Found! A Better TP Dispenser!

The O-Folk once lived in Japan many, many moons ago, and fell in love with their gadgets, the best of which, and one that we could afford to bring back with us, was this toilet paper dispenser. When the roll runs out, all you have to do is lift up on the empty core and two little swing arms let it pop right off. Then you push a new roll up through the spring arms, and they snap into the core. Presto! Chango! Even the O-Folk can handle that.

We liked these so much, we bought two, but the most frustrating thing about moving is that the things you're most looking forward to as you unpack are stashed away in the last box you open. These dispensers were in a box that's been shoved way to the back of a shelf all these years. I didn't find them again until tonight and was so pleased by the discovery that I installed it straight away.

The simplest things are the ones we treasure, right?

Give Me A Call

The paint job on the Western Electric 202 turned out pretty good after all.

I bought a spray can of clear coat that put a beautiful finish on it, not glossy but semi-gloss. It looks just right on a telephone body.

The next problem is the handset. The one that came with the phone is a transplant. The 202 is an elegant-looking phone, but it needs a genuine E1 handset with a "spit cup" mouth piece or it just doesn't have the same character. I'm scoping out sales on e-bay for the real thing and have found several in the past two weeks, but they're expensive. I may have to make due with the transplant for a while.

It's so heavily pitted that it'll take quite a bit of sanding and buffing before it comes close to matching the finish on the body.

The cord's pretty nasty, but I'll order a cloth-covered cord new from House of Telephones on payday. That ought to give me enough time to polish a good-looking shine on the handset.