My husband is a genius–really!
I keep waiting for him to invent something cool and life-changing for humanity so I can finally afford that gold-plated mini van from the Donald Trump series.
I believe the current term for what my husband does is “life hacking”. There is even a web site devoted to it, lifehacker.com.
I’ve always called what he does “mangineering”. It’s not pretty, but it gets the job done.
 |
| Essential tools of a mangineer are bungee cords, zip ties and, of course, DUCT TAPE! |
The best example husbandly mangineering happened about ten years ago. He had a new program on his Palm Pilot–something called GPS. I think you’ve probably heard of it by now.
The problem was that you couldn’t easily see the map on the screen (no voice program back then) from anywhere you could rest the device on the dash.
Enter the mangineer. He formed an old wire coat hanger into a long, narrow U shape and slipped it through the vent of the air system in the car. He secured the stiff wires ends-up with zip ties (as indispensable as duct tape to MacGyver) and suspended the Palm Pilot on the end of the wires for easy viewing while driving.
It was a bit like this, but was through the louvers of the vent.
I wish I’d taken a picture, because it was the perfect example of what he does. It may not be pretty, but it works and it’s brilliant. The best part for me was that the dash was unmarred.
Later I thought about starting a web site devoted to the hacking brilliance of all mangineers, but someone else beat me to it. It’s a little more passive-aggressive than what I had envisioned, but it’s still pretty funny. Enjoy There, I Fixed It.
Do you have any lifehacking tales? What’s the best feat of mangineering you’ve seen?
Duct tape from here.
Hack from here.
I have to admit, that's pretty genius!
Shell, it was so ugly, but so useful I couldn't complain.
D'oh! Your husband and mine were cut from the same bolt of "genius".
Mine has rigged so many things over the last 26 years that I cannot begin to pick out one. And yes – they were almost all ugly except for the ones that I had to put my foot down about. Sometimes ugly is worse than not having the convienient/genius whizbang contraption.
Robin, what was the worst? I think they are genius without even quote marks. My inner lady does wish they were pretty.
But if I wanted useful and pretty, I should have married Martha Stewart.
Truly – the worst escapes me. The one that pops in my head is the plastic knob on the crock pot that broke and was irreparable. Batman rigged up a metal strap and a clamp of some kind and that thing has been holding strong for 15 years!
I was just about to reference MacGyver, but I see you did it for me. Genius indeed. I am not good with this stuff, although I do keep a good supply of duct tape on hand.
Robin, I'd love to see a picture. My e-mail address is on the "I'm Nota Supermom" tab at the top of the page.
Cheesey, MacGyver is the original mangineer. Lots of duct tape–you never know when you'll need a kilt, right?
How did I never know about Lifehacker??!! Sheesh!!
Cool, isn't it, SMR?
We call my hubby "Inspector Gadget" sometimes.
Clever but I tend to resist unattractive clever. 😉
I have a bed which had a loose foot board. It just needed some L-shaped thingies to place on the inside to secure it and that has since been done. But my SO would have liked nothing better than to duct tape the outside of it to secure it. It would have worked but it would look oh, so ugly. Not on my bed!
No doubt your GPS solution was a clever one and the premise does make for a great series of blog posts. 🙂
That is quite the collection of mangineering supplies.
I'm with Hilary. "I tend to resist unattractive clever." 🙂 Think I'll go watch some old MacGyver episodes in your honor….
Oh my heck…my dh has rigged up tons for us. I've been thinking that I need a dash panel for my phone….maybe I'll mention it to him.
Function is usually above pretty in my book unless it involved animal skins.
LOVED the line about 'should've married Martha Stewart'!!! I almost chocked on my cereal that was so funny.
You should check out Red Green episodes too….his tag line (and now our family tag line/sick inside joke)…"If the women don't find you handsome, at least they'll find you handy!"
Mangineering = jerryrigging.
My husband is also amazing in that way.
There's a little Macgyver buried deep in the heart of the Big Bison.
Let it be.
This is amazing!!! And that was a great read- thank you!
I'm Rachel, by the way! Stopping in from the April Blog Hop! Hope you'll come visit me at http://www.upperbottom.com and @upperbottom.
Cheers and happy spring!!
Oh, Hilary, it's was ugly as homemade sin. I hated how it looked, but it was better than him fumbling to look at the GPS every time we needed to make a turn.
Faith, we love The Red Green Show. The men guffaw, while I smile a little. It's a Man Show, for sure.
Rachel, nice to meet you!
I'm off to check out your blog now.