Reviving a pen

 

Although pens are cheap and plentiful often I find myself having to use one that is uncooperative. I must coax it into helping me out. Here is the procedure to making a stubborn pen work.

1. Shake it hard holding it at the butt end. Is butt end the proper technical term for that part? Be careful some pens will leak ink. This also works well with felt tip markers on their last legs. Never shake an uncapped marker though.
2. Lick the tip. Your spit will lube and soften the ink gel. Note: I won't do this with a public pen as I don't know who else has used it. Also note: Ink is probably not good for you. Though some blue ink is being used as an anti radiation medicine. It also works in removing heavy metals from the body. Prussian Blue is usually taken orally in 500mg doses.
3. Give it mouth to mouth with another pen. Just try to put a bit of ink on the tip. This will work a little better than the spit method of #2.
4. Cook it in a flame for a second. Then quickly try to write a bit with it. This only works if you have access to a lighter or fire. Unfortunately many of us now live prehistoric lives and will worship those priests with the ability to use a Zippo lighter after December 2012.
5. Curse it for not bearing fruit. Break it in half as punishment and put it in the bin.

The Box method For Uncluttering

Here is my cluttered desk. It seems to gradually reach this stage over the space of a couple of days.
Yes I have a problem.

Here is the solution for my cluttered desk.

An empty box.

I put everything away. The things which don't have a place go in the box.
Pretty soon my desk is clean.

The homeless junk is now boxed.

I have found this is a wonderful method for clearing my desk and making my wife happier.

I did not invent this method. I think my mom taught me this one crazy stormy Saturday morning. Though I did not feel like I was learning anything at the time. This method has been detailed and immortalized by Stan and Jan Berenstain in the book "The Berenstain Bears and the Messy Room" published by Random house in 1983. If you have not read it I'm sure you can imagine what your mother would do after stepping on sticky airplane cement in the middle of your cluttered room.

There is a problem with this that you should be aware of:
If you live in a small apartment with limited space eventually you will run out of space for the boxes of junk. My workbench is an example of this.

The Loose Screw Hole Fix

If your wood hole is stripped and wont hold your screw anymore you can fix it with toothpicks and glue.
First put some glue on a toothpick.

 Then stick it in the hole.

 Break it off.
All you need to do now is put in the screw.
If the hole still seems loose you can keep adding toothpicks.

I have not tried this with stripped metal bolts but I have wrapped copper wire around a bolt to increase its diameter. This of course is not as strong as a steel bolt of the correct size.

Soap makes wood screws go in easier

You can make wood screws go in easier if they are coated with hand soap. It acts as a lubricant.

 Here is the screw with a bit of soap in it.

Here is the screw going into a tight hole.
This is the sum of everything I learned in high school shop class.
Soap is a lubricant.