This tip doesn’t involve cleaning. It is a tip to keep those pesky mice outside where they belong. I have had to, on several occasions, use exterminators to rid a house of little critters. It is such an unpleasant task.
Each time it worked—for a while. They always seemed to return. I then read or heard that a good way to keep critters out(and it didn’t come from the exterminators!) was to place coarse steel wool around the pipes where they enter your house. At our house, the pipes enter in the laundry room, kitchen, and bathroom. I placed the steel wool around the pipes to fill in all of the space, and, so far, walla! Only one pest, but I think he may have already been living at our house.
Tackle a stinky garbage disposal with lemon: Add a fresh scent to your kitchen by cutting up a lemon and running a couple of small slices through the garbage disposal. (This is also a great trick to use just before guests arrive!)
Cleaning the blinds: These are probably pretty dirty if you haven’t cleaned them in a while, so here’s an easy solution: Combine equal parts water and vinegar in a bowl and get a sock to put over your hand. Dip the sock in the solution and then run it over each slat of the blinds to remove any dirt or dust! I used something similar to this. Instead of vinegar and water, I used bleach and a rag. It worked great, but my fingerprints will no longer match my fingerprints taken before I attempted this method. And I didn’t finish because I felt my fingerprints disappearing. Now I can finish.
Use baking soda for brighter, cleaner laundry: Just pour a cup of baking soda in with the wash and your clothes will come out even brighter and cleaner!
Clean cloudy glasses with vinegar: Just use a paper towel and a small amount of vinegar to get your glasses nice and clean again!
Remember to share some of your cleaning experiences: Those that work, or those that didn’t.
Something more I have discovered about the computer era. After purchasing a computer or television, “Now what?” I remember when a person could walk into a radio store, or later a T. V. store, purchase an item, take it home, plug it in, and Walla, it worked. After you paid off the credit card, the item was paid for and all yours. And now? Well, I don’t know about you, but at our house, we purchase an item, take it home, plug it in, and wonder, “Now what?” We look at the directions and begin laughing hysterically (crying) and keep wondering, “Now what?”
We, of course, do as most of our generation does nowadays. Call in the young couple who lives next door or down the street. If it is a middle-aged couple, we ask their teen child. Or, we wait until one of our children drops by. It is totally frustrating. Having once been in complete control of our lives, ending up at the mercy of kindhearted strangers (before even having to hire a caregiver) is not pleasant, and all happening while we can still live on our own (or thought we could). Go figure.
How about that new television? First, one needs help setting it up; next, one needs to sign up for cable which offers a very limited selection of programs, and then one needs to add in sports, movies, Disney, HGTV, TNT, not to mention Star, HBO, Cinemax, etc. Oh, yeah, and then there are Netflix, Youtube, Channel O.
Then you purchase a computer! Another thing about the computer era I have found! You are never quite done paying. First the purchase price, then the price of the program you need (Quick Books, Windows, Excel, and the list goes on and on), then the price of the Internet, and then there is WIFI. Also, if you want speed, there is another charge. HUH? Why?
What has the generations after ours done to themselves and us? The price of our utilities are equal to some house payments or rent. “What next?” Oh, yeah, our computer is rapidly becoming obsolete. It’s three years old!
A television advertisement reminded me that we didn’t use seat belts back when we weren’t required to do so, but I remember feeling that we were extremely safe while riding along in the front seat of a vehicle.
I purchased a Volkswagen Bug on June 1, 1964. It came with no seat belts. Back then, we weren’t required to wear them. Why wrinkle your dress when it wasn’t mandatory?
Cars traveled a bit slower then, and there weren’t trillions of them on the same highway that I was traveling. Of course, cars still tailgated and weaved in and out of the traffic. There were a few sudden stops here and there. But nothing to worry about. Our chauffeurs were extremely aware of their surroundings and of our presence in the vehicle.
Even though cars traveled at a reduced speed limit, there, of course, was speeding. There were still teenagers learning to drive and seniors puttsing along. There were still trucks rumbling towards us. From time to time, there was bumper to bumper traffic. That is when you experienced those sudden stops. I still felt safe.
As a side note for those of you who know lots of stuff about cars, you are right. My Bug had seat belts. I didn’t know that until I dropped something in the car that rolled under my seat. When retrieving it, walla! A seat belt. My Bug at the time of the discovery was about 12 years old.
Why did we feel safe traveling in the front seat without seat belts in place? Our seat belt was in place. It could come swooping up against your chest in a split second at any hint of danger. It could almost move you to the back seat in a single swoop to totally get you out of harms way. It came in the form of a Mother’s arm. I never slid forward on the front seat or came close to the dash. That safety measure was so ingrained in me that I used it in my car along with the real seat belts when our kids were young. I still do to anyone sitting in that seat, but not with as much force as there was in my Mother’s arm. That ad brought back fond memories.