DIY Charging Station

Last night, I finally got tired of having things charging in every room of the house (except the bathroom). I decided to do something about it and paid a visit to the local Home Depot this afternoon. This convenient kitchen DIY charging station is the result.

The shelf has room enough for both my 13" MacBook, my 10" Toshiba netbook, and a couple of smaller devices such as my iPod Touch and my phone. The two hanging baskets below the shelf, which are the key feature to me, accommodate the AC adapters for both laptops, the iPod charger, the phone's AC adapter, a camera battery charger, and a charger for AA/AAA batteries with space to spare. If necessary, a couple more baskets could easily be added. A couple mini hair clips help with cord management.

The shelf unit is Closet Maid item 8279, $15.76, all hardware included. The two baskets are Closet Maid item 3937 at $3.67 each. The hair clips were locally appropriated at no cost to me. Total (with tax of course) was $24.48. Labor, about a half hour. Degree of difficulty, a caveman could do it.

Topsy-Turvy Tomato Update

As we approach mid-July, I am very disappointed in how my hanging tomato experiment has progressed (or not).

As you can see, the plant is desperate to grow vertically. I have seen some plants around the neighborhood that look exactly the way they're supposed to look, but not this one. I think the real problem is that I have no location where the tomato plant can get adequate sunlight. I do have a single tomato developing, however! Could be some good eatin'!

After the Storm

A short walk through the neighborhood this morning following last night's snowfall ...

After the Storm from Thomas Boito on Vimeo.

Daily Video #3 - Muddy Waters

This is the third in a series of quick daily videos. My plan is to do a video each day for 15 days to help develop more of a "shoot anything" mindset.

This is a muddy flood behind my building, apparently from a water main break.

Springtime

Some snaps from around the neighborhood this morning ...

Lock Bumping - What is it?

Do you know about this stuff

Baker Mansion, Altoona, PA

Baker Mansion, a Greek Revival mansion of thirty-two rooms, was built in Altoona, Pennsylvania, between 1844 and 1847, for ironmaster Elias Baker who lived there with his family until 1914.

Home of the Blair County Historical Society since 1922, guided tours are offered through period furnished rooms and historic exhibits on such topics as transportation, leisure activities and the Civil War. Native American and railroad artifacts are on display as well as several carved oak pieces that were imported from Belgium.

The Haunted Wedding Dress at Baker Mansion is said to be the wedding dress of a daughter of a prominent local man, Mr. Bell who founded and gave his name to the nearby town of Bellwood. It's said his daughter was to be married in this dress. Visitors claim to have seen the wedding dress move within its glass case, thus the wedding dress has gained a reputation as being haunted.
Slideshow added Oct 11, 2007.

Ten Uses for Lemons

If you are a regular reader, you know how I love these "clever-uses-for-ordinary-things" kind of articles. This one is about the little yellow lemon.

A favorite use I have for the lemon is to freshen the food disposal in the kitchen. I just cut one up and feed it to the disposal. I liked the dishwasher tip. I'm gonna try that one.

Hippyshopper: 10 eco-friendly things to do with lemons from Eco Street

How to Get Rid of Ants with Baby Powder

Apparently the baby powder disrupts the ants' scent trail which they use to navigate to and from the colony. So, ants already in your house can't find their way home and those on the outside have no trail to follow in.

How to Get Rid of Ants ~ Lockergnome’s Doing It

Once again, I have not personally verified the effectiveness of this method, but it interesting.

Another Miraculous Product

I've been an advocate of vinegar as multi-use product for some time. The applications for vinegar around the house are numerous. This article from because you value your body lists 62 interesting uses.

Some of these which I particularly like are --

• Remove stubborn coffee stains from cups and pots. Fill the cup with vinegar overnight, then rinse with hot soapy water.
• Keep a garbage disposal clean and smelling fresh. Mix one cup of vinegar in enough water to fill an ice cube tray, freeze the mixture, grind the cubes through the disposal, and flush with cold water.
• Prevent ice from forming on a car windshield overnight. Coat the window with a solution of three parts vinegar to one part water.
• Prevent lint from clinging to clothes. Add one cup vinegar to each wash load.

62 Little Known Uses Of Vinegar | because you value your body

Top 10 Uses For Used Coffee Grounds

Just thought you'd like to know ...
Top 10 Uses For Used Coffee Grounds �

Deodorizer, Plant Food, Insect Repellant, Cellulite Reducer, more