duct tape

Lately I’ve been thinking about a new car. There’s nothing really wrong with the minivan, but a man my age sometimes imagines himself in an old Triumph, or a new Polestar.

I read recently about a Chinese electric vehicle that supposedly sells for about $5,000. But you’ll not be seeing one in NZ any time soon, because they don’t meet safety standards. Really, it’s more like a glorified golf cart than a serious car. But such a vehicle would be perfect for nearly all the driving we do!

And wait a minute… we let e-scooters and mopeds and those crazy gyro wheels straight of B.C. go on our roads. None of them meet safety standards either… you straps on your helmet and you takes your chances. And even real cars… I mean , if you’ve read this blog for any length of time, you know there are plenty of cars on the road held together with #ducttape.

So… when the Stepwgn (yes that’s how they spell it, no I don’t know why, and yes I realize that leaving out the vowels doesn’t make the minivan ‘edgy’) finally gives out one day, what will it be? Something edgy? Or a classic? Or another boring practical car like I’ve had my whole life? Who knows.

Maybe the minivan will last long enough for me to have a fancy golf cart. Or a flitter!

I haven’t seen a duct tape car repair in a while. But they’re still out there.

Who needs duct tape?

In Auckland as elsewhere, it’s OK to fix your car with duct tape.

In Washington DC it is expected that your car repairs should match your pussy hat.

Ikebana is some kind of fancy flower arranging.

IKEA-bana is when you put your flowers on top of your IKEA cabinets. This time with a much more stable vase.

And IKEA-bana Vu is when your cat is instantly up there and ready to ‘accidentally’ rub up against them. Again.

Well, we did it. DIY iPad screen replacement is possible, even for us!

Between watching tutorial videos on YouTube and actually performing the repair, we spent about 9 person-hours. Next time would be a lot faster. We liked the irony of using the dictionary I got for a high school graduation present to weight the screen down while the new adhesive set up.

Pro tips:

If you use a hair dryer to soften the old adhesive instead of a real heat gun, it takes a lot longer
Nothing beats Goof-Off
“Spudging” is a great word to have in your vocabulary

This is what happens when you put a dramatic silk flower arrangement on a high spot, leave the iPad on the counter, and mix in an unknowable combination of a curious cat and air currents.

The first thing we did was to make sure that duct tape was not a feasible solution.

The Apple Store wants a whole lot of money for a new screen, the local repair shop wants less but still hundreds. We can buy a replacement kit for under $30, so we’ll try that first.

The original Honda Insight was such a cool idea. This one has been held together with duct tape so long that the once-matching tape has faded to a beautiful palette of sunset colors. Reminds me of a print from the doctor’s office way back when.