Sunday, June 25, 2006

All That With a Toothpick


When I get up early in the morning to play racquetball, I try to be quiet when I leave. Our front door has made this challenging because the little plate that goes around the sliding mechanism of the doorknob is loose. When I try to close the door, that plate sticks out enough that the sliding mechanism does not want to slide in when it touches the door frame, so the door BANGS open instead of closing. I have tried to tighten screws that hold the plate to the door, but the wood has 'stretched' too much and the screws do not tighten anymore. I mentioned the problem to my friend George, and he suggested something I had never heard before...toothpicks. He suggested sticking a toothpick or two into the hole and then screwing the screw into it allowing the toothpick to fill in the gap. I tried it, and it worked like a charm. Cool!

So what does that have to do with the picture here? I went looking for a picture of a toothpick to go with this fascinating story and I found this link to some guy that made Ripley's Believe It Or Not for all his toothpick creations. You can click on the link above or to see all the crazy stuff he has carved or you can click on the picture and see the 9 car train he carved into that toothpick. Just thought I'd throw that in for free.

- Rob

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