Bazyle:

I use your 2. as a convenient way of avoiding unwanted electrical contact with other items in the box housing a cordless drill.

The similar items that come with IT leads can be useful but, of course, this is not the re-purposing I think you had in mind.

I'm not sure if this is what you mean, but, I have found that it's more or less imposssible to build, repair or work on clocks without the use of McDonalds coffee stirrers….. I rarely go to McD myself and have not been there in over a year, also I don't actually drink coffee, but I have a group of 'supporters' who go there just to keep me supplied.

……..Where to begin with the multiplicity of uses?……Glue three stirrers in sandwich using white wood glue, add fine abrasive paper to one side,…shape to required profile section and you can get into any difficult area of a clock part. Use for mixing and spreading,…for working int othe shape of a profile as a template……shave down and turn into a screw hole with a drop of oil to make a perfect model of the thread for reference…….cut to shape for polishing fine grooves and edges using T-Cut etc…..use in sections to line jaws of parallel pliers (keep in place with dob of grease)……split the tip an duse to hold very small screws during reassembly……..shave down to use a fine soft little wedges……the uses are varied and endless.

If a use can be found for the item, even if not the original one, it cannot be useless.

An item that I use at Shows, when they happened, started life as a candle stick. Slightly modified, and with the aid of an Aluminium ball and a supply of compressed air, attracts attention from youngsters, and sometimes, their parents!

The process is known as adaptation, I think.

One mans meat is another's poisson! Apologies to all French speakers!

Howard

I had several electronic items damaged in transit because they failed to fit the plastic plug covers and it damaged the casing. They are clearly not to protect the plug but anything else in close contact.

..if it hadn't been for the lapse into French, I don't Le Petomane would have sprung quite so immediately to mind.. ..however.. ..just thought I'd share that with you …sweet dreams, all..

No problem, she's not referred to as "The Enemy" for nothing! We get on very well, I do as I'm told and everything is fine…

I once heard about a person who had a cardboard box labelled "Pieces of string too short to be of any use"