Duelin’ Deals Blog by Marlaine

I did another article for eHow about How to Get Better Gas Millage. Have a look at my other articles while you are there – the subject base is getting bigger.

I was going to work on the Make-Your-Own-Mixes page before I got caught up working on the other article. I want to add the MYOM page to this blog because it really helps save a LOT of money if you can make mixes from ingredients you have on hand. I just need to get a few more recipes written up! You can see a couple of them up at eHow now – an easy biscuit mix and chicken spice mix. I have the usual habit of all pinch and glop cooks – writing things on a piece of paper without labeling it in any way until it proves itself worthy of a name. As I try something, I’ll write what I threw in there and later, stick it in an old wooden box my Grandma gave me – if it tasted good. The problem with that is……….. what was it? Shrugs – if I can’t tell from the notes, I try making it again. After all, if it didn’t turn out the first time, I would have tossed the note out. Probably….. Because of eHow, I try to be more precise …… most of the time. Clearing throat and continuing…….

Here is the article I put up on eHow:

How to Get Better Gas Millage

Everyday steps can help you save time and money without being a fanatic about it. Gas prices are getting incredibly high but there are easy ways to save gas and get better millage!

* If you don’t have a vehicle that’s good on gas, consider getting one!
* Check prices at different gas stations – it’s amazing how the price can fluctuate within a 10 mile radius! But don’t go out of your way to check, just pay attention.

Step1
• Replacing a dirty air filter (about every 3,000 miles) can improve your gas mileage by as much as 10%
• Adjusting your tires to the proper inflation every week can improve your gas mileage by around 3%
• When starting up and slowing down, do so in a slow, gradual manner. You could save up to 35% in gas economy! Coast down hills. (Your brakes will bless you with a longer life as well!)
• Use cruise control when you can on freeway driving.
• I don’t know about you, but I fill up when it late and cool. It doesn’t seem as though as much gas vapor comes out while you’re filling up.
• Get a tune up or do your own tune up. Check you owner’s manual for specific guidelines.
• If you don’t need a premium grade of fuel – don’t fill up with it! Today’s cars are most fuel efficient with the grade of gas recommended by the manufacturer and might even be damaged by higher grade gas!
• Turn off the vehicle when you park and wait. Anything over 5 seconds is wasting gas! Or is it 3? You get the point, don’t you?
• Don’t drive as much – plan trips ahead of time and make the most of wherever it is you are going, starting with the farthest destination. Consolidate errands as much as possible and cut down the times you cold start your car – saving gas and time!
• Don’t speed! Fuel efficiency drops once you go over 60 mph. The EPA estimates that each 5 mph driven above 60 costs you an extra 20 cents a gallon.
• Extra weight in the trunk or passenger compartment makes the engine work harder and uses more gas so lighten up as much as possible.

Step2
Dirty Oil! Don’t change your oil so fast! The myth is that engine oil should be changed every 3000 miles. Maybe older cars needed a change that often but today’s cars run cleaner and the oil has improved a lot, especially the synthetic oils. Most auto manufacturers recommend oil changes at a minimum of 5,000 miles – some even say up to 10,000 mile intervals under normal driving conditions! Even you can see when the oil is dirty but if you aren’t sure, take a good look at it on the dip stick right after having your oil and oil filter changed. It will be a bit golden and clear. The darker and cloudier it gets, the more likely it needs to be changed.

Step3
If you can’t change the oil yourself, go to a place like Valvoline. We bought a used car two years ago and wanted to get the oil changed – ASAP! The person who checked our car over said the oil was great and we didn’t need a change yet! That’s right! We were told we didn’t need a change yet. The next time we went in – about 3 months later – we were again told we didn’t need it changed by a different person. They also check all fluid levels every time we stopped, filling up whatever was necessary (radiator, windshield wipers – they would have added oil if we needed it), and adjusted the tires. We had it checked two more times before they actually said it was a good time to change it! The coupon I received in the mail brought the oil and oil filter change down to a little over $30 with tax! The last time we stopped, our Valvoline specialist was named Curtis. Just as every person I’ve ever talked to there, he was friendly and smiling, helpful and really earned our nickname for him – Courteous Curtis! Great place and great guy! (Wish we had stock in this company!)

As an added note, I have never gone to Valvoline with a question and been shuffled off. They always try to help. When a windshield wiper was ripping, the technician told me about it and when I asked how much they would charge to fix it for me, he said that we could get a replacement blade a whole lot cheaper from one of the car parts stores. Yes – that’s right! He said it would be easy to replace it ourselves, but if, by some chance, we couldn’t, just come on back and he would see what he could do. Smiling! This was not just a come on to a woman driver or something of that nature because my husband was sitting right next to me in the car and talking with the technician as well! Our Valvoline dealer must make sure he hires genuinely nice people and I feel completely at ease when we pull up to the garage!

When I went out to take the pic of the gas gauge of our car, I let Gypsy have a little run outside, too. I took the pic of the gauge, locked up the Taurus and wondered where Gypsy was. I turned toward the back yard, hoping to see her and – GASP! I saw a big, harry creature sneaking up on me! Yup – it was sneaky Gypsy pretending to be a wolf again! Notice the technique she’s perfected? She also held still for another 10 pictures, each nearly the same! The very first time she did it when she was under a year old, she hid behind the grill, which really didn’t hide her very well. Now she’s getting really good at hiding her 85 pounds – sort of reminding me of Wiley Coyote actually!

She might be more convincing if she wasn’t always holding some toy or another! Oh well, she’s getting better – that’s what counts!

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!