11/06/02’s illustrious band:

Big Finger Foam

Brought to you by Señor Editor.

Yesterday Señor and I were lounging -- I mean, toiling busily -- at Media Headquarters when he received an interesting object in the mail. It looked like a ping-pong paddle that had spent three weeks in a dryer and shrunk to about 4 inches in height. It’s maybe 1/3 of an inch thick, and it’s squishy. There’s a single slit from the top of the paddle to its center.

This, it turns out, is the No Ding Nail Ring. If you’re pounding a nail but don’t want to risk denting the wood or wall you’re pounding into, you need one of these. Just slip the nail into the slit in the paddle and the NDNR will both steady the nail and protect the surface beneath. Handy!

And spongy. Señor said it was made of the same foam rubber substance employed in the manufacture of novelty hats. “Ah,” I nodded knowingly, “big finger foam.” Yup, just like the oversized “We’re #1” fingers you can slip over your whole hand to wave at sporting events. Same stuff.

So next time you’re waving a big foam finger, think of its humble cousin the NDNR, and pound something down.

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Note to Bloglet subscribers: I am aware that Bloglet does not do a very good job of translating special characters like the tilde-n in Spanish words such as “Senor,” nor with apostrophes and dashes. I am seeking a solution to the problem that will not require me to limit my creative use of punctuation or, like Commander Data, to expunge contractions from my vocabulary.