Tips, Tricks and Ideas - GREAT Stuff!

So this page is full of some really cool tips, tricks and ideas that will make so many things easier to find, organize, eat or just enjoy.  I have tried to list them by topic or categories as best I could.  Hope you like 'em.  I think they are FANTASTIC!  ENJOY!

FOOD and TREATS:

Hull Strawberries Easily Using A Straw

Stop Cut Apples from Turning Brown by Securing with a Rubber Band

Cupcake Carrier: Use Box Lid and Cut Crosses Into It

Bake Cupcakes IN Ice-Cream Cones

Add Popcorn to Brown Paper Bag.  Cook in Microwave.

Upside Down Muffin Tins, Bake Cookie Dough and Have Cookie Bowls for Ice Cream, Fruit, Whatever

Create Window Box Veggie Patch with Guttering

CLEANING and REPAIR:

Rub a Walnut Over Scratches in Furniture to Disguise Dings & Scrapes

Remove Crayon from TV or Computer Screen with WD-40

Nylon Stocking OVER Vacuum Hose to Find Lost SMALL Items

CREATIVE and FUNCTIONAL:

Put iPhone or iPod in Bowl to AMPLIFY the Sound

ORGANIZATION:

Store Bed Linens INSIDE Their Pillow Cases

How To PERFECTLY Fold a Fitted Sheet

RE-USE Wet-wipe Container to Store Plastic Bags

Install Tension Rod to Hang Your Spray Bottles

Travel Shower Caps are PERFECT for Shoes When Traveling

Bread Bag Tags Make Perfect Cord Labels

Magnetic Strip Behind Vanity Door to Hold Bobby Pins, Tweezers, Clippers, Whatever

Magnet in Bottom of Plastic Cup Placed in Muffin Pan

Add Velcro Strip to Wall to Store Soft Toys

Use WIRE to Hang Rolls of Wrapping Paper Against Ceiling

Egg Cartoon Store Christmas Ornaments Perfectly

FUN IN THE SUN:

Remove SAND from Skin with Baby Powder

Freeze Aloe Vera in Ice Cube Trays for Soothing Sunburn Relief

George Steinmetz

George Steinmetz took this photograph for National Geographic.  This could be one of the best photographs for 2011.  Look closely as you may be surprised what exactly you are focused on.

This shot was taken at sunset and if you look closely you will see dark lines or spots under the "camels". What you think are camels are really shadows and what are dark lines are really the camels.  Amazing what perspective will do for you!

Since his first assignment for National Geographic in 1987, Steinmetz has completed more than 20 major essays for the magazine, including three covers.

Born in Beverly Hills, California, in 1957, Steinmetz graduated from Stanford University with a degree in geophysics. He began his career in photography by hitchhiking through Africa for 18 months. Today he lives in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, with his wife and their three children.

To hear him in is own words and learn more about this photo go to this link on National Geographic.

Circle Radius Diameter & Pi

Ok I am ALWAYS into new things to help teach kids and when I stumbled across this one I just had to share it.  Circle, Radius, Diameter & Pi is a cute song to help kiddos learn some of these "rules" they have to do for higher math classes.

Take a minute, don't forget to have your kiddos sit with you, and enjoy a different song and learn something as well!

Being Smart with a Smart Phone

Many people are NOT aware of how much personal information they have on their smart phones and what they are doing with that information with a simple upload of a photo.  These smart phones pose privacy risks and can even endanger your children if the information is picked up by the wrong people.

There are threats out there in technology that are real and are so advanced that the police don't even know how to keep up with the changing digital world.  With a simple photo uploaded to the Internet, a stalker can gain data from your image and then using another free-ware or soft-ware can map where the photo was taken.  They can even do a series of images and know your daily stops, donut shop, school, bedroom, church - where ever you take a photo and then post it with these tracking devices turned on.

First thing you want to do is to go to your phone "settings", locations services and then "turn off" geo settings and tracking from your camera.  Secondly, you want to set your privacy settings on social network sites to "block" or "private" to just the people you allow.  Third, many new cameras also have geo-tracking.  If you are taking photos of your children and don't want these images to be tracked, turn the tracking device off.

Simple steps to keep your family safe from unwanted predators!

to "86" something...

So today, a friend posted to her Facebook wall a link and then posted to "86" a certain part of the post.  Well, this caused my mind to wonder and you know where that went...to further investigation.  I was challenged to understand this "strange" term, it's meanings and more importantly, it's origin.  Well, did I find a PLETHORA of information.  Seems there is NO consensus on WHERE this actually originated but there sure are a lot of opinions on the matter.  I thought I would share some of the highlights with you here!

First off, this is an American Expression (British people are not prone to this vernacular).  So, to start this discussion we have to get a few things right...it really is NOT ok to say, "eight-six" it is correct to say "eighty-six".  I know there are a few who think it is ok to use 8-6 in their vocabulary but it simply is NOT from what I have found to be true in my limited investigation on the matter.  86 is the term and that is the way is should be used....eighty-six!

Vague terms:
It can mean to simply get rid of something, toss it. "I'm about to 86 this piece of junk..." or someone...like firing from a job, "they 86'd me!"  Webster's suggests it was probably rhyming slang for 'nix and it first appeared in 1967 slang: to refuse to serve (a customer); also: to get rid of: THROW OUT.

In a Restaurant:

• In the kitchen when they are out of an item an announcement could be shouted, "86 on the Key Lime Pie".  This would mean that there is no more Key Lime pie for the day.
• The waiter may come to the customer and say, "The soup of the day is 86'd.  We're out."
• A fair amount of people believe the origin came from the days of the soda fountain.  86 was the password indicating they were out of an item as they had 85 flavors available.
• Some same 98 was used as code to say "the manager" was on the prowl so watch yourself!
• Another popular explanation comes from the New York City restaurant called Delmonico's.  This was a very popular place and one of their most popular items was the steak on the menu, and you guessed it, it was item 86 on their menu.  Because the steak was often sold out it became shorthand for being out of an item.
• I read that it really was originated with the soup kitchens and breadlines of the Great Depression.  The standard cauldron would hold 85 cups of soup so that the person who was 86 would get no soup!
• There is also the tale about the famous New York City restaurant called 21.  It seems that they had 85 tables here to seat patrons so when someone "undesirable" came to get a table, they would tell them they would be sent to the 86th one...which of course did not exist!

In the Bar:

• A bartender can "86" someone out of the bar because they have already had too much to drink.
• It could be said to not sell to that customer, "86 the guy in the booth".
• Interesting on this topic of bars, the New York State Liquor Code defines the circumstances in which a bar patron should be refused alcohol or, you guessed it, "86'ed".
• One of the most popular origins for this expression come from Chumley's (a famous 1900's New York speakeasy located at 86 Bedford St.)  During Prohibition, the entrance through an interior adjoining courtyard was used; for it was both discreet and private.  As per the New York tradition, cops were on Chumley's payroll and when they were about to raid the joint, they would call ahead.  The bartender would then give the command "86 everybody," which meant that everyone was to leave out the Bedford Street entrance because the cops would be coming in through the courtyard!  To this day there today at the same location with still no sign and entrance through the courtyard.
• Can't have an explanation without a cowboy tale, now can we?  Seems some take this expression way back to the Old West when most whiskey was 100 proof; they reserved bottles of 86 proof for the ladies.  Now if a cowboy got too rowdy, he would get the 86 proof served to him and this was considered in the least embarrassing so he would usually leave.

Still Other Ideas:

• Some think is has to do with a grave as they were dug 6 feet deep by 8 feet long therefore the item put in there would be dead or 86'd.  (This seems to not be a reason I would gravitate toward because I would think you would read this 8-6 and not 86'ed as we have established earlier!)
• How about this one...the streetcar line that operated on First Avenue on the east side of Manhattan ran from 14th Street to 86th.  As the Northbound car came to a stop, the motorman called out, "Eight-six.  End of the line.  All out!"
• The British merchant shipping standard crew was 85, so the 86'th would be left out.  (Again, this conflicts with above information as this was not a British slang from my readings!)
• Soldiers in America often refer to their missing soldier buddies as 86'd.  The missing in action (MIA'S) would be 86'd as this was being AWOL and in violation of the code from the UCMJ Sub Chapter X Article 86.
• One of the last reasons I found for this slang had to do with "offing" someone with the roots having to do with military action.  Another location said that it was not with the military but with the Mafia!  They would travel the distance of 86 miles out and 6 feet under meaning when a person was killed by the mafia they would be forced to dig his own grave many miles away from civilization; or the possibility of a simple variation of the slang term deep six which as the identical meaning.  It is simply meant to describe the approximate depth of water (6 fathers, 11 meters) needed for a burial at sea.  The term came into popular use among soldiers and veterans to describe missing solders then as 86's (see above).
• Finally, in you have ever seen the movie An Affair to Remember or Sleepless in Seattle you would be familiar with the scene where they are to meet on the top of the Empire State Building. All the elevators would go to the 86th floor and everyone would have to leave the elevator.  Well these movies have a positive twist to the top of the building but it was also known for a dark side; this public outdoor observatory was also the site of more than 30 suicides.  The building opened in 1931, apparently a few years before the term became popular - 86'ed.

So as you can see, there are MANY ideas to the origin and many times suggested on when it was coined.  Really don't know but I sure like a few of the ideas!

Elvis Presley - Blue Suede Shoes

So we are taking a trip down memory lane around here as one of my children is playing Blue Suede Shoes on the piano.  So funny how things we thought everyone knew, they did not.  We found a couple of links to help him get it right.  Hope you enjoy!

We also found this link of Elvis doing a screen test and of course, he is singing it too!

Incredible Saw

This video you will have to see to believe.  This incredible technology is making it possible for a table saw, that's right, a table saw to stop on a dime.  Well, not really a dime, but how about your finger or thumb!  I am serious!

My husbands company already has these on the job-site to save an employee a finger, thumb, hand - simply incredible!

The video is amazing and almost insane.  The inventor of the device will use his own finger to stop the saw.  I am going to say this, DO NOT TRY IT AT HOME but in the mean-time, watch this amazing display of technology!

Rebuild a Jeep in under 4 minutes...

I have boys and they like Jeeps so when I saw this video I figured there were other boys out there who would like to see it too!

There are also some comments right below the video that give some information about the whole process.

Hope you enjoy Rebuild a Jeep.  Pretty cool!

the Apostrophe.

Yes, this is a post about the Apostrophe.   Why the apostrophe?  Because I found this incredible link that has some great discussion regarding the use and misuse of this wonderful English language tool.

Did you know there was even a society for the protection of the apostrophe?  It is called, The Apostrophe Protection Society.  How fitting.

I received the following information from a writing group that I am a part of and thought the information was worth sharing.  In the least there is a lot of food for thought here and hopefully you will even learn something new.  ENJOY:

Everywhere you turn, you see apostrophe errors. You'll find them in the produce department of the store ("Pear's for sale") and even in professional works that should know better, such as newspapers ("Its time for the Fall Festival").

There's actually a good reason for the confusion between "it's" and "its." Until the 19^th century, our plural form of the pronoun "it" was treated the same as a noun plural: "The lizard lost it's tail." That's because the word "'tis" was in vogue during that time, and it served as the contraction form of "it is." "Tis a lovely day."

However, as we moved into the 19^th century, "'tis" fell out of favor, and we began using "it's" as the contraction form of "it is." That's when we saw the emergence of the plain "its," which freed up the contraction, and then the confusion began.

But as you know, "it's" and "its" aren't the only troublesome areas where folks struggle with apostrophes. As to the other rules, they're covered in Evaluating Writing. But the main errors people make with apostrophes fall into these three categories:

Apostrophes in Possessives

YES: 

Use an apostrophe and an s when a noun owns something:

 Bill's ball

Mary's hat

BUT:

Use only an apostrophe when the noun is plural AND ends in an s. Otherwise, use the apostrophe and the s:

The cats' toys

The children's lessons

James's haircut

NO:

Do not use an apostrophe when you're talking about pronouns that own things, as in words such as his, hers, and its:

His truck is red.

Her shoes are new.

Its windows are tinted.

Apostrophes in Plurals

NO:

You do not need to use an apostrophe when you're referring to several nouns:

Bees make honey.

Dogs like to chase cats.

Apples are on sale this week.

Apostrophes in Contractions

YES:

Use an apostrophe when you're combining two words into one:

Doesn't = does not

Can't = can not or cannot

Isn't = is not

You're = you are

Did You Know?

Here are some random things that I thought were worth sharing.  Who knew?

Alaska: More than half of the coastline of the entire United States is in Alaska .

Amazon: The Amazon rain forest produces more than 20% of the world's oxygen supply. The Amazon River pushes so much water into the Atlantic Ocean that, more than one hundred miles at sea off the mouth of the river, one can dip fresh water out of the ocean. The volume of water in the Amazon river is greater than the next eight largest rivers in the world combined and three times the flow of all rivers in the United States .

Antarctica is the only land on our planet that is not owned by any country.  Ninety percent of the world's ice covers Antarctica. This ice also represents seventy percent of all the fresh water in the world. As strange as it sounds, however, Antarctica is essentially a desert; the average yearly total precipitation is about two inches. Although covered with ice (all but 0.4% of it, ice.), Antarctica is the driest place on the planet, with an absolute humidity lower than the Gobi desert.

Antarctica:

 

Brazil: Did you know that Brazil got its name from the nut, not the other way around.

 

Canada: Canada has more lakes than the rest of the world combined. Canada is an Indian word meaning ' Big Village '.

Chicago: Next to Warsaw, Chicago has the largest Polish population in the world.

 

Detroit: Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Michigan carries the designation M-1, so named because it was the first paved road anywhere!

 

Damascus, Syria: Damascus, Syria was flouringing a couple of thousand years before Rome was founded in  753 BC, making it the oldest continuously inhabited city in existence.

 

Istanbul, Turkey: Istanbul, Turkey is the only city in the world located on two continents.

 

Los Angeles: Los Angeles' full name is El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles de Porciuncula - and can be abbreviated to 3.63% of it size: L.A.

 

New York City:  New York City has been known by the term 'The Big Apple' .  It was coined by touring jazz musicians of the 1930's who used the slang expression 'apple' for any town or city.  Therefore, to play New York City is to play the big time - The Big Apple.

There are more Irish in New York City than in Dublin , Ireland;  more Italians in New York City, than in Rome, Italy; and more Jews in New York City than in Tel Aviv, Israel .

 

Ohio: There are no natural lakes in the state of Ohio , every one is manmade.

Pitcairn Island: The smallest island with country status is Pitcairn, in Polynesia , at just 1.75 sq. Miles/4,53 sq. km.

Rome: The first city to reach a population of 1 million people was Rome, Italy in 133 B.C.  There is a city called Rome on every continent.

 

Siberia: Siberia contains more than 25% of the world's forests.

S.M.O.M.: The actual smallest sovereign entity in the world is the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (S.M.O.M).  It is located in the city of Rome, Italy and has an area of two tennis courts.  As of 2001, it has a population of 80 -- 20 less people than the Vatican.  It is a sovereign entity under international law, just as the Vatican is.

Sahara Desert: In the Sahara Desert there is a town named Tidikelt, Algeria, which did not receive a drop of rain for ten years.  Technically though, the driest place on Earth is in the valleys of the Antarctic near Ross Island.  There has been no rainfall there for two million years.

 

Spain: Spain literally means 'the land of rabbits'.

 

St. Paul, Minnesota: St. Paul, Minnesota, was originally called Pig's Eye after a man named Pierre 'Pig's Eye' Parrant who set up the first business there.

Roads: Chances that a road is unpaved:  in the U.S.A. = 1%;  in Canada  = .75%.

Russia: The deepest hole ever drilled by man is the Kola Superdeep Borehole, in Russia.  It reached a depth of 12,261 meters (about 40,226 feet or 7.62 miles).  It was drilled for scientific research and gave up some unexpected discoveries.  One of which was a huge deposit of hydrogen - so massive that the mud coming from the hole was boiling with it.

 

United States: The Eisenhower interstate system requires that one mile in every five must be straight.  These straight sections are usable as airstrips in times of war or other emergencies.

Waterfalls: The water of Angel Falls (the world's highest) in Venezuela, drops 3,212 feet (979meters). They are 15 times higher than Niagara Falls.