pileofcrapola

Between shirts that don't stay tucked in, shoes that slip on and off, and zippers that get stuck every which way, it's a wonder we humans still wear clothes. Here are our top 10 clothing annoyances, and their clever solutions.

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Our bodies require a lot of upkeep, and the mouth is far from an exception. Taking care of our teeth and gums can have a significant impact on our lives. This weekend, take some time to make sure you're not neglecting anything important and getting the best dental care available.

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When you're hit with inspiration it's easy to just dive in and get to work. Other times, it takes a bit of effort to get yourself going. For those projects that you're not sure about, author Todd Henry suggests that you start every project with the "Five W's" to really ensure success.

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It's happened to us all at one point or another: The dish you've cooked is too salty, too spicy, or perhaps just too...meh. The key to correcting—and preventing—this is balance, when all the flavors of the dish work in harmony. Here's what you should know so you can make fantastic dishes, whether you're working with a recipe or just winging it.

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It's no secret that if you want to improve your memory (or any brain function), you have to work at it. A new study, however, shows that specifically learning a new skill that's unfamiliar to you can have a marked improvement in memory.

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Gift cards are great for flexible spending, but some prepaid debit cards can be problematic to use. If you want to transfer the balance to something more usable, order an Amazon gift card with a custom amount.

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We've featured a lot of tips from The Simple Dollar's Trent Hamm—from buying in bulk and earning money online to managing a career hiatus and overcoming decision fatigue. Here, he shares his ten most important pieces of financial advice.

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While most of us try to cram as much as we can into our carry-on bags — and some travelers (you know who you are) stretch the definition of “carry-on” with bags that would have been checked in the pre-fee era — sometimes you just have to check a piece of luggage or two at the counter. But before you do, there are some steps you’ll want to take.

Jaunted.com has this pre-flight checklist for checked bags, which contains some great advice.

In addition to making sure your bag isn’t a toss or bump away from falling to pieces, you’ll want to remove all those checked-bag tags from previous flights. Yeah, you won’t look like the seasoned traveler you are, and you’ll have to say goodbye to that fantasy of the good-looking person behind you in line going, “You’ve been to Rio? Me too! We should make out,” or however that goes, but it also gives the baggage handlers and tracking system one fewer thing that could send your luggage to destinations unknown.

You’ll also want to put labels on both the inside and outside of your luggage. Okay, so maybe that sounds a bit like writing your name in your underwear, but if you regularly tossed your undies into a pile with thousands of other folks’ delicates, you’d want your name written all over the place on your pair — assuming you want them back. So it makes sense that you’d want that redundant label inside your bag just in case that exterior tag goes missing.

Here’s one we hadn’t heard before: If you have a zipper suitcase, line the zipper pulls up on the top of your bag, slightly off center.

“This position keeps them out of the way of the handles and out of the way of the bottom and sides, which are most likely to be brushed or banged up against other bags or machinery,” explains Jaunted.

As the story mentions, you could also put a small lock on the pulls to keep them from coming apart (or being easily used by a sticky-fingered airport employee).

Speaking of which, one thing we didn’t see in the Jaunted list was the suggestion to remove all valuables and essentials. This might seem like common sense to you, but most of the checked-bag crime we hear about involves travelers who put things like laptops, tablets, cash, and jewelry in their checked bags. These things should be put in a carry-on bag.

Additionally, you’ll want to remove things you will absolutely need if that checked bag goes missing or you don’t have access to it because of long flight delays. We’ve heard countless complaints over the years from travelers who were without needed medicines, baby supplies, and travel documents because they had put these in a checked bag that went missing.

It’s a truism as old as time: Wherever there are people willing to pay a ton of money for a new video game console, there will be scammers willing to take that money and leave them empty-handed. Well, not technically empty-handed in this case, as the customer did get a photo of an Xbox One for his $750.

“I’ve had to make a joke out of it because I was that angry,” says the 19-year-old from Nottingham, UK, who paid £450 ($749) to a seller on eBay. “At least we’ve now got something to laugh about in the years to come.”

The young man says he’s an experienced eBay buyer and this is the first time he’s been duped.

In the seller’s defense, the buyer admits the listing did say it was a “photo” of the console, but he tells the Nottingham Post he assumed it was the real deal because it was listed under the heading of video games and consoles. He also says there was no negative feedback for the seller.

So either this was the first time the seller pulled this alleged trick on a customer, or his buyers appreciated the level of customer service.

After all, the seller did leave a “Thank you for your purchase” note on the back of the photo.

The buyer contested the purchase with eBay, which has given the seller until Monday to issue a full refund.

To anyone out there tempted to pay top dollar for a Xbox One or PS4 on eBay or other secondary market site… don’t. They will be back on store shelves shortly and there are only a very few games available to play on either console, and most of those games are available on current generation consoles. You can spend hundreds of dollars over list price to get an Xbox One or PS4 right now… and then sit around for months waiting for decent games to come out, or you can just wait and save yourself a lot of cash.

While there are a number of popular products that get significantly less expensive after the holidays, consumers may be able to save on other holiday shopping list items if they’re willing to play a game of chicken with Dec. 25.

In addition to holiday decorations, which many retailers will try to clear as Christmas nears, the folks at Offers.com say the following three typical holiday season purchases will likely drop in price the closer we get to the holiday.

1. Winter Apparel: Many consumers bought their winter coats and sweaters back in the fall and stores will soon be putting out warmer weather apparel, so get these items cheap while it’s still cold outside.

2. Toys: Sure, a (sadly) traditional image of holiday shopping is parents fighting over coveted toys during the Black Friday shopping blitz, but there are still plenty of toys remaining on store shelves, and their prices will likely sink as retailers try to sell as much inventory as possible. There is still the risk that waiting too long will result in that toy being snatched up by a less bargain-conscious shopper.

3. Small Appliances: The holidays are a time during which many of us express our affection for loved ones by buying them blenders, food processors, and stand mixers. These products make for good gifts, but they also tend to take up a lot of shelf/warehouse space. So some retailers will drop prices on small appliances right before Christmas, as it’s both a good way to attract last-minute shoppers and get rid of products that may not sell as quickly once the new year hits.

Reader Jen admits that her diet is not perfect, but she does eat some vegetables. She enjoys buying Birdseye microwaveable frozen vegetables, the Steamfresh kind that cook right in the handy bag. Only the company has taken away a precious ounce of veggies by deploying the Grocery Shrink Ray on her veggie pouch of choice.

“The old bags feel full and fluffy at 12 oz (340g) while the new bags are limp and deflated at 10.8 oz (306g),” Jen notes, snapping some pictures to show us the difference.

“Boo for less healthy food in my otherwise junk food diet,” Jen writes. Boo indeed.

One might think there’s a line everyone crosses, whether it be a large corporation like say, McDonald’s, or an individual person, where you just know you’re doing it wrong. But Mickey D’s still doesn’t seem to get it, as it’s reportedly issued a helpful guide for the holidays on how its employees — many of which barely subsist on minimum wage — should be tipping their own employees, like the pool cleaner and the au pair.

We’re sure McDonald’s is simply trying to be helpful with its suggestions (which have now been removed from its Employee Resource site after a CNBC report on it) like how much you should be giving your au pair: “A gift from your family (or one week’s pay), plus a small gift from your child” or a nice chunk of “one day’s pay” for a housekeeper and “cost of one cleaning” for a pool cleaner.

Don’t forget your dog walkers, massage therapists and personal trainers. That would simply be rude.

The company does add that maybe not everyone has the bucks to tip a pool cleaner (if they can afford one in the first place, right?): “What you give, if anything at all, should be dictated by your relationship with the serviceperson, how often you utilize the services, and most importantly, your budget.”

A McDonald’s spokeswoman responded to CNBC’s report with an emailed statement, saying it’s just etiquette:

“This is content provided by a third-party partner and quotes from one of the best-known etiquette gurus, Emily Post. We continue to review the resource and will ask the vendor to make changes as needed.”

This, after McDonald’s advised workers to sell their Christmas gifts and break up their food in smaller pieces to save money.

Meanwhile, McDonald’s workers were among the many fast food workers walking off the job yesterday in an effort to push corporate overlords to pay their employees $15 as minimum wage.

McDonald’s gives workers advice on tipping au pairs, trainers, dog-walkers [NBC News]

It’s time for a music lesson, McDonald’s, or you’re just going to keep coming across as totally tone deaf.

Previously:

South African freedom fighter and that country’s first black president Nelson Mandela passed away today at the age of 95. What better way to pay tribute to the man than by shilling for the newly released movie about his life?

That seems to be the addlepated thought behind this Tweet from entertainment biz scribe Nikki Finke.

“R.I.P Nelson Mandela, subject of Weinstein Co’s Idris Elba-starrer ‘Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom’ which opened Nov 29 and has awards buzz,” reads the Tweet, which instantly drew a massive backlash from a number of Finke’s more than 200,000 followers.

Rather than pull the Tweet or issue an apology, Finke just continues to dig in her heels with follow-ups like this one, which reads, “I write about the entertainment biz. And that movie is a wonderful tribute to Nelson Mandela since it’s based on his autobiography.”

We get that Finke writes about the movie industry, so it isn’t completely inappropriate to mention the movie. But what really seems to poke people the wrong way is her inclusion of things like the release date, its supposed “awards buzz,” and — in what comes across like a blatant advertisement for the movie and its award campaign — the name dropping of The Weinstein Company, followed by a Tweet about Mandela with a quote straight from Harvey Weinstein himself… because in this time of remembering one of the most prominent political and cultural figures in modern history, the person with the most important opinion of Mandela is a Hollywood movie producer.

Perhaps Finke is taking the old “no such thing as bad publicity” line with this obvious attempt to curry favor from a potential advertiser, what with her new website set to launch in the not so distant future.

At least she didn’t try selling copies of the DVD…

- The New Mexico State Police officer who fired shots at a minivan full of children during a chaotic October traffic stop has been fired, a spokesman with the law enforcement agency said Friday.

- The Obama administration is letting companies seek authorization to kill and harm bald and golden eagles over 30 years without penalty.

- A Wendy's employee who dropped a partially smoked blunt in a customer's cheeseburger has been fired and charged with marijuana possession.

The holiday season is in full swing. This year, you might be thinking about going digital when it comes to your communication.

A line of baby rattles with pieces that pose a choking hazard and boilers that could pose a carbon monoxide hazard are among this week's recalled consumer products. Others include hooded children's clothing and mattresses.

It's one of the worst cases of animal abuse in recent memory -- a grand jury has handed down an array of charges against a D.C. man.

DC officers, from detectives to beat cops are committing crimes in shocking numbers. Is the department hiring the right people?

Now, there's a way you can a photo and report suspicious information to police using your smart phone.

Officials are urging dog owners to make sure their dogs are current on their 'distemper' vaccinations.

The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm watch for Montgomery County from Sunday morning to Monday morning.

A photographer took magnified pictures of snowflakes with a special camera that captures intricate details of every flake.

For more pictures, go to http://500px.com/chaoticmind75 .

A hospital gift shop shut down for rodents and a popular pizza chain closed for health violations. Those and other restaurant risks in WUSA9's Restaurant Alert.

Nelson Mandela, former president of South Africa and Nobel Peace Prize winner, has died. During his long life, Mandela inspired countless individuals.

Now, there's a way you can a photo and report suspicious information to police using your smart phone.

Officials are urging dog owners to make sure their dogs are current on their 'distemper' vaccinations.

A Georgia man was indicted on conspiracy, Clean Water Act, false claims and related charges for allegedly dumping waste into the Potomac River from 2009 to 2011.

For all those mornings when you’re staring into your cup of coffee and sighing over the fact that it’s not, in fact, piping hot soup, well, okay, you’re odd. But also you’re in luck: Campbell’s Soup says it’s going to start offering K-cup soup packs for the Keurig single-serve coffee machines. This brings up the question of noodles for breakfast — and I think I’m onboard with that.

Where are the noodles going to come out of? Can you use the same machine for soup and coffee or will your coffee come out tasting like alphabet soup? Apparently the K-cup pack of broth brews over a packet of dry pasta and veggies.

And your coffee won’t taste like soup because Green Mountain says its machines cleanse themselves during the brewing process. Very intriguing.

“It’s delicious soup at the touch of a button,” Campbell CEO Denise Morrison said in a phone interview, via the Associated Press.

Three varieties are set to launch next year, including Chicken Broth & Noodle. Everyone’s favorite pick-me-up!

Campbell K-cups to make Keurig into soup machine [Associated Press]