# Things you have, but not for their original use. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 9, 2011, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-have-but-not-for-their-original-use/605605 "2011-12-09T10:42:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-have-but-not-for-their-original-use/605605/21 "2011-12-10T15:53:12Z")
This thread reminds me of a passage out of a Vonnegut book (Player Piano?). The protagonist is disheartened when he brings home a beautiful, functional antique phonograph and his wife wants to gut it and turn it into a cabinet or something… ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-have-but-not-for-their-original-use/605605/22 "2011-12-10T15:54:48Z")
I keep my make-up in a tackle box. Wouldn’t be manly otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-have-but-not-for-their-original-use/605605/23 "2011-12-10T16:25:54Z")
I have a “[floor to ceiling bike rack](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51PgxoXVEGL._SL500_AA300_.jpg)” that I use as a combination coat/outdoor gear hanger. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-have-but-not-for-their-original-use/605605/24 "2011-12-10T16:45:37Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > This thread reminds me of a passage out of a Vonnegut book (Player Piano?). The protagonist is disheartened when he brings home a beautiful, functional antique phonograph and his wife wants to gut it and turn it into a cabinet or something… I was just reading Player Piano last week. It was a grandfather clock that the wife wanted to put an electronic movement into so she could add a dust precipitator where the pendulum was. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-have-but-not-for-their-original-use/605605/25 "2011-12-10T16:58:02Z")
> [@postcards](#): > > I was just reading Player Piano last week. It was a grandfather clock that the wife wanted to put an electronic movement into so she could add a dust precipitator where the pendulum was. Thanks - I haven’t read it in ages. Does seem apropos to this thread though, doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Bin-Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@Bin-Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bin-Gay)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-have-but-not-for-their-original-use/605605/26 "2011-12-10T17:08:52Z")
I use a grapefruit spoon to scoop out the seeds and fibers from winter squash. Works wonderfully! ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-have-but-not-for-their-original-use/605605/27 "2011-12-10T18:09:21Z")
My old college trunk, as end table/comics collection storage. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-have-but-not-for-their-original-use/605605/28 "2011-12-10T22:27:44Z")
> [@freckafree](#): > > [hijack] Mangetout, do you know about [fusing plastic bags](http://etsylabs.blogspot.com/2007/05/long-overdue-fusing-plastic-bag.html)? [/hijack] Thanks - yes - I plan to do some of this next year (some other projects to finish and on the list first) ---
**Author:** ![XRaeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/f14d63/32.png) [@XRaeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XRaeth)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-have-but-not-for-their-original-use/605605/29 "2011-12-11T23:21:26Z")
> [@Mr.Accident](#): > > I’ve been known to use pop-sickle sticks and duct tape to splint broken/sprained fingers. I think you meant to say “popsicle”. Apparently popsickle means something entirely different [http://ww](http://ww) w.urban [dictionary.com/define.php?term=popsickle](http://dictionary.com/define.php?term=popsickle) (link broken for possible NSWF) I think it’s fine, just being cautious. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-have-but-not-for-their-original-use/605605/30 "2011-12-11T23:42:20Z")
So far I’ve used my hockey stick to hang Christmas lights, to fish stray socks out from behind the washer/dryer, to fish random items out from under the couch, to bang on the ceiling in the middle of the night t get neighbours to shut up and to temporarily prop serve as a clothes rack by laying it across two chairs and hang stuff off it. I have yet to shoot an actual puck with it. ---
**Author:** ![spotthegerbil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@spotthegerbil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spotthegerbil)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-have-but-not-for-their-original-use/605605/31 "2011-12-11T23:51:31Z")
I bought a Playstation 3 three years back with the sole intention of watching Blu-ray films. I’m told it’s good for gaming, but I only own one PS3 game, and a couple of PS1 games. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-have-but-not-for-their-original-use/605605/32 "2011-12-11T23:55:16Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > I used a friend’s maxi pad as a napkin. Don’t worry, it wasn’t used. Those things have amazing absorption! I know paramedics who use tampons as wound dressings. They swear that the tampons work better than the bandages designed for the purpose. My mother has a couple of camel saddles, which she uses as footrests for the chairs in front of the TV. When I was a kid, my brother and I used two tackle boxes to store our Star Wars action figures. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Accident](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Mr.Accident](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Accident)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-have-but-not-for-their-original-use/605605/33 "2011-12-11T23:58:34Z")
> [@XRaeth](#): > > I think you meant to say “popsicle”. > > Apparently popsickle means something entirely different > > [http://ww](http://ww) w.urban [dictionary.com/define.php?term=popsickle](http://dictionary.com/define.php?term=popsickle) > > (link broken for possible NSWF) I think it’s fine, just being cautious. Argh, yes, you have it right. I really must stop posting while in the clutches of insomnia. ---
**Author:** ![Lacunae\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-have-but-not-for-their-original-use/605605/34 "2011-12-12T00:50:26Z")
Just remembered one: I keep a big set of tongs, originally part of a grilling set, on the shelf in the laundry room. I use them to retrieve stuff that falls into that awkward corner between the washer, dryer, and water heater. Way easier than climbing or moving appliances, when socks, baby clothes, etc., fall down there. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-have-but-not-for-their-original-use/605605/35 "2011-12-12T09:44:34Z")
I have a wife and the mother of our young kids that started off as a girlfriend for seemingly only one purpose. I joke, I joke [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-have-but-not-for-their-original-use/605605.md?page=1)