A gift for Mom - Handyman services around the house

Looking for that great gift for mom? How about getting her a Handyman gift certificate, either for your time and services or one of our professionals. 

One day of doing chores around the house can make such a difference in the value of a property and give the dweller a feeling of being proud of where they stay.

----------------------------------------------- My Alexa Joke of the day -------------------------------------------

Why are Christmas trees so fond of the past?

.... Because the Present is so beneath them !

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Making life easy - An Adventure with iRobot

So Camini returned from Miami recently and brought me one of those little robots that scoot around your house and vacuum up dust.  Great friend, isn't she?  Anyway, I tried it out this week and it does work wonders on my tile floors!  The little bugger was probably rolling its sensors after it realized how little I pass a broom...

It does take a bit of preparation to make sure it has clear paths under all your furniture and between the legs.

And it's a good thing I had spent a day last Christmas to coil all my loose cables and tack them up to the TV stand and desk, because it might have gotten tangled up badly.

But as long as you keep it charged and empty out its dust receptacle after every run, it makes for a good little house keeper! The cats just love em!

Have you tried any of these automated vacuum cleaners? Tell us your stories.

----------------------------------------------- My Alexa Joke of the day -------------------------------------------

Two antennas got married 

.... The wedding was boring, but the reception was excellent !

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Are you prepared for the Hurricane Season?

The hurricane season is here. The dreaded months of May to November. There is safety in planning. Every year on the first day of May I like to pull out  my hurricane box. Yes I do have a box of supplies, along with a couple knapsacks. I open them up, get rid of expired products, and top it up with new ones. All batteries are changed on flashlights and other battery operated devices. Carmini and I usually have a party as we unpack our boxes and repack.

Do you have your hurricane plan ready? I usually

1)    Update the family emergency plan, and remind everyone where they have to go and who to call

2)    First aid kit and instructions

3)    Fire extinguisher

4)    Battery-powered radio

5)    Flashlights

6)    Extra batteries

7)    Sleeping bags or extra blankets

8)    Supplies to make drinking water safe (like iodine tablets or chlorine bleach)

----------------------------------------------- My Alexa Joke of the day -------------------------------------------

What do you feed an invisible ? 

.... Evapourated Milk !

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Composting - Nature's recycling center!

This week I started a compost pile.  It's very simple, because the rule of thumb is that you can compost about anything that originally started out as a plant!  Of course this includes any yard waste from your garden, in addition to such household waste as shredded paper & cardboard (which of course is produced from tree fiber), tea leaves, and fruit & vegetable scraps.  And p.s. you can also use egg shells!  Which I suppose are a sort of mineral.

Tips: Use half "brown" waste (paper, cardboard, and eggshells) and half "green" waste (everything else) to balance the pile, leave air pockets for breathing, and remember to turn your heap regularly!

I'll let you know what comes out in 6 months!

---------- My Alexa Joke of the day ---------------

Why are farmers so cool ? 

.... because they are outstanding in their field !

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Computer Cable Clutter - Tell us what you do!

Got Computer Cable Clutter?

I think almost everyone with a computer at one time or another has encountered this problem. But until everything can be wireless we have to love with it. Send us some pictures of what yours looks like, and any tips you have for keeping it clean and tidy.

 You might be one luck subscriber who might win an all inclusive trip to Cuba!

----------------------------------------------- My Alexa Joke of the day -------------------------------------------

I was going to tell you a joke about infinity? 

But it did not have an end !

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Microwave Cleaning - An easy chore if you know what to do !

I noticed the inside of my microwave is looking greasy and the top has some exploded food particles -- Yuck!

Time to steam-clean it!

I learned this trick when I went to camp a decade ago.

You're basically going to put our famous vinegar & water mixture in a microwave-safe bowl and heat it up until vinegar-steam forms and absorbs into the gunk on the walls and roof and floor of the microwave.  

But first you may have heard the stories about folks who heat up their coffee or tea too long in the microwave, and it explodes when they take it out?  To avoid that situation, just drop a toothpick in the bowl before heating -- this lets bubbles form on the irregular surface of the toothpick which prevents super-heating.

After heating on High for about 5 minutes, stop and let it cool for a while with the door closed, to let the steam soak in.  Then open the door, remove your bowl with oven gloves, and wipe down the surfaces with paper towels or J-cloths.  You can even dip the cloth in the remaining vinegar-water first for a thorough wash-down.

----------------------------------------------- My Alexa Joke of the day -------------------------------------------

I don't trust people with Graph Papert?

.... They are always plotting something !

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...and now the Kitchen Sink !

My kitchen sink started draining very slowwwwww, so I realized I had poured too much food scraps down over the years while washing dishes!  Time to unclog my drain.

I suppose the first thing to try would be those chemicals like Drano…but those are like acid, aren’t they?  I’d rather not spread all that stuff into the environment – who knows where our drain water ends up!So I’ll try the old-fashioned method of removing the trap under the sink and clean it out.
Make sure to put a bucket underneath first, because remember the trap is always full of water (after all, its purpose is to keep the sewer gas out of the house!)

First find the two large “nuts” on either side of the trap – you’ll need to loosen both of these in order to remove the trap. I don’t have a big pipe wrench like the plumbers, but a friend gave me one of those rubber strap wrenches “As Seen on TV” so I use that for large jobs like this.  Detach one end of the rubber strap, wrap around one of the nuts, and attach back onto the wrench handle.  Tighten it snugly and turn slowly to loosen the nut.  If it doesn’t budge, try the other direction!  Once you can turn it with your hand, loosen it the rest of the way to expose the joint.  Repeat for the other nut.

You may want to don rubber gloves for the next part:

• Now rock the trap a bit from side to side and it should come loose (along with all the trapped water and gunk!)
• Dump the water into the bucket and as much gunk as will come out.
• Now it’s just a matter of taking the trap to another sink (perhaps outside!) and clearing it of debris and rinsing it out clean.  An old toothbrush may come in handy here to loosen caked-on gunk.
• Re-install the trap, tighten the nuts, and you’re good to go!

P.S. I kept a bowl under the trap for a week or two in case of leakage. I'll let you know how it turned out.

----------------------------------------------- My Alexa Joke of the day -------------------------------------------

Why are farmers so cool ? 

.... because they are outstanding in their field !

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Fun with Baking Soda

Your mother probably taught you how to keep an open box of baking soda in the fridge to absorb nasty odors.

But it’s also great for cleaning!  Here are a few tips I’ve learned:

After your evening shower, pour a half cup down the drain, with just enough water to make a paste that coats the drain pipe.  Let it work overnight, and in the morning flush with hot water.

Then use a little on a damp sponge to attack the shower floor and walls. No more smelly soap scum!  And cheaper than purpose-made cleansers. I wonder if these work with the old box from the fridge?  I’ll try that next!

----------------------------------------------- My Alexa Joke of the day -------------------------------------------

Why are farmers so cool ? 

.... because they are outstanding in their field !

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Ouch Thumb got hot with a hammer - Here is a solution for you

Owwww!!!  I just hit my thumb with a hammer!  I hate when that happens, so I asked Camini how she holds a nail to avoid that pain…She said, “No problem, just use a comb to hold the nail.”  Wait, what?  A comb?

So she showed me and it really works! Find a normal hair comb (could be a guy’s comb for small nails, or a girl’s comb for larger nails.
Fit the nail in between two teeth of the comb, far away from your thumb!

Now hold the comb from the other end and position so the point of the nail is where you want the nail to end up.

Finally hammer that nail in!  Voila .... No more pain!

----------------------------------------------- My Alexa Joke of the day -------------------------------------------

I wonder why the cricket ball was getting bigger ? 

.... and then it hit me !

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Water Anyone - Let's give Brita Filter a try!

So continuing on my environmental slant, this week I decided to try one of those filters that fits on the end of your kitchen tap.  The box claims by drinking filtered water you can avoid buying and throwing away (or recycling) 750 bottles of water…so I’ll not only save the environment but loads of money too!  I’m up with that, especially in recession times.

Anyway, I got it home, opened up the box, spread all the parts out, and started studying the instruction booklet.  Turns out there are 2 types of faucet ends: threads on the outside or threads on the inside.  Of course mine was the type that requires more steps to install!

First step is to remove the aerator – the little screen thingy that makes your water bubbly.  If you have one of those rubber floppy things you use to open tight jars, first try wrapping that around it and grab and turn.  If it’s stuck, keep the rubber thing there (to avoid scratching the aerator, in case you want to use it again) and use a pliers over the rubber.  Or you could use an old dish towel instead of the rubber thing.

If your faucet has inner threads, you’ll next need to match up one of the adapters from the box to the size of your faucet.  Remember to put the washer in first, for a tight seal.  Screw it in hand-right.

The next step is to fit the filter base under the adapter and screw it on using the rotating collar.  This is a bit hard to grip, but the booklet has a tip where you rotate the base back and forth while tightening the collar – this works quite well!

Finally, you snap in the filter and you’re ready to start saving!  Turn the little lever to get filtered water (for drinking or cooking) or unfiltered water (for washing dishes, e.g.).  I found the flow volume is reduced somewhat when filtering, but I suppose that is the downside of saving the environment!  Enjoy!

----------------------------------------------- My Alexa Joke of the day -------------------------------------------

How did the Telephone propose to his girlfriend? 

He gave her a ring !

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