Our recent "want" was a channel or two on the telly. The husband delivered
- he managed to craft an HD antenna that picked up some very clear HD channels without any cable! Some people are very impressed by this (namely, Uncle Al) but I haven't been lately. This new obsession with antennas is a bit scary because they look like some sort of torture device that I am sure the kids will find and manage to maim themselves with. As I write this, he is working on version 3.0 of THE Super Antenna with "less interference this time" http://www.tvantennaplans.com/. Scary. See pic for evidence of this.
- he managed to craft an HD antenna that picked up some very clear HD channels without any cable! Some people are very impressed by this (namely, Uncle Al) but I haven't been lately. This new obsession with antennas is a bit scary because they look like some sort of torture device that I am sure the kids will find and manage to maim themselves with. As I write this, he is working on version 3.0 of THE Super Antenna with "less interference this time" http://www.tvantennaplans.com/. Scary. See pic for evidence of this.But, I digress.
This week I wanted to buy a nice little gift for myself and the Earth, for Earth Day- a wooden plastic bag drying rack: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000E8OQNK/ref=s9_sims_gw_s1_p79_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-1&pf_rd_r=1SXW0QZK022V5Y6Y1WEM&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938131&pf_rd_i=50784631&pf_rd_i=507846
Isn't it nice?
I checked with husband to see if we could have it shipped to his friend's U.S. address. Was this a mistake?
He freaked. Yes, freaked when he saw it.
"They charge 20 bucks for that?!? I can make you one!" I said that I liked the look of the one on Amazon- and I wasn't sure I wanted any of his contraptions on my counter. As most of them are amazing in their own right, they are unsightly at best. He thought I was crazy- because afterall, it was just wooden sticks.
That made me think. True, 20 dollars is a bit of money to spend on something that should be saving me money. Also, in my haste to be "green", I really wasn't considering the environmental impact of having that package shipped to me from somewhere in the U.S. (the plastic, cardboard, fossil fuels, etc.) and I was being yet another mindless consumer.
I stepped up to the challenge. What would MacGruber do? Well, he needs to dry a plastic bag before the wet one explodes and kills the segment before yesterday's band comes on to play their dying swan song. That is a lot to do in the mere 38 seconds he has left.
I started researching my options online- plastic bag drying rack: 58,600 hits!- one a tennis ball with chopsticks stuck in it- inventive but kinda ugly, some chopsticks in a glass of rice- wouldn't that rice get wet and yucky?, and a wooden spoon in a glass milk bottle- I've done this before but I need multiple drying areas and this is why I wanted to buy one in the first place.
So I walk into the kitchen and scope out my options- lots of chopsticks from take out sushi- a little on the small side but would work for the smaller ziploc bags. But that wouldn't work for the bread bags. I managed to scrounge in our miscellaneous drawer and found some great bamboo skewers (from kebobs of summers past) that were the perfect height and thickness!
Now what to put them in? A tin can, a glass, a bottle, hmmm...the options seem endless. But none seemed to work very well. Then I remember a craft I did with my daughter with air dry play clay and chopticks. Eureka! I got so excited with the first one that I also crafted model 2.0 (Owl). Can you believe I made this in 38 seconds? Well, just about. Pretty MacGruber if you ask me.
But I do need to paint it once it has dried so add another few seconds tomorrow.
But I do need to paint it once it has dried so add another few seconds tomorrow.And I am happy to report that the husband is thrilled to finally see me engaging in his kind of fun. I have to say that this really could be more of a bonding moment than our marriage course.
I am feeling especially minty green now that I discovered that with my own invention, I could fuel my love of new "domestic technology" with my love of saving the environment and saving money!
My challenge to you: invent something today. The Earth will thank you!
Happy Earth Week, earthlings!
