Customized Corrective Swim Goggles

Of the many pieces of gear needed for triathlons, there's one that I tried to ignore for a while: prescription lenses. Sunglasses for the bike, but more importantly goggles for the swim. In a pool, my nearsightedness is only a minor nuisance to be not be able to read a clock; but for open water swimming I would be waaay more comfortable if I could clearly see my surroundings. 

I assumed that they would be hard to find, and super expensive. While in googling I have found some sources for truly prescription goggles, costing about the same as actual glasses. I also found ideas on pinterest to glue old glasses lenses onto goggles - presumably to save money, and perhaps needed as a cheaper option if you have a very extreme prescription (though it seems like it'd be super clunky and potentially unsafe, in my opinion), but not necessary, it turns out, for the average glasses wearer. In a forum discussion, someone mentioned prescription goggles on swimoutlet.com (I've also found them on Amazon). While not truly "prescription", these are generic corrective lenses, along the lines of generic reading glasses, and are in the same price range as regular goggles.

Awesome! However - what about the fact that each eye needs different correction, and generic goggles - like reading glasses - come with the same in both lenses? I suppose that's also where the homemade glasses lenses option might come in handy, but there's actually a really simple workaround.

I do want to acknowledge that I didn't come up with this idea, but found it in comments in product reviews of the goggles I was looking at. However, if you didn't know about this solution you might not get far enough along that path of looking to purchase to come across it, so I wanted to put it out there in another format, not just in product reviews. My eyes are close enough (-2.0 and -3.5) that I was planning to just get enough correction for my stronger eye, and it'd still be much better than nothing, but being able to get reasonably close on both sides was a great bonus.

1. Pick a model of generic prescription lenses, making sure it's of a type that the nosebridge can be fully removed. (So you can remove and replace the lense.) (Swim Outlet, Amazon.) I went with a TYR one, just because that's the brand I've been using for my regular goggles, and they've been working.

2. Determine the diopter strength you need. This page has a good explanation of how this is determined.

3. If, based on #2, you need a different diopter for each eye, order a pair of goggles in each diopter.

4. Remove a lense from each pair and swap. (Although the diopter is impressed on the side of each lense to confirm any time, take care that the brand on the nosebridge is right side up when the lenses are on the correct sides, to make it easy to put on the right way with a mere glance.) Ta da! You have a usable pair + a backup pair of lenses with custom correction for both eyes.

Rod & Ring: A DIY Alternative Christmas Tree

Growing up my family had a fake Christmas tree, but it was all I knew so I've never missed the experience of picking out or cutting down a real one. Plus, though I don't have any true moral issues with real trees, I just don't really like the idea of cutting one down just to have it in my house for a month (I'm similarly not a fan of cut flowers). Yet having a fake tree, which (1) requires storage somewhere for 11 months of the year and (2) is made of plastic and is part of the big commercialism of the holiday, isn't ideal to me either.

Once I was living on my own, I decided to have a real real tree - that is, an actual living tree in a pot (to be set outside during the majority of the year). However, I ended up killing at least two such trees, so it turned out to not be such an environmentally-friendly option for me. Abe would be able to keep it alive now, but he just wasn't excited about the idea.

But I still wanted something! I found a few ideas - this book tree is intriguing, but we don't have enough books to make it work. I also like this spiral tree, but wasn't sure what materials would be readily available and easy to work with (tagboard?) yet also sturdy enough (metal of some sort?). Then I came across this pole tree - it's actually a product for sale, but I was pretty sure I could make a smaller version of it myself.

Once I figured out the best assembly method, this was quite easy to put together, and will be just as easy to collapse and store in minimal space until next year. It's also quite cheap: the core items are 6 dowels at $0.99 each and an embroidery ring for $1.99 - under $8 for the main supplies. I also bought two bottles of paint at $1.39 each (but this could also be done with a natural wood look instead of painting) and two 22' light strands ($2.99 each at Target), and used a paintbrush and low-temp glue gun already owned. 

Supplies needed:

• 6 wooden dowels, 36" long and 7/16" in diameter
• 1 embroidery ring, 12" wide (just the inner portion)
• Paint and paintbrush for the dowels and ring, if desired - I used a white base plus silver glitter paint
• 7 twist-ties (I used ones that came on the Christmas lights bought for this project)
• Low-temp glue gun and glue sticks
• Christmas lights
• Measuring tape and pencil

1. Unless leaving the dowels and ring with natural wood finishes, paint all pieces before assembling. My tip for painting these awkwardly shaped items: do half at a time; while the painted portions are drying, stick the dowels in a vase or pitcher, and hold up the ring with a clip on a chair rung. I did two coats of white paint to fully cover, followed by one coat of the semi-transparent silver glitter paint.

2. Measure the circumference of the ring (if 12" diameter, that'll be 38") and divide by 6 (6 1/3"); then make 6 equally spaced (every 6 1/3") marks on the top of the ring.  On the dowels, make marks 12" up from the bottom (the ones I bought had black marks on one end - each size of dowels was coded in a different color - so I used that end as the bottom, and painted the other end to be the top). 

3. Matching up the measured-out marks on the ring and dowels, use a twist-tie to connect the dowels to the ring. These should be tight enough so the dowels won't just slip out, but loose enough to be able to slightly maneuver and angle the dowel.

4. Stand it upright (with the end with the ring closer to the ground), and pull in the dowels at the top, creating a sort of "teepee" overlapping. Use the final twist-tie to hold these in place.

5. Your tree is now put together! To provide some additional stability, I put a small drop of hot glue on each dowel where it's connected to the ring, and where each dowel is pulled together with the twist-tie at the top. 

6. Cover with lights! It would also be lovely with tinsel or garland (per the original inspiration). If you're using the same dimensions as mine, two strands with 22' of lights (24' total length) will do the trick; if you adjust the size of the tree or want more or less density of lights, here's the formula for figuring out how to properly space the wrapped lights to have enough, courtesy of my engineering-student-husband:

Take the average diameter (diameter at top = 0, diameter at bottom = 19, rounded to 20; average = 10"). Take the total lights available in inches (2 x 22' x 12" = 528"), divided by the diameter times pi (10 x pi = 31.4), which equals the number of rows you have enough lights for. 36" length of the dowels divided by 17 rows means they should spaced just over 2" apart.

7. Admire your handiwork, and add ornaments! (And prevent your cats from eating the lights or knocking over the tree.) I'm (1) lazy and (2) busy at work with year-end tax planning stuff so I haven't gotten around to it, but I'm planning to add some ornaments by hanging them from the light strands, and probably come up with something as a topper that will nestle in the little nook where the dowels all come together.

Marathon Shadow Box

Although I've been saving all of my race bibs, and display them in a large frame:

I wanted to do something special to highlight my marathon bib and medal. After finding some pinterest inspiration, I decided to make a shadow box (and one for Abe, too)!

Supplies

• A shadowbox frame (these have space between the backing and the glass, to allow for display of 3D objects)
• Scrapbook paper or other paper/material (maybe a a branded space blanket or map of the race route) for a main background, and contrasting colored paper to put behind the photo or other paraphernalia 
• Paper cutter or scissors
• Glue (I'd actually recommend less-sticky glue - like a cheap kids' glue stick - rather than better craft glue, as you might someday want to be able to pull up your bib or photo to display differently)
• Race memorabilia - bib, medal, photo

1. Take the backing off the frame, and lightly glue on the paper or material you're using for the main background.

2. Trim a piece of contrasting paper to the same size as the photo.

3. Glue the photo, offset, onto the contrasting paper.

4. Glue the photo (glued onto contrasting paper) and bib (and any other flat components) onto the background paper.

5. Roll a small piece of tape and use it to stick the medal onto the background.

EDIT: eventually the tape stopped sticking, and I used Command adhesive velcro to attach the medal instead.

6. Wrap the medal ribbon onto the back of the frame backing, and tape it in place.

7. Put the backing back into the frame, and hang in a prominent location in your home!

Commemorative Coin Ornament

If you're like me, you've recently started to think about ideas for Christmas gifts. Keeping in mind the recipient's preferences, I like to tend towards things that are eco-friendly, reused or reusable, and sentimentally meaningful.

I've also been trying to figure out what to do with the commemorative coin that I got from the Portland marathon. Although it's awesome that they give you a lot of special things at the finish line: I can wear the finishers t-shirt, plant the tree in a pot on my deck, hang the medal on the wall. But what can I do with this?

In the past I've often bought special ornaments for my parents, such as when traveling. Not as the main gift, but just to share a little something of my experience. Finally, it hit me: I could make the coin into a Christmas ornament for my parents, to thank them for their support in achieving this goal.

Supplies Needed

• Commemorative coin from a special event
• Ribbon that is approximately the same width as the coin (1/8 inch in this case)
• Low-temp hot glue gun: Other types of craft glue might work, but I did try tacky glue at first, and it was too slidey on the metal - I couldn't get it to stick long enough to set. You can find basic hot glue guns at craft stores for as low as $10, and they're really useful in a lot of craft projects.
• Scissors

1. Plug in glue gun to heat up.

2. Cut a piece of ribbon about 18 inches long. The actual length needed = the  circumference of the coin, plus about 6 - 7 inches for the loop and knot, but if you leave some extra, you don't have to worry about getting the coin centered while you're gluing.

3. Apply a short, thin ribbon of glue approximately on the center of the ribbon, and immediately stick on the bottom edge of the coin. You don't have much time before the glue cools! Apply glue in half-inch or less increments, working around each side from the bottom.

4. Once each side is glued within a quarter inch from the top, tie the ribbon into a knot, pulling it tight against the coin. 

5. Tie the ends of the ribbon about 3 inches above the coin, and trim any excess.

Donating Hair to CWHL

After looking into the various organizations that take hair donations, I picked Children with Hair Loss (CWHL). CWHL is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that started in 2000 to provide hair replacements at no cost to children who have lost hair due to any medical condition (such cancer, alopecia, and burns). 

1. Grow out hair. My hair started just a little longer than the length I cut it to, and it took about two years (with a couple short trims along the way) to grow out enough to donate and have chin-length hair left. Avoiding hair dye or other chemical processes is preferred by CWHL, and required by some organizations.

2. Go to any hair salon to get your hair cut. Although salons sometimes partner with organizations to provide free or discounted hair cuts for people donating, you can go where you'd like, just read up on the requirements so you can give proper instructions to your hair stylist.

3. Have your stylist start the hair cut by putting your hair into multiple ponytails or braids, placing the rubber bands (my stylist recommended these instead of the hair ties I had brought, so they would stay in place better) just below where you want the cut to be. Using multiple ponytails will maximum the hair available to donate and what's left. Cut a little above the rubber band so it will stay in place. Then continue your hair cut as usual. Be sure to give a good tip to your stylist for the extra step!

4. Making sure the ponytails are completely dry (my stylist waited until after cutting off the ponytails to wet my hair for the real cut), put in a ziploc bag. Mail with the CWHL donation form and, if possible, a monetary donation.

5. Enjoy your new hair style!

I highly recommend donating hair at least once in your life! It's really a super easy way to give to those in need.

Garmin DIY Fix

I just realized a couple weeks ago that pressing the page/menu button on my garmin during a run flipped to a screen showing data for the current lap only - distance, time and pace. I can roughly calculate the same information from the main screen, if I pay attention to total elapsed time at the end of each mile (particularly since my paces fluctuate around 12:00 - easy fractions!), but so much handier to just flip to see it, especially when trying to make up time after a walking break or hill. It's a pretty cool feeling to see the lap pace drop towards your goal.

So it was annoying the other day when I had just started a run, went to press the page button - and it was gone! I had noticed it seemed a little - not loose exactly, but off kilter, I guess - on my previous run, so I had kind of wondered if that would become an issue, but was surprised it happened so quickly. There was still the post underneath it that had the actual functionality, but it was pretty difficult to get my fingertip in there just right to press it, and near impossible to do while running - especially at a fast pace, which is when I'm most likely to want to see that screen!

Garmin products do come with a one-year warranty, but I've had mine for about 18 months now. They also offer repairs for a fee after the warranty period, and I initially figured I'd send it in after marathon training (only a month left!). Until I realized it costs a flat fee of $89 for repairs on the model I have (Forerunner 210). The watch only cost $200 in the first place! (With "only" being relative, here, of course - a pricey watch, but I'm not going to pay 45% of the original cost for repairs.) I suppose you could come out ahead if there's a lot wrong with your item, but for just replacing a button, not worth it. I mused over it for a couple days, and decided to make my own button.

Supplies
Duct tape
Scissors

1. Cut a strip of duct tape just a little less wide than the insert where the button was. 

2. Roll/fold it so you have a little "button". Keep in mind in both cutting and folding the tape that it needs to be smaller in dimensions than the hole you're placing it on top of, so that it can press in on the post that moves the mechanism.

3. Place the folded button over the post, cut another strip of duct tape the same width, and place over the button. Don't press down on the button while you're doing this, just set it right on top of the post. Be careful where you place it on the back, so you don't cover the charging connectors. 

Perhaps not the prettiest fix (though since my watch is black, I don't mind the silver addition too much), but only a fraction of the cost of official repairs even if I had bought the duct tape specifically for this! It's held up just fine through a couple sweaty runs so far, so I don't foresee needing to replace the tape frequently.