This post could also be called, "Life - Hack It!"
Working on the bus and getting to know materials and tools has opened up a whole new world of possibilities to me! I used to think I couldn't do something if someone else had not already done it. Not so anymore! Michael is has an attitude of "Let's see if we can figure it out ourselves." That's the nice version of how he says it. Here's a recent example of how we got around the limitations set before us.
Goal: Gray or silver, hard-wired downlights to put under our cabinets in the main living space of the bus.
Problem: You can get silver lights at a reasonable price, but they are battery-operated. Or you can get hard-wired lights, but they are white or black. Silver was too expensive and we needed 17.
Solution: Buy the white lights because their casing is removable. Buy a metallic silver spraypaint that will bond with plastic ("Rustoleum 2x" for sure does, but I'm not sure about Valspar and others). Take off the casings and spray!
This "can-do" attitude has seeped into other parts of my life. This past weekend, I was in the frozen food aisle when a foreigner from Asia approached me and asked, "Which of these pizzas does not have pork?" I helped him search for one but could not find one. I told him that the Margherita pizza has no pork but it has not meat. He looked forlorn, "Oh, but I want meat!" His other criteria was that it be personal size so it could fit in a microwave. Then I was struck with a hack-it idea! "Why don't you get this meatless pizza and add chicken! Do you want me to show you where the chicken is?" He didn't want to leave the aisle to look for chicken and said, "No." I held up my hands and said, "Well, I can't help you then."
But I left pretty stoked that if I had had that problem, I could make it happen! Life is hackable!
