First coffee outside the farmer’s market this year! Unbelievable start to spring in Halifax. I’m told that it is technically still winter until 2:30 this afternoon – but my bubble will not burst.
Archive for the ‘Try this at home’ Category
DIY Birch Laptop Stand
Monday, March 15th, 2010
Working on my laptop was starting to treat my spine badly. Not just a physiotherapist’s concept of poor posture — rather — actual discomfort that I could notice myself. It didn’t take too long after reading The DIY Cheapskate Laptop Stand for me to adapt that nice bit of work into my own version made of solid wood. Birch to be precise – left over from a stair tread that I butchered for another purpose. Call me paranoid but there’s something about hardwood propping up my laptop that is more comforting that corrugated cardboard. I’m sure the engineers out there can prove there is nothing to fear, but better safe than sorry.
I don’t have any step-by-step instructions or pictures if you want to try this at home — but — you can get a complete set of plans for the cardboard version from the same article that inspired me. Here are a few photos of the finished laptop stand in solid birch.
-
- Birch Laptop Stand Raises Screen Height 20cm
-
- Birch Laptop Stand Holds a 15″ MacBook Pro, and up to 17″
-
- Cross-bracing and solid birch provide the strength
-
- Sanding made the surfaces even, for a stable laptop base
Wallpaper on the cieling
Monday, March 8th, 2010
Our house has had one of those fluorescent tube light fixtures that are normally used to illuminate factories. You know, a big rectangle with crystal-textured semi-transparent plastic that houses two long tube lights. Why the previous owners installed this monster in a small bedroom is beyond me – but that’s not what’s really weird.
This photo shows wallpaper – on the ceiling - and it’s a particularly interesting(?) pattern to boot. Also notable is that they scraped the wallpaper off the ceiling after they installed the fluorescent light fixture.
These little time capsules never cease to fill me with a sense of wonder about the previous owners.
Yikes! Melted power adapter crisis
Saturday, January 23rd, 2010
Melted sheathing on MacBook Pro power adapter wire
I’ve never had anything like this happen with any power adapter for any device ever before. The problem was not the same as this well known issue with MacBook Pro power adapters. Not a pleasant discovery, since I tend to leave this thing plugged in until 100% charged (which can take hours — not always attended), and it sits on the wooden table you see in the background. (more…)
Cosmetic Pesticide Ban in Nova Scotia
Monday, January 18th, 2010
If you live in Nova Scotia and think you and your family already absorb enough toxins, why not tell the government you agree with a ban on cosmetic pesticides. Here are my responses to this short petition at https://www.gov.ns.ca/nse/pests/comments.asp
Question 1:
Do you believe that the application of pesticides for lawn maintenance is non-essential? Why or why not?:
I believe that the application of pesticides for lawn maintenance is non-essential because I have a lawn and do not use pesticides. I aerate the lawn in the spring, and manually pull weeds such as dandelions. Weeding is a daily after work routine for about 2 weeks as the dandelions first appear. For the rest of the summer and fall it takes about 20 minutes per week. Vitamin D and a bit of exercise come free with this work. Also, I have a vegetable garden and various other plants and shrubs. Aphids are a bit of a problem but easily solved with ladybugs (which you can purchase for about $25/1000 at good gardening stores).
Question 2:
Do you agree with the provincial ban on non-essential lawn care pesticides proposed by the Government of Nova Scotia? Why or why not?:
I agree with the provincial ban on non-essential lawn care pesticides proposed by the Government of Nova Scotia because the toxins in pesticides have unintended AND unexpected outcomes in the environment in both the short and long term. People never seem to understand that individually small applications of chemicals/poisons add up to very large amounts when everyone participates. If you ban the chemicals/poisons outright, then perhaps fewer people will apply them.
Question 3:
Do you have any additional comments about the proposed non-essential pesticide ban?:
The problem is that the chemical solution to lawn care is very well marketed, and natural solutions are not. Humans always fall for marketing, so perhaps out-marketing the chemical pesticide industry is also going to be required as part of a long term prevention of chemical pesticides.
Additional comments:
Give people alternatives to chemical pesticides and they will probably try them. Find experts that practice natural lawn and garden maintenance and give them a forum to educate consumers. You can probably even align these goals with health and fitness goals at the same time.
Rib Roast and Root Vegetables
Thursday, December 10th, 2009
It’s a bit ridiculous how easy it is to cook rib roast and root vegetables. Even easier than BBQ. Made this beauty last night for supper and the house smelled delicious.
