Recycle Covers to Birthday Cards

Reader Tips

Aging & Attitude

   Ever struggle to untangle a knotty necklace wondering; how does this happen and chastising yourself for not being more careful? Well never again, Barbara Decker, a USA Weekend magazine  reader, has a tip;

   “To get a knot out of jewelry or untangle a fine necklace chain, pour table salt in a small saucer, drop the item in the salt and take a round toothpick and work out the knots by maneuvering the toothpick.”

To eliminate clutter, Peggy McDaniel’s of West Berlin, New Jersey, saves only the page instead of the entire catalog when your fingers do the shopping. Someone else suggested turning opened jars stored in the refrigerator up-sided down to allow air to circulate underneath the food extending its shelf life.

I thought the suggestions genius, and wondered about other reader tips I might be missing, so I went searching online and found some good advice.

Money Smart Family has a solution for removing carpet stains that resurface. Use a mixture of:

• 2 ounces Hydrogen Peroxide (3% – brown bottle from drug store)
• 1 ounce Dish Soap (blue original)

Instead of buying Windex type of window cleaners, they suggested using car windshield washer. It costs less than $2.00 for a gallon. Pour cleaner into a refillable spray bottle and save plastic.

Browsing travel tips I found this interesting comment about packing toilet paper when traveling internationally; “The roll will compress more if the inner tube is removed — an old backpacking trick!”

Other Travel Tips Worth Mention:

• If you need directions, stop in at a pizza restaurant that delivers. The delivery people really know their local area.
• Pack necklaces by threading them through a straw. Straws are an easy to come by at fast-food restaurants and coffeehouses.
• Don Mankin from Venice suggestion; Bitters. I carry 3 ounces, which is excellent if you have flatulence on a plane. (Can we assume you drink the bitters?)

Here are my personal tips:

1. To make tearing plastic and foil wrap easy, secure the tube in place by pushing in the circles on both ends of the box.  Most boxes have this feature.

2. Write down you license plate number and keep the information handy, preferably in your wallet. If your car is stolen or you forget where you parked, the police don’t have that information.

3. Save the front of greeting cards and write a  note to loved ones or your grocery list.

4. Cut off the end of a mostly empty tube of hand cream to remove all  cream left in the container.

  My favorite tip was about  apologizing, there was some real sound advice here. It never occurred to me that saying, “Sorry I’m late, traffic was heavy,” was not enough. A simple sorry is about the injurer and excuses, not the injured and their feelings. The best apology focuses on the other person and might say,”I’m sorry, you had to wait.”

In the past when Mr. Wonderful* was kept waiting I would say, “I’m sorry, it’s a bad hair day and nothing looked right, I changed outfits five times and then had to hang the stuff back up . . . it’s exhausting,”

It did not address his feelings, and he could not “let it go” and stayed angry.

Now I know. In the future, when I keep Mr. Wonderful waiting, will say something like, “I know my being late triggers your entire Catholic school experience, but that was more than fifty years ago. It’s 2013, get over it!

. . . just saying

*Mr Wonderful is my husband of forty-two years.