Swipe to Over Sleep

20130108-220254.jpgAfter using the iPhone for a while I’ve become quite fond of it but with any device there tends to be a few quirks. Case in point; the iPhone alarm clock…

The Apple iOS starts just about all phone interactions with a swipe of the finger. That swipe becomes second nature to a lot of us because we’re unconsciously swiping to unlock our phones all day long.

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So guess what happens when your alarm is going off at 6 am and you grab your phone to silence it (in my case hit snooze a few times)? That instinctive swipe motion turns the alarm OFF! You have to press a small red button titled “Snooze” to silence he phone for nine minutes. I’ve lost count how many times I’ve accidentally disabled my iPhone alarm in the morning. I think I’m finally getting the hang of it though…

Who came up with the nine minute snooze threshold anyway? Three of the four alarm clocks I’ve ever owned all had the nine minute snooze. The fourth one had a seven min snooze. I want a 10 minute snooze so I can easily calculate how many times I can hit it before I REALY need to get out of bed…

Zip-It

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Old Style Drill and Plug Anchor

Being a homeowner for the past 15+ years I’ve had my share of do-it-yourself projects and a never-ending “Honey-do” list to tackle every weekend. For the most part a house is pretty easy to take care of as long as you stay ahead of problems before they manifest themselves into something bigger.

Recently I discovered a new (to me) kind of wall anchor and wanted to let everyone know about it. It’s called a Zip-It wall anchor. I’ve always hated getting out the drill and trying to make sure made the correct sized hole for the anchor I wanted to use. I usually drilled the wrong size hole and ended up having to hammer the anchor into the wall, often damaging it in the process.

New Style Push and Screw Anchor
New Style Push and Screw Anchor

The Zip-It anchors don’t require a drill and their unique auger design provides a secure grip in the wall. All you need to do is push the sharpened tip into the wall and use a phillips head screw driver to screw the anchor into the wall. Zip-It’s come in nylon as well as metal and a variety of sizes.

I’ve used these for the past 6 months and there’s no way I’ll ever go back to the old drill and plug method. Zip-It fasteners can be found at just about any hardware store.