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Friday, January 8, 2010

Jimmy Rigging

Last week I promised to tell you more about the night
we stuck buckets under our broken bed to hold it
up. Well, Spencer has had a bad habit
of running from their computer room across the hall
and flying through the air to land on our bed!
At 180 lbs, he's just too big to do this like he did
when he was a toddler! He has broken bed slats before,
and we scold him, so he only does it when
we aren't watching! Well, a couple of weeks ago
he did one last, flying leap and broke the entire
bed frame! The Mister wasn't home until
late that night, so instead of bringing in a
power saw and drill and starting in on it
at 11PM, he opted to hold up the slats with
some old utility buckets we had in the garage.
He called it Jerry Rigging...which I laughed
at and told him that Jill had just blogged about
to Jimmy Rig was to fix something regardless
of how it looks or how long it lasts.
Using any materials that are available
to you in a creative way to make
something work. He and Jill really
ought to get together and share their stories,
because The Mister tries to Jimmy Rig everything.
Although, he insists it's called Jerry, but
pronounces it Jury. Strange.
And you wonder why I have my own tools and
try to repair things on my own! LOL!
The good news is we only had to keep it this way
for 3 nights and then he actually repaired it in
a way that I would approve. :)

43 comments:

  1. It is Jerry Rigging! That's what Hubby and I both say. Where is Jill from? We're from the South, and I think The Mister is from the North, so I'm not sure it helps to know. But we sure don't say jury!

    You've just discovered dialect!

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  2. You call it that too? Funny. I've never heard of it until The Mister started saying it. He's lived in Ohio his whole life. Interesting! You guys SAY it, but do you DO it? That's entirely different! LOL!

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  3. Thank goodness for the buckets/ha

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  4. How funny!! As long as you didn't lose any sleep! :-)

    xoxo
    Janie

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  5. Nanny ~ haha..yes...especially since that is MY side of the bed! LOL!

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  6. I'm from St. Louis, and we say Jerry Rigging!

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  7. That is funny, it is Jerry Rigging here also.

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  8. And what met your approval there Betsy?! Oh my goodness, maybe you need a metal bedframe for you guys with your son doing that so often. I can totally picture it though---him flying through the air. how funny.


    The Mister is spot on right. It is indeed called Jerry rigging. Its definitely not Mmm rigging let me tell you. --I don't fix things and have no buckets adn such lying around. lol

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  9. My husband made us a wooden platform bed frame years ago...very sturdy.
    He must of not Jerry Rigged It.
    When anyone around my house "fixes" things without the "proper"(usually fixed with duck tape)supplies, I say...you fixed it the "redneck" way.
    Good thing you had the buckets.
    Nancy

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  10. Jerry,Jimmy or even Jury, it's pretty funny.

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  11. I've never heard of Jerry Rigging..but whatever works! I have heard of Peter tumble down fixing which isn't so good I guess. Hope it stays fixed! Come say hi :D

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  12. I am from California with family from Nebraska, Minnesota, Illinois, and Washington. We all call it jerry rigging.

    Jury rigging is a felony.

    Is Jill's husband named Jimmy?

    The things I have seen rigged in my time...boy, howdy. But, the best is Hubband's grandfather who was a brilliant engineer had his dining room (pedestal) table held together with rope. You would think he of all people would not need to resort to jerry rigging.

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  13. Love Jill's definition! Love the picture of the buckets...what a designer touch ~~ :)

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  14. We say Jerry Rigging too - pronounced jury! It often involved duct tape and yes - we do it sometimes too!
    Nice job on the bed!

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  15. Yes, Betsy, we Jerry Rig. Our bed that we got when we were first married made it through 20 years of military moves. The movers eventually broke the spot where the slats slid into the wooden headboard, so we got rid of the footboard and just used a regular queen bed frame we had and lug bolted it to the head board. Eventually in the last two moves we not only had to lug bolt it but bungie cord it as well. Jerry Rigging at it's finest with a little redneck to boot!

    That's why I was so thankful to get a new bed when Hubby retired and we settled here. Ahhhh...

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  16. Jimmy rigging or Jerry rigging, they both seem to be fitting descriptions for a quick repair job.

    Glad you've been able to dispense with the buckets now.

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  17. I have only heard it called Jerry Rigging out here in California, and my family, from Illinois and Indiana, all call it the same thing.

    But Duct Tape is probably the most common item used in Jerry Rigging. They used to have a show called "The Duct Tape Guys" and it was amazing at what duct tape could be used for. I keep about 3 rolls in my house at all times. I can't think of anything that works better for Jerry Rigging.

    And during these times of people not having money to waste, I think Jerry Rigging will become very popular.

    Hmmmm, I never thought to ask Hubby what he calls it, being from Canada, it makes me wonder what he calls it. I think I will have to remember and ask him. He thinks I am crazy with all I do with duct tape. Oh well, at least it works.

    Jerry Rigging rocks!!!!

    God bless.

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  18. Great fix! You now, I have fixed something this way before, not exactly, but in a similar way. It was suppose to be temporary and guess what, it is still held together that way years after.;) Hehe.
    xo
    Zuzana

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  19. A smashing example of how a post about a broken bed can - with the help of a host of blogging friends - turn into an exercise in etymology

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  20. i dont see a bit of duct tape either. lol.

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  21. HA!! Jimmy Rigging is highly UNDER rated and ridiculed! It is a SKILL to be mastered by only a few clever minds! The Mister and I have learned this skill...using the resources available to us. I am going to capitalize on that and say it is even a bit "green" in that we don't go out and buy a bunch of stuff to fix it!

    Glad your bed is fixed! Maybe a STEEL frame is in order...it is only a matter of time till Spence takes his next flying leap! ;)

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  22. We say Jerry Rigging. We had to Jerry Rig our son's glider rocker over the weekend when he tipped it over and broke one of the wooden dowels in the back from rocking on it backwards on his knees. I used packing tape! But you know what, it's holding for now. Thank God for Jerry Rigging, whoever you are!

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  23. I am laughing at the etymology of this whole thing! I just discovered that projects that have been Jimmy Rigged or Jury/Jerry Rigged are considered....JIGGERED. I like that!

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  24. I like the way The Mister thinks!

    Some years back I couldn't afford a TV stand for our new big-screen TV. I took two long pieces of sturdy wood, fastened them together, and wrapped the whole thing with a large piece of material. I requested four empty industrial-sized cans from the boys' school cafeteria, painted them to match the material, and used them to hold up the wood. Voila...I had a "stand".

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  25. Funny.....this sounds like something that might happen at my house. Love the Jerry Rigging. That concept is used a lot around our small farm.

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  26. Well, at least the bed was able to be fixed without purchasing a new one. Around here we've always said "Jerry" rigging but be sure we don't say "jury"!

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  27. Mmm ~ he bolted the side wood piece to the ends so the slats could still be held up. It actually looks nice, like a professional did it. ha. I know we'll eventually have to replace the whole thing, but I'm not ready to give up my big old four poster bed just yet.

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  28. Tracey...haha...you are so clever...a felony indeed..I'm telling The Mister that one! LOL!

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  29. Mari ~ you pronounce it Jury?? And you are from the Grand Rapid's area too..where the Mister's parents and grandparents lived. We might be on to something now!

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  30. Brian ~ the duct tape is on some of the kitchen cabinets! LOL! ugh.

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  31. When the kids go to college, they intentionally use concrete bricks and don't bother with bed frames. I like your real world photo.

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  32. I've always heard it called Jerry Rigging but I can see where accent and dialect would play a big role.

    Glad you had the buckets. We would have been up the proverbial creek!

    It is a funny mental vision, your son taking a flying leap onto the bed. I can sympathize. When I was little, I would run down the hall and flip over the back of the couch my mother moved in front of one of the doorways to the den. Needless to say, that doorway was reopened soon after my theatrics were discovered.

    Happy Weekend,
    Jen

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  33. You are very resourceful! Necessity is the mother of invention : )

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  34. Ha ! I Do Things Like That And Call It Finished!

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  35. We've had our mattress on the floor for over a year. Too many monkeys jumping on our bed and not enough rigging of any name.

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  36. We call it jerry-rigging here too! How strange! Whatever it was, it was resourceful!

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  37. Oh my gosh, Betsy, the visual of Spencer taking a swan dive onto your bed is just so fun! (Sorry. I'm sure the broken bed wasn't so fun.) Wouldn't it be great to have that abandon sometimes, though?

    We've always called it Jerry Rigging, too. And I have heard it pronounced "Jury" quite a bit...but never "Jimmy!" LOL!

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  38. I've heard of it...wish I was better at it!

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  39. Oh Betsy, I think it's time for you and your Man to get a Captains bed. Ever have one before? We have one and we lurve it. It has 3 drawers under each side of the bed and then then a large box frame design so you only need 1 mattress and if you can get the pillow top design on top, it's worth it. The bed frame design can probably withstand the boys!

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  40. LOL! We say "Jerry Rigging" too. I think it's just being proficient. ;)

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  41. That's too funny. I say Jerry Rig too but I'm not sure where it came from. Interesting.

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