Are you a book reader?  Over the years I have gone thru spurts of reading, my last one being with the Harry Potter series.  It wasn’t until this past Christmas that I got hooked on reading again when I finally gave in and read Twilight.  Since then I have continued reading and became intrigued by Amazon’s Kindle.  Kindle (or more recently Kindle 2) is an electronic book reader.  I had heard of it awhile back but was a tad bit mad at Amazon for stealing my idea.  Yes, it’s true, I came up with the electronic book reader idea years ago.  I bet I could even dig out my invention journal and show you, but I’ll spare you that level of detail.

I finally agreed that since I didn’t pursue the idea then Amazon might have some kind of rights to the thing, so I decided to check it out.  Kindle has been highly successful in terms of easibility but the downside is the cost.  Wow – it’s high at $359.00 (at the time I wrote this).  Since I’m on this kick of watching what I spend our money on I decided that a Kindle in my hands wasn’t going to be happening anytime soon.  But then I struck gold.  I found out that Amazon had launched a free ebook app (or application for those not in the know) called AmazonKindle for the iPhone (also known as Kindle for iPhone with Whispersynch).  Since I have an iPhone and I love free things I decided to give it a try.  

Initially I had my doubts.  Surely I wouldn’t like reading books on my phone.  The text would be too small.  The phone too odd to read on.  Not many books to choose from.  The cost the books would be too much.  But, it wasn’t bad.  It was actually pretty darn good.  Nine Eighteen books later and I’m loving it. I’m even past the stage of missing holding a real book in my hands.  The text size is fine and if I need to I can make it larger or smaller.  I can actually read with one hand.  This is convenient when one wants to eat, drink or pet the cat while reading.  And the cost of the books, very reasonable.  The highest price I’ve paid to date is $9.99, with the average being $6.50.  I can also download free samples of books (up to four chapters) so I can try it before deciding I want to purchase it and I can have a large amount of books on my phone at any one time. Currently I have 19 books stored on there.  The bonus, I always have a book with me.  I find myself now getting upset at the orthodontists office because they are sending my kids back out to me way too quick.  Don’t they realize I have a chapter to finish?!   

So you may be wondering, how does one actually get a book onto your phone?  The actual process for ordering books couldn’t be much  simpler.  I simply sign into my Amazon account, search for the Kindle book I’m interested in and pay for it using the 1-click method.  After that I just re-open the Kindle app on my phone and the book magically appears.  I literally can have a new book on my phone within 2 minutes if I know exactly what I’m wanting. It requires only Internet connection.  No cords or wires.  I love that!

If you like to read and already have an iPhone I highly recommend you downloading Kindle for iPhone and give it a try.  I give it 4 out of 5 stars.  I’ll give it 5 stars once I’m able to get the books for free from the library.   

For information on the Kindle, you can check it out here.

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Before

After

Optional:

DIRECTIONS

1. Start this project off by finding some whimsical, funky columns.  I found these at a wonderful Estate Sale of an eccentric, artsy fellow who’s main passion in life was apparently making lights out of anything.  While everyone was in the house sorting through the myriad of art parts I made my way straight to the garage and noticed these immediately.  He was in the process of wiring them up for a lamp of some type.  I immediately thought of two plant stands for the deck we were building. 

   

2. Take the handsaw reciprocal saw and cut off the top part of the columns where the wire is sticking out.  One set of husband hands are used at this point to hold the base of the column from vibrating into pieces because reciprocal saws are powerful.  It’s important to make sure said husband is not standing in the way of the reciprocal saw exit point because severe damage would occur.  Point out this fact to him and ask him to move.  




3.  Place one of the plastic planter saucers on top and drill three pilot holes thru the saucer into the top base of the column.  Then (using the + drillbit) screw in (3) screws.  I used #7 Pressure Treated screws because I had a big box left over from some other project.  I liked these because the box said they won’t rust which is a plus since this will be in contact with water.  However, I would have used any old screws I had if these weren’t available.  I’m not picky.



4. Place one of the terra cotta pots on top of the saucer, centering it over the column.  It’s important to use terra cotta pots because the plastic pots the ferns come in will be too light and blow off the cool new plant stand every five minutes!  I can attest to this fact, five times. 



5. Optional – stain, paint and seal the columns for optimal prettiness and sustainability.  Of course if you’re like me you will do this step approximately two summers from now all the while thinking to yourself (as you watch the one of a kind plant stand slightly deteriorate each year) “why didn’t I just do that already?!”. 

Note:  Photos of this step will be added.  Eventually. 

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