Ingenuity
About a year ago at Target, I found a light-up “BUSY” sign sort of like the “ON THE AIR” signs one might see in a radio studio. It was on clearance for $5! I thought it would be a fun novelty in the office and could perhaps help rescue me from people barging into my office not realizing that I’m actually in the middle of something.
The letters were white, but I colored them in with a Sharpie because they were unreadable when it was turned on.
I wanted to have a convenient way to turn it on, but have it in a visible location, so I hung it on the front of my desk. It had a pushbutton power switch. I cut this out and rigged it up to some longer UTP scraps I found lying around and screwed it to my desk within arm’s reach.
One day I got up in a hurry, bumped the button and broke it. I got a soldering iron for Christmas, so I decided to make some improvements. I used better wiring and a sturdier flip switch. I mounted the switch in an old Adagio Tea sample box. Works like a charm.
