Organized Computer Desktop

To keep your computer files organized, it is not a good idea to save all your files to your desktop. This is inefficient for your computer, as it slows your computer down when the desktop is very full, and it makes it harder to find the files you're looking for.

Start saving your files in broad folder categories, such as "Bills" or "Bank Statements" and then make sub folders within those categories for more detailed identification, such as "2013" or "June 2013" or "Plumbing" -- whatever the topic is.

Standing For Long Periods of Time

In my job I often have to be on my feet all day long, standing on a cement floor. By mid-day, my feet would be aching, my legs would be tired, and my back would hurt. Then I discovered Merrell Encore shoes. This had made all the difference in the world. I still try to get off my feet at lunchtime, but now I am able to get through the day without it taking such a toll on my body. I don't usually recommend a certain brand of products, but this shoe is amazing.

Pimple Cure

Every now and then I still get a pimple on my face, and it is very embarrassing. The magic cure for pimples is hand sanitizer! As soon as the pimple starts, keep dabbing just the pimple with hand sanitizer, whenever you think of it. This is amazing. It can make the most awful of pimples go away faster. If you end up squeezing it, keep dabbing with the hand sanitizer. Dries it right up.

Bluetooth Went Through the Wash!

When I took my pants out of the washing machine to put them in the dryer, my bluetooth fell out of the pocket. It had gone through the entire wash cycle with soap and everything. This bluetooth was expensive, so I was upset. A friend told me to set it in a cup of white rice, so I did just that. I covered it completely with rice and put a lid on the container so the rice could absorb all of the moisture. After 24 hours I checked it, and it was kind of working, so I left it in the container with the rice for another 24 hours, and then one more day, and sure enough, it is working perfectly now!

How to Save Money

Whether you have plenty of money or just barely enough, the easiest way to save money is to only spend money when you really need to . . . not just because you can. When you add it up, it is surprising how much we spend on the non-essentials. Before you buy anything, ask yourself if you REALLY need this. If you don't, then DON'T buy it! It's that simple. It's like going on a diet -- at first it's really hard to make the change, but within one week, it will become second nature and you'll feel so much happier for it.

Proof of buying stuff we don't need: 
Our homes are cluttered with stuff we don't really care about or need. It is an epidemic. Professional organizing is a thriving industry dealing with this problem.

Lint Removal

Do you ever get lint on your dark colored clothing from the washing machine?  Not the fluffy lint, but the type you have to brush off and work hard at it.  Here is a very easy solution:   take a pair of nylons or nylon knee highs, and rub the nylon back and forth on the linty fabric. Voila! Works like a charm. Much better than a lint brush.

Eggs

People tell me I make the most delicious eggs they've ever eaten. Whether they're scrambled or fried, for some reason they are so tasty that people always comment . . . .

My secret is simple:  treat the eggs very gently. If you're making scrambled eggs or an omelet, do not over-beat the eggs before pouring them into the pan. Gently stir them with a fork in a bowl (with seasoning) for a few moments. The pan has to be hot, then put in cold butter, and then pour the eggs in. Cook them quickly and then serve them on a plate right away.  Yum!

Candy Crush Tips

If you play Candy Crush (I love this game), the best advice I can give you is to combine a striped candy and wrapped candy as often as possible. The more games you play, the better chance you have to finally beat that level. I've spent as much as 3 weeks on one level, and then all of a sudden, things fall into place and I beat the level. Good luck!

How to Roll Your Sleeves Up

If you wear a button down shirt but want to roll the sleeves up, here's a great tip -- before you put your shirt on, roll up the sleeves, and then just put the shirt on. The rolls come out neater and just plain look better than if you rolled up the sleeves while you're wearing the shirt.

Cleaning the Tub

After you scrub/clean your tub, the easiest way to rinse everything down is to use your indoor plant water can -- mine is plastic and has a very long spout. I fill it with water from the tub spout and then pour it into all four corners of the tub and the walls, and all of the cleaning soap rinses down beautifully.

Photoshop Tip

Always save your finished file as a Photoshop file with all the layers. Then go to Layers, Flatten Image, and "Save As" a jpg or pdf or whatever type of file you need. This way you always have your original Photoshop file with layers to go back to. I've found that if you only save your file as a pdf or jpg and not in Photoshop format, you may not be able to open those files later without an error message.

Barbeque Grill Flame

All of a sudden my grill wouldn't light easily, and when it did, it had a very low flame. I researched what to do, and came up with this:

Be sure the gas on the tank is turned off and disconnected. Now open the grill lid, turn all of the control valves to high, wait about a minute and turn them back off. Now reconnect the gas line to the tank and turn it on SLOWLY.

Supposedly, this will re-set the regulator, which has a safety catch in it that may have been triggered.

I'll let you know if this fixes my problem . . .

Packing for a Move

When you are preparing for a move -- whether it's two blocks away or across the country -- it's very important to pack your belongings properly so that they arrive at your destination safely. I am a very serious proponent of buying new boxes to move -- used boxes could contain insects like bed bugs, cockroaches and more. It's not worth it to infest your belongings in order to save a few dollars. Also, moving boxes are a better quality than product boxes, so they will provide better protection.

Use small boxes for heavy items, such as books. Use large boxes for lighter items, such as blankets, pillows, linens. Put as much into boxes as possible so that there are fewer loose items. Tall lamps should be wrapped in a blanket or paper to protect it. Couches should be wrapped in a plastic tarps or shrink wrapped. Dishes should be wrapped in bubble wrap and/or lots of paper. Every box should be labelled with the room it will be moved to, and every box should be numbered! This may seem like a lot of work, but it is worth it at destination, when you can check off each and every box to ensure there's no loss.

Anything breakable should be bubble wrapped and packed with like items, and the box should be clearly marked "FRAGILE."

Always move personal items, such as medicine, money, jewelry, important papers, plants, in your own vehicle.

Lists

I keep lists. It is the only way I can keep track of the many things I want to do. When I complete one of the tasks, I relish crossing it out. If I forgot to put a task on the list, and I complete that task anyway, I will write it on the list and then cross it out. It feels so good to accomplish a list of chores.

Getting More Gasoline for your Money

I read an article that said you should only pump gas in the morning when the ground/air is cool because gasoline is denser when it's cold and expands when it's warmer in the afternoon and evening. Also, you should pump the gas into your car by squeezing the nozzle gently instead of really fast. This keeps the gas from creating a lot of vapor in your tank. And you should fill your tank when it's half empty because gas evaporates quickly and this keeps the gas tank from having too much air in the tank, which adds to the evaporation rate.

With the price of gas we're paying today, we have to do whatever we can to stretch it a little further!

Breathe

Something we totally take for granted is breathing.

I noticed that I don't breathe deeply on a regular basis. I mostly shallow breathe. So I'm not really exercising my lungs, even though I'm in good shape and have good stamina, I can't run for more than 3 minutes at a time without having to walk for a few minutes before running again.

So I have become more conscious of my breathing. Whenever I think about it, I slowly breathe in so that my lungs are filled to capacity, and then I slowly breathe out. I make a point of it. I hope that in time I will automatically do this without having to think about it.

You're supposed to breathe in through your nose (so your nose hairs can filter out small particles like dust and pollen) and then breathe out through your mouth.

If you're alone, you can make noise while breathing out -- this is supposed to aerate your whole body! Happy breathing.

Keeping Cool

In this hot weather, it is important to keep yourself cool. Wear loose fitting cotton clothing. Drink water regularly. If you get overheated, put a cool compress on your pulse spots and on your forehead. Rest. Put your feet up. Don't overexert yourself in hot, humid weather.

Shopping Tip

If there's one thing that is sheer drudgery, it is grocery shopping. You pick the food off the shelf and put it in your cart. Then you have to take it all out and put it on the check-out belt.  Then you have to pack it up and put it back in the cart. Then you have to put it in your car. Then when you get home, you have to drag it into the house, unpack it and put it all away. You have now touch each item at least four times.

I go to Stop n Shop and as soon as I enter the store, there are scanners by the entrance. You just swipe your Stop n Shop card and a scanner lights up. Take that scanner and now you're ready to shop. I open up my reusable bags in my cart, and as I select each food item, I scan it and pack it right into the bag. It's so easy. When you're done shopping, everything is already packed just the way you like it. You can go to a checkout person or to a self-checkout register and all you do is to scan in the final barcode at the register, use your cash or credit card to pay, and you are out of there! I love it.

Hint for buying fruit/vegetables -- there are little scales throughout the produce department where you can put your loose fruit, like bananas. Just select what kind of produce it is and a sticker pops out with a barcode for your scanner. Very simple.

Candy Crush

If you play this game, you know how incredibly fun it is. It's hard to stop playing and get anything done!

In most levels, the key is to work from the bottom clearing the jelly or to bring down the cherries or acorns. Always try to match at least four candies so that you can clear more squares at a time on a turn. And definitely try to bring the striped candies further down on the board before you match them -- that way you'll clear more jelly at the bottom, which is harder.

I've only finished level 35, and now I have to complete three quests to move on. Fun!

Selling on eBay

It is very easy to sell things on eBay, but the one part that I see people lose money on their sales is with the shipping costs. It is VERY important to package the item you're selling BEFORE you list it on eBay. Prepare the item as if it's already sold, but don't seal the box yet, because after it sells, you'll want to put your packing slip in it.

Now you have your dimensions and weight, so when you list the item, you can add this info. Very important tip -- eBay has an amazing deal with the USPS and UPS for shipping costs, so use it to your advantage and let eBay calculate how much you will charge for shipping when you list your item.

I have seen people time and time again lose money on their shipping costs and I don't want that to happen to you!

Lawn Mowing

Here is a great way to save money, time and to protect the environment. There is no need to put fertilizer or pesticides on your lawn if you mow with a mulching blade/attachment on your mower. Its purpose is to cut the grass into smaller pieces so that it falls between the standing blades of grass and protects the soil/roots from the sun and naturally decomposes to fertilize the grass all over again.

In this day and age, when people see a lawn without dandelions, they know you've been using pesticides, and they will look down on you because it poisons the environment (this is true where I live). So embrace your dandelions during these early weeks of spring (they are so pretty), and just keep mowing them down once a week. The blossoms and seeds will go away soon.

Change the mower's direction each week -- go horizontally one week, vertically the next week, and if you can, diagonally the following week. And cut your grass at the highest level on your mower (at least 3 inches high) to protect the soil/roots from burning in the sun.

The less you water your lawn, the more the roots will grow deeper into the soil and will create a stronger grass root. If your climate/property does not grow good grass, then consider a non-grass "lawn." I will post on that another time. There are so many great alternatives to traditional grass.

Storage Unit Rentals

If you choose to store your belongings in a self storage unit, be sure to do the following things:

1. Store your items in plastic containers -- not cardboard. If your storage unit is not climate controlled, the environment is affected by the weather and will get hot, cold, damp, freezing, moist, humid, and cardboard boxes will not prevent against dampness or mold, which will affect the contents of the box. Plastic containers also protect against rodents and insects, so this is a very important precaution.
2. If you do have items stored in cardboard boxes, at least be sure the boxes are not on the ground, but place them on top of the plastic containers.
3. It is also a good idea to buy a plastic tarp -- a cheap painter's tarp is fine -- and cover your items with plastic in case there is a leak from the roof.

The industry standard for renting a self storage unit is that the customer is liable for any damage that happens to their items while in storage -- your homeowner's insurance covers your belongings. You are just renting a space with no other perks. So read the fine print carefully before signing the storage contract and there should be no surprises down the road.

Spring Cleaning

To really organize your closet the right way, take everything out -- empty it out completely -- and sort the items into piles. Then only put back the items that belong in that closet. Whatever is left either belongs somewhere else in the house or should be given away, donated, or thrown out.

Photo Tip

This time of year the flowers are blooming and look so pretty, and you want to take photos of them. But if you just take a photo of a bunch of flowers, it doesn't have enough impact -- there's no focal point. Try this:

Get fairly close to one flower and take a photo so that in the background you can see the other blooming flowers, but they're blurry because you're focused on the flower in the foreground -- the one you're closer to.

This is very effective in the fall when taking photos of colorful foliage. Rather than photographing the entire tree, get up close to a few colorful leaves and photograph them with the rest of the tree in the background.

How to Break the Tension

If you are meeting with someone or a group of people, and you feel tense with them, there are two things you can do that will help you get a fresh outlook on things in order to continue the meeting without any animosity.

First, the act of excusing yourself to go to the restroom is a good idea -- it stops everything in its tracks and forces you and others to take a breather for a few minutes. When you come back into the room, you have the chance to start over fresh.

Second, if you cannot leave the room, then the act of pouring water from a pitcher or bottle into a cup does the very same thing. Pouring water cleanses the air, like a waterfall. It is a small movement, and no one may notice that you're doing it, but try it next time and you'll see.  Don't just bring a water bottle into a meeting where you may get tense. Bring a glass also, and when the tension rises, pour the water nice and easy into the glass. Take your time and enjoy the movement, the sound, and then the taste of the water. It works!

Gardening

When you have to trim back hedges or brambles or weeding in general, bring an old flat sheet with you (not a fitted sheet) and lay it out near where you are working. As you prune and cut off branches, boughs, or pull out weeds, just throw them all onto the sheet. When the pile on the sheet is big enough, just collect all four corners of the sheet up and around the clippings and drag it into the woods to dump it. It is so easy and you don't have to pick up lots of piles of clippings. And you don't get tire marks on the lawn from a wheelbarrow, which doesn't hold much anyway.

Moving Out of Dorm Tips

One of the most helpful gadgets I bought for moving my son's stuff out of his dorm is the oversized zip lock bags (found them in Stop n Shop). They are huge, and you can stuff a very large quantity of clothing and belongings into these bags, and they zip shut and fit nicely into my hatchback car. Much better than boxes or suitcases, because they're soft and fit better. They're easy to carry because they have built in "handles." I also use them for storing blankets, pillows, linens, etc.

Tick Check

Wherever you live, it is very important to check yourself for ticks every night before going to bed. Stand in front of a mirror and look around your neck and ears, lift up your arms and check your armpits, check every part of your body for a small dot that wasn't there yesterday. A regular check like this makes you familiar with the spots, freckles and moles on your body, so when there is a new one, it will be more noticeable to you. Deer ticks in the springtime can be as small as the head of a pin, so they're hard to find sometimes.

Here's the best tip ever:  If you do find a tick on yourself, pull it off with tweezers, grabbing it firmly as close to the head of the tick as possible. Now -- put it on a piece of clear tape and fold the tape over it so it can never get away, and you can bring it to your doctor where they can test it to see if it is disease borne.

Be safe!

Wrapping Breakables for Shipping

If you have to wrap and ship something that is breakable -- china, glass vase, figurine, etc. -- take this one tip and never forget it:  Bubble wrap is your best friend. You cannot use enough bubble wrap to protect your breakables. It's worth the investment and time.

If your shipment contains multiple items, such as china dishes, it is important to remember that one plate should not touch another plate -- that's how you get chips and cracks. Place a piece of bubble or foam wrap or layers of newspaper between each plate (no more than 4 or 5 plates in a bunch), and then wrap that bunch in bubble wrap, at least 3 times around. It is worth it.

Lower Your Shoulders

An instant stress buster -- whenever you think of it, relax your shoulders and lower them down. It is amazing how powerful this small movement is. Add to it a slow, deep inhale and exhale, and you are ready for anything!

Best Advice I Ever Got

The best advice I ever got in my whole life was from my sister's old boyfriend from a million years ago.

I had just started working at a job on a private estate as a gardener. I hated it. I was sunburned, my hands were a wreck, my back hurt, and it was boring. I'll never forget what he told me. He said to get down on my hands and knees and dig my hands into the soil and smell the earth and really get into it. He said to do it with relish!

That might not sound like a major announcement, but it was an epiphany for me. I realized that the power is all in my mind.

I apply that advice to whatever I'm doing when I feel underwhelmed. It's kind of a zen-ful approach to doing what you do. Smell the earth, feel the earth on your hands, see what you're doing, experience it.

Chia Drink

Every day I make a delicious drink that has chia seeds in it. I discovered this drink at the health food store -- it's called Mama Chia, and it's amazing, but way too expensive for me ($3.99 a bottle!). So, I figured out how to make it for myself on the cheap.

1.  Use an empty glass bottle with a cap from a drink like Snapple and wash it well.

2.  Fill it 3/4 of the way full with spring water.

3.  Pour some juice into the bottle, leaving about an inch of empty space at the top. My favorite is the natural strawberry juice. This works best with a juice that has some body to it. Peach is good, too.

4.  Now, pour one to two tablespoons of chia seeds into the top of the bottle. Put the cap on and shake very well.

5.  You will have to keep giving the bottle a shake every now and then for a few minutes or else the hydrating chia seeds will clump together and you cannot unclump them.

After about 15 to 20 minutes, when the chia seeds are nice and hydrated, you can start drinking it. The seeds should be floating in the bottle nicely.

Chia seeds are incredibly healthy for you. Drink up!

Eastern Painted Turtles

I didn't know that on a warm sunny day in the spring, the painted turtles all climb out onto grass clumps in shallow water and sun themselves blissfully. I saw it today for the first time . . . and it is a very peaceful sight.

Take a Chance

This morning I wanted very much to speak to someone that I had a disagreement with. I was holding out to be contacted by this person, but the call never came. I couldn't take it any more, so I called and blurted out how I felt, and then we had a conversation that led to a good understanding, and now there was no more anxiety or anger! I learned that it's better to communicate than to drag it out with a head game.

Adobe InDesign Tip

I have been using Adobe InDesign for years, but I still learn new little things all the time that I wish someone would have shared with me -- so now I can share it with you. I apologize to those people who do not use this design software.

Today I was working on an ad journal for a local event, placing the full page ads at the front, half-page ads next, and quarter pages at the end. Although the booklet is not quite complete, I wanted to print it out to see how it looked. There were still blank pages where ads had not been placed in yet. When I went to print it as a booklet, the paging was off, and the last page was not printing opposite the first page, etc. It was driving me crazy, because I had carefully made the document in multiples of four in order to fill all the pages.

All of a sudden a lightbulb went off in my head. I thought that maybe InDesign thinks the blank pages don't exist, so I put some text on the blank pages and voila! Fixed the booklet printing problem.

My friend told me I should make a vision board and add all the things I want for my future -- salary, career, personal things, etc. She said I should put up a photo of myself that I really like -- a photo that makes me feel good about myself. I just googled it, and apparently everyone in the world knew about vision boards except me, so I'm happy to learn about it. I think it's an excellent idea. I need to stop floating and have some direction.