When good comes to bad

The Mission: design something that will house all the many cords under your desk so as to save your child from electrocution and protect the tech. Said device must be flexible in size since the number of cords varies depending on the electronics at work. The device must also allow for cords to be collected in one place but still reach the power strips and the electronics themselves.

The Stipulations: said device must be aesthetically pleasing enough not to be an eyesore in your main living space but completely unattractive to a small, curious, crawling baby who thinks cords are just the thing for teething. Oh, and apparently such a device as the one you want doesn't exist. Which makes, you know, no sense at all in this day and age.

The Challenge: visit home improvement stores and try to explain your thoughts to various employees, all of whom look at you with either confusion, condescension, or pity. Control your urges to throttle them and instead act sad and pathetic and dumb so they will help you. Count your lucky stars when one of your former students appears and, since apparently you gave him a good enough grade that he still likes you and he's wearing a name tag so it appears as if you remember his name, decides to help you figure out what sorts of materials you'll need for this contraption.

The Unlikely Suspects: after much debate and consultations with other employees (now happy to help when approached by one of their own), you decide to purchase a wire drawer (the kind meant to slide into a closet organization system) and a roll of thick vinyl shelf liner you have vague notions will line the inside of the drawer which you plan on turning upside down over the mass/mess of cords. You then use your hole punch and white ribbon to attach the tan liner to the inside of the white metal wire drawer.

The Results: a few mismeasurements and false starts later, you have a cover which has a conveniently large mesh top through which the husband can feed the cords on their way to various tech devices while at the same time has covered sides so that no cords or attractive blinking lights are visible unless one is directly on top of the device. Once all the cords are stowed away and those leaving on their way to powering the electronica are corralled with the help of a simple twist-tie, the baby shows absolutely no interest in the new addition. Success!!