Now that I am caught up on some household chores I can get back to the blog.
This is an item I wrote about a few months back, but it is worth repeating. It is a jar opener from the Lee Valley Store. If you have any kind of arthritis in your hands this is the easiest and fastest way to open one of those vacuum sealed pickle or jam jars without using a hammer. It is a piece of stainless steel, that can hook over the top of the lid, and when you push the tool down, the vacuum seal is broken and the jar can open with just 2 fingers. It has both a large and small hook to handle any kind of vacuum sealed jar, and it does not damage the lid making it unusable. It costs about $10.00. We bought some for our kids Christmas Stocking we liked them so much. The opener, not the kids!
If you are like most of our friends, you will have a drawer full of knives that are what my Pappy always called “Dull as a hoe”. First of all a dull knife does not cut well and can slip and cut YOU. So drop over to Canadian Tire where I found this sharpener, or go to a similar type store. What we have is a dual sided sharpener, with two carbide cutters, on one side and two finishing edge sharpeners on the other. So, with a dull knife, drag the blade through the carbide section and that will quickly get you to a sharp but not a honed blade. You can stop right there if you like, or you can continue with the honing part, using the same drag through as before. Your knives will be like new in seconds! Again the cost is about $10:00.
If those arthritic hands give you trouble for opening screw top bottles, try this for an almost free fix. That plastic covered woven material used for under carpets and in kitchen drawers is perfect for opening those jars. It is very high friction and it grips the bottle and your hand will not slip on it. If you have any of this stuff hanging around the house, cut a 4 or 5 inch square, and grab it the next time you need to get a grip.
This one was a boon to me when I first heard about it, and then I met a person who uses it regularly. Some of us have sinus problems, that are simply a nuisance. In my case, I am allergic to something of undetermined origin, and I get stuffed up at night, and my sleep is impacted. It is a Neti Pot, and it is used to rinse the nose and lower sinus of any pollen, dust or anything else in the nose. I spoke with the local pharmacist who told me that with a medical clinic next door to him, he sells a lot of them. I bought one, and started sleeping better than I had in years. I use mine daily, and it works. The pot comes with packets of salt and baking soda mixed, and you add the salt to a pot of water, and drain it through the sinus. Sounds like a CIA waterboarding torture, but it is not at all. The water can be warmed in a microwave, just a few seconds, you don’t want it too warm, you hold your head over the sink, drain the contents of the pot partly through one side and the rest by reversing nostrils. You continue to breath through your mouth. The entire kit, pot, excellent instructions, and 50 salt packs are available at any pharmacist for just around $20,00, less if on sale. Refills are available. Check with your doc, and/or pharmacist if you like before you try it.
Another of my favourite tools is a recent invention, the Miracle Cloth. It has it’s limitations for drying say your car after washing it, but to clean glass in your home, such as mirrors, table tops, picture glass, windows or the like it is perfect, no streaks! All you use is water. Soak the cloth in water, wring it out as dry as you can and go over your glass surfaces, you do not need to dry the glass, the clean water will dry off, and your glass will sparkle, all with little or no work or time.
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.
Nelson Mandela
EXIT LAUGHING:
LETTERMAN’S TOP 10 REASONS TO VOTE DEMOCRAT
#10. I vote Democrat because I love the fact that I can now marry
whatever I want. I’ve decided to marry my German Shepherd.
#9. I vote Democrat because I believe oil companies’ profits of 4% on
a gallon of gas are obscene, but the government taxing the same gallon
at 15% isn’t.
#8. I vote Democrat because I believe the government will do a better
job of spending the money I earn than I would.
#7. I vote Democrat because Freedom of Speech is fine as long as
nobody is offended by it.
#6. I vote Democrat because I’m way too irresponsible to own a gun,
and I know that my local police are all I need to protect me from
murderers and thieves. I am also thankful that we have a 911 service
that get police to your home in order to identify your body after a
home invasion.
#5. I vote Democrat because I’m not concerned about millions of
babies being aborted so long as we keep all death row inmates alive
and comfy.
#4. I vote Democrat because I think illegal aliens have a right to
free health care, education, and Social Security benefits, and we
should take away Social Security from those who paid into it.
#3. I vote Democrat because I believe that businesses should not be
allowed to make profits for themselves. They need to break even and
give the rest away to the government for redistribution as the
Democrat Party sees fit.
#2. I vote Democrat because I believe liberal judges need to rewrite
the Constitution every few days to suit fringe kooks who would never
get their agendas past the voters.
…And the #1 reason I vote Democrat is because I think it’s better to
pay $billions$ for oil to people who hate us, but not drill our own
because it might upset some endangered beetle, gopher or fish here in
America. We don’t care about the beetles, gophers or fish in those
other countries.
Have a Great Day, and be nice to everyone.
Ross 
