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Duct Tape and Cable Ties - The modern man's answer to everything
16 April 2024
I have a certain family member,
who delights in seeing any potential breakage in his home, his car or anywhere
else for that matter, as a challenge to whip out some duct tape, and create
some magic.
Forget the old super glue or
finding-a-new-screw method. That’s so old school and yesteryear. Why bother,
when a good old strip (or rather a multiple amount of strips) of duct tape can
do a much better job. Creating a delightful addition to a formerly beautiful
item of furniture, or whatever else tickles your fancy. I suspect that this
guy, finds the addition of a colourful strip of blue or silver duct tape far
more aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Creating a wonderful uplifting effect
on a previously functional item.
In fact, he takes his artistic
creativity and flair to the next level. Not merely “fixing” something, ensuring that it looks almost the way it once did before he "fixed" it.. He rather opts for a quirky curve to a former straight
up bedside lamp. Clearly improving on what was once there. After all, why not?
And then I started thinking about
it a bit more. Doesn’t My Grantie do exactly the same? Our snackwhich maker is
a missing a screw that we cannot find an exact replacement for. Hey, no
problem! Blue duct tape to the rescue. Is it pretty? Hell no! But does it work?
Hell yes! Problem solved.
Which started me thinking
even more. Is this creative fixing obsession, merely limited to the humble duct
tape in order to cure all ails? Why no, there’s another equally awesome
fixer-upper solution to any problem that the humble duct tape can’t fix. Yip,
you guessed it, cable ties. We have a variety of colours and lengths. And boy,
does he love those bad boys.
And then once I started
investigating, it came to light that the original family member I mentioned
first, is also a firm believer in the restorative properties of cable ties.
Do you think there’s a pattern
emerging here? Do they teach it at Boy/Man 101. Maybe there’s a subsection of
the course material titled, “Duct Tape and Cable Ties – How to effectively use
these on anything and everything”. Perhaps the follow-up module is titled, “Uplifting
a once-broken item into a fixed creation of unequalled beauty”.
But hey, I’m not going to knock
it. I’ve got a few fixer-upper tricks up my own sleeve as well. Albeit of a
slightly different variety. Dinner a bit boring? Hey, presto! Just add garlic. Supper
need a spot of pizazz? No problem. Cream and mushrooms will perk that unappetising
sucker right up. Still no culinary joy? Fear not! A spot of chilli will
effectively nuke and mask absolutely anything.
So, there you’ve got it. Men have
their go-to tricks. And us gals have ours.
Please note that certain names were not mentioned in this blog. In order to protect "the innocent"...
