Wednesday's Random Slang-o-rama: A fine fettle

It's Wednesday, and I'm feeling in a fine fettle because I am flying off to Vancouver, British Columbia, for the annual Left Coast Crime conference (which happens to be one of my VERY favorite conferences).

So, yes, I'm smiling today. But what is a fettle, anyway? And what's so fine about it?

Let's find out!
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According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, we have:

fettle (n): "condition, state, trim," c. 1750, in a glossary of Lancashire dialect, from northern Middle English fettle (v.) "to make ready, fix, prepare, arrange" (late 14c.), which is of uncertain origin, perhaps akin to Old English fetian "to fetch" (see fetch (v.)); perhaps from Old English fetel "a girdle, belt," from Proto-Germanic *fatilaz (source also of German fessel "fetter, chain," Old Norse fetill "strap, brace"), from PIE *ped- (2) "container" (see vat). Related: Fettler; fettling.

I wasn't entirely satisfied with this entry (what does a vat have to do with a fettle, anyway?)... But luckily, World Wide Words tackled the entire phrase fine fettle:

These days, you’re indeed likely only to hear fettle when it’s shackled to fine to make a set phrase. It’s a fossil, left over from a time when the word was better known. The repeated initial letter undoubtedly helped stick them together, which is why you only rarely (if ever) hear of something in good fettle or bad fettle or the like...
[Fettle] was most typically used as a verb meaning to put things in order, tidy up, arrange, or prepare... In northern English it can still have the sense of making or repairing something. In Australia, a fettler is a railway maintenance worker, responsible for keeping the line in good shape.  It’s also used in some manufacturing trades—in metal casting and pottery it describes the process of knocking the rough edges off a piece. But all of these are variants of the basic sense. So the noun refers to condition, order or shape, and fine fettle means to be in good order or condition.
Its origins are a bit obscure. It seems to come from the Old English fetel for a belt, so the verb probably first had the meaning of girding oneself up, as for a heavy task. It’s related to the German Fessel for a chain or band, but not to the confusingly similar fetter, which actually comes from the same root as foot.

 Now you know as much as I do.

Wishing you all a fine fettle of a week!

It will take some work before this fettler can claim to be in a fine fettle.
"Railroad construction worker straightening track; pile of twisted rails in background. 1862-63." Russell, Andrew J., photographer; United States. Army. Military Railway Service. [Public domain]