A while ago, a friend of mine was going on an expedition to Peru and didn’t want to run the risk of his iPod loosing power. His cunning solution was to take the solar panels out of all the calculators he could find in order to build a solar charger to attach to the top of his rucksack. For a while, this wasn’t an issue until the battery in the calculator ran out and had no way of recharging. Something had to be done, and it wasn’t going to be pretty.

When the battery was replaced, it was clear the back would never fit on again, but calculator casing is over-rated anyway. As is the orientation and presence of all its buttons.

A friend of mine just sent me some pictures of a remote control car he ‘bodged’. It simply wasn’t fast enough for his liking, hence the large battery attached to its back.

Unfortunately, like many such modifications, this resulted in the device breaking but I think it is important we recognise what has been achieved here. Being a programmer, I am no stranger to the concept of messy and untidy solutions to problems. In fact, I find it can sometimes be a work of art. This is hopefully the first of many posts in my ‘Bodges’ category, a category which I shall use to demonstrate some of the most beautifully executed bodges my friends and I can produce.