Category: Necessary Knowledge

Necessary knowledge designed to make life easier.

3 New Year’s Traditions: are they worth the effort?

SHOULD YOU EAT BLACK-EYED PEAS ON NEW YEAR’S EVE? A Southern Tradition, traditionally called: Hoppin’ John (black-eyed peas served with rice, pork, and seasonings. If you follow the full tradition, you’re to eat 365 peas. That’s a mouthful. Thought to originate from Civil War days – Sherman on his march through the South left devastated crops, and not much beyond black-eyed peas and salted port, which were considered animal fodder. The reeling South was grateful for any bounty and the practice of eating black-eyed peas (with pork/bacon/renderings) was thought to bring about good luck. Sherman’s marching dates seem to discount this theory, but it’s another Southern story passed along. (Wiki-pedia) Superstition or not – Black-eyed […]

Sunday Morning Construction

Why do those pesky ‘small’ fix-it or remodel jobs turn out to be so: And HOW, oh HOW do we, weekend DIYers, make them easier? 5 common sense DIY tips to balance the ‘home repair project’ scale. Read the directions Don’t be afraid to ask for help Proper tools YouTube Videos are your friend Take pictures As a serious do-it-all fixer, I’ve learned — through my share of mistakes — a few keys lessons that make installing . . . repairing . . . replacing . . . new construction a bit easier. 1) Read the directions. And I do mean ALL the directions. Don’t skip to what you think concerns you. Read them all. […]

Parents Get to Have Fun, too!

Several years past, Disney spent their advertising dollars to entice the older age group (mature visitors) back to their parks. Scene: Daughter driving off in VW Bug, headed to college.Voice-over: “My parents will be so sad when I’m gone. I don’t know what they’ll do.” Scene: Mom & dad, in full Mickey Mouse regalia, riding the roller coasters at Disney World. So, when the 19.9 million students (projected student starting figure for 2018) finally leave for college, do mom & dad mourn their leaving? The wallet probably does. According to this year’s figures, 25.5 Billion – yep, that’s with a ‘B’ will be spent to put kids into university for the first-time, or send those […]

12 Days of Office Depot Woes

Once Upon a Business, to Office Depot I did go . . . ONE executive chair I did purchase TWO hundred $$ did Office Depot over-charge THREE fraudulent Office Depot charges on my account FOUR bank rebuttals against Office Depot I did submit FIVE different Office Depot departments who promised resolution SIX Office Depot managers I did entreat — please return my funds SEVEN regrets for shopping with Office Depot EIGHT Office Depot customer service agents I did beg — please return my funds NINE (90) minutes of typing/faxing/submitting rebuttal letters to Office Depot TEN hours of listening to bad Office Depot hold music ELEVEN broken promises from OFFICE Depot — to date still no […]

Mom Fun

Know the sex of the baby?

HELLO MOMS!! A number of years ago, a FaceBook friend shared this questionnaire with me. Both of us — that would be the friend and myself — are blessed with now-grown children so this was a fun trip down memory lane. It was fascinating that so many of the answers readily came to mind. Pregnancy and childbirth leave indelible memory marks. Take the trip with me and answer the questions about your FIRST born. Actually, I’m not picky . . . if one of your other pregnancies is more memorable, think of that one. Feel Free to steal the questionnaire and repost. 1. Did I have an epidural? Yep, I asked for those drugs. 2. […]

Working Wednesday – Organization is not a ‘4’ letter word

Writers live in their own world, gladly, but sometimes it becomes a messy place. The temptation may be to wear ear protectors to keep all the ‘good’ stuff from falling out before its time. Currents of conversations, snippets of scenes, puzzling plots, character quirks (heroic or hateful) — all roll around in a writer’s head, vying for storage space. Several years past, the organization tool: Trello came on my radar. Whether writers are ‘pantser’ or obsessively organized, Trello can be the light at the end of the tunnel. Think of Trello as a large message board filled with Post-it (sticky notes, if preferred) notes galore, color-coding, sharing options, drag and drop, schedule capabilities, external linking, […]

Food Matters – Motivating

I watched Food Matters (listed under Ted Talks) on Netflix this weekend. While I’m a Vegetarian, we do eat most of our veggies cooked – many steamed, baked or sautéed, but cooked nonetheless. Based on information from Food Matters, and the ever-decreasing nutritional value of fruits and vegetables, we’re trying the 51/49% rule for plating purposes. 51% to be RAW – as in not cooked. What’s the purpose of RAW food? To further eliminate junk food, to limit unhealthy carbs (I am a bread-oholic ), and to kick start my morning system with more smoothies. My pledge was to go for a week. I’ve discovered that I can talk myself into anything for a week. […]

Naked Grape — Working my way through the label

Loving the lush of the grape, I’ve decided to take an analytical approach to new wines. I’ll simply call it: ‘Working The Label’. The goal is to pick a label and then try each of the different blends. Tonight’s selection was Naked Grape. I recently found this label, within the past few months (doesn’t mean it hasn’t been hanging around for longer in my area; just means I finally noticed it). The plain white coloring appealed to me: not pretentious or austentious. Simple, basically bare. It would either work or not. Branding considers the wine–dry. I agree. It’s definitely a red meat wine. Branding considers the wine–full-bodied. Here, I disagree. It’s a bit of a […]

Work-Outs For All Types

For the past 11 months, I’ve trained my body. To become something better than it’s been in a long time. Then it hit me. Why stop at that limit? Why not train to be better than I’ve ever been? So, I hit the NRH Centre gym three to four times a week. I started at thirty to forty-five minutes and, by the end of each session, my face beamed such a splendid cherry red that folks stop to stare at the tomato (that would be me) using the work-out equipment. Looking for actual muscles seemed to be an exercise in futility, but I kept going: three to four times a week. Week after week, I […]