Bubbles. Stickers. Ice cubes. These things are magic. In a little kid’s world, anyway. When a parental unit whips one of them out, all is perfect...for at least 17 minutes.

This morning, I stood in the shower and realized duct tape is magic in my world. From Day One in our apartment, the wire thing that holds the shampoo and soap (commonly referred to on the Bed Bath and Beyond web site as a shower caddy) kept slipping down the pipe and clunking the showerhead. Horrible? Perhaps not...but definitely to be filed under annoying. So, a few months back, I Macgyvered it. I wrapped some duct tape around the pipe, creating a little stopperbump for it. No more slipping. No more clunking. Held it in place ever since (no one in the house said thanks, but I know it was life-changing for everyone).

Staring at my handiwork this morning, I, having had only four measly sips of coffee, not quite focused or motivated to get out of the shower, began to think of the limitless number of things you can do with duct tape. Sure, other tools do a lot, but duct tape really is the universal solution to most any fix-it problem (and since NASA has used it repeatedly in space, it truly lives up to that description).

With duct tape in hand, you can hem a curtain in the living room and re-hinge a cabinet in the kitchen within minutes of dinner guests arriving. Wielding duct tape, you can mend a raggedy baseball glove to withstand the rest of the softball season and create a make-shift ring to last ‘til death do us part. Armed with duct tape, you can keep the stuffing in a couch and a secret in an informant (um, no, I haven’t tried that last one).

When you have duct tape, you can do almost anything in this world – make dinosaurs fly once again (by mending a plastic pterodactyl’s wing), win wars (by repairing jeeps), or make a dress (the tapemakers have a “best prom dress” contest that awards scholarships).

Yes, I thought this morning, duct tape is magical.