Coffee Klatch

Here is a list of things I wish I’d known before I went out in the Real World. (Okay, I didn’t come up with these, but they’re still true.)

~ Any and all compliments can be handled by simply saying “Thank you” though it helps if you say it with a Southern accent.

~ Some people are working backstage, some are playing in the orchestra, some are on-stage singing, some are in the audience as critics, some are there to applaud.

~ Know who and where you are.

~ When baking, follow directions. When cooking, go by your own taste.

~ Never continue dating anyone who is rude to the waiter.

~ If you tell a lie, don’t believe it deceives only the other person.

~ The five most essential words for a healthy, vital relationship: “I apologize” and “You are right.”

~ Everyone seems normal until you get to know them. [MY FAVORITE!]

~ When you make a mistake, make amends immediately. It’s easier to eat crow while it’s still warm.

~ If he or she says that you are too good for him — believe it.

~ I’ve learned to pick my battles; I ask myself, “Will this matter one year from now? How about one month from now? One week? One day?”

~ If you woke up breathing, congratulations! You have another chance!

~ Living well really is the best revenge.

~ Being miserable because of a bad or former relationship just proves that the other person was right about you.

~ Be really nice to your friends because you never know when you are going to need them to empty your bedpan and hold your hand.

~ Work is good, but it’s not important.

~ Never underestimate the kindness of your fellow man.

~ A person needs only two tools in life: WD-40 and duct tape. If it doesn’t move and it should, use WD-40. If it moves and it shouldn’t, use the tape.

~ You are the only person who can truly make you happy.

~ And finally…

Being happy doesn’t mean everything’s perfect; it just means you’ve decided to see beyond the imperfections.

I actually found this website because it was featured in a commercial during the medal races for rowing in the Olympics today. FuelEconomy.gov is a site that is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and which provides all kinds of information regarding automotive fuel efficiency. You can put cars side by side to compare their emissions, MPG, safety, etc.; find the lowest gas prices; get information about hybrid vehicles, and learn anything else you like about energy efficiency and renewable energy.

Okay, so you’re on “Let’s Make A Deal” and you have three doors in front of you. Behind one is a CAR and behind the other two is a GOAT. You’re asked to pick a door and you’ll win what’s behind it. Then the host opens one of the other doors that has a goat behind it. He then gives you the option to swap and pick the other unopened door instead of the one you started with. Should you swap? Does it matter?

Watch the following video and see if you were right. You may be surprised.

Are you a coffee lover but don’t like to drink hot stuff in summer? You might want to try Iced Coffee. Just like tea can be hot or cold, so can coffee. It’s very easy to do and tastes good. It’s NOT the same as cold coffee.

Just make some coffee double strength. Fill a tall glass with ice and pour the strong coffee over it. There you go!

You can add creamer, sugar, or liqueur to it if you like, enhancing the coffee flavor. I suggest adding liquids first, then the ice, then dry ingredients, then the coffee. Stir with an iced tea spoon (iced coffee spoon?) and you’re all set.

Currently watching: Pirates of the Caribbean

I read a really good tip recently on Jeff Sickles’ blog. You know how Windows Updates will take care of getting you the latest patches and updates, but how it will do it on its own time and then keep pushing you to reboot your computer? I’m fine with needing to reboot my computer, but I HATE being forced to unless I click a “wait” button every ten minutes. Sometimes I want to finish what I’m working on first. How about you?

Well, Jeff shared the instructions for turning OFF that auto-restart function. You still should restart the computer at your earliest convenience, but if you don’t want to be forced to right away (or forced to keep clicking “not yet” every ten minutes), here’s what you need to do:

Instructions

1. Open a command prompt window (Start > Run )

2. Type cmd (just the three letters) into the box and click ‘OK’ or hit enter

3. In the black window type the remainder of this line: sc stop wuauserv

This command stops the service which popup the restart dialog. Now you can restart the operating system when you are done with your work. The auto update service will restart next time the computer reboots and will automatically downloads available updates.

There you go.

Almost exactly one year ago I blogged about shaving my head. I’d actually been doing it for a couple of months before that, but didn’t blog about it right away. Recently I received a comment on one of the posts I’ve made in the last year about this topic. The commenter recommended the HeadBlade above all other razors, including the MachIII and Fusion razors. I, too, have preferred the MachIII and have used that almost exclusively for the last year.

I decided to give the HeadBlade a try after visiting their website and looking around a bit. Last week I received my very own HeadBlade and, after a few days of getting used to it, I have to agree that it’s the best. And also that it’s RADICALLY DIFFERENT from other blades! Here are some of differences:

• It’s built totally different, kinda like a snowmobile with a hook on top for your middle finger. The front end has its own suspension and pivots well.
• You use long, smooth strokes instead of multiple short strokes.
• You don’t apply ANY pressure.
• The blades LEAD the razor, rather than follow, so it’s like you’re pushing it rather than pulling it.

If you’re one of those fortunate, handsome guys that has opted to shave his head for whatever reason, I encourage you to try the HeadBlade. It’s a bit cheaper than standard blades, takes Atra blade refills (although I recommend you get the triple-blade kits directly from HeadBlade online), and gets your head smoother more quickly and easily. Although it takes 2-3 uses to adjust to the different way of shaving, the results are great.

They also sell various other headcare products, like some excellent moisturizing lotion (both in original High Gloss and new Matte) and an oil-free HeadShade sunscreen.

Oh, and according to their website, you can buy HeadBlades not only online, but at Walgreens, CVS, RiteAid, WalMart, Meijer, and other places.

And if you’re curious or have some questions about HeadBlade, they’ve got some great HeadBlade 101 videos! (about using the HeadBlade and also about shaving your head in general–GREAT stuff!)

I used to use a salary calculator from HomeFair.com when I wanted to compare cost of living between two cities. It was easy to use–you just entered a dollar amount and pick your origin and destination cities off of lists. Then it gave you the dollar amount you’d need to make in the destination city to be the equivalent of what you’re making in the origin city. But sometime this last year they merged with another system and redid things. One of those changes was doing away with this for some reason.

So now if you want to compare the cost of living between two different cities, I recommend the Cost of Living Calculator at http://www.bestplaces.net/col/. It works similarly, but the results are even better. They tell you what you would need to make to be the equivalent and also give you the percentage difference. But then there’s a great chart that compares the two cities’ Cost of Living Indexes for Food, Housing, Utilities, Transportation, Health, Miscellaneous, and Overall. The numbers are based on the U.S. average being 100. This lets you compare the costs of more specific aspects of life. Pretty cool!

I just learned something new about Excel this morning via trial and error. Apparently the chart functions aren’t designed to naturally take two columns and plot one against the other on an X-Y axis. The default charting function for two columns is to display the data from each row side by side.

I had a student in our library computer lab this morning who needed to plot the points on the chart with the first column of data going across the bottom and the second column of data going up the Y-axis. As I think about it, this is more of a GRAPH function as opposed to a CHART function, which is probably why it’s not natural for Excel’s “Chart Wizard.”

Anyway, I did manage to get this to work, but it wasn’t intuitive. I’m writing about it here in case anyone is wanting to learn or is searching the web as I was, trying to find out how to do this.

Step 1: Use the Chart Wizard to create the chart with the chart type being an XY (Scatter).
Step 2: When the chart is completed, right-click on the chart and select Chart Type, changing it to Column. For some reason, this will save the XY treatment of the data while converting the points that were plotted into column bars.

That’s it! It’s not particularly complicated, but it’s not particularly intuitive either. You just have to create the chart as XY chart or “scatter graph,” and then convert it to a bar graph or column graph. That avoids the clustering that Excel wants to do by default.

Voilà!

I think shrimp tastes best with cocktail sauce. At least the popcorn-style shrimp. So what do you do if you want some with the shrimp you got out of the freezer and are cooking? If you don’t eat shrimp that often, you may not want to invest in a whole bottle that will then sit there in your refrigerator.

Solution? Make your own!

I found a very cheap and easy way to make a decent cocktail sauce for when I want some quick with my shrimp (or anything else). Just squirt some ketchup into a small bowl and stir in a couple teaspoons of horseradish. Together they make a cocktail sauce that’s quite passable.

Of course, it means keeping prepared horseradish in your refrigerator instead of cocktail sauce, but I really like horseradish and find it useful on sandwiches, roasts, etc.

So there you go. Ad hoc cocktail sauce!

I was listening to Car Talk this weekend and a caller had a question about getting different gas mileage when she drove the same car on the same city streets than what her fiancé got. So they started talking about driving habits and shifting and all that (it was a manual transmission). Here are some of the conclusions they came to:

• Downshifting when slowing down for a stop (shifting from 4th to 3rd to 2nd to 1st) is unnecessary. In fact, it might save the brakes but it will wear out the transmission faster (which is much more expensive).
• Your gas mileage will change the most (with a stick-shift) based on how fast or slowly you shift.
• The longer you wait to shift, the higher rpm the engine is doing and so the more gas you use.
• For best results, you should upshift as early as possible.

So there you have it. Advice from the experts. If you want to save gas and you drive a manual, don’t wait for the engine to get higher or louder before shifting. Continually upshift as early as you can in the acceleration process. If you think about it, that’s typically what automatics do anyway. By shifting up each time as soon as your engine allows for it, you slow down the rpm and you burn less gas.

For samples and highlights of their radio show, automotive news, crash test scores, buying/selling help, and much more, visit cartalk.com. While you’re there, make sure you visit Time Kill Central.