Misc

• Comic Break

  I happened on this comic link today. In general, it’s a good idea to protect ideas long enough for the inventor/creator to get first dibs, but I’m not a fan of the current patent system that rewards lawyers for proving a tiny variation on a competitor’s product is something new and novel.

• Pelmets & Sewing Machines

  Our trailer came with window blinds and some pelmets (the things above curtains) that were designed to fit in with the bland colour scheme. We (well, me) wanted to introduce some colour and one thing to do was to replace the pelmets. I could buy some, but the mother in law has a sewing machine and I’ve always fancied giving it a go. I got some basic lessons and this is what we ended up with.

• Workshop Reorganization 3

  This ones a bit late but here’s an update on the workshop re-org.

• Halloween Snake Candy Chute

  It’s halloween in 2020 so that means better safe than sorry. So why not make it fun? I like the idea of candy chutes but they look so boring. Here’s my take on how to jazz them up a bit.

• Picture a Frame

  Sue has been working on a number of paintings lately and she wondered if I could make some frames.

• Not quite the same

  Here’s a picture of two F-Clamps brought at Canadian Tire aprox 5 years apart. Same brand (Mastercraft) and same size (4”x24”).  But not the same quality.

• Paint Stripping

  Our house has some lovely old hinges on the doors but over the years they have acquired quite a few layers of paint. Luckily the internet is full of useful suggestions on how to remove it.

• Time Passed

  And just like that, the seasons rolled, time passed and nothing was added to the blog.

• Clean Safety Glasses

  Are you safety glasses looking a little dingy? Too much dust and dirt splattered onto them from using the strimmer a bit too much?

• Carve Pumpkins with Peanut Butter

  Now I’m a big fan of carving pumpkins, we do it every year. Since it’s always a good idea to switch things up every now and again I was very intrigued when I saw this whimsical article about using squirrels to carve pumpkins.

• Vaseline

  Amazing thing, vaseline. It has many uses.

• Wood Cart

  Here’s something I’ve been sitting on for some time and finally got around to doing. This is a wood cart I found on Shop Notes (well, Google found it for me). The garage is full of bits of wood leaning against the walls and this looked like it would tidy things up.

• Project Board

  There was an office move a few weeks ago which was a great occasion for acquiring some second hand goods. This 4’x3’ white board, a little scratched, is a prime example. This will be put to good use as a project/todo board.

• What's Inside Your Phone

  My son has a way with electronics that is quite remarkable. They tend to break or malfunction near his vicinity with alarming frequency. So it was with little surprise that he announced a few weeks ago that the screen on his cell phone was blank and there was a black thing hanging out the back.

• The 99 Dollar Mistake

  Here’s a tale full of error and woe. One day last week the phone stopped working. No dial tone. (I should add that I’m talking about the land line, as those new fangled mobiles seem to be rather popular these days.) Since I don’t know much about phones there was nothing for it but to ring in a support call.

• Two out of three

  

  laminate

  See that? That’s laminate on bedroom number 2, just one more carpet left to be torn up. Sue reminded me that over the last 8 years or so I’ve replaced all the carpet in the house with laminate flooring. Well nearly all, there’s still that last bedroom to go.

• Broken tail light

  There’s a danger lurking in the garden and its name is The Large Iron Flowerpot. This menace usually lives quietly by the garage door minding its own business. But for as yet unknown reasons it occasionally decides to sneak up onto a reversing car where its iron lip sticks out at approximately the same height as the rear tail light.

• Chair Fix

  Todays task was to fix some wobbly chair legs. The legs had been worn away and to fix them I went with stuffing slivers of newspaper mixed with wood glue into the crack. It was also a good excuse to use some new tools I got for Christmas - basically small pointy metal sticks meant for carving but very useful for any jobs that require small point metal sticks.

• Drill Press

  My toy/tool collection increased last month with a 10” drill press for my birthday. Its a Mastercraft brand so not exactly high end but perfect for what I need.

• Driveway

  Not a project, but something quite monumental all the same. A few weeks ago the driveway was paved. It’s gone from messy gravel to shiny tarmac - lovely!

• Wireless antenna

  We’re stuck in a lead lined valley where all man made signals are blocked dead. Both Bell and Rogers cell phone signals are reduced to the occasional one bar (although texting seems to work fine) and FM is an ocean of hiss. A while ago we put in a 3’ FM aerial in the loft which has given us the strong FM stations in the area - as long as we only use the radios in the living room where the coax cable comes in.

• A Hungry Mouse and a Trailer

  A few months ago we noticed some of the lights on the trailer weren’t working properly. We changed the bulbs and poked around but couldn’t find the source, and anyway we were a bit busy so it got left. Well last weekend it was time to get serious. Armed with screwdrivers and a multi-meter I tested the wires and realized the problem was at the van end. A little nosing under the back and the cause was easy to find - a very chewed up bunch of wires.

• Lindsay Milk Run

  A little bit off topic but yesterday I completed my first ever 5km run in the Lindsay Milk Run 2010 with a rather nondescript time of 27mins 40secs.

• Posture Arch

  A posture arch is a bit of bent wood you lie on to help relieve back pain. I use one at the gym I go to (it’s attached to a physiotherapist so there’s lots of odd things lying around). The only problem is they charge $120 for this piece of bent wood.

• Earthquake!

  My first earthquake. Nothing special, just a rumbling of the ground, the blinds on the window shaking, one larger shake and then all finished. It livened up a work day, though.

• Testing

  Hello, just a first post so the front page doesn’t look so empty. This is not intended to be a very active blog, it’s just a place to store stuff so I don’t have to keep sending out emails when we do something picture-worthy.