Ricky Spears’ Blog
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Archive for the 'Hacks' Category


27
Feb

A Slower and More Strategic Variation to Playing Scrabble Slam! Card Game

My wife and I have been on a bit of Scrabble kick the past couple months–it’s good cheap and fun entertainment that makes you think. A few weeks ago we were in Wal-Mart and picked up a card game called Scrabble Slam! It looked interesting and was very inexpensive so we thought we would try [...]


25
Feb

What’s the Actual Cost of an Automatic Car Wash with per Gallon Savings

About once every 2 or 3 months I’ll purchase a car wash when I fill up my truck with gas. The station where I usually fill up has an automatic car wash and the menus on the pump allow me to easily add a wash to my fuel bill and pay for it all right [...]


13
Dec

My First Instructable: Make a Hidden Christmas Tree Watering System

My wife and I have celebrated the past 20 Christmases together. In all those years, we’ve always decorated with an artificial Christmas tree. It takes several hours to set up our tree and get it looking like a real tree, even before we hang the first ornament on it. This year I wanted to save [...]


13
Sep

Is It Safe To Use Higher Wattage Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFLs) than the Manufacturer’s Specifications for Incandescent Light Bulbs?

I’ve been wondering for quite some time if it was safe to use higher wattage Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFLs) than the manufacturer’s specifications for Incandescent Light Bulbs. I searched for an answer to this question and couldn’t find one. I did discover the Ceiling Fan Questions and Answers blog by Hansen Wholesale though. Although there [...]


10
Nov

Make a Poor Man’s Desktop Writeboard for Under a Buck!

A few weeks ago I started seeing reviews for a product called the Jot-It from Cocoa, LLC. Apparently the company sent review samples to several professional organizers . Here are some of the reviews:

Office Stuffer
The Daily Saint
Yanko Design
My Personal Organizing Tools Review
Laura Stack

Most of the reviewers gave it an overwhelmingly positive review. This made [...]


15
Jul

Hack Your Deodorant – Convert Speed Stick Trial Size to Your Favorite Scent

This is probably the strangest hack I’ve ever posted here, but I’m posting it anyway, just because I wish I had thought of it sooner, and some of my readers have probably wanted the same thing.
I was traveling out of town this past week and realized that I had used up all my deodorant. I [...]


29
May

How to Turn Off Your Neighbor’s Pesky Street Light

My wife and I were sitting on our front porch last night enjoying the cool evening air, listening to the crickets and frogs, sharing quality conversation, and shielding our eyes from a neighbor’s streetlight. That bright light shining in our eyes was the only thing standing between us and a really nice evening. So I [...]


30
Jun

Hack Your Closet – Make Your Own Closet Rod Dividers

About a year and a half ago I realized I was spending too much time looking for specific clothes in my closet. My wonderful wife handles the laundry, which I greatly appreciate, but I never knew exactly where something might be. Like many people, I wear certain clothes depending on my role or context at [...]


11
May

Hack: Making an iBook Case out of a Binder/Organizer

I had a breakfast business meeting Saturday morning. I needed to take my 12″ iBook to the meeting so I put it in my eBags Downloader Laptop Backpack and headed off to my meeting. This is my everyday bag. I normally carry my iBook, my digital camera, a few networking accesories, some blank media, and [...]

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