The mere presence of a smartphone on the table can make you want to reach across when you see a notification; even that little LED light can be a distraction. For better meeting etiquette and to be more productive, clear the table of all gadgets, suggests Karen Cleveland of mannersaresexy.com.
    
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Your refrigerator's humidity-controlled drawer is the ideal place to store your veggies, but you might not be using the setting right. The Kitchn gives a simple mantra to get it right: Rot-low, wilt-high.
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Feeling grumpy? It happens to the best of us. Stress is one thing , but some days, your brain just decides it's in a bad mood and it feels impossible to beat it. Don't give in. Here are 10 simple ways to kill that bad mood.
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Some adults have a tendency to tell children not to do harmful activities with a brusque "because I said so." A new study published in the Journal of Pediatric Psychology shows that explaining the danger in the present situation is the best way to ensure that kids don't take risks behind your back.
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There's nothing quite like fresh bread products, but usually it takes a lot of work to make them. Food blog The Splendid Table comes to the rescue with a super simple biscuit recipe that only requires two ingredients.
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How much power is your home using when you're not around? Probably more than necessary, and that's money wasted. By selectively unplugging devices when you're not home, you could save hundreds of dollars a year. The plugged-in users at Stack Exchange provide tips on spotting devices that guzzle juice when you're not around.
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Over time, leather shoes tend to get creases in them where you bend your foot. Left for too long, these creases can make the shoe pretty ugly. To keep this from happening, Instructables user bjagne jr suggests steaming the shoe with an iron.
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We know that high-impact exercises help strengthen the bones , and it's good to start working on that strength training as soon as possible so you'll be nice and strong in your old age. The New York Times has a few suggestions for exactly how to do that.
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It's a shame you can't unsubscribe from group texts. This week I was one of the recipients of a never-ending text bacchanal with a bunch of people I didn't know. But it wasn't fun or consensual. It was just a good reminder that we need to talk about text etiquette.
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If you work in a big office or work remotely, your boss may not even be aware of some of the great things you're up to. Bosses are busy people, after all. Consider sending them a weekly status update to keep them apprised.
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(Coyoty)
Morning staples like bacon, coffee and orange juice are all getting more expensive because of global supply problems, which of course, aren’t just limited to the first meal of the day, points out the Associated Press. Because you can eat that stuff any time of day, says the person who loves breakfast for dinner/brinner.
Government data shows that meat, fish and eggs had the biggest increase in U.S. food prices in about 2.5 years as of last month. The index that keeps track of such things rose 1.2% in February and is up 4% overall in the last 12 months.
Pork prices are also going up as farmers worry about a virus infecting hogs in the U.S. right now, even while they cut back on pig production due to the rising cost of feed.
Prices for coffee and orange juice are also on the rise, meaning even your treasured breakfast liquids could cause a bigger dent in your wallet than in the past.
Of course, there’s the buffer of retailers and food companies that could keep many of these higher costs from hitting consumers too hard, but the Grocery Manufacturers Association says we could feel the “ripple effects” of rising commodity prices.
Looks like I might need to go back to chewing on dry cereal and reusing old coffee grounds… again. Sigh. Check out the source link below for in-depth details on why, exactly, each food is seeing an increase in prices, and start working on your coffee-hoarding plans now.
Breakfast foods are getting pricier [Associated Press]
The falloff in gum-chewing has been abrupt and recent: industry experts say that sales have fallen 11% in the last four years. You can’t blame economic factors: sales actually peaked in 2009 after the economic meltdown.
Maybe it’s just not as accepted as it once was. Not that some people ever thought it was acceptable to begin with. Especially people in the janitorial, maintenance, and etiquette fields. “My grandmother used to tell me, ‘You look like a cow chewing cud,’” Lizzie Post, great-granddaughter of etiquette icon Emily Post, told the Associated Press.
Candy-maker Mars, current owner of the Wrigley brand, say that their research shows the greatest gum declines have been among people ages 25 and under. Fewer of them are picking up the habit, apparently. Mints like Altoids have taken over the breath-freshening market, apparently: they offer all of the tastiness without the feeling that you’re gnawing on a piece of flavorless rubber that you later have to dispose of.
CHEW ON THIS: GUM LOSES ITS POP (Thanks, Mindy!)
Maybe it’s because the youngsters of today didn’t grow up reading children’s magazines that featured ads like this one from 1982.
That’s probably just as well.
Do you harbor a secret desire to live inside a spy movie, but with nothing important at stake? Do you also like waffles? If so, it’s too bad that you weren’t one of the 1,000 fast-food influencers on the list to receive Taco Bell’s “breakfast phone.” It rings with secret, breakfast-related missions for the bearers to fulfill. The phone is not shaped like a waffle taco.
You know, the waffle taco, that strange, messy, breakfast food that Taco Bell is inflicting on the nation even though its very taco essence is debatable.
We wouldn’t be allowed to accept the phone, or any waffle taco-related missions, even if Taco Bell had sent us one, because of no-freebies rule of our parent organization. One of our favorite blogs, Brand Eating, got one, though, and shared the weirdness with readers. Q reports that the secret Breakfast Phone is less exciting than it sounds. It doesn’t invite him to secret waffle drops or syrup tastings.
Mostly, it rings with prerecorded messages suggesting social media missions. “So far the missions are delivered throughout the day (and night) via pre-recorded messages and revolve around social media,” notes Q, “with prompts like ‘Tweet which Taco Bell breakfast item are you into’ and ‘Where would you rather have a new Taco Bell Waffle Taco a beach in sunny California or in NYC?’ with 4-hours to complete each task.”
Many phone recipients have been following orders.
LOOK AT MY PHONE, MY PHONE IS UHMAZING. #JustFollowingOrders #BreakfastPhone #LiveMas @TacoBell http://t.co/tSpBsFZz29—
Kaleb Nation (@KalebNation) March 21, 2014
As Taco Bell publicity stunts go, this is at least 90% less creepy than sending Taco Bell-themed jewelry to pretty models and actresses.
News: Taco Bell Sends Out 1000 Breakfast Phones [Brand Eating]
Make sure to remove all cats before heading to bar/laundromat. (debsagain)
There’s a bar in New York City that caters to that large population of downcast and bored laundry-doers, and we’ve got to admit, it sounds sort of heavenly: Not only can you drop off your laundry in the back of the joint, there’s a slew of grilled cheese sandwiches on the menu to chomp on while you wait, reports Thrillist.
It’s also a full-service bar, meaning you can fill your belly with cheese and booze while that most of mundane tasks runs its course. The only thing it appears to be missing is a sock-matching worker on retainer.
You didn’t even know you needed this, and yet, it exists. Which makes us think that more places need to start doing this kind of hybridization: If only there was a place that would wash my dishes and vacuum while serving pizza and Pinot Grigio, or maybe a business devoted to cleaning my bathroom while I sip a Manhattan and get a manicure. Get to work, bars! The world has demands that need to be met.
*Thanks to Liz for the link!
THIS BAR WILL DO YOUR LAUNDRY WHILE YOU DRINK AND EAT GRILLED CHEESE [Thrillist]
Earlier this week we shared with you the tragic Shrink Raying of Walmart’s White Cloud toilet paper from 4.2 inches by 4 inches to 3.9 inches by 4 inches. Yes, that’s a pretty small difference, even if it does result in an obvious height difference when you set old and new rolls side by side. What you may not realize is that our modern rolls would look puny next to your grandparents’ toilet paper.
When he submitted his photos, tipster Andrew idly wondered what the original size of rolled toilet paper sheets was. We didn’t know that this answer was really out there, uncovered by intrepid butt-wiping historians. Ponder this the next time you buy toilet paper: the original standard measurement was 4.5 inches square, thought to be the width of the average man’s hand.
One brand has kept their size consistent over the decades, and is prized for it: Boardwalk. It has rave reviews from online shoppers who find toilet paper sheet size very important, and who disagree about whether the sheets are 4.4 inches long or 4.5.
In case you’re wondering what kind of weird hoarder has their grandparents’ toilet paper sitting around,
The Incredible Shrinking Toilet Paper Roll [Metropilis]
Is My Toilet Paper Shrinking? [Toilet Paper World]
Police: Brothers Wanted in Assault, Air Jordan Shoe Collection Theft Patch.com Proof that sneakers have value these days: a Manassas man reported an assault Thursday afternoon, but the suspects are always wanted for stealing several pairs of his shoes, according to Prince William County Police. Daniel Thomas Vargas, 21, of the ... |
House fire knocked down in Manassas W*USA 9 MANASSAS, Va. (WUSA9) -- Fire broke out at a house in the 7700 block of Woodstock Street in Manassas on Thursday morning, according to fire officials. Loading… Post to Facebook. House fire knocked down in Manassas on WUSA9.com: ... and more » |
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