Any Pluggers out there?

[coriolis]

I'm sure many of us have seen the comic strip "Pluggers," where ordinary people (animals in the strip) show resoursefulness, thrift, and creativity in solving (or not solving) little day-to-day problems, or scoring small victories in everyday life.

Are any of us here pluggers? Is there anything you do that makes other people shake their head, but it works for you?

I'll offer three things that I've done that fall into this category


When I used to have a pickup and I had to shovel the snow to get it out. I'd shovel some of the snow into the back of the truck to get rid of it and improve traction.

I occasionally find a pallet that's going to be trashed. I figured out how to take them apart and re-use the wood for a variety of projects.

Many of the pieces of wood that I use have been used at least once before in other projects.

Anyone else?

[Skywatch_NC]

I'm sure many of us have seen the comic strip "Pluggers," where ordinary people (animals in the strip) show resoursefulness, thrift, and creativity in solving (or not solving) little day-to-day problems, or scoring small victories in everyday life.

Are any of us here pluggers? Is there anything you do that makes other people shake their head, but it works for you?

I'll offer three things that I've done that fall into this category


When I used to have a pickup and I had to shovel the snow to get it out. I'd shovel some of the snow into the back of the truck to get rid of it and improve traction.

I occasionally find a pallet that's going to be trashed. I figured out how to take them apart and re-use the wood for a variety of projects.

Many of the pieces of wood that I use have been used at least once before in other projects.

Anyone else?

When I was employed in the maintenance dept. at a tire tread and tire repair products company...a maintenance co-worker of mine collected up broken pallets and used the wood for fireplace kindling.

Eric

[James]

I'm sure many of us have seen the comic strip "Pluggers," where ordinary people (animals in the strip) show resoursefulness, thrift, and creativity in solving (or not solving) little day-to-day problems, or scoring small victories in everyday life.

Are any of us here pluggers? Is there anything you do that makes other people shake their head, but it works for you?

I'll offer three things that I've done that fall into this category


When I used to have a pickup and I had to shovel the snow to get it out. I'd shovel some of the snow into the back of the truck to get rid of it and improve traction.

I occasionally find a pallet that's going to be trashed. I figured out how to take them apart and re-use the wood for a variety of projects.

Many of the pieces of wood that I use have been used at least once before in other projects.

Anyone else?

When I was employed in the maintenance dept. at a tire tread and tire repair products company...a maintenance co-worker of mine collected up broken pallets and used the wood for fireplace kindling.

Eric

Well, that's one use for them.

[Persepone]

I've about 20 different uses for pallets... they are the answer to the damp cellar, of course. If you put houseplants out for the summer and don't want the roots to grow into the ground, you can put them on a pallet and they are happy. Re-use wood for various projects, of course. Let kids build stuff out of the wood. You can make nice cat scratching devices, by the way. Decent bird house material. Store stuff in the garage up off the floor (damp, etc.). Yes they make nice kindling.

[breeze]

Pluggers...oh, Ed - I thought you said Chuggers...!

[coriolis]

Well, which are you, Annette?

[coriolis]

BTY Personepe, I found that you can't just pull them apart. They're made with those spiraled nails, and you end up breaking the wood. I get a hacksaw blade in between the pieces and cut the nails. A little labor-intensive of course. I just finished a shelf to put on my desk, to reorganize my computer. Got some nice pieces of poplar, sanded them down, multiple applications of polyurethane, and voila! A few remaining nail holes, saw marks, etc., give it character. The wood tells a story! I also got some beautiful pieces of oak that I'm hoarding for something special some day. They're just like veneer. A planer would be nice, though.