In these tough economic times when the administration bails out businesses that are “too big to fail” and ignores small business, you might think entrepreneurs would just pack their bags and go. But no, as it turns out, that flame refuses to be extinguished.

One such example is the Magnogrip. Simple in concept; handy in practice. It’s basically just a Velcro-secured wrist band with magnets sewn in. The magnets are strong enough to hold nails, screws, nuts, bolts, etc until they’re needed. Then, they’re close at hand (pun intended).

While you might use your carpenter pouches for production work like hanging drywall, that would be overkill for going around the house hanging pictures, installing baseboard or door trim, or even working on the car.

And call me crazy, but I’m going to try it out for holding flies the next time I go kayak fishing.

One good thing is that the Magnogrip is available now at home improvement stores like Home Depot,  and Ace. Just in time for a Christmas stocking-stuffer gift? They say timing is everything…

Want to get timely but not annoyingly frequent home improvement news and tips? Brilliant! Sign up for my newsletter at subscribe@icanfixupmyhome.com. Important: If you don’t get the confirmation email in a timely fashion, check your spam and/or junk folder and add listserv@icanfixupmyhome.com to your address book.

Why? Because some email clients filter out unknown domains. Ouch. Meanwhile, visit my main site by clicking on the banner below.

I have a huge collection of hand tools. Many of these, like my Whitney Punch, see only rare action time, but when they’re needed, they really come in handy and make the job easier. The electronic stud finder is also one of these.

It’s usefulness is not limited to hanging pictures. For example, yesterday I was installing some baseboard in the living room. The wall is already painted so I couldn’t see the drywall nails to locate the studs. Enter the stud finder.

But alas, it turned stubborn on me and refused to turn on. So I just went to Home Depot and bought a new one. I like tinkering with things, but I was on a mission. Operation Honey-Do List.

They ranged from $15.99 all the way up to $60. For $60, it better wash my truck and scratch my back.

I ended up picking a Zircon StudSensor Pro LCD. It’s a mid-range model that you too could own if you’re willing to shell out $19.97. Sure beats tapping the wall and hoping for the best! Heck, it does everything I want it to do.  It has two settings - one to alert on shallow studs, and the other to alert on deep studs, which is what? Intellectual Pine?

Another handy feature is the WireWarning alert that lets you know when it notices a hot electrical wire. Nothing ruins my day like 120V greeting me via a 10d nail!

If you’re homeowner and anything like me, life is an endless parade of DIY projects and honey-do lists. As a matter of fact, I even capitalized on it a while back when I wrote a weekly column for another site called “The Perpetual Remodeling Syndrome.”

And if you’re not like me, then it’s easy! All you have to do is find a contractor.

It was fun while it lasted. So I thought, why not continue the tradition at my site. I considered it as blog posts but decided to make it article format.

The result is Follow My Perpetual Remodeling Syndrome - All the Fun of Home Ownership in Suburbia. It’s quite short now but I’ll add to it as I go. Have a look and check back.

Since I think I’ll add a lot of photos, this morning I had a go at getting just the right code to launch larger pics from thumbnails or so pics. I used to be pretty good at javascript but some details evaded me. Never fear, I’ve got a couple up now.

I’ve started the article with installing baseboard in the bathroom. I ended up using vinyl base. Not commercial base, but the kind that looks like wood. Next I will add a bit on door trim using corner blocks. Following that, building a built-in medicine cabinet.

I think this will be a fun project. It’ll give me some motivation to jump off the keyboard here and strap on my tools.