Sometimes things just break. In my experience, sometimes is frequently. And when you're stuck without many resources or tools, you have to use some creative solutions.
My first creative solution of the year involved an old belt, a wire hanger, a pair of pliers and my plush lounge chair. The chair's back cushion kept slipping out of place, leaving a bare metal bar to lean upon ' not exactly comfy.
We ended up wrapping the belt around the frame of the chair and bending a wire hanger into a kind of M-shape to keep the belt in place. It's not a pretty solution, but the cushion doesn't slip out anymore.
It was very much a MacGyver moment for me ' one that would make OU alumnus Richard Dean Anderson proud. We were using what we had at our immediate disposal, in this case a handy-dandy toolkit and some stuff we had lying around the room. And it wouldn't be the first quick fix of the year.
Duct tape, as many of you know, fixes everything, and there seems to be no end to the things I've used duct tape for in the past few months.
My laptop cord stopped working because of some frayed wires, but a little bit of duct tape kept it together for a few days until I made it to RadioShack for a replacement cord.
My friend's pants needed to be hemmed. Duct tape provided a quick fix.
Our medicine cabinet's latch broke, and a bit of duct tape keeps it closed now. My five-headed hydra lamp fell apart the moment I took it out of the box this year. A healthy amount of duct tape (probably more than was entirely necessary) now keeps my lamp functional.
But sometimes things are broken that even duct tape cannot fix. Like my air conditioner/heater unit that has baffled our maintenance personnel.
They've come to fix it twice, and it still manages to be broken as of this publication. I personally find it amazing that it started out with just the heat in need of repair.
Then after the heat was finally repaired, the AC stopped working.
Then randomly one cold November day, our heat stopped working again. We've had maintenance out just this week, to no avail.
Apparently we are just cursed (maybe it's the ghost of that bug that I killed in September).
If you keep a few essential supplies in your dorm, apartment or house, few repairs will remain out of reach. I'd recommend a toolkit and a sewing kit for starters. I know I found both very helpful throughout my time here in Athens. Beyond that, it's hard to tell what you'll need, but if you just keep your wits about you and think on your feet ' fickle air conditioners and heaters aside ' repairs are often possible.
Need to level a table or bed? A well-placed book or magazine may do the trick. Need a vase for some unexpected flowers? An empty glass bottle with a bit of water in it will keep your flowers in bloom for as long as any pretty vase would. Need to reattach a button to your jacket? Having a traveler's sewing kit allows you to replace it.
And if you're lucky, the next time a button comes undone you'll be home, where you can talk your mom into fixing it for you.
17 Archives
Nicole Franz
Creative quick fixes that would make MacGyver proud
