Random Practicals

Courtesy of the last five years:

- Keep a pen attached to your checkbook

- Program your bank’s 24-hour customer service phone number into your cell phone

- Get a 2nd opinion on everything.  Especially cars and medical issues.

- If your potatoes boil over and the fuzz goes down that clever drainage hole under your burner, THEY DO NOT GO FAR.  They merely pool underneath the stove.  Where they will become a ginormous, rotting petri dish.  And they will stink like you have never imagined.

- Combining uncooked beans with anything tomato-based will prevent your beans from cooking.  The tomato-acid will keep them rock hard forever.  Who knew?

- There is a lint catcher in every clothes dryer.  Definitely empty it - frequently.  Maybe at the same time as you change the filters in your house (which should be monthly.)

- If you are in a new apartment/climate/lifestyle, DO Google seemingly-obvious phrases, like “Colorado yard care for May” and “How to winterize home.” 
- Check the weather each morning

- A wet towel will silence your smoke alarm quicker than hysterically fanning the general area

- Get AAA coverage

- Ask your bank about (free) sub-accounts, an amazing way to keep your budget organized

- Do not rationalize/disregard/ignore dripping noises

- Sometimes, the generic brand works just as well as the advertised brand

- Combining vinegar and baking soda will clean out drains/disposals, sans chemicals, far better than Drain-O

- Flossing really does make a huge difference.

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” – Benjamin Franklin