I wanted to keep doing drills at home while I can’t go to the gym but I didn’t want to spend a lot of money. For slip line drills, I could use my hand wraps but it’s quite annoying if I need to roll it again once I don’t use it and I will probably never do the drill again. I also don’t want hand wraps to be loose in case my kids or cats accidentally play with if I forget to roll it back.
So, I got my materials to make a slip line from dollarama. It will cost $8CAD + tax to buy but I didn’t use all materials which is about $1 or less.
What you will need: Paracord($4 for 50′, I used 1′) bungee cord($4 for 12, I used only 1) box cutter or scissors lighter
1. Once you measure the length between 2 hooks/eye bolts. Then prepare the paracord just a bit longer than your desired length
2. Cut the bungee cord in half
3. Connect each end. In my case, I used the 4th method in this video
4. Use the lighter to melt the end of paracord and bungee cord
This may apply to people in a big city like Toronto. But there are quite a lot of people not utilizing the public libraries, so I’m going to share my experience.
While trying to figure out basic systems administration skills years ago, I thought I need to only purchase books, courses then write exams to earn certifications like CCNA or RHCSA. When I shared this thought with my co-op friend, he asked whether I have a Toronto Public Library card and if I cheched their online materials.
I always thought libraries have books only. I have never paid attention what kind of other materials they have. So I went to the library site, entered IT certification names, then I could find a lot of video courses and e-books that I did not have to pay(I paid taxes but let’s ignore that).
Not only do they have video courses and e-books, big city libraries have more stuff. For example, Toronto Public Library provides O’Reilly Learning(previously Safari) and LinkedIn Learning(previously Lynda) for all kinds of skill development, Hoopla, Kanopy for streaming, Overdrive for ebooks, Naxos music library for, of course, music streaming and many more. As long as you have internet connection, there is no excuse why you can’t learn stuff and enjoy your life for free.
Some branches have more things than others, like 3D printers, sewing machines, musical instruments for hobbies, practices too. Toronto Public Library used to have chroma key rooms for films, music record studios, DJ booth, even grand piano rooms, tools to rent before pandamic. I do hope they come back.
Toronto Public Library also has multiple programs for all ages, offers tutoring for all kinds of subjects, helps new immigrants, homeless people to start their lives. Just go and talk to the librarians, you may be surprised what you can get from it.
Materials: 1. 8 SUV tires (compact cars’ tires won’t be good because they are too light and don’t have thick sidewalls) 2. Hex bolts, washers, nuts x 21 (I’ve gotten 5/16″. Because the tire walls are thick, get longer than 1.5″ full threaded bolts, not partial. They are my only purchase for this, under $35CAD) 3. Masking tape, sharpie and a cutter knife 4. A stubby phillips screwdriver 5. Hand drill, 1/2″ drill bit (I’ll explain later) 6. A socket, ratchet socket wrench, adjustable wrench 7. Vacuum cleaner I’ve collected 8 tires for free from local mechanic shops. Since they are different sized, the bigger the tire is, the lower it’s going to be in the stack.
Once that’s done, label them so you know the order.
I’ve gotten 21 sets of bolts, washers and nuts to secure 8 tires.. so I will need 3 sets between tires. Put a tire on another, check the alignment, then use the masking tape to mark 3 corners. Try marking with the tape as straight as possible.
It’s going to make your life easier when you label each corner so that you don’t have to find it again later. Cut the masking tape. After that, put the upper tire down but upside down. We need to drill upper one first.
Before drilling a hole, put longer masking tape for each corner as an extension so that you know where you will drill. I chose a bigger drill bit than the bolt size because those SUV tires(one was a truck tire) has strong sidewalls, so even with a bigger hole, there will be some struggle. ** A tip. Clean the rubber bits every time you drill the tires. If you don’t, those rubber bits will go everywhere. Even on you hair! **
After drilling 3 corners of upper tire, put the upper tire on the lower one and align it again. Get the stubby screwdriver. It’s time to mark on the lower tire.
Find a hole from the inside of the upper tire. Poke through the hole as straight as possible. If you don’t, the bolt would be slanted, hard to secure well because of strong sidewalls. Do this for all 3 corners and put the upper tire down again.
You will see a small mark on the lower tire. That’s where you should be drilling. After that, put the upper tire on the lower one, align them again. Now it’s time to secure them with bolts, washers and nuts. Use wrenches to fasten them real tight, they will get loose over time.
Since working from home, I’ve wanted to have a pair of bluetooth noise cancelling headset but most of them were ridiculously expensive. I know some nice features that allow you to keep them on to talk to someone, active noise cancelling instead of muffling the noise, great build and sound quality, but I just don’t want to spend a lot.
I came up with a solution. I do have a pair of in ear bluetooth headphones already, although it’s not noise cancelling ones. I bought a earmuff! So this is how it works. I plug my ears with in ear headphones then cover my ears with the earmuff on top. It doesn’t actively cancel any noise but I do hear nothing! I can listen to stuff and use the microphone too! They are 2 items not one pair of noise cancelling headphones, I can use earmuff only for pomodoro sessions or headphones for workout and chores.
Of course the cheap solution comes with drawbacks. First, I can’t hear nothing, so I won’t know what’s going on until I get a call or something draws my attention. If the house is on fire and I’m alone, I may be in a big trouble. Another drawback is the ergonomics. The earmuff isn’t angled so it pushes my ears down hard. This can cause some pain on my ears if I put it on too long so I have to take it off every hour at least. The last one is that the pads aren’t soft and breathable. So imagine those pads are on your ears for a long time… they get sweaty 😦
Even with the drawbacks, I do love how this solution works for me. I would print some labels saying “DO NOT TALK TO ME” and stick them on the earmuff so that I get some quiet time 🙂
pretty random archives 