Hurricane Activity

We're bracing for Hurricane Irene.  Everything is tied down, camping stove, lanterns and flashlights on standby. Worst case situation - no electricity for a couple days, at least I have my muscle-powered knives and gauges here and I can while away the windy hours with some carving projects. Maybe even catch up on my backlog of painting. Nice to have a low tech hobby. Stay safe everyone on the Eastern seaboard.

Shop tip - cord labels

Here's a little quickie shop tip. It's so simple yet so handy. I forget where I picked this idea up from, but I filed it in the back of my mind, knowing it might come in handy one day. Lately I have been using more power tools than I have outlets near my workbench and I find it annoying to have to guess which cord I'm unplugging, especially since I switch between tools a lot. Besides being a really useful idea, recycling the little tabs from bread bags fits in with my philosophy of give things most people throw away "an extra life".  I have this 4-gang box suspended above my bench which I prefer to bending down every time I need to change a plug. Plus it keeps cords from getting tangled where my feet like to be.
This idea works really well in my office too!