VW Key Hack

For anyone who doesn't know, I have a 2002 VW Passat. His name is Wilson, being named after the volleyball in the movie Castaway. Back in 2005, I had the bad habit of falling asleep with my carkey in my pocket. I know, I know, it's weird to sleep in jeans in the first place, but bear with me. It didn't take long before I had slept on top of my keys, and had depressed one of the buttons on my car key all night, thus draining the battery. The next day I called the dealer to see if they could fix my key.

"No ma'am," they said, "you'll have to buy a new one."

I confidently asked "How much will it cost?" I expected a figure around 20 or 30 bucks. It's a laser-cut key, so it's not like they're making a replica at home depot, so I was thinking high end.

"$150 dollars for a key without buttons, and $250 if you'd like it with buttons."

Needless to say, I've made do with the key that I destroyed.

In 2006, I got a job at RadioShack. One of the routine scenarios that often plays out is helping little old men replace the batteries in their valet keys. There would always be a little door at the back which I could easily pop open. I looked at my key, and couldn't find anything like that.

Jump to yesterday. I was playing with my key, and found something. There is a small groove which I popped a flathead screwdriver into that I had never noticed before. This opened the key right up. First I separated the half with the blade from the half with the buttons, and then I split the half with the buttons along the seam and lo and behold, what do I find inside but a CELL BATTERY! I went to RadioShack today, got the correct battery, and viola! Good as new! Now if only I would've been smart enough to figure that out 3 years ago! Sheesh!

Batteries not included

Being the former RadioShack employee that I am, nerdy hacks of any sort are always a big hit with me. These videos were definitely interesting to the nerdy part of my soul. Enjoy!

6V Battery Hack

6 Volt Battery Hack! You'll Be Amazed! - Watch the top videos of the week here

As fascinating as the above video is, a word of caution. Usually the cheaper 6V batteries have these awkward D-battery-ish monstrosities. The following illustrates what you can do with those suckers.

The TRUE 6 Volt Battery Hack. Save Yourself $$$ Not A Repeat! - Click here for the most popular videos

12V hack:

12 Volt Battery Hack! You'll Be Surprised... - Watch the best video clips here

12V hack parody:

It's A Parody! - More bloopers are a click away

9V hack:

9 Volt Battery Hack! You'll Be Surprised... - The best free videos are right here

9V parody (my personal favorite):

9 Volt Battery Hack Spoof - More amazing video clips are a click away

Scrubs and 'Phones

This makes me want to watch Scrubs. I've actually never seen a whole episode. And I've never seen House, much to the chagrin of some people who may or may not read this blog. Back to the clip. Makes the rad-list. Woo to the clip.

And there's a little more. I got new headphones today. As much as I loved my old ones, the sheath of the wire detached just above the mini plug and the raw wire was exposed. I did a makeshift repair - a little hot glue and a lot of love - but I'm just too brutal to my headphones and the sheath is progressively freeing itself from the glue ever further. I've decided to make them emergency-use only and let them rest. I'll probably get some heat shrink some day when I'm not lazy, but finally this segways into why I'm blabbing about this (besides the reason of my love for my old headphones):


Meet the Sony Fontopia MDR-EX51LP. I'm really an impulsive buyer. Many, many of my things have been bought based on a feeling, and these headphones fall under that category. I saw them, had a good feeling about them, and plunked them on the register. I'm quite pleased with them. I'm not exactly an expert per se, but to me they sound great. They're comfy. They're pretty. They're mine.

Favorite aspect: They drown out my roommates singing show tunes.