home improvement | Page 9 of 9

DIY a Stay at Home Dad can do: A new Thermostat

Dads, moms and babies need to stay cool, keep warm or keep those HVAC bills under control. A nice programmable digital controller for your HVAC system can regulate temperatures day to day, as well as, specific times. Successfully programming your system can save you cash, which dads can then use for other important things like beer, pizza, video games or comic books.

When our HVAC system was inspected recently the technician told me that the thermostat was not working correctly. As this was the second time I had been told this, I knew that he was telling the truth. By nature, I don’t trust people selling me stuff, especially when its guy stuff that I feel like I should know. Continue reading DIY a Stay at Home Dad can do: A new Thermostat

The pros and con of using vinegar to clean

Prior to being a stay at home dad I had a wide variety of cleaning chemicals in my house. I even had two pints of acid that was kept in a thick black bottle, triple layered zip sealed bag. The acid didn’t make the move with us to our new home and is back at the old house, probably being surrounded by the EPA right now.

I was the single mans Breaking Bad, except I didn’t do anything with the chemicals, especially clean. Continue reading The pros and con of using vinegar to clean

Daddy Mojo’s guide to the toddler/toilet relationship

Whenever you move into a new place it has most of what you want, as well as, a couple things that you have to change immediately. Some of these changes may be inspired by you while others could be ordered by your spouse. Continue reading Daddy Mojo’s guide to the toddler/toilet relationship

Dad runs an errand to the home improvement store

Since becoming a father one of the biggest changes have been the running of errands. All of them are consolidated and planned out like a-connect-the-dots course designed to get Baby Mojo home before feeding or nap.

The errand that has taken the biggest hit is the trip to the home improvement store. Now when we visit I don’t even get to use that large push cart. Baby Mojo sits in the normal shopping cart and waves to everybody in the store, a ten month old he just loves to wave. Initially it felt odd pushing a shopping cart, what with its’ confined ‘cart’; instead of the flat one that can hold anything in the store and was in itself a work out to move.

Prior to having a child I’d visit once a week, even if I didn’t need anything. Anything and need is all relative, I mean you can always use cleaning solvents and dirt. Continue reading Dad runs an errand to the home improvement store

The world’s worst screen window

Baby Mojo has been waking up at night lately. He had been sleeping for 7-8 hours, but with spring here we think he may be getting hot. It's too nice outside for the air conditioning to be on, half of our windows don't have screens and money is too tight to get a new screen professionally made. What's a stay at home dad with no time to do?

Duct tape across the window, even with the sticky side facing in, would look entirely too gauche.  Mommy Mojo stepped up to the plate, did the research and found out that for $5.35 we can purchase a roll of screen material that we can cut ourselves.

Technically, there’s nothing too difficult about the job. Granted there is 0% chance of the screen window actually looking good when it’s finished, but at least it wouldn’t be challenging or take too much time.

Measure twice, measure again, then cut once. The surface didn’t have the area to allow for actually duct tape (damn it…), so I used some painters tape on the exterior of the screen against the window frame. Screen window up, window open and Baby Mojo still woke up at 5AM. His little diaper had reached the limit of its absorbency and little Mojo was at his wit’s end, poor little dude.

My jury rigged screen window at least allows for a cross breeze to go through the house. It also has the added effect of a blue sticky surface that will trap some of the unlucky bugs. Their screams of pain will warn the others not to approach this steel grid of security.

Does anybody out there have a hammer drill? I needed one for a project a couple of years ago and my first thought was what the hell is a hammer drill? It sounds like some monster hybrid tool that can cure cancer. It’s best friends in the tool world are probably the grill router or pneumatic laser level.

I knew that I had to have a hammer drill. When I got to the tool store I also purchased a reciprocating saw, which is equally as practical and also has a kick ass name. That salesperson had struck novice home improvement gold. If he said that all the rage in testosterone home improvement was a gas-powered alarm clock I would’ve signed up for that too.

Apparently I wasn’t the only one who would fall for manly sounding gadgets. Did you hear that the federal government gave a Four Star Energy Rating to a gas-powered alarm clock, cleverly named Black Gold? Somewhere Jed Clampet is grinning at the gullibility of aspects of our government.

In my current reality, the hammer drill and all of these things sound like B-grade movies on Syfy. They’re filming Sharktopus, recently showed Mega Piranha and will air MothMan in a couple of weeks. You know you want to watch them, quit denying it.

In a couple of years if they get really desperate they can shoot Screen Hole, the story about the world’s worst storm window and how it created a worm hole to another dimension. I just hope they get Michael Cera to play me and not Shia LaBeouf.