The joke goes something like this… Old people get excited when they get a package delivered, because they just got a really nice box that will come in handy some day. I am guilty of this. My wife asks me every time she gets a delivery if I want to keep the box. 90% of the time I do. It will come in handy some day.
Today, I have been packing up for the Summer Festival at Goodman’s Family Farm this Sunday in Mt. Gilead. I have been printing non-stop on my two 3D printers for weeks to have enough variety of inventory to sell. I’ll put some photos at the end of this post.
I printed a Gashapon machine. They’re big in Japan. Basically, it’s the little vending machine that you find at store check-outs with various items like stickers, tattoos, and small toys encapsulated in a plastic ball with a lid. You all know what I’m talking about. The ones that used to cost a quarter, but now have 4 quarter slots to get that lick-and-stick Ying-yang tattoo.
After all the printing was done and items were put in totes then taken out and put in bigger totes, I had the problem of what to do with the Gashapon machine. My small tote was too small, and my big tote was too big. This piece has many parts, some moving, and all fragile. Off to the pole barn I trekked.
With tape measure in hand, I started checking my empty boxes. I found that Amazon boxes fall just shy of what I needed. Bummer. Home Depot moving boxes were too large by a foot. Every saved box I had was just the wrong size. I grew frustrated as I have always told my wife, “You won’t be laughing at me when some day you are going to need the perfect box.” I do that with scrap wood too. I have yet to not have a piece she has needed.
Just as I was about to give up and head back into the house, I saw it: the perfect box. Not only was it the perfect dimension, it had a plastic handle that sticks out of the lid. It was cardboard nirvana. I opened it up and when I saw the Styrofoam top I knew the hoarding gods were looking after me.
Here’s the thing. In addition to the Styrofoam insert (both top and bottom), it also contained a brand new, never taken out of the box job site wireless sound system. I had bought a couple from The Home Depot when they were on clearance. The wife got one for her she shed and I haven’t had the use for the other. Until now.
I took the machine out of the box, put it in an empty box, and practically hugged my newly found Gashapon transport vessel. Once inside, I simply flipped the bottom foam over so the machine would lay flat when put inside. This left zero space at the top for the other piece of foam.
Rewind to the day I ordered a hot wire foam cutter. It probably seemed non-essential to my wife(most of my ideas do), but I had a lot of Styrofoam I had been collecting. I use it for sculpting bases and hills and mountains for my Christmas Village. That’s something else that is wearing thin with her.
I go to the drawer where I keep the cutter, and surprise! It’s there. I plug it in, do some sculpting, and voila, a perfect fit around the top of the machine. I fold the lids, pull out the plastic handle, and admire all my forethought of getting to this point.
I still have to find an appropriate box for the sound system, but that’s for another day.
My advice on this is don’t make fun of old people for their hoarding as long as it’s a healthy environment. You never know when you’re going to need the perfect box with Styrofoam inserts and a plastic handle to transport your 3D printed Japanese doodad machine.
Let’s talk soon…
(Since painted black, leaving the lines white)
