What should you do if your cell phone falls into the kitchen sink full of suds? (Or worse, the toilet?)
When you’re at the front of a long line at the store, and your credit card won’t scan, is there something you can do to help the clerk get it to work?
If your hard drive should crash (perish the thought!), what’s one way to hopefully bring it back to life that requires the use of a common kitchen appliance?
You’ll find the low-cost answers to these and other tech dilemmas here.
Hope you’re spending today with the ones you love! You’ll find one of our family’s Valentine’s Day traditions (along with my recipe for a Giant Heart Cookie…well, actually two) right here.
BTW, another tradition we started a few years ago is our annual viewing of “Some Like It Hot,” a very funny movie which includes Chicago’s infamous St. Valentine’s Day Massacre in its plot. No, I wouldn’t recommend it for kids, but older teens and adults will find it amusing.
The detective shows of the 1970s hold a special place in my heart. There were several that I really enjoyed. Now that so many shows are available on dvd, I can relive those days pretty easily.
One thing I’ve noticed is that people’s homes in these shows were actually pretty basic compared to today’s homes. The typical house shown in “The Rockford Files” (watch for free at this link) or “The Streets of San Francisco,” to name just two series, was modestly decorated in mostly functional furniture with some pictures on the wall and, of course, the requisite large console television.
Even the depictions of wealthy people’s homes weren’t nearly as packed full of expensive furniture and decorations as what you see on television and in movies these days. Back then, we didn’t keep up with designer furniture, if there even was much of it. Now, most everyone has to have the latest of everything.
I think things began to change once “The Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” became popular. Until then, I doubt most people cared about what celebrities had in their homes. Not that no one ever cared, but the focus that we’ve seen in recent years on who’s got what wasn’t an issue until around the time that show came on. I guess it created a lot of envy.
I like to watch the 1970s shows because they reflect a simpler time, when people weren’t so hung up on having things. You see people dressed normally but not in anything spectacularly eye-catching. Designer duds had not caught on yet. I like the casual way Jim Rockford threw on his sports jacket if he had to go to police headquarters, or the old clothes he wore to go fishing with his dad Rocky. No flash, that’s for sure. Even his home, an old trailer on the beach, reflected utility rather than impressive design.
When I drive through areas with McMansions built over the past decade, empty all day while their owners work to make the massive house payments that came with the houses, I think about how most people used to consider their homes shelter, not something to impress people. They wore clothes for practical reasons rather than to make a statement about their wealth.
Maybe I’m just getting old, but I think life was a lot simpler then. That might be why I like those 1970s television shows so much.
U.S. News and World Report recently came up with “50 Ways to Improve Your Life in 2009.” I don’t agree with everything they’ve put on their list, and a few of them are things I already do, such as “Put Your Cash in Safe Accounts” and “Watch TV Free Online.”
A couple of others are already long-time habits of mine, such as “Lose the Microwave Mentality” and “Air Dry Your Laundry.”
But there are just two that I would like to try this year: “Keep a ‘Clothes Hanger’ Journal” and “Get Fit as You Get Older.”
How about it? Do any of them strike a chord with you?
President-elect Barack Obama’s daughters just finished up their first week at their new school, the pricey private-school-for-children-of-the-elite Sidwell Friends (the same school Chelsea Clinton attended). It has apparently earned favored status among hypocritical politicians who vote against vouchers and tax credits that would allow other children to attend the kinds of schools they choose for their own children.
In an op-ed piece in the Washington Times, writer Gary Jason reminds us of Obama’s anti-school-choice stance, then points out that the teacher’s unions that helped put him in office will surely use their newly acquired power to go after homeschoolers. Nevertheless, I found this to be quite an optimistic article.
