Goodjer life hacks

There are plenty of videos out there showing "life hacks". What ones have you used, and what are some that you came up with on your own?

I just installed a surge protector in my night stand, so I can charge all my gadgets.

IMAGE(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BRaBSocCAAAn-vn.jpg:large)

And last night I used the unfinished porcelain on the bottom of my coffee mug to sharpen a knife.

Weird. I just did something last night which got me wondering if GWJ had a topic like this.

This weekend we went fresh fruit/veggie crazy and took the kids to pick tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelons, etc. House was full of it. Of course with that comes fruit flies. Lots of them.

I took two small glass mixing dishes (normally used for dipping sauce) and filled them halfway with Apple Cider vinegar and added a drop of dishwashing liquid and then placed them strategically. This morning the bottom of the dishes were filled with the fruit flies. They can't resist the apple cider vinegar and normally would be able to drink it and fly away. The dishwashing liquid breaks the surface tension so the flies can't sit on the surface and down they go.

Stone fruits used to frustrate me before I figured out that all you had to do was make radial cuts along the x y and z planes and twist one half against the other.

Well, I have discovered some of mine are already on Life Hack.

One I am happy with is adhesive velcro on the remote controls.

One my wife found is using a dryer sheet to dust with. The sheet static attracts dust and hair, while imparting a fresh linen scent to a room.

I wish I had an extra drawer in my nightstand for this purpose, this is genius. But even if I got everything into that nightstand drawer of mine... my wife's top nightstand drawer is filled with way more fun stuff. *wink wink nudge nudge* Know what I mean?

Demosthenes wrote:

I wish I had an extra drawer in my nightstand for this purpose, this is genius. But even if I got everything into that nightstand drawer of mine... my wife's top nightstand drawer is filled with way more fun stuff. *wink wink nudge nudge* Know what I mean? :lol:

You and wifey like to play kazoos in bed too?!?! I thought we were the only ones! We went through a rip roaring rendition of Flight of the Bumblebee at 2 in the morning last night. The kids were jolted awake and started crying but we just told them, "Life sucks, wear a helmet!" and let them hone the art of self-soothing while laying on tear-soaked pillows.

I've been having a fruit fly problem myself, sounds like I'm headed to the grocer.

Demosthenes wrote:

I wish I had an extra drawer in my nightstand for this purpose, this is genius. But even if I got everything into that nightstand drawer of mine... my wife's top nightstand drawer is filled with way more fun stuff. *wink wink nudge nudge* Know what I mean? :lol:

Somethings may have been strategically removed for the picture.

F7's story is fake, since he only has ONE kid.

Gorilla.800.lbs wrote:

F7's story is fake, since he only has ONE kid. :D

Being gluttons for punishment, we went and had a second (she's 9 months old now). Because a year of sleepless nights and feces everywhere wasn't enough to dissuade us from having another mini-me that's most likely inherited all the worst traits of us and our parents.

So much poop...

Hey, congrats!!.. I hope it's still appropriate to say that!

Demosthenes wrote:

I wish I had an extra drawer in my nightstand for this purpose, this is genius. But even if I got everything into that nightstand drawer of mine... my wife's top nightstand drawer is filled with way more fun stuff. *wink wink nudge nudge* Know what I mean? :lol:

Even so, an easily accessible power outlet is a good thing in and of itself.

We use a hanging shoe holder, the sort that's open on both ends, to store our model rockets.

Is there an implied WWNN there or do you actually use a shoe holder to hold model rockets?

Gorilla.800.lbs wrote:

Hey, congrats!!.. I hope it's still appropriate to say that! ;)

Thanks! It's absolutely still appropriate because as someone who when single couldn't keep a houseplant or cactus alive (as Demetri Martin said, "wow...I'm less nurturing than a desert"), I consider each day my children wake up breathing a rousing success. If they only knew that I have NFI what I'm doing!

Not really a life hack but I'm a huge fan of sublingual B12 vitamins. Put a drop of it under your tongue, hold it there for a minute and rinse with water. About 15 minutes later you should feel a burst of energy that carries for a few hours without slugging down energy drinks.

FSeven wrote:
Gorilla.800.lbs wrote:

F7's story is fake, since he only has ONE kid. :D

Being gluttons for punishment, we went and had a second...

Wow. Bear witness to the rigid engineer's brain as it fails to grasp a joke. That whooshing sound was the joke going right over my head. I'm the life of the party that has no pulse.

Demosthenes wrote:

Is there an implied WWNN there or do you actually use a shoe holder to hold model rockets? :D

I suppose it would be good for any long tubular object :oops:...

But yes, it's really where the model rockets live:
IMAGE(http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/7083/5bp1.jpg)

Ha! That's awesome.

I save old gift/credit cards and use them to scrape dishes. They're flexible so they work on bowls too.

Remember they sell strips of adhesive Velcro by the foot at the craft store. Velcro organizes everything (try it on USB cables!)

Old gift and credit cards are great at scraping or for a putty knife in a pinch. Use the rounded corners for good and uniform caulk lines.

KingGorilla wrote:

Old gift and credit cards are great at scraping or for a putty knife in a pinch. Use the rounded corners for good and uniform caulk lines.

...genius! O_O

stupidhaiku wrote:

Velcro organizes everything (try it on the kids!)

KingGorilla wrote:

Old gift and credit cards are great at scraping or for a putty knife in a pinch. Use the rounded corners for good and uniform caulk lines.

glue automotive sandpaper onto old gift cards and they make excellent knife sharpeners.

I don't know if this counts as a life hack, but we make our own laundry soap. It's really pretty easy and saves a lot of money. Just be sure to wear a filter mask if you try it. Borax powder is really not too fun to breathe.

Some great ideas here! Tagging the thread for future reference.

LockAndLoad wrote:

Not really a life hack but I'm a huge fan of sublingual B12 vitamins. Put a drop of it under your tongue, hold it there for a minute and rinse with water. About 15 minutes later you should feel a burst of energy that carries for a few hours without slugging down energy drinks.

Any particular brand/product recommendations?

Gorilla.800.lbs wrote:
LockAndLoad wrote:

Not really a life hack but I'm a huge fan of sublingual B12 vitamins. Put a drop of it under your tongue, hold it there for a minute and rinse with water. About 15 minutes later you should feel a burst of energy that carries for a few hours without slugging down energy drinks.

Any particular brand/product recommendations?

I get the Nature's Bounty liquid they have at CVS. Looks a bit pricey but this lasts me a few months.
http://www.cvs.com/shop/product-deta...

I went to Lowes and got a utensil holder to give my power station a little organization. It was the cheapest one I could find that had slots wide enough to hold my three main gadgets.

IMAGE(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BRgY26ACMAANN33.jpg:large)

EverythingsTentative wrote:

I've been having a fruit fly problem myself, sounds like I'm headed to the grocer.

I had about a 1/8 cup of apple cider vinegar left in a bottle, poured it in a cup, dripped a little dish soap in it, and put three fly strips around the cup just to be sure. I swear this has revolutionized my efforts in my war against fruit flies.

Put cellophane over the bottle/glass that you have cider/vinegar in, and cut a slit through it. Big enough for the flies to go in through. It's kind of like a crab trap. They can smell their way in, but they can't find a way out.

I've done most of these except the pasta spoon one. That's why I have a spoon rest.

I just leave the spoon in. Also, why bake your eggs?