Adult Mancala

How many of you play "Adult Mancala"?
The thought came to me as I was filling up the little pill containers with vitamins.

A good fix

Sometimes you have a problem and the solution doesn’t have to cost any money if you think about it long enough.

Case in point. I work from home and my office window faces West. In the morning the room benefits by opening the blinds. In the afternoon the sun comes through and is so bright that I have to close the blinds. I angle the slats up so that stray rays don’t cause extra glare…they are deflected downward. So I still get light but without it being too bright. The problem is that there are tiny oval holes in the blinds, which are inherent in the construction. Unfortunately the sun often hits me right in the eye through these little holes.

The expensive solution would be to buy and install a different kind of shade. I looked and didn’t want to do that. A cheap possibility would be to hang up a pillowcase for the short time when I close the blinds…a pain because of the way blinds are made with all the strings.

Then today it hit me. All I needed was a thin strip of fabric to block those holes. It only has to hang for about 2 hours each day and not be permanently attached to the blind. So I cut a long piece of fabric from the leg of an old pair of work slacks that were destined for the trash, and fashioned two thinner strips at one end, so I could tie it around the top of the shade. This hangs in front of the holes and is PERFECT. I consider this an experiment…Phase 1.

Phase 2 will be to redo it so the strip looks nicer and is held in place at the top with a piece of Velcro. Then I can put it up and take it down with ease each day. It cost NOTHING and does the job perfectly.

Here is a pic with the filtered light and strip in place down the right side.


A little closer up. Notice the bright spots on the fabric? That is what is being filtered.

Resolutions

These are things I want to do this year. There may be more but these are off the top of my head.

• Finish the things I am making for Sean, Ryan, and Danny.
  
• Finish next year's Christmas gifts BEFORE it gets cold.
  
• Complete the installation of my dust collection duct work.
  
• Complete the construction of the boat bookcase.
  
• Buy a special panel sanding machine.
  
• Organize the work shop more.
  
  
• Complete the construction of the trash can and recycling bin pull out cabinet.
  
• Build the plate rack for over the microwave.
  
• Build the pull out bin for the narrow cabinet left of the dishwasher.
  
  
• Cook for myself more often.
  
• Attend Tae Kwon Do more often.
  
• Test for my third degree black belt.