April 30, 2021
Dear Everyone:
Family Motto (one of them):
“If at first, you don’t succeed…give up skydiving.”
Murphy’s Law:
“If it says, ‘One Size Fits All’, it doesn’t fit anyone.”
Further adventures in “Do It Yourself” (DIY).
I had decided to make a “holder” for my
10-inch-by-7-inch tablet so I could watch TV shows while peddling on my
exercise bike, “Seymour”.
I cut a piece of felt about 12 inches by about
eight. I added a casing
about an inch around to hold a ½-inch-in-diameter wooden dowel at the
top. Then I added a smaller
casing at the bottom for a S¼-inch dowel.
I cut a piece of the ¼-inch dowel to a length
of 12 inches. When I slide
the dowel inside the casing, I realized that there was no dowel sticking
out on either side. I was
suddenly reminded of the age-old carpenters’ adage:
“Measure twice, cut once.”
Fortunately, the dowel was four feet long, so I
had some room for error.
Plus, I now know where to find more dowels at the Big Orange Hardware
Warehouse Store.
I cut another piece approximately two inches
longer than the first. This
time, the dowel slid easily through the casing, with an inch extending
on either side. When I
placed the upper encased dowel on Seymour’s little shelf, the tablet was
well positioned for viewing.
This was when I
discovered that the extended 14-inch-long piece of dowel at the bottom
stuck out precisely in position to jab me in the wrists on both sides
when I used Seymour’s handles.
The whole thing was held in place by slipping a
one-inch loose leaf ring around each end of the upper dowel, with a
large rubber band attached to both rings.
The band went behind the console, easily keeping the tablet in
place, while making it possible to remove the entire production at any
time.
So far, so good.
I have lots of felt and dowels left over with which to continue
experimenting.
In other news…
The Academy Awards presentation was on TV last
Sunday. “Jeannie” decided to
come down to my place to watch it with me.
And so I could take a stab at coloring her hair.
When the Pandemic started and everything shut
down, “Jeannie’s” hair stylist informed her that the stylist would not
be attending to anybody’s hair as her health was more important.
Fair enough. Since
“Jeannie’s” hair is longer than shoulder-length, it only needed trimming
from time to time.
However, her hair color was another matter.
“Jeannie” has been keeping her hair the “natural” dark brown
color that it was in her thirties.
Gradually, the stylist had been covering more and more gray with
brown.
Until now.
For the past year, “Jeannie’s” hair has been growing out at its
natural rate, but without any covering color.
A few weeks ago, when I drove up to her place and saw her in the
front yard, with her hair piled up on top of her head, she looked just
like our Mom: Short, with
gray hair.
In preparation of the Big Hair Coloring
Experiment, I obtained a couple of plastic drop cloths from the same Big
Orange Hardware Warehouse Store as the aforementioned dowels.
One was probably enough, but they were cheap, and I figured I
could always add the left over one to the Emergency Supply Box if we
didn’t use it.
“Jeannie” had purchased two complete Hair Color
kits, one in dark brown and one in a slightly lighter shade of brown.
I opened both kits and painstakingly read the directions for
each. The directions were
virtually identical. This
was not surprising since they were made by the same manufacturer.
Step One (in both cases):
Test for possible allergic reaction at least 24 hours in advance.
Oops.
We set up the test and waited about a half-hour.
No reaction. Hope for
the best.
Unfolded the plastic drop cloth and spread it
around “Jeannie’s” shoulders…and the chair…and half the kitchen.
Probably wouldn’t need the second one.
Step Two:
Remove the plastic tip from the provided squeeze bottle.
Then unscrew the cap.
Step Three:
Mix the Color and the Other Stuff in the squeeze bottle.
Step Four:
Apply the Color Combination gel to the roots and then to the rest
of the hair.
At first, I assiduously applied the gel at the
roots, as I had observed the stylist do it.
Then I realized that there was no need to be as frugal (spelled
c-h-e-a-p) as “Jeannie’s” erstwhile stylist.
We had a whole bottle of the stuff to use or throw out.
After that, I liberally squeezed globs of the stuff onto my
gloved hands, then smeared it generously over her head until every
strand, as far as I could see, was well covered, all the while muttering
to myself, “Measure twice, cut once.”
I did try to comb it all through, but that involved tangles and
“Jeannie” was completely justified in making squeaky noises of protest.
Then we waited about 40 minutes or so.
When it came time to rinse her hair, I decided to use the second
side of the dual kitchen sink as we had no wish to see “Jeannie’s”
lengthy locks washing even temporarily down the garbage disposal.
And…voila!
“Jeannie” now had completely brown hair.
It looked pretty good on first inspection.
Whatever spots were missed are now designated as “highlights”.
I haven’t actually seen it since, but I have
had reports that it’s “OK”.
Like Seymour’s tablet-holder, it’s all a Work In Progress.
Love, as always,
Pete
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