Gadgetry

Here's my new OXO food mill.

What could be better than grinding up apples, peels and cores to can (oh, don't start me on that dated word & my encounters with it this summer) applesauce this fall? Leaving behind the seeds, stringy peel parts and hopefully some stem pieces, many rotations produced Batch #1 of applesauce. 2 gallons down, 6 to go.

I could do this, you know, for real. This is who I was meant to be. Too bad I work.

And, it's ready to borrow at the BB&B.

TV Converter Coupon

Okay, I feel a little silly about posting this, but hopefully it will save some of you a few minutes. It does open up for discussion who actually has an old TV and no cable, so I guess I'm willing to step in front of the executioners here and fess up.


Households can request up to 2 $40 coupons from the government to convert old TVs (using an antenna) to the new digital reception which begins exclusive broadcasting February 19, 2009.

Flyer on accessing the coupon is downloadable and gives you lots of ways to access the coupons, including an online form.

Word to the time-constrained: The coupons are good for 90 days after mailing and must be used at time of purchase, so don't order until you're ready to shop.

Word to the frugal or of the government-conspiracy mindset: All of the converters I can find cost more than $40. Some $2.99 more, some LOTS more.

As you may surmise, instant-action InfoChef is now conflicted by these last two tidbits.

Radon 101

Did you know that most of Colorado is in the "1" category of the EPA's radon zone maps, meaning our soils are at highest risk for leaching lung-cancer-causing radon?

Coloradans can print a coupon for a short-term (3-4 days) radon test (there may be a $20-30 testing fee) at CDPHE. I completed one from a different company for $30 and my results just came back.

My average reading was 3.8 something-something per something. A reading of 4 is when you need to test again and possibly mitigate. But since all the research has been on miners who are almost exclusively male and nearly all smokers, my exposure to lung cancer risk is, in my opinion, yet undetermined. So I'm going to test again. Either with another short-term, or a long-term (3 months) test, for which you can obtain a coupon from the above site for $20.

My resident energy and physics expert advises to avoid mitigation at these levels, for the fossil fuels that are burned to have a radon-purging fan running 24/7 may pose greater risk to my health and well-being than the actual radon in my basement, where I don't hang out a lot.

But doesn't this make you want to test your place, too??

Ah, yet another item in my life on which to collect data and avoid decisions!

At it again....

Too busy to read? For about $5 via Dailylit, you can order books delivered to you in snippets via email daily, weekly, etc.

Those librarians are always unearthing the latest thing....

And another thing...

So I just returned from getting an emissions test. This is the first time I have taken Penny. All of my previous trips with Iris involved finger crossing. If you remember she had a bit of a muffler issue.

I was looking forward to smooth sailing and I pull up and there are 7 lanes open. 6 really short lines and 1 really long line filled with mostly with Subaru varieties. Do Subaru drivers just like to flock together? DUH! 4-Wheel/AWD line. Penny & I got in the back of it.

As I watched all the other cars come & go in 20 minutes I tried to remember the sight of those cars stuck in snow drifts last year during the blizzards. So an hour and a half later.... Penny passes like a rockstar. In fact 2 employees came over to admire her and tell me how much they like Volvos and a stalker gave me a business card to his volvo repair shop as I was leaving. There was a 240 Wagon (88-ish) that came & went while I was there. They also got the rockstar treatment.

It's 2007 and we are in Colorado. Don't you think at least 2 AWD lanes might be in order?

My goal for 2009 is to try and take advantage of rapid screen. I have attached a link for other crafters who might be headed to the elite AWD line:
http://www.aircarecolorado.com/rapidscreen/locations.html

Travel Dining Tip

If you have any upcoming travel plans that include Atlanta, Altamonte Springs, Ft Lauderdale, Orlando, Palm Beach Gardens, or Boca Raton...

I would recommend Seasons 52. Does anyone know of a place like this in the Denver area?

Colorado Library Card

Did you know? YOU can check out materials of ALL kinds from (almost) ANY library in the state. Any public library, 99% of school libraries, and even others like prison and medical libraries.

There are two ways to access this service:

For on-site service, take your library card--and you DO have one, right?! (Infochef will shame you to within an inch of your life if you don't, so you'd better get on that. No excuses!)--to any participating library, who will then issue you a card or barcode from their system. That's it. That's all. Ta-da!

Place an interlibrary (or even inter-branch) loan. This can be via your local library's website, where you might access the card catalog 'Prospector'*--
or by searching the Colorado Virtual Library for a title. (*Prospector is not necessary if you search the library's database and find that the material you want is at another branch. In that case, you'll just place a hold and request that it be delivered to the branch of your choice.)

Loan requests will amazingly be delivered to the library of your choice. And, I'll bet you didn't know you can return books to ANY library, as long as there is sufficient time for the materials to reach your own library by the due date, and they will then be returned by a statewide daily library courier system. And, all of this is free, thanks to your tax dollars. An amazing service and value, right up there with the postage stamp.

Amazing!

On open letter to the members of my gym

Ok, so I don’t even want to guess why you have brown stains on the crack of your ass, but in the event that this happens, please do not do deep yoga bends, legs spread, ass in the air, directly in front of me. That is just gross.

And on the guessing part, you must have picked your butt at some point and not have been wearing any underwear. Please, no free balling at the gym. Especially in t-shirt weight light gray shorts. no. No. NO!

To the dysfunctional couple. Sitting on a treadmill is not the appropriate place to have a relationship conversation that makes you both cry. First, you make everyone else around you uncomfortable, and second, all of the treadmills are taken so get off it god damn it. I came to run and I don’t want to have you taking up precious space.

To the freakishly thin girl whose sweat smells like broccoli, 1.5 hours on the elliptical machine is plenty, you sweat profusely and everyone around you wants to barf, and for crissakes, eat a damn sandwich.

Setting your clock back

Warning: This post is boring.

For crafters with home computers (or the self-employed, IT Dept-Less), you may want to check out this link about the new Daylight Savings Time settings (coming March 11th). http://support.microsoft.com/gp/cp_dst

All of the high speed folks should be getting critical updates automatically so no action should be required but the link above will double-check.

I think this may land you in the massive MS Updates page, for what it is worth, CD2E & JB both independently do not suggest IE 7.0. (You can select to install updates with the "custom" option to avoid it.)

Warning signs for baby dehydration

As infochef is absent traveling the cold terrain of the world I'll offer a bit of info. I've been separated from the rest of the world for three days now with sick Creamybaby at home. I've learned the warning signs for baby dehydration. 1. Dry mouth: mucus membranes are dry inside the mouth plus dry lips, no drool. 2. Gently squeeze the fingernail/fingertip of baby and if it does not return to pink really quickly then dehydration probably exists. 3. Doesn't wet the diaper at least once every 8 hours. 1. and 3. seem rather obvious. Hopefully 2. will be helpful to you all if you ever encounter a baby who might be dehydrated..like say at the bar, or on a plane, or in 4bucks or wherever you hang out. Treatment options..probably just call a doctor.

Tax Refund on Federal Long-Distance Tax

Individuals, businesses and nonprofits are eligible for a refund of previously-paid tax on phone bills on their 2006 tax returns.
See the IRS for more information:
http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=161506,00.html

I don’t have to file an income-tax return. How do I get the telephone tax refund? For those people who do not otherwise have to file a tax return, there is a new simple form (1040EZ-T) that can be used to get this refund. Beginning in mid-January, this form can also be filed electronically for free via the Free File link this Web site. If you choose the standard amount, all you need to do is fill out this simple form using the number of exemptions you are eligible to claim. For example, a married couple with two dependent children (for a total of four exemptions) will be eligible for the maximum standard amount of $60.

What is the standard refund amount? Individual taxpayers can take a standard amount from $30 to $60 based on the number of exemptions claimed on their tax return. For those claiming one exemption, the standard refund amount is $30, with an additonal $10 for each additional exemption up to 4.

What is the total amount the government expects to refund? Economists at the U.S. Department of the Treasury estimate the amount refunded to individuals will be about $10 billion.

Why is the government refunding these taxes? Several recent federal court decisions have held that the tax does not apply to long-distance service as it is billed today. The IRS is following these decisions and refunding the portion of the tax charged on long-distance calls. The IRS is also refunding taxes collected on telephone service under plans that do not differentiate between long distance and local calls including bundled service. The telephone tax continues to apply to local-only service, and the IRS is not refunding taxes charged on local-only service.

Thanks Pam!

Blizzard survival tip from camp cupcake. Pam on the snow shovel to keep snow from sticking. Shoveling out 4 foot drifts in driveway go much faster this way.