With the Right Tools

Tools needed to change cord in mini blind

I checked on line.  Oh, Fount of All Knowledge, guide me. For some of the Things I get to do today, I like FAST. How do you change the draw cords on mini blinds? Usually there are a few quick tips that can save hours of frustration. I knew how I wanted to do it. What I was really after were the quickies. Three or four sites all said the same things. The videos had guys doing the job.  One source said allow one hour for the first blind and forty-five minutes for each one after with lots of threading this through that and taking things apart. At that rate it would save me money to go buy new blinds. So I headed out on my own.

Pull the knotted end of the old cord out the hole
where you see the little white tail.

It is pretty logical in the mind of Handy Andy that if one starts on the bottom slat of the blind, cuts off the knots on each cord, attaches the new cords, then pulls on the old cord, the new cord will easily and automatically thread through.  Done.  So that's what I did. All three blinds in the recently painted office space now have clean, white cords--all three done in less than forty-five minutes--about 12 minutes each.

Faster to loop the cord you are
ready to cut.

Cut the cord and immediately
flame-seal both end

Here are a few tips to make it go more smoothly:  1)  Release the cord so that blind hangs down about 6 inches.
 2) Take the blind down and work on a comfortable surface.

3) Pull the knotted end out through the bottom slat.  4)  Cut off the knot and flame-seal the end.  Caution--melted nylon on your skin hurts like the dickens, so let it cool a second before touching it.

Loosely sew the ends together.  When pulled tight
the cut ends lined up and butted together making
a smooth transition

  5) Use a needle and thread to attach your new cord loosely to the old cord.  6)  Pull it through.  7)  Cut to length matching the old cord.  Knot the new cord at the end that will once again pull up into the bottom slate.  8)  Wait to knot the pulling end with its bobble until you have the blind up back up, then even the cords, put on the bobble and knot the cord.  Done.

Vile is not a word I use often, but it best describes the
old cords.  Pulling the blinds up and down for 20 years
imbeds them with aluminum as they travel through the
housing--can't be washed out.

Takes longer to write the blog than to do the project.







I figure what took the guys so long is that they didn't consider a needle and thread to be tools they could use. Their suggests for attaching the new to the old cord created such a fat wad that it could not be pulled all the way through--hence all the extra time and tools.

Dust vs. Snow

There's been lots of it lately.  If you live in the Northeast, you've had snow beyond measure.  If you live in my house, it's dust I'm talking about.

And though shoveling is hard, hard work, and you can't wait until Spring to get groceries, if you leave it long enough, the snow will take care of itself.  It will melt and go away.

Non-melting dust from my guest room floor

Not so with dust.  My experiment mixed in with other Things I get to do today has just confirmed it. Dust does not melt. Dust does not go away. Dust on the guest room floor will continue to accumulate over time until it becomes a health hazard from tripping over the dust bison.  Just saying for all you who were contemplating the same experiment, forget it!  Get the dust mop and clean it up!  Now!

Vacuuming the gutters!

Whoever heard of such a thing?  This I have to share.  I'm so excited about a recent discovery that the leaf blower found in Aunt Alice's garage after she died 15 years ago and immediately claimed by me, will not only blow the constantly-falling curly black locust leaves off the patio every day from Spring to Winter, but with a slight change in parts (more about that in another post) will also vacuum the blown hedgerow of buttery golden "petals" into a tidy bag which can then be emptied into the garden bed to help make fat, healthy vegetables next summer.

So after a month or so of no rain and now Fall's gentle cooling shifting the possibility of precipitation, I added "check the gutters" to the carefully written page of Things I get to do today.  After readying the ladder and the blower-now-vacuum with its catcher bag, I had the great satisfaction of sucking up the leaves that filled the gutter to over the brim.  What is it that is so fun about making a pile of something just disappear completely?  My heart nearly skipped a beat with the delight of it all.  Just slur-r-r-r-r-r-p and it's gone!