Assignment 10: Jimmy-Rig
For Better or Worse
Today, or this weekend, your assignment is to fix it with whatcha got.
Assignment 10: Jimmy-Rig
Somewhere in your life there’s a problem that needs fixin’, or a project that needs doin’. With some amount of stubbornness (I’ve got plenty if you need to borrow any), fix-it-do-it with supplies you already have on hand.
Briefly, if you’re enjoying this newsletter, consider upgrading to a paid subscription! I just published my 20th post (this is 21), and I’m 1 person away from 30 paid subscribers… what lovely round numbers! Your 6 bucks a month translates to about $4.90 for me after substack’s cut, which at 30 paid subscribers means I get to pay myself roughly $36/post. Not bad! But, maybe I should consider being more efficient with my writing process… hum! In any case, thanks for being here!
This assignment is an ode to the resourceful grandmas and grandpas (hi Grandma!), the Madelines (hi Madeline!), the quilters of Gee’s Bend, menders, tinkerers, fixers, people with less, and people with just enough. Finding creative solutions to problems is a source of beauty (and it’s probably good for your brain).
My jimmy-rig of the day is to hang grow lights above my freshly sown seed starts. I decided I didn’t need or want to trek to the hardware store to buy a new shelf (the easiest solution), so I’ve been messing around for a while figuring out how to hang the lights with clamps, bits of string, paper clips, and chunks of wood from the yard. So far my method is half-successful—I need to move the lights farther apart, which I think will require more chunks of wood. I’m not a particularly elegant (or effective) jimmy-rigger, but I’m working on it.
Note: Use good judgment with your jimmying… perhaps don’t mess with your plumbing or your electrical wiring for example? We’re talking low-stakes fixing here.
And if you’re curious, I’m trying to grow native grasses from seed (little bluestem, prairie dropseed, purple lovegrass) as an experiment this spring. I’ll most certainly be talking about the garden in later paid posts — I talked about our second summer here, third summer coming right on up! It’s a major source of creative fulfillment for me.
Today’s Jim:
Be well,
Sara
So today, Ihad to reconfigure my monitor set up work. Part of the process was to move the monitors which required a phillips head screwdriver. Of course, I was the only one at the office so I had no access to a tool box. So I went to the kitchen, got a knife from the silverware drawer and viola...monitors moved! I was peetty proud ofmy accomplishment. And yes, I put said knife in the dishwasher.
Duct tape is the # 1 successful material for jimmy-rigs!