Days late, but in the spirit anyway

I regret to tell you that I missed a recent holiday, which actually fell on the 18th: Use Something For Other Than Its Intended Purpose Day. The Manatee made me aware of it back then, and celebrated it handily by propping open a window with a license plate – only amateurs use wood slats or a cat or something. Alas, I was unable to bring anything to mind, or at least recall it in a timely fashion, because I’m notorious for using things for other than their intended purpose. I most likely used a crochet hook to scratch my ear, because that happens frequently, but I can’t vouch that I definitely did it that day.

However, today I celebrated in adequate fashion at least. Out cleaning off the deck, the power washer stopped working for no apparent reason, and I gradually worked my way through several different causes to no avail. Eventually, I ran it to ground: a clog in the very end of the nozzle, obvious when it was disassembled and no light could come through the little hole. This was probably my fault for using a supply hose that had previously been used to siphon out some rather unclean bins – I now know to thoroughly wash it out before attaching it to the power washer. But in this case, the clog was cleared with the combined use of a) the nozzle-cleaning needle from my 3D printer, and b) a Waterpik, one of those power washers for your teeth. They certainly did the trick, and I was able to finish cleaning off the deck.

I apologize for announcing the holiday so late, but not so late that you can’t recall some repurposing of your own and explain them in the comments. The most innovative entries will receive a one-year free subscription to Walkabout!

[I am hopelessly reminded of an ancient cartoon, found in Playboy to establish the context, where a guy in pajamas in glaring into the bathroom door and saying, “Hey! That’s not what a Waterpik’s for, you know!” I just attempted to find this, with no luck, but I didn’t go nuts over it and the cartoon probably dated from the eighties anyway…]

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