Category: around the house

Lost 3mm Ball End Hex Wrench

September 22, 2012

Today while in the parking lots of either River Bends or Stony Creek with my brother in law Josh I lost my 3mm ball end hex wrench. I was carrying it along with the 4mm and 5mm wrenches in case I needed to adjust the dropouts on my single speed (specifically, to tension the chain). But, it appears that when getting out one of the wrenches so I could press my fork’s dust wiper back into place I must have dropped this one, leaving it in a parking lot.

Hopefully I can get another one without buying a full set.

around the house

Hammer-based Water Bottle Repair

September 3, 2012

The water bottle seen above was given to me during a Fun Promotions race at Bloomer a couple years ago when I was on a team with Nick, Marty, and I believe Kristi. It’s a rather nice stainless steel bottle, and I’ve regularly used it since then, quite frequently while working on mountain bike trails. Finding itself stuffed in bags with tools and tossed on the ground in the woods it has become quite scratched.

When out at Addison Oaks a couple weeks ago doing some mapping of the new connector trail it slipped out of my bag a couple times, landing on corse gravel. Dents from this are visible, and they resulted in the bottom becoming so domed that the bottle was more like a Weeble.

With a couple of carefully placed blows from a dead blow hammer flattened it back out and now it’s as good as new. I’ve got half a mind to remove the remainder of the finish and have a brushed stainless steel bottle, but for now I think I like its distressed character. I also prefer this bottle over SIGG and other similar bottles, as the inside can be scoured, and the threads are very large and round. SIGG (et al)’s fine threads scrape my upper while drinking, and I don’t like having to worry about not scratching the liner.

around the house outdoors

Quick Sandal Fix

September 2, 2012

The toe of my most-frequently-worn sandals became detached a few weeks back, and had started peeling back and getting things stuck in it while walking. Instead of buying new sandals I decided to try patching them up with Shoe GOO. I was unable to get the sole to wholly sit in place so there’s a slight gap, but over the course of a few days I was able to fill this in and provide a decent cap. It’s not the best looking, but hopefully it’ll hold up. I should probably get some new (and more attractive) sandals as well.

around the house finances

The Circle of Life

August 16, 2012

This is the scene on the sidewalk near the front porch: a group of ants eating the remains of a squished cricket full of orange pulp-looking eggs. I wonder if this is the cricket that I’ve been hearing at night when falling asleep.

Nature takes care of its own.

around the house found things outdoors

A Place For Stinky Clothes

July 12, 2012

With a few minutes to spare at lunch today I tackled a problem that has been bothering Danielle (and me, to some degree) for a while: stinky bike clothes. After riding I’ll hang up my sweaty clothes in either the bathroom or basement so that they can dry. This keeps them from becoming too pungent, but even after drying they still have a lingering funk until they are washed.

Since the smell in the bathroom is a bit unpleasant and Danielle has been spending a fair bit of time in the basement on some weekdays (it’s darker and cooler down there), another place to hang the clothes was needed. The solution? Hang them up in the garage.

By purchasing $7 worth of shelving brackets from Home Depot and using some PVC pipe and fasteners that I had sitting around home I had everything needed. Now there is a 58″ long rack in the garage, right above where our bikes are kept, perfect for hanging up clothes. It’s also large enough that I’ll probably be able to use it for drying clothes and blankets after they are washed.

I think I may add a end cap on where the Headsweats cap is hanging and add a pair of hooks for the cap and my hydration pack. This’ll keep these out of the way and give them a place to hang and dry as well.

around the house cycling making things

Improvised Lock Picking Tools

June 27, 2012

Walking out of the house to the Wednesday Night Stony Creek Ride I realized that I didn’t have my keys seconds after pulling the locked door shut behind me. After running through a number of ideas (most of which involved calling for help and missing the group ride) I ended up fashioning a half-diamond pick from a cable tie, then using it along with and using a plastic sword toothpick (as a tension wrench) to pick one of the house locks and get back inside.

I have a set of lock picks and while they were (unfortunately) locked in the house with the keys, experience playing with them in the past let these tools be used successfully. The white nylon pick was quite flexible and too thick to easily use, but I was still able to use it to rake the pins and open the lock in a couple of minutes. I then made it to the group ride on time.

This shows just how easy it is to pick the cheap house locks from Schlage, Kwikset, and the like.

around the house making things

Almost-Lost Phone

June 24, 2012

Today I almost lost another phone. While heading out to Addison Oaks I set my phone on the top of the car, put something in the trunk, then apparently forgot the phone on the car before leaving. By the time I reached 23 Mile and Schoenherr I wasn’t sure where my phone was, and thinking I’d left it behind I turned back and looked around the house for it. Being unable to find it I called it, only to hear a ringing outside where my car was.

So, where was it? Just as seen above, sitting on the windshield of my car, down against the wiper, positioned just where I couldn’t see it. (Yes, I had a second camera handy, which is a good thing because I didn’t want to move my phone before I took a picture of it.) Apparently it slid down from the roof at some point, then stayed where it landed even in 50-55 MPH winds and through a couple of stop lights.

I’ve been feeling a bit out of it today and this seemed to be right in line with that. Even riding today just didn’t feel right…

around the house automotive electronics

Coat Hanger Muffler Hanger

June 3, 2012

After work on Friday I noticed that Danielle’s muffler was hanging off her car a bit more than normal and that the support strap had broken. I finally had a chance to take a look at it this evening, and I ended up hanging it back up using two extra thick coat hanger segments (from hangers for a comforter) to hold it up. I hope (and suspect) that this’ll hold until she gets a new car.

around the house automotive

Don’t Let Your Silverware Nestle

May 31, 2012

If you’ve ever pulled out a spoon out of the dishwasher that just didn’t seem like it got as clean as everything else there’s a good chance it had nested with an adjacent spoon, blocking the dirty part from being directly sprayed with water / cleaning solution.

When placing silverware in the basket in a dish washer, set pieces so they alternate back and forth in the tray and they will be highly resistant to nestling together when jostled around by water. The result? Cleaner silverware!

around the house

U+1F4A9 Successfully Deployed

April 26, 2012

Today I successfully employed one of the new characters in Unicode 6.0, U+1F4A9, also known as PILE OF POO (dog dirt). (See the table and list of names here.)

Needing a separate, sealing garbage can for Roxie’s collected poop I grabbed a spare one from the basement, but I figured it needed some manner of appropriate labeling. This did it. I printed it on a full-page label, sealed it with packing tape, cut it out, and stuck it in place. Hopefully the can will also help keep the garage from smelling like fresh poop on warm days.

Check out this page for more information on this character and to see if your browser and installed fonts support it. Hopefully it does.

around the house making things