What a great idea! There's a carpet remnant sale just down the road from me this week, so I'll go over and see what I can find. ... View related article.
Drinking the water out of water fountains, whether here or abroad, isn't as safe as you'd think, and *definitely* don't drink the water on planes, because of poor water quality test results. I carry sealed, commercial water. If they're still sealed, I've had no problem passing through. Once, I had several bottles of unopened water and one that I had just opened. They told me to discard it, but I asked if I could please drink it there and recycle the bottle. Once I started to drink it, they got the point. I wouldn't be drinking hazardous materials, so they let me stop drinking and I went through just fine. This was on a domestic flight, though, so I can't answer for overseas. ... View related article.
I think the first thing to be concerned about is the fact that there's mold in your refrigerator at all! It's really a worry, so you need to find out exactly where it came from, what it's on and get rid of it completely. Yes, diluted bleach is a good start, and so is vinegar (but do NOT us it with the bleach). Check the rubber gasket around the door. Is there mold or mildew in that? Then take an old toothbrush, dip it into the diluted bleach and then scrub all the grooves and edges until they're completely clean. Then, take another old toothbrush, and repeat it! Don't forget the gasket on the bottom, either (I know, bummer!).
Always save food in closed containers, not just wrapped in plastic and stuck on a shelf. Mold spores are teensie, and it only takes one. When you want to use something, take it out of the fridge before you open the container. That way, if it has mold on it, it won't be released inside the fridge, but on the counter or in the sink, which can both be cleaned easily.
I sure hope you get rid of it. Nobody wants their appliances to be the topic of a science fair project! Good luck. ... View related article.
One thing not mentioned above is this. I do hope no one is actually paying for the repairs. Your insurance covers it, I promise. I had a friend that had a squirrel who took up residence in the transmission of a Renault and when he turned the engine over in the spring (it was garaged during the winter), he heard the worst sound possible. Ugh! I happened to be there for dinner that night and was working in an insurance claims office at the time. I told him to call his agent and sure enough, he was covered for squirrels! He thought he'd have a huge repair bill, but they paid for it. Just wanted you to know. ... View related article.
STOP! Before you sell it in a yard sale, check your Yellow Pages to find a local business that buys and sells precious metals. Not a pawn shop, a business that buys STERLING silver (they don't buy silver plated jewelry or serving pieces). Find out what they're paying. Check several places. Take it directly to them for the estimate. They don't care about the stones, so they'll remove them and and give them back to you if they're of any value, and you can get additional $$ from a jewelry store.
Don't expect a lot for the stones, though. They're difficult for them to sell so they have to mark them up to at least triple of what they gave you in order to make anything. You'll get those back. I recently sold quite a bit of sterling and some gold and got nearly a thousand dollars for it! Don't bother with the companies on TV and the internet (Cash 4 Gold, for example). You send it to them and then you HAVE to accept what they offer, if you decide to sell it to them.
At a yard sale, you'll have to take what they offer if you really want to sell it, and you'll never know if that was a good price or if they're going to go to the silver dealer and sell it themselves. Good luck! ... View related article.
Is the marker just "washable" or is it one for a whiteboard? If the baby wipes don't work, try this ... as ridiculous as it sounds. Take the same marker and write another line on top of the one that's already on the seat. Then wipe it off immediately. It re-wets the original mark, so it's more "agreeable" to being wiped off. I've had dry markers on a whiteboard for ages, sometimes, and this is the only sure way I know of to get rid of it. Then wipe it down with the baby wipe a second time to get as much as possible out. ... View related article.
Try soaking them in vinegar (as previously suggested) and baking soda in a dishpan. Fill them up with white vinegar and then sprinkle in lots of baking soda. I do this when my dishes and glassware form a non-etched film and it works quite well. By using a dishpan, when the baking soda starts to fizz, the overflow will stay in the pan. ... View related article.
Either will do just fine, but think about this. If you use fabric and make a fine point Sharpie available at each table, guests can write down their names and good wishes for you to keep. Put plastic under the table cloths, though, or you'll have a terrible mess on the tabletop. Congratulations on your achievement! ... View related article.
As a diabetic, I have to take special care of my feet. I bought a "stone" at the pharmacy that is slightly less coarse than pumice. Every morning I just rub it on the places where calluses form on my feet, and then apply a store-brand deep moisturizing cream and then my socks. Most of the foot creams are very expensive (to me, anyway), so I came up with the stone, instead. It's safer to use than the pads, rasps or files out there. As someone posted before me, you can remove too much skin and that just opens up another whole box of aggravation.
In the summer, I try to go barefoot outdoors as much as possible, which naturally removes the calluses. Of course I have to pay attention to where I'm walking, but the lawn and driveway are pretty safe and it's nice to feel the cool grass under my feet. Good luck! ... View related article.
I lived in a beautifully constructed home when my mother was in the last years of her life. Unfortunately, one of the features of the home was steel, fire-proof doors on all the bedrooms. Naturally, I couldn't hear her if she cried out, so I bought 2 sets of monitors. I put one in her room and another in her "living room" which was, in fact, another large bedroom that I adapted to become a living room with a small "kitchen" in her walk-in closet. I put the corresponding pair into my living room and bedroom. Unfortunately, we used them many times before her death on her 86th birthday, but without them, she never could have lived that long. She had at least 5 strokes in the last year of her life, and these monitors saved her every time.
God bless you for posting this message. I hope that many people adapt this strategy. ... View related article.
