There Should Be A Law

If you still have the last lingering bit of a cough from a flu you had THREE WEEKS AGO [I just checked my calendar. It's] FIVE weeks ago! - that hasn't quite finished working its way out of your system, you should not be able to get sick again until the first flu has FINISHED!!!

I mean, how is that possible? Is that even allowed???

I am, once again, a human drip factory. I have the piles of tissues all over the floor to prove it. My bed looks like it's floating on clouds. And because I have now run out of tissues, I've taken to blowing my nose on dirty laundry. What? It saves trees and they had to be cleaned anyway!

Knork

I was having a conversation with a friend through instant messaging, when my food delivery arrived. Not to be deterred, I continued to type to him with one hand while I ate my dinner with the other. And then a thought popped into my head.

ME

I have a question. How the heck do you eat and type at the same time?

HIM

I make a mess :)

My friend has one arm, and while I could completely understand typing with one hand, typing with one hand while eating at the same time was difficult for me to imagine. But there's a solution for everything -he makes a mess!

Then he said:

HIM

-And I never use a fork when I'm on the computer.

ME

You don't use a fork when you're on the computer? I'd think that would make it easier to do both?

HIM

I balance the laptop on my lap and if it starts to fall, I could put my fork through the screen.

ME

That would be bad.

So then the conversation moved to cutlery, and that's when he mentioned that he used to own a combination fork and knife. I originally pictured a handle with a knife on one end and a fork on the other, and thought that was a really clever invention, but then he said it was a knife blade on the side of a fork. He wasn't sure if these were still made so I looked it up while we were chatting, and it is. It's a combination knife and fork and it's called a knork. -Not to be confused with the spork (combination spoon and fork) which I'd heard of.

It's a pretty cool idea. I may have to get a set of knorks for myself. As a matter of fact, that may be this year's Christmas present to everybody. Think of all the cleanup it could save.

Tip: When Blogger "Eats" Your Post Or Comment

I left this tip for someone in their comments today and thought I'd post it here as well.

The next time Blogger gives you an error message when you're trying to make a post or comment, (and you think all your brilliant thoughts, insights, and hours of work have been lost!) right click on the page and select "back." (Mac users, hold down the cntrl key while you click the page, and select "back.") Your words will often still be there in the form. Copy and paste them somewhere while you attempt to publish again just in case Blogger is still misbehaving.

This should work with similar "form submitting" errors on other websites too, including forums, shopping carts, etc.

My Remains

My friend and I once had a very long series of emails discussing what should be done with my remains (Don't ask. -Ok short version, I was very sick, needed surgery, thought I was going to die.) Among other things, I told her that I wanted to be cremated, I wanted my ashes mixed with my pets' ashes, and I wanted all of us to be put into something plain, simple, and silver colored-ish. Like a thermos.

From our emails

ME

Ultimately, I'm not sure if it'd be better to be buried in the container, or buried loose, or scattered. I don't want to be scattered over an ocean though. That would separate all of us [my ashes from my pets' ashes.] And I don't want to be dropped in there as a container either so we wash up on a beach as someone's found treasure. Maybe if we made good fertilizer...maybe a garden. My ferrets would like that. But I don't want to get raked away the next year! -Oh and I don't want to be sent into space. Don't shoot us into space! As cool as that might be in theory, I'm afraid someone would find us or that somehow our molecules would go through a black hole and be re-integrated, and we'd come back as some kind of deformed, very unhappy, multi-headed human/ferret hybrid. And no cryogenics. For one thing, I wouldn't be able to be with my pets then.

(You're saving this email right?)

J

_I_ want to be shot out into space!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, first any of my useful bits can be used for science or donated or whatever.

ME

Does your husband know? If I have the money I'll shoot you into space!

J

It's kind of cheap actually. Well, if you let the Russians do it that is. They cremate you and seal you in a little capsule thing and launch you with any trash they purge from the space station. Kind of an odd concept but hey, it's space!

There is also a Japanese group that launches ashes for a bit more. They do it for about $5000 (about the cost of the typical funeral). It is very respectful and all that. They showed it on tv the other day.

ME

I'm making a note in my PDA... "Shoot J into space with Russian Garbage."

J

Re: The Cryogenics: What if we just preserve your head and pack your ferrets and the rest of your ashes in the container with it for the future to fix?

ME

Tempting, but no, I don't think so. I don't trust people in the future not to screw up. Besides, you'll be out in space. Who will I talk to when I'm reanimated? ;)

J

I still think we should freeze your head.

ME

If I wake up as a head sometime in the future, I am going to grab a vacuum, go into space, and suck your ashes back down here! :P

Blankets And T-Shirts And Needles Oh My!

I've just mailed two boxes of supplies to a wildlife rehabilitator I know, and will probably send another 2 boxes-worth once I can find actual boxes to put them in!

I called her a couple of weeks ago and went through a bunch of my spare supplies with her on the phone. I already had an idea of what she'd be able to use but I wanted to check before sending anything. When I have a lot to donate, she's a good person for me to start with because she networks with other animal shelters and rehabbers in her area and can distribute excess supplies that she can't use herself.

What types of things are good to send (or consider sending?)

Leftover Medical Supplies:

Some of these are day to day items, and some are items that might be left over after treating a sick pet or human.

• Medicines (human or animal, prescription or non) that are no longer needed but have not expired. I believe they can use them 6 months past their expiration date, but I'm not certain.
• Blood glucose monitors and supplies
• Lactated ringers (I know... you all have boxes of those lying around your house ;) )
  
• Unused sterile needles
• Eye droppers
• Syringes with no needles attached -All sizes. Especially small. (Used is ok if they're clean and you make it clear that they are not sterile. They'll be used for feeding.)
  
• Wee wee pads (the kind you use for pets or the kinds used in hospital beds)
  

Leftover Pet Items:

• (See the medical section above)
• Pet food that hasn't expired. Dog, cat, bird... anything.
• Plastic pet carriers
• Pet food bowls
• Hairball remedies
• Wee wee pads
  
• Specialty items for exotic pets if they shelter them, like ferrets, iguanas, hedgehogs, chinchillas, servals etc. including toys, pet water bottles, bedding, cages, treats. (Cages and toys are usually not needed for wildlife, but you can always ask.)
  

Leftover Baby Items:

• Cloth diapers
• Burp cloths
• Wee Wee pads (disposable or non)
• Baby oil
• Baby shampoo
• Baby wipes
• Baby food
• Esbilac or other milk/nutritional supplements
• Pedialyte or other electrolyte supplements

Toiletries:

• Tweezers
  
• Vasoline
• Rubbing alcohol
• Hydrogen peroxide
• Q-tips

Other Household Items:

• Anything that can be used for bedding like blankets, towels, old t-shirts... (I've just put aside several orphaned pillow cases I will probably never use. They'll go to her in the next round.)
• Electric blankets
• Food scales (good for weighing small animals)
• Blenders
• Dawn dishwashing liquid (Often used for removing grease from birds)
• Day to day supplies like paper towels, laundry detergent, trash bags, and cleaning products (ask which ones).
• Gift certificates: Grocery stores, hardware/houseware stores, pet stores, office supply stores...
  

Those are the obvious things. Obvious to me anyway. Beyond that, individual shelters or rehabbers might have more specific needs. Some might even need office items like a computer, printer, or a digital camera (particularly for shelters adopting out animals)... they all vary.

Spring brings in all kinds of baby wildlife (Birds, foxes, raccoons, deer, possums, squirrels... you name it!) It's one of the busiest times for shelters and wildlife rehabilitators. If you have a bunch of spare towels, t-shirts and blankets, some old medical supplies you can no longer use, or some pet food you thought your dog or cat would like that they HATED but you haven't thrown away "just because," consider calling a local shelter or rehabber and seeing if they could use it. Many of these people are volunteers and they could use all the help they can get.

PS: I checked Google to see if I could find an online list of common supplies used in rehabilitation and sheltering and didn't find a good one. But I did come across this article which interviews several of the rehabbers I know. It's funny this popped up because I wasn't searching for their names or for NY.

D Is For...

1. D is for Donuts which, believe it or not, I don't like. I'm not sure why. Everybody likes donuts. I like the idea of donuts. They look pretty, I want to like them, but they make me queasy. I think it might be the grease they're fried in. I don't like those fried dough things with powdered sugar that you can get at fairs either. Same queasiness.
2. D is for Doodle. I got kicked out of 2nd grade for doodling. Someday I'll tell that story. And yes I was let back in! (I should start keeping a list of the stories I say I'm going to tell you guys "someday.")
3. D is for "Don't play that" as in "Homey don't..."
4. D is for Discover. A great word in any situation.
5. D is for Delivery. Sometimes a surprise, sometimes a convenience, usually a good thing in my book.
6. D is for Dracula. I'm not into Dracula or vampires, but I once had a hotel room in Italy with huge windows directly across from my bed that looked exactly like the windows Dracula always few through. I checked and there was no way someone could climb up to them, but I was kind of wondering if someone might swoop in one night. Staring across the foot of my bed at those windows was a bit creepy, but also kind of cool -in a very creepy sort of way.
7. D is for Drink. I drink 8-12 cups of water a day. I really do. I have a container that holds 4 cups of water and I generally go through that 2-3 times a day. I'd never be able to keep track of or remember if I'd had 8 or 12 separate cups of water, but with the larger container, I can remember and keep track of 3!
   
8. D is for Double. My mom is a twin. There's TWO of her! Twins supposedly skip a generation. Every time my sister got pregnant I told her "It could be twins!" My friend's sister in law gave birth to twins (a boy and a girl) and the next time she got pregnant they figured that they'd be covered whether they had a boy or a girl because they had clothing for both sexes left over from the twins. Know what she had? ANOTHER set of twins! Boy and girl again. -They're not getting pregnant anymore! (And no fertility drugs. Just a natural twin factory!)
9. D is for Dreams. Another area I should talk about more. I've always had a pretty active dream life.
10. D is for Done. I like being done with things. And now I'm also done with this list! :)
    

Shocking Discovery

IF you are holding a cordless phone and
IF you have a corded earpiece that goes from the phone to your ear and
IF you remove your bathrobe while the phone is in your hand and the earpiece is in your ear and
IF your bathrobe creates static as you remove it

THEN

ALL the static electricity will go through your hand, into the phone, out your earpiece and will SHOCK the CRAP out of your ear!

I don't suggest you try this at home but if you do, don't say I didn't warn you!

Total Lunar Eclipse Tonight

Yeah, I know. I've got to get better at telling you guys stuff further in advance.

Unlike solar eclipses, lunar eclipses are safe to view without any protective eyewear. Because some sunlight is still refracted, even during a total lunar eclipse, the moon will not go 100% dark. Instead it is more likely to take on a reddish tone. The next total lunar eclipse should take place in approximately two years. More info on tonight's eclipse is here.

You can also see NASA's website for the exact times of tonight's eclipse for your location. FYI: My favorite part of that page is (emphasis mine):

...This web page allows you to calculate the viewing circumstances of all lunar eclipses visible from your city over a five-thosuand year period.

Because who doesn't need THAT information?

(By the way, did you notice the typo? That's not mine. That's theirs. That's right. The rocket scientists have a typo ;) )

Girl Scout Cookies

In the comments for one of my earlier posts, Grandy called me a "Girl Scout" and made a comment about cookies. This got me lamenting on the difficulties I've had acquiring said "Girl Scout cookies" over the past 10 years as each progressive set of Girl Scout aged children I knew grew up, left the Girl Scouts, and left me with NO SUPPLIER FOR MY GIRL SCOUT COOKIE FIX!!!

BUT.... Guess what?! I found out where I can get Girl Scout cookies near me without having to know any Girl Scouts!

Girl Scouts are not supposed to sell cookies over the Internet (although some do), but you can still use the internet to find your local chapter and order cookies directly through them! Need your fix? Go here: http://www.girlscoutcookies.org enter your zip code, and click "find cookies." The page will then prompt you for your email address. Once you submit that, a coordinator for your area will contact you! (FYI, the "cookie finder" page didn't work in my Mac Safari browser, but it worked ok in others. Give it time to load.)

HOWEVER, I didn't need to use the cookie locater because, in my searches, I came across the website for the Girl Scout Council of Greater New York and I found out that:

1. If you live in the five boroughs of NYC you can submit an order form and have your cookies mailed to you. (They cannot mail them outside of NYC because they can only sell in their local area.)
2. I took a shot at calling their offices and found out that I can go DIRECTLY to the offices and BUY them right there! Live! In person! No shipping!
   
   AND...
   
   
3. I can get them from that office through May/June!!!

Through MAY or JUNE! That means I don't have to buy gazillions of boxes all at once (because kids only sell theses once a year)! I can PACE MYSELF!

WOO HOOO!!!

You have no idea how excited this has made me! You want to know who knows how excited I am? The woman who answered the phone at NYC's Girl Scout headquarters! She knows!

Some Girl Scout Cookie Trivia

• The two companies that currently manufacture Girl Scout cookies are Little Brownie Bakers and ABC Bakers.
• You can't buy Girl Scout cookies directly from the bakers. They are only sold through the Girl Scouts.
• Ever notice how sometimes the cookies stay the same but their names change? That has to do with which baker supplies your local Girl Scout troop with their cookies.
• Some Girl Scout chapters have a program where people can buy cookies to be sent to USA service personnel overseas. (NYC's chapter does this, for anyone who's interested.)
  

What Are Your Favorite Girl Scout Cookies?

I was going to tell you mine, but you go first! Choose your favorites from the poll in my sidebar. You can select more than one. (-Need a refresher on the different types of cookies? See here and here.)

I'm SO happy!!! :) :) :) :) :)

I Am Thankful For My Neti Pot

Several months ago, I had the Oprah show on in the background while I was cooking (and I was in the kitchen!), and I heard a guest say something like: "You fill the Neti Pot with room temperature water, add salt, then tilt your head, pour the water in through one nostril, and the water flows through your sinuses and out the other nostril."

Needless to say, I put down my cooking and stopped to watch!

-And there they were... pouring water in one nostril and out the other. The supposed benefits to this? Decreased illness and infection and decreased allergy symptoms, due to the irrigation and flushing out of pollutants and germs that can collect in your nasal passages and sinuses. Of course there were experts and non experts on hand to testify that the Neti Pot had alleviated all kind of problems for them and had saved them bundles of money on allergy medications and cold remedies.

I rarely get sick but I do get seasonal allergies, so I figured this was just weird enough and seemingly inexpensive enough for me to try. I did some more research first and found very few negative reports on this practice (which I learned has been around for ages). I also found numerous videos on You Tube of happy peaceful looking people pouring water through their nose. I figured that for about $15 it was worth a try.

Let me just say that my first few times using the Neti Pot were nothing like the peaceful serene people I'd seen on the You Tube videos! I knew that after a few tries, my body would learn the exact angle to tilt my head and just how far to lean forward to have the water flow freely from one nostril to the other. But the first 4 or 5 times BEFORE my body figured out what that angle and position were, I was keenly aware that, unlike the serene people in the videos, I was gripping the edge of the sink, leaning forward at a variety of different angles, and making a concerted effort to try to breathe through my mouth, all the while trying very hard not to drown. But eventually I figured it out. And now (as I knew would happen), I can instantly tilt my head at just the right angle to allow the free flow of saline through my nasal passages.

Does it work? I think so. I didn't use it daily (which might have yielded more dramatic results) but when I experienced allergy symptoms, the Neti Pot did provide instant relief. A cup of saline through each nostril and my itchy eyes and throat were instantly gone. Well worth the $15 investment! Plus there's no need to buy special saline mixtures. One cup of water to 1/4 tsp of table salt is all you need for a basic preparation.

Tip

A good rule of thumb is that if the water burns a bit, you should decrease the salt. If it feels like you've got swimming pool water up your nose, increase the salt a bit. I actually need a bit more salt in my preparation.

Whatever you do, I do not suggest you follow this guy's lead!
But do watch his video. It's hilarious!
(The first half is fine, but after 1:28... well... you'll see!)

Percussive Maintenance

The DVD tray in my DVD/VCR player was stuck closed. Couldn't get it open. I tried the remote, I tried the button, I tried jiggling, wedging things in to force it open, blowing air, unplugging the unit to re-set it... Nothing. I could hear the motor whirring, and the LEDs said it was opening, but it still stayed shut. This morning I thought I'd check the Internet and see if there were any easy solutions to this (besides getting a new DVD player). I tried several suggestions and nothing worked.

How many of you know what's coming?

Eventually I found a bulletin board where someone suggested whacking the DVD player. One person had replied that they'd tried it and it worked. Given my previous experience with my iPod I didn't give this a second thought. I walked over, pressed the button, whacked the top of the machine, and the drawer slid open.

I am The Fonz.

Tip For Slow Or Choppy Online Videos

Storyteller commented in yesterday's post that the videos were too slow and choppy for her computer. I figured I'd post my tip to her here rather than in the comments.

For slow or choppy online videos, try the following:

• Click the "play" button.
• Once the video starts to load, click the "pause" button and let the rest of the video load.
  
• If you watch the status bar at the bottom of the video, (the bar with the pointer that tells you how far into the video you are) you can see the bar filling up.
• Once the status bar is full and the video is loaded, click "play" again and the video will usually play through much better.
  

This will work for most online videos regardless of how old or slow a computer is. The key is to wait until the video has fully loaded before attempting to view it. Try it!

Shredding

I stopped storing bills in file cabinets years go. Now, throughout the year, I save all my bills in a small cardboard/video storage box which I keep by my desk. At the end of the year, once my taxes are done, I label the box and store it in a closet. I save bills and statements for about 6 years, then I shred the oldest box of bills and re-use that box for the next year's bills. Today I'm shredding 2 years worth of old bills in preparation for next year (I'm a bit behind in my shredding!)

I check everything before shredding it and man... the memories...

-Purchases and bills surrounding a close friend who died. -Memories of doctor visits, gifts, random supplies to try to make things more comfortable... heating pads, blankets, food, cab fares... -Vet bills from a pet that was ill back then, plus supplies and toys and purchases related to that. -Deposits and/or transactions from companies and/or people I haven't seen in years... -Phone bills with numbers of people I'd called for any number of things that were going on back then: personal, professional, political, "life..." -Classes I took... -Receipts from stores and businesses that don't exist anymore... -Film and theatre tickets... -Travel receipts...  Then there are purchases and names of people that are exactly the same now as they were back then -which is equally strange to me considering some of the other differences!

So many memories flooding through my head.

Sometimes I think I should just shred everything without looking, but then I always worry I may shred something important. I have another 6 months worth to go.

I Am Thankful For The Blog That Fixed My iPod

A few months ago, my iPod stopped working for no particular reason. One day I plugged it in to charge, and moments later I was greeted by the sad iPod icon

-which by the way, is only a slight step up from the early Mac days when Apple would show you a bomb if something went wrong with your computer!


I tried hard and soft resets, booting in disk mode, I tried to re-install software... Nothing worked.

Had I not needed to buy an iPod a few years back, I doubt I'd have one now. I'd still be perfectly happy with my old walkman. But since I'd had one for a while, I really missed it when it stopped working. There was no question in my mind that I was going to have to get another one. (Repairing it would have cost more than buying a new one.) Since new models were about to come out I delayed my purchase so I could take advantage of any specials or price drops that were sure to come on older models -and that delay turned out to be a very good thing :)

One day, while I was waiting for the new releases, I came across this site which mentioned an iPod fix that was receiving a tremendous amount of attention. I read through over 100 comments that said things like "OMG IT WORKS!!!" and "DUDE you're a GENIUS!!!" -and variations on those themes. The solution sounded crazy but I had nothing left to lose and it had worked for all these other people, so I decided to give it a try.

-And the darned thing worked.

What was the solution? Dropping it. Yes that's right. Dropping it. That thing you always try NOT to do with your iPod! The thing you buy clips and lanyards and straps and case protectors to prevent from happening. That's what worked. I couldn't believe it! I also couldn't be happier :)

If you've got an old dead iPod sitting around in a drawer give this a try -but only after you've exhausted all your other options.