Posts Tagged ‘Home’

24
Feb
2010

Coca-Chrome cleaner?!

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Current Mood:Surprised emoticon Surprised

I found a pretty cool retro kitchen table at a rummage sale for $10. It’s Formica and chrome, totally 50′s. A friend of mine gave me some sweet 50′s teal chairs a while back, so I thought that it would be a great match! However, the chrome legs on the table were pretty funky, all dinged and rusted. So Sarah told me to scrub them down with Coca Cola and aluminum foil. What?! So I had to research it for myself, and found it to be true: Coca Cola poured on aluminum foil (shiny side), then used like a scrubbing pad, removes surface rust on chrome. The article I found said to scrub then dry with a towel. Apparently the article writer didn’t have anything very large to scrub; these table legs were not going to get by with just a toweling. So I rinsed them really well and dried them. And you know what? It worked pretty well! It’s not going to fix the pits and dings in the chrome, so it’s not like I got bright, shiny new table legs, but they do look a lot better! Check what the Mythbusters found.

Word of caution: Do this in a sink, outside, or somewhere that a mess is okay. Because messy it is. Whatever chemical reaction happens with the rust and the Coke and the aluminum creates a nasty black mess. And your aluminum will shred. Take a peek at my results (the leg on the left was cleaned, versus one not cleaned yet):

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02
Feb
2010

Encouraged recycling

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Current Mood:Cool emoticon Cool

My husband is from San Francisco Bay area, where they have enforced recycling. The trash collectors will sift through the garbage on occasion, and if there are any recyclables in it the home owner will get fined. Pretty extreme, but it works. On the opposite end of the spectrum, my friend who runs a day care, thus produces a lot of little glass jars and such, lives in an area that charges extra to pick up recyclables. Yes, the city (Kirkwood, MO) makes the homeowners pay MORE to take away recycling. Now I’m not 100% sure on how all that works, but I know that schools have recycling dumpsters for people to dump into to help the school earn money, I know that you can take recyclables to get money… Having to pay is a total rip-off.

So while these two places are on opposite ends of the trash spectrum, I think that my city has figured it out a balance beautifully. The plan is simple: Recyclable pickup is 100% free, as much as you have to put out. Trash pickup is paid for by trash tags that you buy and place on the garbage can instead of paying a monthly trash bill. We don’t use a lot of non-recyclable packaging, so our recycling bin going out once a week generally suffices for our garbage pickup. We generate a bag of garbage about every week to week and a half, our trash can holds three bags. Thus a can of trash is going to the curb about once every three to four weeks. So a sheet of five stickers, which costs $13.55, can last us three months or longer. That makes our garbage collection bill about four dollars a month. It makes our solid waste environmental impact pretty low for a family of three. And this happens without very much thought at all on our part. It’s not like I stress out over whether something should go into the trash can versus the recycle bin, and I don’t consciously seek out any particular packaging type.

I’m not bothering to tell you about this just because I want to brag about our lowered environmental impact or what a cool town I live in. This trash pickup scheme didn’t just magically happen. It was decided and voted upon by city council. City council members are elected, as is the mayor. These people work for you, so why not contact your local city council and take action? Wouldn’t you like to reduce your monthly bills and your environmental impact?

The info from our town’s website (I’d offer a link directly to it, but it’s in nasty frames):

Swansea’s Solid Waste Management Program includes the collection and processing of trash, yard waste and recyclable materials. (Click on the below items for complete information on the program and scheduled pickup days). For trash and yard waste collections, you must use a container no larger than 33 gallons and weighing no more than 50 pounds, or a bag weighing no more than 50 pounds [the tags say specifically: No more than one person can lift on their own], or rent a 90 gallon rolling cart (toter) from Allied Waste.

No matter which disposal method you use, you must place one (1) Swansea trash or yard waste sticker on the 33 gallon container or bag. The 90 gallon rolling cart requires 2 stickers. Trash or Yard Waste Stickers are available for purchase at a cost of $13.55 per sheet (each sheet contains 5 stickers) or a yearly sticker is available (with the cost decreasing weekly). Contact the Government Center for current price or to purchase. The yearly sticker is good for one 33 gallon container, weighing not more than 50 pounds.

Pretty simple, eh? There are rules for larger items too, and it’s all explained on the back of the sheet of tags. Yard waste tags are separate. They even give us groovy recycle bins to use.

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Posted in Home, Local (St. Louis)

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28
Jan
2010

My Crock Pot replaced my coffee pot!

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Current Mood:Sad emoticon Sad

My dear Mr. Coffee has passed away. I left his eulogy on Craigslist:

Poor Mr. Coffee has brewed his last pot. He wheezed a last electrical sigh and coughed out a puff of smoke last night. He died in his sleep; he was not currently in use. While I am in mourning over the demise of my beloved Mr. Coffee, I know that he can donate his parts to your own beloved Mr. Coffee that may also have problems. I have fastidiously cleaned the interior to provide a tasty brew, but the outside doesn’t look all that grand, for he has sustained many a coffee drip and is a bit stained. Parts that you may find useful from poor Mr. Coffee:

The pot: The lid’s missing one of the little pegs that helps hold the lid on when pouring, but the other is still there. I feel it makes it easier to take the lid off when washing, anyway.
The drip basket: It drips very well, and the automatic shut-off when the pot is removed works very well.
The drip basket holder: Perhaps you need a snazzy new chrome one for your old coffee pot!
The innards: I don’t know much about it, but as I said, I kept it very clean, running vinegar through it once every couple of months. It was cleaned just over the weekend. I’ve also only used filtered water in it (and never poured from the pot), so the little tubes and things should be clean as a whistle!

Basically everything on this coffee maker works except for the electronics. Even after coughing out his last puff of smoke, his clock still kept time with pride. So I don’t know what’s wrong with it.
Please, give Mr. Coffee the new life he deserves. He’s kept me well caffeinated for the last 6 years.

If you don’t intend on picking it up, please do not reply. My heart is already broken over the loss of my dear friend, don’t make it worse by standing me up.

Model: ESX40 – white

Sad, isn’t it? :(

So now I have this gaping hole, not only in my heart, but on my counter as well. So, what should I fill it with? My Crock Pot! It is currently filled with veggies and cooking up a delicious stew on this cold, snowy day. However, I’ve found that Crock Pot can’t entirely fill the void. Mr. Coffee must be replaced. Oh yes, this weekend, Mr. Coffee will have a predecessor. Hopefully, it can live up to my expectations. And no, I’m not ditching the caffeine. I need one vice in my life, okay? ;)

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15
Jan
2010

Sharing your knowledge

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In my previous post I talked about people growing up without certain life skills. Nearly 1000 words of ranting. :) However, I realized I am not entirely finished with the subject. Growing up, we learned stuff. Either from parents, family, friends, where ever. And some of that stuff we learned is probably pretty doggone cool.  Did your grandmother teach you to make a super flaky pie crust? Did your uncle teach you how to whittle some cool designs?

These things we learned in our lives were taught by someone that cared enough to show us. They invested their time, love, and knowledge to pass on something that they enjoyed enough to share. Now what do you do with that skill? Is it covered in cobwebs in the mental attic? Why not pull out that knowledge and pass it on to someone? Not only are you passing on a useful skill, but you are passing along legacy. You can tell your child that your grandparents taught you this. They can tell their children that it was a skill passed down in their family. And another bonus: You are bringing back a hobby or skill that you have enjoyed in the past.

Even if you don’t have children, there are plenty of people in the world that are eager to learn. Younger family members, neighbors, you name it. If you are a master in something, perhaps you could teach a class. Don’t keep your knowledge locked up in your head, share it with others.

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14
Jan
2010

Lacking life skills

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Current Mood:Surprised emoticon Surprised

I had a conversation with a friend of mine this morning. He lives in Europe. I told him that I was knitting, and he said that knitting was a very large part of their country’s lifestyle. So important, in fact, that it is taught in school. So we talked back and forth about homemaking classes and such in school, and he said that they have whole schools dedicated to teaching homemaking. That got me to thinking… Why don’t we have schools like this? Required classes in school or some kind of prep school to teach teens and young adults basic life skills? While you may scoff at this, there are many, many people that enter the adult world without these living skills. My poor husband, bless him, is one of these people. So, using him as a model, I will relate how people are unleashed into the world without knowledge.

My husband moved directly from his parents’ house to mine, so he has never truly lived on his own. The man that I married was severely lacking in life skills. He couldn’t cook because his mother always cooked. He didn’t know how to sort laundry, another thing she always did. He did know how to mend, because his mother was a seamstress. So my husband, at 21 years old, was really not ready to enter the world of independent living. It’s not because he didn’t want to know, but because he was never taught by enforcing it. Read: chores.

I see this repeatedly today, where families will rely on one person to do a particular chore (or they just don’t do it at all by going out to eat, having a housekeeper, drop-off laundry, etc). This leaves children sorely ill-equipped to live on their own. Granted, the way that many of our baby boomer (and older) generations were raised, the man has certain household things he does, the woman has certain household things she does. The man passes on his knowledge to his sons, the woman passes on her knowledge to her daughters. The man changes the tires and mows the lawn. The woman sews on buttons and dusts. Yes, it’s 2010, and many people are making sure that their children are more well-rounded than these traditional roles (and many have not grown up in traditional households), but there are still a lot of people that are lacking this basic knowledge of living.

Here’s a small list of things every adult should know how to do:

  • Personal finances; such as budgeting, balancing a checkbook (especially debits!), savings, bill paying, etc
  • Basic car maintenance, especially changing a tire
  • How to follow a recipe
  • How to do laundry, including stain removal
  • How to mend/repair clothing
  • How to use a plunger
  • How to sharpen a knife
  • How to replace a fuse (hey, I have a fuse box downstairs!), use a circuit breaker, etc
  • How to turn off gas and water to the house (you never know when a line will burst)
  • How to change a furnace/air conditioner filter, and how often
  • Properly washing dishes by hand (first glasses, then silverware, then plates, then greasy stuff)
  • How (and why) to dust
  • How to wash windows
  • How (and why) to find wall studs
  • How to properly build a fire (yeah, really)
  • How to mow the lawn, along with basic mower maintenance
  • Basic home repair, such as nailing down a loose stair, using caulk, etc.
  • How to insert tab A into slot B (basic building instructions)

I know that not everyone has the facilities to teach these things, such as apartment living, but these are very important things to know. Of course some things are age/life appropriate. You’re not going to teach your four year old how to clean out gutters (I hope!), and you can’t really show your kid how to turn off gas to the house if you don’t have a gas main. Oh wait… do YOU know how to turn off the gas? What if there was an earthquake or some other major catastrophe?

Some of these things also require us to get past our own personal laziness. Why mend clothes when you can go just buy new ones? Because we just don’t know if our children will have the money to buy new clothes. Why teach them to chop veggies when there’s meals in a box? Because they may be interested in exploring culinary things. You might have a chef living under your roof!

Please, please pass your life skills on to your children. They will need to know these things later. Dads, teach your daughters how to replace drain pipes. Moms, teach your sons how to sew a button on. When you come upon one of these basic life things, make sure that your kids are watching. It is preparing them for living on their own. Oh yeah, it’s also a good excuse for assigning chores! ;)

And if you’re an adult that doesn’t know how to do these basic things, please do ask. If someone looks at you like you are stupid, explain to them that it’s a skill that you were never taught. And if you truly are embarrassed, or you don’t have a friend that knows how to do a particular thing (not everyone knows how to patch a leaky basement wall), look it up. Not only on the Internet, but also get books. Yeah, you know, those big stacks of paper bound together with colorful covers that impart information? Because you never know, there may be a day that we no longer have the Internet, but we will still know how to read.

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Posted in Home, Rant

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13
Jan
2010

Working at home

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Current Mood:Angry emoticon Angry

working_with_laptop6

Hi, I am at home right now, hanging out on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, and in my PJ’s. And guess what? I’m not eating bon bons and watching soap operas. I’m working on an e-commerce website. Building an e-commerce website is not within my experience range, so it requires quite a bit of concentration for me to learn new design concepts. So interrupting my day with idle phone conversation, expectations of my dropping everything to do your bidding, or other demands of my time are not any more welcomed than if I were sitting at a desk in some office tower. As a matter of fact, I will probably work more today curled up on my couch with my laptop than if I were in an office, because in an office there are usually defined work hours and breaks. This is not necessarily the case of the home-employed. I have worked at my computer for twelve to eighteen hour stretches, with breaks only for food and bathroom. And occasionally these work stretches will yield little obvious result, because I will be doing maintenance, creating things, etc. I will also often take on tasks that I know I am capable of doing, but lack the knowledge, so will be learning on-the-fly, which decreases productivity. The lack of obvious result is sometimes frustrating. Not only to me, but to others around me, because it appears that I have done nothing, or very little.

When I am learning new stuff, I highly resent interruptions. My mother is terrible about this:
“Hey, are you busy?”
“Yeah.”
“Doing computer stuff at home?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh, okay. Hey, I was wondering…”
And 20 minutes later I have forgotten where I was and will have to start over, or will be so irritated about the interruption that I will do something else entirely, leaving that task unfinished. It’s a bad habit that I have… Ahh, the joys of having ADD. And I am such a sucker for helping others that I feel bad about saying no. This comes from being home-employed, as well. It’s a mindset that is carried by many people, both home workers and people who are around home workers:
I am at home, so I am technically available.
It’s very difficult to get over this mindset. It is more difficult yet being a parent:
I am at home, so I need to be parenting my children.
But… what about work? It doesn’t get done. I have to keep reminding myself to work. I have an office set up in the basement, but the basement is unfinished and very cold in the winter, so isn’t good workspace right now.

My husband even once told me that I don’t do anything. So you know what? That is exactly what I did. Nothing. I made him responsible just for the daily household tasks, which is a lot for him after working a ten hour day plus an hour commute each way. After a few days he apologized. At that time I was also home schooling, so a good portion of my day was taken up with educating the kiddo. I didn’t let on that I was still educating him, and made this also part of his evening responsibility. ;) But he got it.

So what do I do? Well aside from normal daily household and parent stuff, I do graphic design, website building, server hosting, and social media lurking. I also blog (which has been sorely neglected the last few months due to a whole lot of real life smacking me in the face), but no freelance writing (unless someone wants to hire me!). I have my degree in computer technology and network engineering, so I know geek stuff. I also enjoy knitting warm things. I can do a whole lot more stuff… pretty well anything I set my mind to, if it interests me. So you know what? I’m going to give myself (and all you other work-at-home moms) a badge. And fellas, you go find yourself a Superman badge, k?

Wonder_Woman_Logo

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28
Oct
2009

Some positive things about a recession

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Current Mood:Bored emoticon Bored

Empty pocketses
So we’re in a recession, and we’ve been here a while. Pardon me while I state the obvious. While I don’t think that it will be fixed with the wave of a presidential wand (look at the so-called stimulus garbage), I do think that we, as humans, have learned to adapt. So let’s see what this adaptation of the “living large” lifestyle has done to help us, both as humans and the world as a whole.

  • We drive more economical cars.
    Gone are the land barges. An H2 is now only mildly “fashionable” if it has giant chrome rims. *shudder*
  • We use less.
    With using less of everything, from the aforementioned economical cars saving gas to using less energy to heat and cool our homes to buying less stuff to throw away, it does make a positive impact.
  • We re-use.
    While it has become almost vogue to “go green,” we are doing it also out of necessity. We learn to mend socks. We learn to save a jar. We buy clothes at thrift shops. Even those that can afford new things are learning to  give away to others who are less fortunate, rather than tossing it in the landfill.
  • We eat less.
    If you can’t afford steak every night, you don’t eat it, right? Not only is that better for our waistlines, that is better for the environment by farmers having to produce fewer animals, with their environmental waste. A sandwich is once again regarded as a meal instead of a snack.
  • We are more giving.
    I’m poor, you’re poor, we’re all poor. Well ok, not everyone is poor, but even the most well-off are feeling the financial strain. That makes people more likely to not only give away unwanted items, but more likely as well to help out their neighbor.
  • It knocks down the collective “holier than thou” mentality.
    No explanation needed. However, I will pass on a story that my friend told me today:
    Her son is classmates with another boy who’s a lot smaller. The mother of the smaller boy was relating her financial woes of clothing three children. My friend, who is one of the most charitable people I know, offered this mother her son’s outgrown clothes. The mother politely declined. The teacher told my friend later that the mother was recently separated from her husband, who was supporting the family rather lavishly. All of the children (and the mother) only wore designer clothes. The teacher had had the two older children as well, so had gotten to know this mother through the years. The teacher said that the children never wore faded, stained, or otherwise even slightly unkempt clothes, and they always had a label. And the mother refused any kind of help from anyone, because “only poor people accept charity.” Hate to tell ya Mom, but you’re poor. Get ready for it.
  • We are more clever.
    If you or someone you know has lost their jobs and have been unemployed for a while, it is very likely that a skill has been re-discovered to either earn or save money. Perhaps we now change our own oil, as opposed to taking it to the service shop? Style our own hair instead of paying a beautician?
  • We are more entrepreneurial.
    Whatever you are trained in, you can do that not only for a company, but for yourself. Many people are rediscovering this entrepreneurial spirit that has shaped our country.

While the financial crisis is disturbing and disheartening, as humans we learn to adapt. And adaptation is good, it is how our species has survived for so long.Silver lining

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09
Oct
2009

Making my own laundry soap revisited

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Current Mood:Cool emoticon Cool

clothesbasketIn this previous post I described how I made my own laundry soap. I’ve gotten several questions from friends about it, so here is the review of my homemade laundry soap:

A month ago I thought it would be a good idea to cut costs by making my own laundry soap. Now, a month later, I am confidently recommending doing it to all of my friends. My laundry is clean! Hubby had been messing around with fixing his car, all I did was pre-treat some of the spots with  some extra soap (just remember that that amount of soap should be counted toward the total soap you use), checked em on the way out of the wash (you do know not to put fresh stains in the dryer, right? It sets them!), and we had perfectly clean and functional clothing once again. :)

I ended up going to the Soulard Farmer’s Market and buying a bottle of smellies to put in my soap. I got it from Incense and Imports at Soulard Farmer’s Market, and while I’m not sure what the name of scent is, I’m sure if you ask your local scent shop “Hey, do you have a fresh clean scent for laundry soap?” they would probably know just the thing. ;)

So here’s a break-down of the benefits that I have found:

  • It’s easy-peasy to make.
  • Little man’s eczema has totally gone away.
  • It lasts quite a while: It looks like I’m using approximately half a  gallon a month out of a batch of two and a half gallons, and I have ingredients for another two to three batches (except for the naptha, need another bar). So… over a year’s supply for this family of three.
  • It’s CHEAP! The ingredients I bought cost me about the same amount as a bottle of high-end laundry soap.
  • Very low suds, so it would (I’m pretty sure) work in HE washers.
  • It works for delicates.
  • It appears to be fine for cold water washing, although I haven’t washed anything very dirty in cold water.
  • It can be used for other stuff. I’ve put it in my dishwasher. Wonder how it’d do for car wash? Dish detergent? Mop soap? As I’d mentioned in my previous post I stuck my hand in it and left it a while, and it just dried out my hand a little bit. Who knows?

The only downsides I have found is that it does not fight static cling, it is a bit messy to refill bottles (I use the top of a soda bottle for a funnel, fits perfectly into the pour spout), it is kind of a lot to store, and you have to shake the soap bottle before washing (it does separate). Really, not massive negatives.

I really do like using this. My next time around I’m going to use less water for less separation (and less storage).

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15
Sep
2009

What a wonderful weekend!

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Current Mood:Esctatic emoticon Esctatic

I had the most wonderful weekend! I went out Friday night for a friend’s going away party. There was a lot of drunken debauchery and many hugs (yes, even before the drunken part), and I ended up being the designated driver. I also got to learn how to eat fire(!). While it was great fun… I didn’t get home til after 4am. Weekends are my husband’s days to sleep in, so wee lad had me up bright and early! I was expecting it though. Besides, I had also invited over a vegan friend and her husband for a bbq! She’d never had vegan bbq before (they have an apartment so haven’t tried doing it), so I thought I’d cook for her. Well… I didn’t know we were very low on charcoal, so about all that got done was heating up three ears of corn! Unfortunately they didn’t have a whole lot of time, so they couldn’t stay for a round two of waiting for new coals to get ready, and they left. Not even five minutes after THEY left, Rusty, who I had invited to the bbq as well, showed up with Lana, another friend of ours who had just gotten back from a two week trip to Burning Man. She had also invited her friend Sarah, who has two little girls, who played with wee lad for a long time. :) We went to the grocery store to replenish the charcoal (and to pick up other yummies) to try the bbq again. Success! We had delicious veggie kebabs, corn on the cob, baked potatoes, and grilled pineapple. We had lots of beer and great conversation. Lovely, lovely day!

Sunday morning we had a lazy time hanging around the house. We decided to go to Mallo’s Bakery in Belleville for coffee and donuts (yeah, I know, most donuts aren’t vegan), then went yard saling. We decided to have some more chill out time, just puttering around the house, when I get a text message from my friend Alaina, who wanted to hang out with someone. I invited her over, and suggested she pick up Rusty on the way, who lives near her, and she also brought Murdock, who lives upstairs from Rusty. The husband had also invited over his DJ friend, Cameron, to come over and spin some records. Thankfully everyone was later in coming over, so I was able to get wee lad off to bed without much protest.

And, glory be, Rusty came bearing gifts! He brought some totally awesome Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead, a Mexican holiday) wall art and a fire pit! Did I mention how fab Rusty really is? :) So between the mini rave in the basement (turntables + party lights) and hanging around the fire pit in the back yard, we had a wonderful evening!

We truly are blessed to have so many wonderful friends. I look forward to having people over more often! :) We will probably start having full out parties once we are 100% set up.

I leave you with Scooter – Friends (warning, it’s happy hardcore techno crazy stuff, but I love it!):

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14
Sep
2009

Yard sale spoils

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Current Mood:Happy emoticon Happy

I love yard sales. For $20 and a little gas I got a lot of great crap stuff:

DSC00375Check this out:

  • Two DirecTV Satellite DVR’s, one with HDMI, USB, SATA, among other things. We don’t have DirecTV, but one has cable in.
  • A whole lot of Christmas decorations
  • 3 really nice glass bowls, one is Pyrex
  • A really nice frying pan
  • A rice cooker
  • A food dehydrator
  • A bamboo cutting board
  • A  glass pitcher (LOVE these for juice!)
  • A surge protector with noise supression
  • A swiffer sweeper with a brand new box of wet mop pads
  • Two metal bowls
  • A dozen rocks glasses
  • A neat glass serving plate… I think it’s for ham, it’s got a “drain” in it, but I still like it

If we can’t do anything with the DVR’s to work I will give them to my mother, who will be able to use them. Okay, well, in theory, anyway. ;)

I also met a really nice lady who used to own a catering service. She had a lot of really pretty serving things, if anyone is interested let me know because she’s having another sale next week.

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