Hi! I'm Jane's Brother And I'm Here To Help: If I Made The Product Laws
While I work on getting these highly practical regulations on the books, here are some cheap and easy workarounds to solve the egregious omissions of our legislature.
Hello, Weekend People! I hope you are having the exact kind you want right now. Mine so far has been working, which I like. But I’m actually inserting myself in here before my brother Ben's new column below to say: It’s his birthday!! Please wish him a happy one in the comments (or if you're not a paid subscriber, and therefore have to abide by the current Substack rule that you can't comment on this post, which is another issue and may be changing anyway, you can either become a paid subscriber - pick the cheapest option, what the hell - or you can send your notes to jane@anotherjaneprattthing.com and I will pass them along ). And of course be nice about and appreciative of everything Ben has to say here today especially because, as I said, It’s His Birthday!!!! I don't know if he wants me to tell his age, but he's exactly 2 years younger than me, so figure it out if you want to.
And now on to Ben’s always unusual and helpful tips for us all! Thanks and happy happy birthday, little brother!
-Jane
By: Ben Pratt
Hey, I’m back by popular demand after a little hiatus. Thanks for asking : )
Children's products are highly regulated. They can't have parts that could be a choking hazard, the battery cover must be secured with a Phillips head screw, etc. So why is there no requirement to have reflective material on kids' outerwear or shoes? Until a regulation is put in place, parents should always look for it when making a purchase.
However, it’s not always easy to tell how reflective something is, so here’s a tip. Take a flash photo of it, and the reflective materials will be very obvious in the picture.
If you've already made the purchase, reflective sew-on strips and patches are the best, but not everyone can sew or take the time. (The iron-on ones will eventually peel up.) But there is one solution that is easy and effective: Gear Aid Tenacious Tape and Patches. They, by far, are the best ones out there, and can even hold up to machine washing. You can put them on your coat, your dog's collar, helmets, bicycles and scooters, and anything else you can think of. They aren’t that expensive either.
And on a lighter note, all TV's should have a physical button that causes the remote to beep, and perhaps even light up. I was so tired of taking apart my sofa, that I came up with my own solution. I attached my bluetooth finder device to the remote. I knew it would fall off if I used double-stick tape, so I came up with a more secure way to attach it,