Category: Life Hack

Microwaves

On By CarynIn Life Hack

Did you know that microwaves and wifi use a similar radio frequency? I do now. The way our house is set up, the microwave faces the point of entry for our internet connection, which is where the router lives. Not always, but enough to be irritating, when we run the microwave, the wifi glitches. Moving either is not an option. The router has a dual channel at 5Ghz, and we still experience interference (this is in response to articles like this one that suggesting moving or upgrading.) I have been experimenting with options for awhile. A cookie sheet put in front of the microwave isn’t very effective, by the way. We had the idea of using a fireplace curtain as a kind of Faraday cage, or really a wall. It is an awkward space, so a trip to the hardware store was in order to source parts for a rod, since a traditional rod for fireplaces wouldn’t work. I found pretty copper bell pipe clamps!

Photo description: Copper bell pipe clamp mounted to the underside of the countertop

I also found steel rod. Unfortunately the smallest pipe clamp was 1/2” and the rod is 5/16”. Rubber spacers to the rescue.

Photo description: In the foreground, a rubber ring wedged onto the end of a steel rod.

I started with just one curtain, since it would fit nicely to the side of the microwave when not in use. I tested, but at home alone in the morning, I couldn’t replicate the conditions (TV worked fine, even live streaming).

Photo description: fireplace curtain mounted in front of our microwave in a dedicated alcove built in to the base cupboards.

When it was evening, and everyone was drawing bandwidth and the football game was on the main screen, I did another test. Bingo. No loss of signal for the game. However, my youngest still reported her iPad and hearing aids, which connect with Bluetooth, glitched. I installed the second curtain, which makes the setup more bulky, but effectively makes the mesh holes smaller since they aren’t fully open. That did the trick.

Photo description: Two fireplace curtains mounted on the same rod.

Two to one

On By CarynIn Craft, Life Hack

I have Frankenstein’d my shirts before, where I have two shirts with opposite positive attributes, so I combine them. Mostly it involves ripping seams, cutting, and sewing back together. I’m at it again. I found a printed tee that I liked the print and the message: “Keep going, just to see what happens” with singing dancing skeletons. But it is a “women’s” shirt, so has cap sleeves and a snug fit. Bah. I have an old shirt with lovely full sleeves, but a high neck and short body. Also Bah.

Photo description: Peach t-shirt with skeleton print and an olive green shirt with butterfly sleeves.

I like peach and olive green together, so I selected these shirts for tailor surgery. I ripped out the seams on the peach shirt, except for the shoulders, and cut a larger neck hole. I cut the sleeves and the hem off the olive shirt, and a two inch section of the body. I sewed the olive green strips into the side seams of the peach shirt to give it more ease, sewed the butterfly sleeves in, then used the olive green hem to edge the neckline.

Photo description: Printed peach tee with olive green butterfly sleeves, side gussets, and new scoop neckline.

I like how it came out. Before I had two shirts I would not wear, now I have one shirt I will.

Bug catcher

On By CarynIn Life Hack, Wildlife

I’ve been seeing some strange bug catching methods on my feeds, so I thought I would share my preferred method for catching and removing critters from the house: a cup and card stock. Put the cup over the insect, slide the card stock under, tada, instant cage. Thin paper can work, but isn’t as secure. Clear plastic cups are awesome, but a glass works too.

Photo description: Blue transparent plastic cup upside down on a white sheet of card stock on a concrete porch. Large black beetle visible inside the cup.

This works great for creatures on flat surfaces, and the materials are cheap and readily available.

Frixion card

On By CarynIn art, Life Hack

I ran an experiment with my sister. I decorated a card with Frixion pens, markers, and highlighters, then “erased” it by ironing. The way Frixion ink erases is by heat; when you use the little eraser it creates friction with the paper and generates enough heat to deactivate the ink color. Neat. The super cool science geeky part is that if you freeze the paper, the ink reactivates. I tested the card in my own freezer, then heated it again. I’m not sure how many times the ink can be cycled, but I know it is over four (that is how many times I’ve tested it previously before getting distracted). The colors fade slightly in the first cycle, but not much in subsequent activations.

Photo description: white card with floral designs, half erased, on an ironing board with the edge of the iron in view.
Photo description: Blank white card, with the erased design barely visible.
Photo description: Back of card, with “Put in freezer” written in regular ink.

Since the markings don’t erase completely (there are shadows and indents), I did a little misdirection and wrote the instructions on the back of the card. I put it in an envelope and mailed it to my sister. She reported back that it worked! I will have to wait until next summer to send another one; having the card sit in a freezing cold mail box would defeat the trick.

I probably get a bigger kick out of this than is normal for an adult.

Sewing machine update

On By CarynIn Craft, Life Hack, Tools

It is hard to be patient. I have read over and over on posted threads and in books to soak old seized machine parts in oil, let it sit, and eventually the part will unscrew. I have been doing that with sewing machine oil and PB Blaster, and each time I sit down with the machine something new comes loose, one or two on a lucky day. Don’t ever wish for patience.

I did discover that the balance wheel I was trying to unscrew was actually friction fit. Huh. Bob Fower has a video on taking apart a 127 Singer sewing machine where he uses a harmonic puller to remove the wheel. I picked one up at an auto store, but I didn’t notice that the kind I grabbed needed screw sockets on the wheel to be removed. Blast. So I jury rigged it by looping heavy duty cable ties to the holes of the puller. It worked. (Cable ties outrank duct tape in my book.)

Photo description: Side view of a model 27 Singer sewing machine with large black cable ties holding a piece of metal with four holes to the balance wheel. A long screw sticks out of the center of the piece of metal.

As I wait for the oil to do its magic. I’ve been picking off layers of ancient (literally) dried oil from the parts I can reach. Bamboo sticks are awesome for this. I did a short on YouTube showing what I’m doing. Pack your patience and enjoy 58 seconds of Vocal Spectrum’s “Go the Distance”. Oh the harmony!