What is junk?

My colleague Nambiar, some years ago, had told me some funny definition about 'junk'.   I was unable to recall  the exact wordings when I started to write this post.  I took 'outside help'. It came in the form of my blogger-friend Raji Muthukrishnan.  To my luck, she was online.  I thought she was the right person to ask if she knew about that and gave a key-word-jumble from my cluttered memory.  From her memory she came up with "someone's trash is another's treasure" but it was not the one.  She asked me to wait as she was going out soon.  

Promptly, she came back some hours later.  She had consulted the 'Urban Dictionary' and found two definitions.  One of them was in fact, the one Nambiar had mentioned me.  I had asked Raji because I was aware of her intellectual resources to tap at the exact place on the web.

Here they are:  Definitions of Junk.

~ Seemingly useless rubbish which sits around for months and is inevitably disposed off, the day before it is needed.

~ Stuff that you keep lying around forever, and then throw away two days before you need it.

As if aware of that, I seldom threw away things, unless and until their full value was squeezed out or if they were completely useless or badly damaged!  Not throwing away things seems to be some people's wont.

Deccan Herald Sunday Supplement had this article on the same subject [on 20th May, 2012].

True junk. Odd iron pieces I sold for recycling.  The wooden container was used in our cowshed, before my time, 70-80  years ago.  It was on the attic.  Now broke in my time. May be I'll cut one day and use as firewood.

Old latches, door hinges and door bolts, beaten back to shape. The carpenter who removed by pulling them off rashly from the old doors had bent many of them into 'anger causing shapes'!  Old is gold and bold, so I told myself to reuse the old gold, boldly.  Old quality is unbeatable. They have been fitted nicely again to new doors!

Screws properly removed were reused [century old]. I remade the groove on the head using a hack-saw to enable firm grip of the driver on refitting. Others bent and rusted are not used.

Junk again. That is a garden pot holder stacking junk!

Looks like junk.

More junk. Seems so, but most were reused.

Junk corner.

Dismantling the tiled roof and house, we got this treasure. Termite damaged wooden rafters of teak!  The carpenter cut off the damaged part and gave it to me.  He kept the good wood separately for taking to the mill.

This was the best of the lot.  Now it adorns a 'show-shelf' in the hall, neatly cut flat!  Termite art! 

Two old and unusable oil lamp stands 'repurposed' as 'helmet holders'.

This 'repurposing' is a new word.

Junk junk junk. Enjoy more images.

Junk corner again, from a different angle. I hope one day, the junk corner will not exist there.  Hope that day will be soon. 

More in the inset of the house.

 Stove holders, rusting.  May be they can be used to hold potted plants.

My garden..... squeezed between two sheds, one on the left has junk waiting to be unjunked.

Charcoal stoves, rusted.

Wooden pieces - good for use... but for what?  Till an idea strikes, they have to lie here, there or somewhere.  Too good for firewood and too bad to keep!

There are many "Master Junk Converters" [as my e-friend Sue puts it] that have creatively done wonderful things, but when will my junk melt away from its place?  I have a dozen watches and clocks, but I just cannot find time!! :)

Telescope I had made

I have explained how I did it in my other blogpost here: Click on that.  

That post is related to watching Halley's Comet.  So I will be brief here.

Junked flaslight cabinets.

A table lamp stand and the holder is from another broken table lamp.

Toy lenses.  The smaller one is of a 'view master'.

Toy binocular eye pieces for my requirement. I had combined 3-4 and that increased the magnification power.  Accurate focusing was possible with the body of the telescope.  I could slide it in or out as the cylinders were correct fits! 

I had taken a photograph also through it from my old house, of the very distant Palace atop Chamumdi Hill using a film camera by holding it in front of the eyepiece.  The view of that Palace was clearly visible just above the top of the house behind our house.  There were no tall houses or trees obstructing view.  It was an experiment I did, may be in 1978.  The image through my telescope was actually sharper than the picture my camera captured.  

This is the one. 

Below is the zoomed view [from my digital camera] of the hill from our present house.  From my telescope, I could spot people walking near the Nandi Bull [marked near the white building].  You can imagine the power!  I had once taken my telescope to the hill to view my house, but was unsuccessful.  I could not locate our house roof top. 

I dismantled it when my dream of having a Binocular came to fruition. It was a Tasco which could bring objects 7 times closer.

The telescope was great fun!

Cassette Tape Winder

When audio cassette tapes were popular, I was also listening to the Hindi and Kannada film songs from my collection.  Rewinding or forward winding was necessary.  The normal way to do that was by pressing the << or >> buttons provided on the tape recorder.

My music collection in Cassette Tapes. 

National Panasonic Stereo Radio/Cassette Player, bought September 1984.

This was shortly before Radio License Fee was removed by the Dept. of Telecommunications!  I had paid the fee of Rupees fifteen twice, annually.

But I just wanted to do it manually at times, which appears crazy!  For minor works like that the most suited manual tool was the hexagonal pencil .  But a "Reynolds" ball pen with its hexagonal was better fitting.  This is an amazing connection between a pencil/pen and an audio cassette tape!

It took a long time to wind half the length of the tape in the cassette.  So I improved on this method by adding a  'flywheel' to the pen.  This was an old rubber wheel that a friend had given me from his 'aeromodeling' left overs. For holding the mechanism, I put through a bicycle spoke which also became the axle for the operation. One twirl would wind a lot of tape as the flywheel did its work.  The need for this tool used to arise when the tape got jammed and entangled in the body like this:

Image from the web.

Cassette image from the web.

 I had this tool ready on hand near my desk where I had kept the player.  It had also become my time-pass hand toy which I simply twirled while listening to the songs!

I have misplaced it at the time of posting this, so no picture of it is here.  

Kerosene jet gun to kill pests

Cockroaches and other insects sometimes show up in our living area at wrong times, more so in the summer months.  The worst is the flying variety.  I get freaked out at the very sight or imagining a roach.

How to tackle when they are sighted inside the house?  A handy broom to smash it is one option.  But the most preferred is my Kerosene Jet Gun which I have made esp. for this purpose.  Ejecting kerosene 'on target' requires swiftness and aim like Olympic shooters because the 'blooming creatures' are fast moving having the ability to climb on people!!  It is the worst thing to imagine! Being repulsive to this most horrible creature probably made me 'invent' this jet method.  I rush for this weapon when I notice a roach. and keep it in a place that is easily accessible.  I can't tolerate someone misplacing it.  When a roach is spotted, the gun HAS to be THERE and with content.

This is how I use my weapon: Take stance, arm with gun outstretched in the direction of the enemy intruder [most usually the roach].  The position of the feet is also such that I can spring away using my reflexes if the creature suddenly moves or flies towards me before or when the jet is splashed on it.  Sometimes my aim can miss as I have to maintain a safe distance lest it 'attacks'!  I usually go nearer the creature if it is a lazy type.

Usually, 2-3 drops of kerosene can kill the roach in a jiffy.  Some are late to surrender. They run helter skelter.  Such ones require a second shot.  Once they run very fast, I know the kerosene has had its effect. They will suddenly slow down, become weak-legged and die in standing position, but most others collapse to their backs.

I don't drive away lizards because they help control the roaches and other insects to some extent.

There are many varieties of cockroach.  But here, two are most proliferate - Periplanata americana [the video in this link is amazing!] and the Oriental Cockroach [white spots on its back and wingless]. 

Someone said that if you spot one roach, there will be a hundred in hiding.  They cannot be destroyed easily due to their ability to multiply and survive in large numbers and in places we wont reach or notice.  It is one of the few creatures that has not evolved over millions of years due to its adaptability to varied conditions and can survive without any food for many days.  

I saw with my own eyes how a Oriental Cockroach ran out of my charcoal iron box.  It had been hiding in it.  The charcoal had already generated a lot of heat when I heard a little splattering sound.  This amazing animal still escaped through the hole in the box!  They say it can survive even the cold winters.

I forgot to tell how I made the Kerosene Bottle Gun [with jet].  It is just a flexible plastic bottle - like what they have in chemical laboratories - wash bottle.

[Web grab image]

I have modified the jet, the crucial part.  I have extended the nozzle by using a ball pen refill. I had seen my high school classmate Kariappa remove and replace the tiny ball in the ball point pen. He was such a skilled boy.  I used this concept by removing the tiny ball so that a fine jet is sprayed through.

The ball pen refill has to be completely done with so that no ink is left in the metal nozzle. I use a tiny metal wire to clean the nozzle in case of blockages.  I cannot see the bottle lying empty.  It has to be 'on the ready' 24x7, just like fire engines in fire stations!

This 'bottle-gun' has served me for close to four decades now. It was once white. I remember to have bought it in the famous Mysore Dasara Exhibition in the early 70s.  I also use a similar one to keep lubricant oil for the sewing machine and bicycles. The ball pen refill is so useful!

This has proved very handy even when there are no roaches or insects to kill.  For cleaning or washing hands or fingers when a just a little amount is needed, this is a very handy item to have around.  Moreover, it is non messy.

Caps I stitched

Seeing my great keenness and skill with tennis ball cricket on our street in the early 70s, Dr.Shivaram who was in the opposite house gave a woolen cap that he no longer needed.  It was of Mysore Medical College and black in colour with an embroidered logo on it, like this:

I was over the moon wearing it and felt like an international cricketer!  Looking at my head shadow in the sun with the cap on thrilled me no end!  The skull cap with peak was something fantastic.  That was my first cap which I used for a long time.  It lasted even a couple of seasons into my league cricket which I entered in 1978-79.

I used to see old cricket pictures in magazines.  One particular picture impressed me.  It was of Dr.W.G.Grace. He belonged to the late 19th century and an amazing personality.  It was a fashion in that era to wear such skull caps. The unique striped pattern was striking!  

"WG" - see his cap. [Image from the web]

I had also made a drawing of WG copying it from the sports magazine in 1977-78.

In the mid 1980s, I began to play tennis also.  So I could not wear that black 'doctor cap'.  Pictures of tennis players sporting white caps in the sports magazines impressed me.  I thought why cannot I make one myself so that it helps keep the sun out while I played cricket also.

We have a sewing machine.  I learnt sewing skills by observing my mother.  I had even attempted to stitch two cotton shirts for myself!  They had come off reasonably well.  I was wearing them too.  I had also learnt to repair/alter my dresses when it was needed. With this background, I saw the possibility of cap-stitching.  The main thing was the proper shape and peak.  For the peak I had found an old plastic file in my workplace. It did not have the required stiffness but it served the purpose for my trial.   The black doctor cap had got worn out and too ragged for use.  I opened out the seams and separated the pieces for my 'standard model'. 

A new white cotton towel which was not in use was chosen to cut for my first trial cap.  There it is:

Since it turned out well, I wanted to try with better cloth.  My late grandfather's coats were chosen as they were no longer required.  One was a beautiful cream coloured thick woolen coat.  There were two other striped sports blazers from Mysore Sports Club that were of my grandfather who was its founder member.  Pictures below.  Observe the blazers. One of them may be from the late 30s and the other from late 40s, in my guesstimate.

My father wore it a few times for special occasions such as these above.  You can spot him there!

Both the striped blazers had been hit by silverfish, but not the cream one.  Yet, I decided to cut all three.  I found that two caps were possible from the undamaged portions of the striped coats, something like WG's.  It came out so well that it remains my favourite since almost 30 years!  Here it is:

I wanted to achieve the shape of the famous Australian 'Baggy Green' for my cream cap.  

I could not achieve it and ended only in the normal shape.

The back elastic is 'gone' now - so it looks weird here.

In the following slideshow you will see most of the caps I still use.  I gave away a few in the early stages.
I am glad to have recycled left over pieces of cloth in this manner!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13R9D5cKdHI&feature=share&list=UUxvABuHdux16tcq46MziJHA
Click link.

Many good caps came to me thereafter.  But I still enjoy wearing the ones I made myself. 

Electroscope - Static Electricity

In one of my Science classes at high school, the teacher had shown a lab model of Electroscope. [Click on this link to know what it exactly is]  It was a gold leaf electroscope. He rubbed an ebonite rod on a piece of woolen cloth and held it on the electroscope.  Lo, it made the two leaves inside the sealed jar repel! That was the simple lab demonstration of the static electric charges.

[Web-grab image from 'Museum of Technology']

I was impressed by this mysterious phenomenon called static electricity from the plastic/synthetic comb at home where we did 'magic' to the wonderment of our grandmother!  We made little paper pieces move and stick to the comb!  It was thrilling to fool her. 

Small plastic covers were also used for this 'magic', for fun. See this link where [click] you can relive your younger days!  It is pleasing to know from that link that I had made similar ones in 1973 itself, particularly the electroscope! 

TV screens, among myriad items produce it. If you just google 'static electricity', you will be amazed at the long list of available information on this curious thing.

You can experience a shock about 8-10 Volts and that is about the amount of current that zaps across.  It was funny when my colleague demonstrated and startled me with two plastic chairs.  I saw the spark zap across from the 'charged' person to another as the fingertip closed in on the other person.  It can be quite a prank!

Some synthetic dresses, especially a fabric called Terylene which was a fashion in the late 60s and early 70s also produced static electricity. I used to wonder why shirts of this fabric gave a weird feeling to the hands as we brushed them against while walking.  Even while removing it, esp. in the dry winter months, it used to get attracted to our skin and make our hair on the hands stand on end! The plastic wire bags that my aunt had woven also gave this same experience. 

So when the lessons on Static Electricity were made in the class, we used to listen very curiously! 

Why not I make one, just for the heck of it?!  It serves no purpose at all, yet, it was another little project I thought. "Scientific temper!"  Around that time, my grandfather had been afflicted with 'neuritis' after he exposed himself to cold winds traveling in a bus to Bangalore and had lost sensation in his fingers.  So, 'Neurobion' was prescribed to him. The capsules came in little bottles with a rubber stopper.  An empty one suited my project. Since I could not think of gold leaf at all, I used aluminum foil from a tin can.  A brass pin from a broken electric plug came in handy to fix it to the stopper and hang the foils with a thin wire.  I used my comb to see if it repelled the foils.  It worked! The foils reacted slightly. That was enough satisfaction, even though it is the most useless thing! 

Rustic Garden Board

There was a small wooden staircase on the open balcony having 5 planks for steps.  Two were missing and the rest were rickety.  It was a risky affair to step on them. We had to jump down or climb back, with the support of the old and shaky wooden handrails.  You cannot blame the carpenter because it bore the brunt of all weather since 1911 without a break.

Redoing with new planks was a costly affair.  So, I removed the planks and built the steps myself out of bricks and stone slabs [see picture below]. This was some years ago when we moved in to live in the house built by my great grandfather in the year mentioned above.  It had been rented out from 1950 to 1997 to the same tenant.  Tenants cannot be expected to take care of these things!

Seen in this picture is what I built after removing the planks.

These teak wood planks were now useless for any other wood work.  I had kept them aside along with other junk, instead of using them as firewood, but that is not the mentality of 'junk accumulators'!

In the meanwhile, I had come across a nice gardening website, Dave's Garden, where gardeners had shared their pictures.  It was about creative use of old wood.  They were used as name boards and nicely displayed, as if it was old.  Rustic.  After seeing such pictures, I thought there was a new project for me to do at home with these.  

What to engrave on them?  It is two feet across. To imitate 'Dave's Garden' I thought of 'Dinu's Garden'.  The letters were 'one too many' for that width and needed to be shortened.  So I remembered another word from my younger days when I used to read a lot of wonderful comic stories of The Phantom.  In one of them, there was 'Isle of Eden'.  Here, The Phantom had kept his pets - tigers, lions and many species of animals all living in harmony.  The word 'Eden' seemed to fit in to the width of the plank. I wanted it to sound like Dave's Garden [DG], due to my obsession with it, but in the end, it turned out to be 'Dinu's Eden'. The engraved portion was painted with 'poster colour' for visual effect.

This is in the garden which has shifted now.

This was placed in the new yard on the other side of the plot.

Googling to link Phantom's Eden, I am glad I found this place where you can read the entire comic - Isle of Eden.  [click on the link]. In fact, there is a great fan following of Lee Falk's Phantom, even now!  

My carpentry skills and some patience came in handy.  Patience, because the surface of the plank is so brittle that it had to be engraved very carefully, lest the wood chipped away. Cutting the letters was a precision job.

Close up showing wood surface

Fortunately, it came off well, much to my delight.  "Dinu's Eden" is where many critters and creatures live in harmony, like in Phantom's Eden, if not tigers, lions or elephants.

Some photos.

This board will take another place as more changes have taken place to this side of the yard and is now having a smaller garden area. This is a picture from the recent archive. 

Some changes can be seen to that part of the yard here.  

It has been exposed to the vagaries of climate all of its hundred years. It should last for some more years since it is now not facing the sky.  It will be put up once the reshaped garden gets ready.