Same thing. I should add here, that I realized that the set came with phillips screw heads that were WAY too short to go into the power tool gun thing and so I got the thing that you CAN put the phillips screw head thing and they mostly fit together, unless you held it upside down and then it fell out.

So. By this point I am feeling like a complete moron. And I just finish the project with my screwdriver. Cube storage complete. But my fantasies of dismantling the old dresser so that I can just throw it away have long since disappeared. And then. AND THEN. I find the bit that will allow my power gun tool thing to hold the screwdriver bit!!! All is not lost!! Now it's on to the coat hook rack that I have had for months and really want to hang in order to hang backpacks. YES.

I get the rack. I get the gun. I get the screws. I get the level. I am set. I place the rack in the exact place that I want it. I set the screw and begin screwing it. And by screwing it. I mean that I am making a divot in the wall, which is too big to NOT be seen unless covered by the coat rack, but I am not getting any deeper into the wall than Trump gets into a Intelligence briefing. Hmmm. Maybe I should drill the hole and then screw in the screw. Alright. I switch everything out and put the drill bit in. I even think to use a drill bit smaller than the screw so the screw will stay tight. Right? Pretty sure that's how it works. Crap. It's past the kindergartener's bedtime. Oh well. He's watching his mom be an awesome independent badass. Life lesson there. So I persist. The drill bit resists. So push and then finally pushes through. Kind of. But I'm feeling optimistic about the screw again. So I stop and switch everything out. The drill bit is hot. Like scorch my fingers hot. And we resume the screwing. And no. Just no. Apparently my walls are filled with titanium. Strong, unflinching titanium. I am no match for this. I'm just going to have to ask for help.

Or. Tomorrow attack the wall with a good old fashioned hammer, and screwdriver.