I recently moved into a new cubicle at work, so I've been trying to minimize the amount of noise I make. As part of that effort, I've been using my headphones more often when I listen to my daily slew of podcasts. I use a desktop at work, so that means that my headphones are connected to a tower that sits on the ground. Fortunately, the headphones have a long enough cord that they'll reach me, so that's not a problem.
What is a problem, however, is that there is no place to rest the ear buds when I step away from my desk or otherwise stop listening. If I place them too close to the edge of the desk, they'll fall right off. To further complicate things, the long cord also means that there's a non-trivial pull on the ear buds towards the computer on the ground. Even resting the headphones a few inches away from the edge of the desk can be problematic. And I don't want these things falling/lying on the ground, so I have to be very careful about my headphones. I think you can see the beginnings of my dilemma.
Now, after a little experimenting, I figured out that I could use something to physically block the ear buds from sliding. This is not ideal, but it works. This soon led to the notion that a hook of some sort, or something that would help catch the cord, would work just as well. That's a much more elegant solution, since it doesn't require an unwieldy paper weight. Actually, the cleanest way to do this would be to have a hook of some sort on the underside of the desk. Not only would it be simple, but it would also keep the cords out of the way, to avoid any aesthetic clutter.
I can't exactly go drilling or gluing these types of hooks into the company furniture, though. So, that leaves me to try to find a way to implement this sort of thing with something that can be easily removed. If I could only find a ready-made product that handles all of this for me, all my problems would be solved.
As soon as I put some thought into this, though, it hit me; this is a known problem with a known solution. Purse hooks. The product that I am look for is a purse hook/hanger thing. In fact, I realized that this as soon as I remembered that I've seen the Mild-Girlfriend go through similar motions when dealing with her purse at restaurants. Not surprisingly, she is also the reason that I even know about these things.
Now, my background & training is officially that of an engineer. One of the things you are taught fairly early on is that you always look for shortcuts and intelligent ways to do less work. I distinctly remember one of my TA's telling us that, "if you're not trying to be lazy, you're not a real engineer." Taking a problem and reducing it to one that's already been solved is one of the oldest tricks in the book. It means that you can make someone else do all of the hard work for you. Put another way, it's roughly equivalent to saying, "I made 100% sure that my test is the same as that guy's, so I'm going to cheat off of him. The correct answer is the one on his test." (And I bet you thought engineering was boring)
So how does this relate to the head phones & cord problem? Part of me is rightfully ecstatic that I found a simple solution, and one that requires zero work from me, no less. I can buy a cheap hook for less than 10 bucks. On the other hand, it's a purse hook. If anyone ever looks closely, that's going to be one heck of a discussion.
I think you see my dilemma.
What is a problem, however, is that there is no place to rest the ear buds when I step away from my desk or otherwise stop listening. If I place them too close to the edge of the desk, they'll fall right off. To further complicate things, the long cord also means that there's a non-trivial pull on the ear buds towards the computer on the ground. Even resting the headphones a few inches away from the edge of the desk can be problematic. And I don't want these things falling/lying on the ground, so I have to be very careful about my headphones. I think you can see the beginnings of my dilemma.
Now, after a little experimenting, I figured out that I could use something to physically block the ear buds from sliding. This is not ideal, but it works. This soon led to the notion that a hook of some sort, or something that would help catch the cord, would work just as well. That's a much more elegant solution, since it doesn't require an unwieldy paper weight. Actually, the cleanest way to do this would be to have a hook of some sort on the underside of the desk. Not only would it be simple, but it would also keep the cords out of the way, to avoid any aesthetic clutter.
I can't exactly go drilling or gluing these types of hooks into the company furniture, though. So, that leaves me to try to find a way to implement this sort of thing with something that can be easily removed. If I could only find a ready-made product that handles all of this for me, all my problems would be solved.
As soon as I put some thought into this, though, it hit me; this is a known problem with a known solution. Purse hooks. The product that I am look for is a purse hook/hanger thing. In fact, I realized that this as soon as I remembered that I've seen the Mild-Girlfriend go through similar motions when dealing with her purse at restaurants. Not surprisingly, she is also the reason that I even know about these things.
Now, my background & training is officially that of an engineer. One of the things you are taught fairly early on is that you always look for shortcuts and intelligent ways to do less work. I distinctly remember one of my TA's telling us that, "if you're not trying to be lazy, you're not a real engineer." Taking a problem and reducing it to one that's already been solved is one of the oldest tricks in the book. It means that you can make someone else do all of the hard work for you. Put another way, it's roughly equivalent to saying, "I made 100% sure that my test is the same as that guy's, so I'm going to cheat off of him. The correct answer is the one on his test." (And I bet you thought engineering was boring)
So how does this relate to the head phones & cord problem? Part of me is rightfully ecstatic that I found a simple solution, and one that requires zero work from me, no less. I can buy a cheap hook for less than 10 bucks. On the other hand, it's a purse hook. If anyone ever looks closely, that's going to be one heck of a discussion.
I think you see my dilemma.
I think this is point one for the females, who traditionally don't have things that are so much practical as pretty. Boo yah, guys!
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