Blog, I

Over the years I’ve recycled anything I came across, including finding actual hard drives and improved memory I rescued from a dumpster. Old furniture is a gimme on this subject when you can throw on some outdoor furniture covers and turn garbage in to style.

The key is to know the basics. If you’re looking in a dumpster at old furniture, remember the key is the amount of effort you need to put in it. If the item’s greasy, sometimes it’s just a matter of hosing off and a little dish detergent in the back yard.

Other times it’s not. Wood can have dry rot, roach infestations in seams, mildew, or even termites. Glass mirrors or table tops need to be triple checked…if there’s a single edge that’s chipped your better off passing it over. It’s a sign the prior owner didn’t want to sacrifice safety for frugality.

Thirteen years old and puberty’s set in.  No matter how short he keeps his hair, that forehead looks like the surface of the moon I used to look at in the mirror at his age.

Acne treatment isn’t something easy to talk to a teenager about. The eyes avert, the head turns, it hurts a kid honestly. The best thing a parent can do is make available the few basics.

Noxzema, what was considered the ‘go to’ company for years, has gone ‘GIRLY’! Check out www.noxzema.com and you’ll see what I mean. Forget telling young males about this product, they won’t live it down in the halls at school. The shot to the right is from their front page.

The basics:

1. Keep it clean, gently.
2. Tell him to talk to his doctor.
3. Watch the diet.
4. Don’t revisit the subject for at least a month.

For us we opted for a gentle prescription from his doctor, one topical and one oral. These days there’s options available that we didn’t have as parents, so it’s a good bet to check with the doctor…chances are the doctor won’t make it a priority to ask in this area.

Being a veteran of the ‘Battle of the Bulge’, I can sympathize with many people who are downright overweight.

We’re fat, people. Deal with it.

There was a time when I was the picture of beautiful health. Abdomen rippled with gentle swaying muscles, legs tawny and tight the female soldiers dreamed of after viewing me run past them swiftly as a deer. Many times those same legs saved me from the throngs of passionate viewers falling prey to their emotional upheaval.

Alcohol didn’t help. Food didn’t help. A desk job didn’t help. Neither did alli, but since I didn’t try them I can’t say if it could.

Kind of makes me think sometimes…when we fantasize we never worry about the fat, do we now?

I was doing some searching on Thanksgiving recipes a minute ago and realized vegetarians don’t have it as good as meat eaters.

Every time I see something about creating a vegetarian holiday meal I see over worded psychobabble that tries to make the mind believe it’s having a feast…when it amounts to another dish of tofu stuffed peppers.

Regardless of how many colors you have to pick, you’re still going to have undigested pepper skin in the end, literally.

1. Keep it as clean as possible to begin with. Prevention goes a long way with a carpet.

2. If you spill, don’t tear in to it. If using a solvent and brushing it gently doesn’t get the stain out, chances are you’ll need to try something that will. (Elbow grease doesn’t ‘cut it’)

3. Suck it up. If you get a stain ‘reappearing’ after you’ve cleaned it, chances are it was only surface cleaned…you failed to soak or blot up what was under the carpet or in the padding below.

4. Do NOT use heat to dry a stain! No hair dryers or irons! If you need to you can use a fan or floor blower. Heat will help seal in any stains.

5. Get a steam cleaner or hire a professional to do it for you often. Chances are you’re too cheap for the second, so just go get one of your own. (Don’t worry, we’re all cheap around here too.)

The scent of a disposable diaper needed is one that’s not easily forgotten, seeming to linger and stay within the nostrils unwanted.

When someone’s in need of one they’re immediate need or reason isn’t really considered that much. If anything they might get quicker service, but getting help with what is sometimes a required medical need isn’t going to be found in most shelters.

If you’re a service provider and wondering what you can do to help stop the smell…try putting up a sign that says “Do you need help with adult diapers?”.

If you don’t offer, they won’t know you can help.

Refer to him as ‘Porkchop’ out loud when he’s on the phone to a young lady.

“Did your dad just call you ‘Porkchop’?”

Tell him you’re going to post his picture with ads along sales of auto parts online.

Get kids like these to do duets dedicated to him, and email them to his friends.

Be persistant. Never give up. Never surrender