Duelin’ Deals Blog by Marlaine

Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, formally called Vienna, Midori….. (I had ME on my first computer – 2000.) XP came out in 2003? Vista showed up in 2006. Windows 7 is scheduled for early January 2010. Midori is still way in development but whispered to be coming out in 2013. (Obviously a bit of planned obsolescence here!) Each update costs about $400. And each version has more spyware in it and greater and greater DRM – Digital Rights Management – included. (In otherwords, don’t count on downloading anything to your computer that MIGHT have a copyright infringement issue. Even copying your own paid-for CDs or DVDs to your computer as a backup, which is legally allowed, is being blocked by Microsoft software, citing DMCA and the RIAA rules which don’t allow you to bypass encryption – and can put you in jail!)

Microsoft is also in the process of trying to establish an internet based operating system that would store all your computer files on an internet data base and effectively will not allow you to have your own files on your computer – in the Midori Operating System. You will not have a choice once it comes out – you will have to let Microsoft have a copy of everything on your computer if you install Midori. In other words, your computer would not be in your control in your home if you do not have the internet or access to it. Even on the internet, Microsoft would have complete access to everything on your computer. And they say they are doing you a favor………………………. by storing your information on their servers.

Hmmmmmmmmmm………. if my bank buys that Operating System and uses it, I am going to close all my accounts with them.

If you had downloaded Ubuntu/Linux instead of XP – you would now and forever have free downloads to all the new operating systems and updates that are constantly coming out from Ubuntu – in effect, making your Operating System forever free, including the original installation. If you request it, Ubuntu will send you – completely free of charge – copies of their operating system on CD. Yes I said COPIES, as many as you want – completely free of shipping or handling or any charges! Hand them out to your friends, relatives, or students. The CDs are either for Desktop or Server (if you want to host databases, websites, and other internet business) systems. You can use them to install on your computer or to boot from the CD to just give Ubuntu a try.

Sigh – if that wasn’t enough, it comes with everything you need to get running fast. You choose what you want to install on your computer from an almost endless list of software. Most of it is on the CD but an internet connection is needed to upgrade to whatever the newest, coolest, fastest, best software is available. Allllllllllllllllll for FREE!

Here is a quote directly from the Ubuntu home page:

The Ubuntu promise

* Ubuntu will always be free of charge, including enterprise releases and security updates.
* Ubuntu comes with full commercial support from Canonical and hundreds of companies around the world.
* Ubuntu includes the very best translations and accessibility infrastructure that the free software community has to offer.
* Ubuntu CDs contain only free software applications; we encourage you to use free and open source software, improve it and pass it on.

I am putting up a much more detailed explanation of Ubuntu up on eHow because it is seriously a great Operating System. How to Get Ubuntu – A Totally Forever Free Operating System! With all this crazy stuff Microsoft is doing – including some of the lamest commercials I have ever seen – I welcome an alternative to Windows! We design websites and have two good computers. Brad has Ubuntu on his and I keep Windows XP on mine – no I do NOT want or will I ever get Vista!!!!!! My father-in-law, Norm, has told us that Vista is problematic over any software that is not genuine – including all those movies they buy from a local store that they want to save to their computer to watch. (DVDs do run hot on a computer while you are watching it and it’s easier on your DVD Rom to just save it to watch later.) Internet
Explorer will not install on Ubuntu which makes checking web page design a little pain in the rear. Browsershots.org is a very handy site that lets you test out all of your designs on all of the browsers out there to see what works or doesn’t – especially on Internet Explorer, which is usually the one that has major glitches because it is not W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) standards compliant.

I did the following article for eHow but today, when I actually noticed that it’s July 14, 2008 – I realized a stunning difference from last year. It’s going to get to 87 or 90 in a day or two and I’m not worried at all! We don’t even have our window air conditioners set up and don’t plan to either! Why? I guess I took my own advice! See the bottom of this article – Step 10 – for the answer!

How to Stay Cool In The Heat

By MarlaineMarie
I’m Melting! I’m Melting!

Summer’s coming. Northern mid-western people get used to being cold. I call it having Winter Blood. We kept the heat down under 60 degrees most for the winter and now it’s getting warmer. 75 is hot? – ha! – or so most of you say. Our tips to stay cool as we acclimate may just help the rest of you all summer! After all, during spring here in Wisconsin, we can have temperatures of below 40 degrees Fahrenheit one night and over 80 degrees the next day. It’s hard to adjust.

Things You’ll Need:

* Need to notice things that generate heat.
* Ice cubes in the freezer – make extra and store in a half gallon container of some kind.
* Blinds or shades on the sunny sides of your home.

Step1
First of all, pay attention to things in your home that generate heat. That satellite dish or cable box could be throwing an awful lot of heat. Light bulbs throw heat too – remember those easy bake ovens? They used just one light bulb to bake a cake! Even your scanner’s plug in point could be throwing a lot of heat. Check everything and if you aren’t using it, and it’s not inconvenient to unplug it – pull the plug! Turn off lights that you aren’t using. Get a good sun sensor night light that will only turn on when it’s dark if you need a bit of light somewhere. Definitely turn off the computers over night so they can cool down, along with the room they are in. This will also save on your energy bill!

Step2
When you go to bed at night, pull the shades or blinds on the sides of your home that get hot in the morning. The sun comes up in the east and sets in the west – of course but as the seasons change, the sun may move a bit more north and south depending on where you live. Pull the shades down on other sides before the sun shifts to those sides. Keep the windows closed on the hot sides – hot air coming in doesn’t cool anything down. If you have a couple really hot windows, consider getting some white insulated poster board for crafting projects and just slip it between the glass and blinds before the hot hours – it reflects the suns rays and blocks incoming heat. Try to use light colored window treatments for the part closest to the windows. Think about planting a tree or high bushes, (far enough from the house so the roots don’t cause problems with the house’s foundation), that would shade the windows in a few years.

Step3
To keep the kitchen cooler, plan meals that can be microwaved or made the night before without using the oven. I will be putting up “Mom’s Tuna Salad” recipe soon and a variation I came up with because my husband doesn’t care for tuna. If you make enough of the whole meal salad for a couple of days, think of it as a day without either oven running (stove or micro) and a day off from cooking! If you want to make something you can’t microwave – try to make it on a burner instead of in the oven. The burner throws less heat and – saves on your energy bill, too!

Step4
One of the points that your blood constantly circulates through is at your wrists. It takes about 3 minutes for all your blood to pass through those points and putting some wrapped ice there will cool off your whole body by lowering your core temperature and the effect will last for an hour at least. You can also fix a bucket of ice water to put your hand in. Never use ice directly on your skin because it can cause damage. The relief is almost immediate. Use this technique if someone is suffering from heat stroke! You can also make yourself a cooling foot bath – it’s amazing how much cooler we feel when our feet are cool. If your tap water doesn’t come out cold, add some ice cubes to the foot bath. Not too cold or you may get the shivers!

Step5
Spray yourself with water! Take a quick, cool shower and don’t towel off. Let your clothes soak up the water and then let the damp clothes help keep you cool! Use a spritz bottle of clean water on your face and arms and let it dry naturally. Get your shirt wet before you put it on – at least the sleeves.

Step6
Drink lots of water even if you’re not thirsty! You have to replace what you lose from perspiration to prevent dehydration. Adding ice will also help cool you off but if it’s too cold, your body will use more energy bringing it up to your body temperature so it can be used which increased your core temp. Avoid lemonade, iced tea, and other sugary drinks but especially avoid alcohol if you are feeling over heated.

Step7
Your body releases a lot of it’s heat through the soles of your feet, the palms of your hands, and your scalp. Keeping these areas cool makes a surprising difference – so take off the hats unless you are in the sun. Go barefoot if you can. Hold a glass of iced something instead of setting it down on a table and let the condensation drip on your skin.

Step8
If it’s really bad, use a quart freezer bag of some kind and fill it with ice. Dampen a washcloth and wrap it around the bag. Use this on your face, forehead and neck, moving it around for a while and then hold it on your wrist for as long as you can stand it – up to three minutes. Then use it on your ankles and shins ——— ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ——- you’ll feel much cooler soon. Repeat as often as you want and where it feels the best.

Step9
Extra note – June 2, 2008……… I had a “feeling” before we went to bed last night and closed all the windows in the house. When I took out our dog this morning, it was over 85 degrees outside. It was only 74 in the house with only one fan going. In the cooler hours of the night, we put a fan in the window to pull in the cool air and, now that I know it’s getting warmer, we close the windows before it starts getting hot out.

Step10
Extra Added Note! July 14, 2008. We had a flood early in summer and I’ve had one box fan running on medium constantly to help dry things up in the basement. I can not tell you how surprising the side benefit has been! With it running quietly in that big basement, the air has been pushed up the air ducts and into our living area. Any one with a basement knows it’s always cooler down there. It’s been acting like a central air conditioner! We’ve had 90 degree days but never uncomfortable enough – even at night – to turn on the air conditioner! We close the windows before we go to bed, especially if it’s going to be humid the next day, and run only a couple of fans. (You can feel when it’s starting to get humid!) One box fan is placed near a floor register and points to our computer room across the hall. It is amazing!

Here’s another extra great tip – half fill a saved bottled water bottle with water and freeze it. Later, fill the rest of the way for a great, long lasting bottle of ice water! Slip the bottle into a thermal cup when not sipping to keep it cooler longer!!!!!!

Tips & Warnings
* If you fill a tall glass with ice cubes and blow into it with it pointed toward your face, the forced air will cool you down like an air conditioner.
* It’s better to acclimatize yourself to the heat rather than staying in air conditioned rooms. Then it’s not as shocking to go outside when you have to go somewhere.
* Keep drinking lots of water or something with electrolytes in it to keep your body hydrated.
* Eat lighter and smaller amounts of food at one time.
* When it’s really hot, avoid heavy physical work if possible – try to do things later when it’s cooler.
* Putting a bowl of ice cubes in front of a fan really works!
* As the season changes, hold off any cooling techniques as long as possible to let your body start to acclimate.
* If your body temperature goes above 104 °F (40 °C), it is a life-threatening situation. If it goes up to 113 °F (45 °C), you definitely need to get help or call 911.
* If you can’t sweat but your temperature is high, call 911!
* Using a paper fan with your hand can actually raise your body heat – so don’t!.

Just like using humidity in the winter to allow your heater or furnace to work more efficiently, humidity in the summer increases the discomfort levels. Fans help dry the air when the humidity is high.

Recycle and Reuse can be interchangeable adjectives. As more and more garbage gets dumped more and more places, it’s time to step back and think things over before tossing stuff into the bin! Maybe even step back and think things over before you buy whatever it is you may end up throwing out!

First of all – look at the packaging your purchases come in. If you have – say – a jug of fabric softener for your wash, buy the refill carton of fabric softener instead of a new bottle of it. It’s usually less expensive than the bottle anyway! Use a damp, matchless sock and pour about a tablespoon of fabric softener on the sock, rub it in, and then into the dryer – cheaper, easier, and no gunk to clog your dryer filter like those dryer sheets! I almost always miss the rinse cycle anyway and we all have a matchless sock or ten lying around! Mine is a goofy color that I can’t miss in the load – but you can always mark it somehow if you know you’ll never find the match. I will be adding more “Make Your Own Mixes” soon, but making your own reduces a whole lot of packaging and you can be sure of it’s freshness. Save containers with good tops and strong, durable bodies – like peanut butter jars and cottage cheese containers. Or cruise the thrift stores for glass jars with good lids!

I will be adding more “Make Your Own Mixes” soon but making your own reduces a whole lot of packaging and you can be sure of it’s freshness. The recipe for making your own biscuit mix that I put up on MarlaineMarie at eHow is so easy and handy that I keep some in the fridge all the time. You can also add a quarter cup of the mix into the chicken coating to lighten up the Oven Fried Chicken.

This may be drastic but we have pretty much stopped drinking sodas that come in bottles or cans. We make sun tea with a packet of drink mix powder for a flavored type tea. Cyclecyco, my brother, has a great recipe for sun tea on eHow. We also make glasses of lemon aid with concentrated lemon juice and sugar in a glass of ice water, as desired and “to order”. Since I can’t make root beer, my fav, we pick up a bottle once a month – maybe or Mountain Dew for Primefalcon. We also save those individual sized bottles from bottled water that we got for free as a reward for a $50 purchase – or some such – and fill them half way with water and freeze. Later, fill up the bottle with water and you have long lasting ice water.

Put things out on the curb a day or two before the garbage pickup that are no longer wanted but usable – like replaced furniture or appliances. Even if someone picks those things up to resell, fix & keep, or take to a salvage yard, it’s better than ending up in a land fill!

Donate old eyeglasses to The Gift Of Sight to help out someone who can’t afford a pair.

Take old computers to Staples, Office Depot or Best Buy – they offer in-store e-waste recycling. Best Buy also recycles used appliances. Dell, Toshiba and Sony recycle computer products.

Recycled motor oil can be made into a lubricant or fuel. Save used oil in a clean container with a secure, leak proof lid. (A funnel and rinsed out gallon milk bottles work great for this and recycles those jugs as well!) Recycle the used oil filter, too. Check out Earth 911 for places to recycle your oil and filter by zip code, along with other great tips about how to recycle.

Mulch or compost your grass cuttings instead of bagging them. Mulching is by far the easiest and most beneficial to your lawn by putting nutrients back into the ground. You will save on fertilizer as well! Cut often and not as short, mulch and use less fertilizer. By NOT cutting your lawn within an inch of its life roots, you give your lawn a better chance to resist the heat without turning brown, too. Also, gently hose down animal droppings if you have a dog instead of bagging. Talk about great nutrients for your lawn! Cut when necessary and not as short, mulch and use less fertilizer – can’t get much easier than that!

Gently used or like new toys can be donated to The Salvation Army, Vietnam Veterans of America, or a local shelter for homeless families or battered women with children.

Keep a bag of bags. Instead of buying new garbage bags, we use plastic grocery bags whenever possible. (Sorry – the paper bags disintegrate the moment water or condensation hits so are not very useful for recycling with most things!) Also – double wrap your frozen items with the grocery bag you brought it home in by simply twisting the top and tucking under. Most of us don’t double wrap stuff in the freezer the way we “should” – this is a quick easy way to do it as you put your groceries away! In addition, we often shop at Aldi’s – and we keep a supply of used grocery bags in the trunk of our car since Aldi’s does not supply bags for free. An added note: I’ve purchased a few of the bags Aldi’s sells for $.10 each and they are worth it – you just don’t need many. I also bought a library canvas bag and have been using it for years now – well worth the money!

I have actually purchased items for their packaging and potential continued use. The brand of cat treats I buy comes in a simple bag but usually doesn’t open and close easily. I bought another brand for it’s container about 7 years ago and keep refilling it with the treats my cats loves. BTW – my cats were not crazy about the treats that came in the container originally but I “made” them eat them before I bought a new bag.

Don’t buy things in single serving packages! What a horrid waste! Single serving hot dogs – are you guys kidding? How about an 8 pack and throw it in the freezer until needed, then a nice zip sandwich bag for the ones left over? No one is so bad at cooking that they can’t do a hot dog in the mike – are they? Just downright lazy and wasteful!

Gypsy agrees – single serving hots dogs are really dopey! She want’s the whole pack!

Well here we go……….. care for your hair! I do have long, naturally blond hair. My mother kept telling me that by the time I was twenty, I would have to dye my hair because it would be so plain, like hers had been. She was a bit off on that prediction – I must say! Some kids called me albino in school but it wasn’t really that light! Never the less, I had a lovely shade of auburn all picked out and I really couldn’t wait ’til I needed it! I just love dark red hair!

I’ve devised a lot of tricks for my hair to make it as absolutely easy as possible to care for because I just am not the kind to fiddle with hair! I usually do something with it in the morning when I get up and that is about it. If it’s hot, I put it in a bun or a clip and if it’s cold, I use it like an extra scarf or tuck it around my neck in a hooded sweatshirt. When I don’t have the enthusiasm to brush it, I still use that hooded sweatshirt to get Gypsy out – and hide the mess! The rest of the time, I just let it hang.

I’ve done an article for eHow about this………..

How to Have Long, Healthy Hair!

I can’t help but think of Thing in the Adams family when I see my hair sometimes. I used to brush it all the time. It was always wavy but on the dry side. I stopped using a hair dryer for a few reasons.

First… I was with relatives for a month and forgot it. When I saw how much better my hair was, I decided not to use it unless it was an emergency.
Second…. I was in a car accident that chopped a lot of my hair off and left me with about 20 stitches in my head. My mom cut my hair short and I couldn’t even wash my hair for a while with those stitches in there.
Third…. I just don’t like fiddling with my hair.
Fourth… my best friend and I spent a lot of time going swimming one summer. I noticed that my hair went into ringlets when I didn’t brush it after it was wet!
Fifth…. It’s just so much easier!

But the main reason is that I don’t like fiddling with my hair.

Here are a few tips that I didn’t mention in the article:

While washing your hair, never use your fingernails on your scalp. The scratches cause wounds on your scalp, which leads to itching which leads to damaged follicles. Massage your scalp with your fingertips instead to promote growth.

Use a towel to blot out excess moisture from your hair rather than rubbing with the towel. The friction from rubbing can make your hair brittle. Or squeeze out the moisture with your hands without wringing it or pulling it.

When you wash long hair, don’t suds it up by piling it on top of your head and swirling it around. That only causes more tangles. Apply shampoo to your hands and then to your scalp. Lather by massaging small areas. You don’t need to suds up the entire length of hair – it’s mostly the scalp that needs the dirt and oils removed. The rest will rinse away with the soap.

Those anti frizz potions never worked in my hair and in fact, always made the problems worse. I have a specific spray bottle that I kept after using a coupon to get the hair care product for nearly free. It was good stuff – but not worth buying again for my hair. I pour in about three or four tablespoons of whatever conditioner I am using and fill it up the rest of the way with water.

Then I shake it up. I spritz my hair with it when it seems really dry or straight and use my hand to smooth it into my hair.

During the summer, I add about a tablespoon of baby oil to the bottle with conditioner and water. This formula is based on a show sheen product a horse breeder told me about. It makes your hair really shine without getting really greasy. It also makes my hair curl even more. The oil protects my hair from the drying sun a little bit, too.

Use hand lotion to tame those static days! Just use lotion as usual, except add a bit more. Run your hands over your hair to smooth it where you want it to go. It will add shine and keep your hair where it belongs. You can use your regular conditioner the same way.

Don’t wear those baseball caps! It wears your hair down like a dog collar that’s too tight. Have you ever seen a dog’s neck that’s been wearing one? The hair is rubbed very thin. A cap or bandanna does the same thing! Your hair needs air, too, to let the sweat evaporate.

To help encourage hair growth, here’s something that feels great especially when someone else does it for you. Combine an egg and about a quarter cup olive oil, whipping together with a fork. Warm the oil in the microwave first if you like but not too warm. Massage this into the scalp with your fingertips – never use the nails. Do this treatment once a week. The scalp massage facilitates healthy hair growth by stimulating the blood supply to your scalp. The egg adds protein and the olive oil adds moisture. An inch of an aloe leaf can be scraped off the skin, mashed, and added to the mixture. Wash hair about an hour later.

Here’s for fun…. dye your hair with Koolaide. Add a non-sugar packet to a cup and a half of water. Leave it in for 15 minutes. Rinse and then let it dry. Great for Halloween!

My brother called a few days ago asking for my oatmeal recipe. I remember him scrunching up his nose at oatmeal when we were kids. I said as much to him. Evidently, I had made some oatmeal for myself and made extra for him, and he’d loved it! I devised this method because I like it this way – and it is probably not healthy – shrugging. We’ve had family members who lived to 90 who smoked. One overweight relative made it to 100! I am not a could-care-less type but I am not a health nut either.

I wrote this for MarlaineMarie’s Articles on eHow….

How to Make Incredible Oatmeal!

Oatmeal – Blahhhh – you say? Try this and try not to want it again and again!

Things You’ll Need:

* Regular Oatmeal – not instant
* Milk of your choice – whole makes it creamiest!
* Sugar – 2 tablespoons per serving
* Butter – 1 tablespoon per serving
* Vanilla – 1/2 teaspoon per serving
* Salt – optional

Step 1:
Use the directions on the oatmeal box to decide on the amount of regular oatmeal you are going to make. If you make extra, it can be reheated in the microwave, tasting even more mellow the next day. Each brand may have slightly different proportions. Sugar can be replaced with Splenda (it really does taste good for a substitute!) or other artificial sweeteners for those with diabetes. Salt IS optional – in fact, I don’t use it in oatmeal.

Step 2:
Use milk instead of water, adding about 1/4 to 1/2 cup extra. Put the milk and oatmeal together in a pot and mix together. Let it sit a while – 10 minutes or so.

Step 3:
Add the sugar and salt, stirring gently. Add the butter. Turn on the heat underneath.

Step 4:
Bring the mixture to a gentle bubble, stirring constantly. Let it bubble for about two minutes. Add vanilla and stir in. Put a cover on the pot. Turn off heat. Move the pot off the burner. Leave covered and alone for about 10 minutes.

Step 5:
This oatmeal is made to be enjoyed without putting more milk, butter, or sugar into it. Add a bit of butter if you really have to but this is soooooooooooooo good as it is right out of the pot, and so creamy!
Tips & Warnings

* If you are a sugar craver, try pouring some maple syrup or any of the flavored syrups out there over the finished oatmeal.
* If you like it sweeter, just add more sugar before cooking.
* This oatmeal is all about enjoying it so if you want more milk and sugar or butter on the finished oatmeal, add it. Do try it plain first. You might be amazed!
* Add a couple of tablespoons of peanut butter per serving with the mixture in the pot before boiling for another really different taste!
* If you are a chocolate maniac, try adding about a quarter cup of chocolate chips before the cooking process. You can skip butter completely when you use chocolate. (or add peanut butter – yummmmmmm – smiling!)
* Combine everything, except for the vanilla, and let sit in the fridge overnight to be ready to make for breakfast!
* If you add vanilla after any cooking process in any recipe, it retains more flavor and aroma!
* As always, when making my recipes, do not invite the food police to breakfast when you make this! This recipe is to make you love oatmeal – not necessarily to be healthy!
* If you think margarine is better than butter – Tisk! Use good, wholesome butter, or peanut butter, or skip it completely! It will taste a whole lot better!

There are also other great uses for oatmeal.
Try this facial:
* 1/4 cup of dry oatmeal
* 1/8 real mayonnaise
* The juice and pulp of a real aloe plant leaf, mashed.
Mix all together, heat to just warm in the microwave, and let stand about 10 minutes.
Prewash your face with the hottest water you can stand to open all the pours.
Use the oatmeal paste all over your face and leave on for 10 minutes.

This is really great just before a shower. If you use a washcloth and wipe it off your face, use it on your body as a quick scrub. Oatmeal is great as a body scrub, too. Then use your normal bath soap as usual and rinse.

NEVER use regular soap on your face! Using the plain wet wash cloth as a scrub and the shower to rinse your face is far better for your facial skin than using a regular bar of bath soap!

Earth Day On March 29th!

Twenty six major cites and a growing number of towns and villages all around the world are committed to turning off their lights for one hour to bring global warming to the attention of the multitudes. The dark hour is set for 0900 GMT on March 29th. “Earth Hour” was founded by Andy Ridley one year ago. Cities in Australia, United States, Europe, and Canada, among others in 35 countries, have officially signed up to participate in this 2008 event.

Use the GMT clock link to synchronize your time with Greenwich Mean Time. I am posting this at about 1pm Central Standard Time in the United States on the 28th of March so there isn’t much time until the event! It’s about 6pm on the GMT clock.

Be sure nothing will be damaged or hurt by turning off your power. Refrigerators and freezers can withstand being off an hour if you leave the doors shut.

Help the environment by becoming more energy efficient in your daily activities. If you can avoid driving or riding in a fossil fuel using vehicle, do so, and reschedule any trips for before or after that hour. Or walk, use a bicycle, roller skate, errrmmmm – be creative, smiling!

Tell everyone you know about this event and possibly get some big businesses to participate as well. Every extinguished light bulb counts!

• This won’t save you much money on your energy bill and may not do a great deal of good this year but “Earth Hour” is destined to become an annual event because the global emissions that are damaging the ozone layer are getting increasingly worse every year.
• Approximately 2.2 million people participated in Sydney, Australia, last year and during that hour, cut their central business district’s energy usage by more than 10 percent.
• If you turn off your power for an hour, remember to reset your clocks!

We try to save energy every day. Even simple things like drying shirts on hangers adds up to a few dryer loads less a year and that adds savings to your pocket as well as keeping those shirts looking newer longer! (Clothes are literally beaten against the walls of the dryer, weakening threads every time they are mechanically dried!) I used to hang laundry outside but being in the same block with two gas stations, we get so much soot and gas smells clinging to it that I’ve stopped now.

We always combine our driving trips to get the most out of our outings… Library, Aldi’s, Pick & Save, and the post office are all a part of our usual circle and we usually hold off going anywhere until we have books in at the library!

To read other articles I’ve written, go to MarlaineMarie@eHow!

Though late for Easter, here is a way to make perfect hard boiled eggs every time! You can find this recipe and other articles on various topics on eHow by MarlaineMarie.

Sometimes those thick green yolks can be kind of unpleasant because it usually means the yolk is over cooked and dry. Avoid them with this easy method of cooking! While I can’t guarantee that there will be no green around the yolk, if you use this method, they will probably be lemon yellow and fully cooked! With the price of eggs being so high, don’t buy eggs on impulse – try to wait for a sale.

Refrigerated raw shell eggs will keep for about 4 to 5 weeks beyond the pack date. They really are best kept in the carton they came in but, yes, I put some in the egg tray I saved from two refrigerators ago because it takes less space and more convenient to grab an egg or two when I need them. When you know your eggs are getting on the old side time-wise, consider hard boiling them – they will keep at least another week.

How to Make A Perfect Hard Boiled Egg and Then Peel It

Step 1:
First of all, make sure the eggs weren’t bought the day before. Eggs that are too fresh are nearly impossible to peel and usually don’t leave much of the whites intact when pealed! Buy eggs at least a week ahead of time for easiest peeling.

Step 2:
No matter how many eggs you want to boil, put them into a pot that has enough room to completely cover them with cold water, plus an extra inch of water and three inches of boiling space. Do a maximum of 2 dozen at a time to insure even cooking.

Step 3:
Put the pot of water and eggs on the stove and turn the burner to high.

Step 4:
Watch the pot. Yes – it will boil even if you are watching! (Don’t look for the first two minutes -hehehe- will cut down your watching time!) When you see it in a full rolling boil – when the bubbles are nice and vigorous – turn off the burner. Leave the pot right where it is and do other things for half an hour or until the water is cool.

Step 5:
To peel… If you have older eggs, they will peel in one sheet most of the time. If they are new…… tisk…… don’t use them to boil unless you want spooned out eggs, like three minute breakfast eggs. Roll each egg gently on a counter top after a starting tap until most of the shell is cracked all over. Run cold water over the cracked egg after breaking through the membrane at the big end.

* New eggs sink to the bottom. Older eggs have more of an air pocket and will float. If they rise out of the water, they are probably too old to use.
* If you want to save a dozen or so eggs for hard boiling, keep them in the carton, mark with a sharpie pen and place low in the fridge, away from regular use eggs.
* Putting a tablespoon of salt in the water will keep those surprise cracked eggs from losing so much of the whites into the water.
* If you see that you have a “hard peeler”, use a teaspoon to scoop off the shell instead of massacring it in hopes of finding an easy peal spot.
* When using the timed boiling method for “breakfast” eggs, if you aren’t sure the eggs are done, lift an egg out of the boiling water with a spoon. The shell dries in five seconds or less if it’s hard boiled. If it takes longer than five seconds, your egg will be softer boiled.
* If the eggs boil too long, the green yolk will develop – so keep an eye on the pot near the point of boiling.
* Store raw and boiled eggs lower in the fridge. Sometimes they freeze when they are too close to the cooling element.

It’s been a veryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy long time since we’ve ordered pizza to be delivered. For one, the price of a delivered pizza is unbelievably high! Two, the place that we used hooked us with their coupon for extra meaty pizza…… called Meat Lover’s Pizza… but only the first pizza was exceptionally great! Maybe because the phone number used was a first time call in for pizza to be delivered and they added more of everything but, I must say, we were disappointed in the next three pizzas. We used coupons when we ordered the 2nd and 3rd but both seemed to be missing something or another but we were charged for the extra ingredients anyway. The last pizza was free because the 3rd was completely wrong AND that free one was the last pizza we ordered from them ever. I will add that the pizza place tried to make it up to us but – dang it – the pizza we craved was not the pizza they delivered. We had to pay for delivery, a tip and a high base price, too, so I decided to try to get it the way we loved it myself and I knew I could do it a whole lot cheaper!

Here’s how you do it…

Things You’ll Need:

* On sale frozen pizza of your choice or try this with your fav frozen pizza brand! If you do use your fav brand, you will see that this turns out better than anything a pizza place delivers!
* Sliced pepperoni – 1/4 to 1/2 the pack
* Ham – 1/4 to 1/2 cup diced
* Ground pork – 1/2 to 1 pound
* 2 teaspoons Italian spices
* Chopped onions – 1/2 cup
* Mushrooms – 1/2 cup sliced
* Red and green peppers – 1/2 cup
* Mozzarella or Italian 3 cheese – 1/2 to 1 pound shredded
* Olives – Green and/or black 1/4 to 1/2 cup

Step 1:
Choose your favorite style of pizza – thin crust, oven rising, thick crust, Chicago style, or garlic bread. Any type will work! I’ve gotten really cheap oven rising pizzas from Aldi’s and they turned out fantastic – but beware, if the sauce or crust is lousy, it ruins the pizza! Even a higher priced frozen pizza can stand some pizazz!

Step 2:
Decide what you would like to add. Every extra ingredient is optional! How much you put on is also optional! If you only want pepperoni, ham, onions, peppers, mushrooms, olives and/or extra cheese, you are ready to build your pizza.

Step 3:
If you want sausage on your pizza, you’ll need to brown it first. Brown it quickly without stirring very often so the meat will stay a bit chunky. Drain off any excess fat. Add the Italian spices and stir in. If you like your onions softer, add them to the meat with the spices. I often get whole mushrooms and slice them thick to add them into the mix at this stage. Brown while moving the mix around just a minute more. Turn off heat and let it sit.

Step 4:
Now to build your pizza…… Get the pizza(s) out of it’s box and off the cardboard. Place on cookie or baking sheet or pizza pan – whatever you care to call it. A baking sheet makes it easier even if you are going to bake it right on the rack – if you don’t have one of those pizza peels.

Step 5:
Here’s where it all comes together…. Add the meats or meat mixture you’d like. Add the peppers, olives, and onions if you want them. Add the cheeses. We love the cheese – smiling!

Step 6:
Follow the cooking directions but plan on leaving it in up to five minutes longer. Always check at the recommended time though – better to see that it needs more time than see it go into the garbage or the dog’s food. (I recommend cutting a bad pizza up and adding maybe a half cup of chopped pizza to dry dog food each day til the pizza is gone – keeps your dog’s diet balanced.)

Tips & Warnings:
* Buy peppers on sale. Cut out the whitish membranes and seeds and rinse them, then slice or cut in chunks. Freeze in good freezer bags. When you need some for pizza, grab a handful from the bag and put on pizza. (Also a great idea for any recipe you need chunks of peppers for if there is a short amount of cooking time.)
* When you have left over ham, dice some of it up and put it in a good freezer bag – use when needed straight from the fridge just like the peppers!
* The more you stir while browning the meat, the smaller it crumbles. Very little stirring while browning gives you near meatball style browned meat – so if making spaghetti sauce, add herbs and a bit of bread crumbs to make easy, though uneven meat balls!
* When baking two pizzas at a time, they seem to cook differently than just one – they don’t get as crispy. Try to use round baking sheets so you can bake the pizzas on the same rack. If not, half-way through the baking time, swap the lower pizza to the top and the top pizza to the bottom rack and turn them around 180.
* Use a baking sheet if you want the pizzas softer and no baking sheet if you want them crisper but be prepared – these most likely will drip onto the bottom of the oven without a baking sheet or something to catch the drips.
* As always, when using my recipes, do not invite the Food Police to dinner!

No matter! This pizza is outstanding! Even my brother makes it this way and forgets about delivery! Even with the extra ingredients, this pizza is half the price. When you buy things like the pepperoni at a place like Aldi’s, you are paying less and can save some of the pepperoni for 1 or 2 more pizzas later on – maybe more.

I have been writing articles for eHow – a How To Do Just About Everything kind of site. So far I have been doing recipes but just finished an article about getting someone in Customer Service when you call a company for whatever reason. I will get into lots of other subjects as time goes on. Check out my first articles at MarlaineMarie please and rate them if you think they are worth it. I’ve been trying to simplify everything as much as I can. Those who know me, especially on Marlaine’s Musings, know I can really talk, talk, talk! Smiling! For some reason, I seem to be stuck on doing rice recipes on eHow. I – personally – love buttered plain rice. Shrugs – I don’t know why! It’s plain and bland. Must be a past life thing! One of my favorites is making making a hamburger and putting it on top of left over rice. When Brad wants hamburgers for dinner, I make his the traditional way and put them on nice onion hard rolls. If I have left over plain rice, I heat it in the microwave and put my hamburger on top of it. Again, shrugging, even I don’t know why I like it.

We usually buy a package of good buns or hard rolls at our grocery store and usually use two or three from the 8 pack. I almost always put the rest in the freezer as soon as I’ve used what we need. If they are hard rolls, I usually leave the package on the baker’s rack a day or two. If they are hamburger buns, I put them right in the freeze. For some reason, when you put bread in the refrigerator, they go through a change of taste – they end up tasting stale fast. I think the fridge dries them out too much too quick, even through the wrapping. (Of course, I dry herbs in paper bags in the fridge on purpose so I know the fridge does dry things out fast!)

I had to call Dish Network today. We signed up for a deal about 18 months ago and it was just a waste of money for us. When we signed up, we were told the equipment would be ours but the price of the receiver would have to be paid but the next month they would credit us with a refund. Once I canceled after the promotional period was over, they told me that I’d have to pack up the receiver, remotes, and some dothingy up on the roof and send all of that back! I called them to complain about having to get on top of the roof when we’ve had record snow fall – and hey, why do I have to send back the receiver since I was told when I signed up they would be ours? The Customer Representative kindly told me it was part of the agreement we had when we signed up. Yeah but they were also going to send 10 coupons for free DIGIORNO pizzas as part of our agreement and we never got those either! They also charged us an extra $5 a month because we DIDN’T have a second TV hooked up to the receiver too! They used to charge to have a second TV hooked up. Once the guy installed the Dish Satellite on the roof, our deal was set and if we cancelled, we’d still have to pay for 18 months whether we watched it or not! Believe me, we are so dissatisfied with Dish Network that we will NEVER get it again! I was very happy to call and cancel a couple weeks ago. That Customer Service Rep told me that a lot of people are canceling lately. Hmmmmmmmm………… wonder why.

After the chat today with the Customer Rep, we only have to send the receiver and two remotes back – he nicely waved the thingy up on the Dish on the roof part but……… we have to cart the box to UPS now. That is out of our way. Or we could spend another $10 to have UPS come and pick it up.

Word of warning: Make sure you know all the conditions of an agreement. Dish Network had been calling and calling before the agreement saying it would be cheapest way to get a new receiver and since I was a Dish Owner since 1998, this would be their way of thanking me for being such a great customer. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr……………….. Yeah – right!

Anyway – here is the article that evolved from this conflict…

By MarlaineMarie
How To Get Transferred To A Real Person In Customer Service

You call a company to get information and you hear the dreaded – “Please choose from the following menu”. Oh Great! It’s an Interactive Voice Response! IVR – Otherwise known as voice mail jail. Every one hates it and so do I.

Step 1:
Keep pressing numbers like 0# or #0 or 0* or *0 repeatedly and quickly. Many IVRs will connect to customer service after a few “invalid entries”, especially if they ask for your account number and you enter it incorrectly. Be prepared – some IVRs say Sorry, Please Try Your Call Again Later and hang up on you.

Step 2:
Keep saying Customer Service or Representative if you have a voice activated menu and they’ve asked what department you need. You can also shout or be indistinguishable. The IVR will often connect you to a person if it doesn’t hear a key phrase or can’t understand you.

Step 3:
The IVR might have the option to hold on for a Customer Representative if you have a rotary phone so try to be patient and listen to all the options. I do have one – in a drawer, for emergencies.

Step 4:
Use the menu option to connect for a new account – they usually answer right away. “Oh wrong place? Could you please connect me with customer service?” Ask them for their name and rep number – again, if they already told you, so they think you are writing it down and thank them for their help. They might have to send you to the department you needed in the first place, but sometimes you get through to a real person.

Step 5:
After getting the option to talk to a Customer Service Representative, if the expected wait time is going to be long, just grab a book or, better yet, an audio book, and try to be patient. If you have internet access while on the phone, go cruising while you wait. If you don’t have a speaker phone or head phone plug in on your phone, remember that calling their non-toll-free number might end up costing more than a new phone with a speaker feature on it.

Step 6:
Selecting Spanish sometimes gets you to a bilingual customer service person sooner. Use this only if you are really desperate – it isn’t fair to tie up the line for people who must use it.
Tips & Warnings

* Get toll-free numbers for any US-based company by calling 1-800-555-1212.
* Your phone company charges a fee each time you call 411. Call 1-800-FREE-411 for free information.
* Go to http://inter800.com/ for the Toll Free Phone Book
* Try to remember that the Customer Service Representative is only an individual who has that particular job. Who knows who talked to them before you or what awful thing that previous customer might have said. Put yourself in their place and be patient! Stay decent!

We are seriously busy today……. we have been walloped by a giant snow storm here in Milwaukee. My brother alerted us a couple days ago and let us know we were going to get a big storm but even he didn’t know how big this was going to be. I’ll have to blame my hub for singing the Let It Snow song over and over but since he is an Aussie, he did not know what he was doing. On the other hand, I’ve been urging him to sing the song with alternate lyrics – Let Us Become Millionaires. After all, this is a record breaking snowfall that will not be letting up until tomorrow. The pictures in this post were taken at 5pm. We are in for a very long snow!

We made a grocery store run yesterday but even then it was getting seriously slippery in spite of the fact that it had been raining a half hour before we left the house! The one thing I fear the most is driving in slippery snow and – it is one blast to face fears! The car slid into Pick ‘N Save and it’s just a good thing that I drive very defensively!

We were stocked up on potatoes, onions, milk and eggs but the sale on ground chuck was over today and I suspected we would not be able to get out today to buy a few packages and – WOW – was I right! Sigh, feels good when you are prepared! When we lived out in the country, winter was always a time to stay stocked up on essentials! Here in the city, the store is less than 5 minutes away so it would be easy to get slack on this. Our Taurus is great on gas so that isn’t much to worry about but……… where is it now?

Even Gypsy stepped out our side door and then turned right around to come back in. I guess she decided to hold it a while – snicker. Brad tried to get her to go out to the back but she only whimpered near the door. The pic below is our front door and there are two steps in there somewhere! Noodles used her noodle and stayed inside!

Well, we have the thermostat low – 60 degrees – and our computers are supplying some of the heat in the room we spend the most time in. We turn on the little space heater once an hour, or so, to up the heat a bit but that little thing draws a lot of electric. We keep the door open a bit but the two cats and Gypsy are in here too, adding their warmth. This is a well insulated house so this room is nice and warm now!

To everyone in our area – Stay warm and cozy! To those in the south being hammered by tornadoes – stay safe! This is one blasting weather pattern we’re going through! Stay in touch with those you love to make sure they are ok!