How can I be "beside myself" with whatever?

My mother recounted a story from when she was in the WRAF of doing cleaning and her boss telling her to 'use some elbow grease'.

She looked in the cupboard but couldn't find any so reported this back to her boss.

Reminds me of the building apprentances tasked with buying, a left handed hammer, and tartan paint! 

I was a trades store-keeper and the men were always joshing me, such that when they were serious I didn't believe them. One of them asked me for a, mouse' and I laughed, until one of the electricians explained this was a flexible tube used to pull cables through. I was asked by the surgery team to borrow the bolt croppers; I also thought this was a joke, thinking they were going to use it on bones! They were using it on a recalcitrant bolt on the operation bed. But I did have fun discovering about obscure tools and items and enjoyed this part of the work.

I was a trades store-keeper and the men were always joshing me, such that when they were serious I didn't believe them. One of them asked me for a, mouse' and I laughed, until one of the electricians explained this was a flexible tube used to pull cables through. I was asked by the surgery team to borrow the bolt croppers; I also thought this was a joke, thinking they were going to use it on bones! They were using it on a recalcitrant bolt on the operation bed. But I did have fun discovering about obscure tools and items and enjoyed this part of the work.

Marianne72 said:

I did have fun discovering about obscure tools and items and enjoyed this part of the work.

Ah, I remember being sent to the stores dept to ask for a long weight - the staff knew what to do and it took hours to find it...