Shoe Box

Problem, meet Solution. 

I get some odd requests around here. I don't think this has anything to do with me being a stay at home dad per se, but I think it might have something to do with my obvious excess of mental energy. As I've said before, being a stay at home dad is often very tiring, but not terribly mentally stimulating. I used to run experiments like checking what happens when you let a two year old self feed dried apricots (there may be children that will eat enough to throw up), but my wife caught on to this and decided to re-direct my energies. The thought is that this would have several benefits. Primarily, it would eliminate the need to clean up dried apricot vomit. As a secondary benefit, it would allow me to stretch my brain, and if she worked her cards right, she'd get stuff out of it. This isn't a honey-do list, I wouldn't like that at all. I don't like being told to do things. I like solving problems. It's all about finesse. My wife is good at finesse.

Air holes to let out the funk. 

Recently she let me know that she had a running shoe problem. She runs a couple of times a week and changes and showers at the gym near her office. When she's done, her shoes go in her truck. The problem is that her truck isn't really a truck, being that it doesn't have a bed, or a trunk, or anything but the passenger compartment really, so the shoes went inside. Then they sit for the rest of the day baking and stewing. Upon opening the doors to get into the truck, one is met with the overwhelming sensation of trying to climb directly into a shoe. It's hot, it's a bit moist, and it smells like a foot. This was the problem.
I'll spare you the thought process that ended up in the solution presented here, but it's enough to say that there was a lot of:

Me - "I have an idea!"
My wife - "That's not at all what I asked for at all. Shoes outside the truck. Is that so hard?"
Me - "No, I guess not. I'll think about it more."

Finally, after much internet searching, store searching, and soul searching, I ended up with the fantastic little hitch mounted toolbox you see in the pictures. $12 for the box, some leftover steel and bolts from the garage and the hitch that I haven't used since I gave away my trailer. It was a fun project. My wife is happy and I had a good time. What more can you ask from a life?