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With this screwdriver bit set… I can take apart the universe

January 10, 2008 by Chris Metcalf | 4 comments

Seriously, the last screwdriver bit set you will ever need. I’ve been looking for one of these for a long time. Besides all your standard philips, hex, Torx, and square head bits (in every imaginable size from tiny to huge) it also includes a whole ton of “security” bits, including those for secure hex, secure Torx, those crazy one-way philips-head screws you see in public bathrooms, and a few others I’ve never even seen before.

The last bit set you will ever need
The last bit set you will ever need

With this kit, I can take apart just about any piece of electronic hardware (or public bathroom urinal) I’m likely to encounter. And it was only $16 at Fry’s. Definitely a must-have.

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Plumb Away: A good excuse to clean your bathroom

October 3, 2007 by Chris Metcalf | 5 comments

So, I thought I was really bright a few days ago at Fred Meyer, picking up supplies to fix stuff around my apartment. A flapper valve for my running toilet, some gaskets for a dripping faucet, and a can of “Plumb Away” to clear out a slow-running bathroom sink.

Little did I know what I was getting myself into…

Plumb Away: A good excuse to clean your bathroom
Plumb Away: A good excuse to clean your bathroom

Of course I followed the instructions. I filled the sink with water, covered the backup drain with a wet rag, and pushed downwards on the can as if it were a plunger to force my pesky plug out of my plumbing.

And then my world exploded.

I live in an older apartment building. Older as in probably about 60-70 years old. Which means I have about 50-60 years of crud built up in my plumbing. All that crud, with the exception of the crud actually clogging the sink, chose exactly that moment to leave my plumbing. And exit promptly all over my bathroom.

As it seems, the extra large backup drain of my sink also provided an extra large exit for said crud, all of which promptly forced its way out past my carefully placed rag, and all over my bathroom. Covering my sink, my shower, my walls, and even myself. No innocent bystanders were spared.

The results? I was left with:

  • A bathroom covered in crap that was older than me
  • A sink fully of lemony fresh fizzy water
  • A drain that is still completely plugged

And, while wiser for the experience, I’m still $9 poorer, and I still don’t have a completely working sink.

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IKEA Hacks: Corner Wall Unit

August 28, 2007 by Chris Metcalf | 8 comments

I’m mostly posting this for the benefit of the folks on the IKEA Hacker blog because they’ll probably get a good kick out of it. I’ve long since moved out of that apartment, but I think the concept is still solid and that somebody else will probably benefit from it.

About a two years ago, I moved into my first post-college apartment with my friend Eli. One of our first steps was to hit up IKEA to pick up furniture, given the fact that we were, A.) Cheap and B.) Cheap.

We took a bunch of measurements and headed off to the store with our tape measures and our credit cards in hand. Little did we know that we’d be struck with the spirit of Martha Stewart herself and end up devising the perfect interior decorating plan.

Eli and I, being of a similarly cheap nature, both owned identical IKEA couches, the Lillberg, if I remember correctly. We also figured out that the Norrebo bookshelf unit was approximately as wide as the windows on the two windows on either side of the corner of our apartment. And “two shelves high” was as high as the higher of the windows. We also discovered a corner TV unit (I believe it was from the “Lack” line but I can’t find it now) was just about the right height and of a matching color to both the Norrebo and the Lillberg units we already had. So we formulated a plan.

  1. Build up a two shelve high bookcase unit against the wall with the taller window.
  2. Put the corner TV unit (obviously) in the corner
  3. Use the remaining third shelve of our Norrebo package to build a window seat against the other window.

But the true genius was realized when we discovered that the remaining cushions for our second (my) Lillberg couch were exactly the proper width and height to put on top of our new window seat.

The results were impressive. Even Eli’s (now-ex) interior designer girlfriend was very satisfied with the results.

The Apartment
The Apartment

Not bad, eh? All it took was a few extra random nuts and bolts scavenged from my toolbox and a little bit of extra time.

Update: There seems to be as much interest in the view from my old apartment as in the actual “hack”. The location is on Alki Ave SW in West Seattle, right at the east end of Alki Beach.


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The body of water you see is southern Puget Sound, and the mountains in the distance are the Olympic Range.

I have more pictures from my time on Alki up in my Flickr photostream.

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