Did you know that 18 years ago today the final episode of Beverly Hills 90210 aired? Donna and David got married, Kelly and Dylan got back together (again) and all we were left with to go forward was Melrose Place. Does it seem like 18 years ago?
Let’s relive a little bit of the “magic” shall we?
It’s been raining a lot here – and standing water will likely lead to the first mosquitoes of the season any minute now. I hate mosquito bites because I have pretty severe reactions to them – swelling and itching for DAYS! I’m always looking for ways to avoid or cut down on the pain of mosquito bites so here are some of the fun facts I’ve learned along the way:
If you want to minimize the mosquitoes in your backyard, I’ve used this homemade spray for the last couple of years with amazing results:
Mix together 1/3 of a big bottle of cheap blue minty mouthwash, 1 cup of Epsom salts and a 12 oz bottle/can of stale beer until the Epsom salts are dissolved. Put in a spray bottle and spray anywhere you sit outside. It doesn’t harm your plants and hasn’t hurt either the paint on my deck or my furniture but it keeps the bugs away for at least a month before I spray again.
Give it a try – you don’t want West Nile virus or Zika!
Gas in my neighborhood has gone up about 50 cents a gallon the the last week which might put a cramp in upcoming summer road trip plans especially if the increases keep coming. So this week, let’s stop and think about how we can maximize our gas mileage without the expense of going shopping for a hybrid or electric car.
First up – check your tires. If your tread is wearing unevenly, your car may be out of alignment which can put a drag on your mileage. Checking your tire tread at least annually is a great idea anyway to make sure your tires are able to grip the road in wet conditions. Also, don’t forget to check the inflation to make sure you’re in the proper range as shown on the sticker on the driver side doorpost. Correct tire inflation can save you as much as 3% on your fuel consumption. Tires can lose up to 1 pound of pressure a month and the change of season can also contribute to changes in tire pressure so take a minute and check it out.
Second – how’s your engine air filter? A dirty filter can drag down your mileage and even cause stalls and is easy to replace yourself. Nobody wants to be the person stalled in traffic on the highway!
Last but not least – try not to make your engine work so hard! Slowing down to the speed limit, not reving your engine, getting your oil changed regularly and turning off the A/C in stop/go traffic are a few ways to take it easy on your engine. Also – clean out your car! An extra 100 lbs of gear in your car is like carrying an extra person so look at all that stuff you have in the back – do you really need all of it?
Want some more ideas? Check out these extra tips and get ready to road trip!
We all take selfies these days. The camera phone unleashed selfies in a way that cameras never could before – but did you ever ask who took the first selfie?
A man named Robert Cornelius took the first selfie in 1839 while trying to find a way to improve the daguerreotype process. Not familiar with daguerreotypes? Ever seen a picture from the Civil War era? Kind of sepia toned and everyone was very stiff looking? Those are daguerreotypes. The process wasn’t easy for either the photographer or his subjects given the use of silver plated copper sheets and mercury vapor to catch an image. Our man Robert took this picture of himself – the first selfie – while experimenting with changes to the process:
I’m not sure that would be a keeper today! Robert himself opened a couple of photography studios but didn’t stick with it. Eventually he opted to join the family gas and lighting business and left the perfection of photography processes to other people.
But the next time you take a selfie – think of Robert and smile!
Your Friday funny this week is PANDAS! I’m betting any of you with a toddler has had a similar experience….
I know – you’re probably asking why I’m talking about a day that is coming up on Throwback Thursday. I’ll get to it. But first, what do you know about Red Nose Day?
Red Nose Day originated as event of the charity organization Comic Relief in the U.K. Comic Relief dates back to 1985 and a BBC telethon hosted by Noel Edmonds from a refugee camp in Sudan in response to the famine in Ethiopia. Since then, Comic Relief has raised money for a variety of causes including HIV and AIDS education in Africa, childhood immunizations, domestic violence and the disabled. Comic Relief started the Red Nose Day Telethon in 1988 to raise funds to help children in need and fight worldwide poverty. Why the Red Nose? It was intended to be a run, kid-friendly conversation starter for the fund raising effort.
In 2015 through a partnership with Comic Relief, NBC and Walgreen’s, Red Nose Day was brought to the U.S. Since then, more than $60 million has been raised in the U.S alone and donated to organizations including Oxfam, Feeding America, Children’s Health Fund, Save the Children and Boys’ & Girls’ Clubs.
This year, the U.S. Red Nose Day Telethon will air on NBC on Thursday, May 24th. So you have a couple weeks to figure out how you can get involved. It can be as easy as going to your neighborhood Walgreens or Duane Reade and buying an official Red Nose for a dollar. Wear your Red Nose and post to social media. Or buy other Red Nose merchandise to promote the event. Want to organize your own Red Nose event? Check out the ideas here: https://rednoseday.org/fundraising
It’s a great cause – you really can help make a difference in a child’s life. And now the Throwback. Here’s a picture of my work team on the very first U.S. Red Nose Day in 2015!
My gym awarded me with a free Pilates workout with a personal trainer for my birthday. I need to get it scheduled – but I was curious about the Pilates machine so I’ve done a little homework so I know what to expect.
First of all, the machine is called a reformer. And it looks a little bit like it may be a Medieval torture device. It’s kind of like a bed that rolls up and down the frame and it’s all about building your core muscles through resistance supplied by straps and springs built into the device.
Click here for a great description of the reformer and its benefits.
All I can say is that I’m glad I’m a fairly flexible person and that I’ll be working in a private session with a trainer. Click here to see what a basic workout looks like. I think I’m going to be sore!
It’s supposed to hit 80 degrees here today! And you know what that means right? It’s time to grill! But my grill hasn’t been used since October, so it’s time to give it a good cleaning and get it ready for summer. And then I’m going to prep for supper tonight….
This video gives a really great overview of how to clean your grill:
And here’s how to make my favorite dinner on the grill – Enjoy!
We all know we’re not supposed to click on links in emails from sources we don’t know because of viruses – but where did they come from?
Computer viruses have existed since the 1970’s but the first documented virus widely spread through the internet happened in 1988. Known as the Morris worm, it was a piece of coding developed by Robert Morris who was a graduate student at Cornell University. Morris claimed that he wrote the code as an innocent means to attempt to gauge the size of the internet. But the coding exploited weaknesses in the Unix operating system, file transfer protocols and weak passwords and rather than just counting internet sites/pages it began replicating over and over until infected machines became bogged down in code and crashed.
At the time of the Morris worm, it was estimated that there were approximately 60,000 computers attached to the internet – and that the virus impacted at least 10% of them at a cost in lost productivity of as much as $10 million. Seems quaint given the size of the internet today doesn’t it?
But the impact of the Morris worm lead to the establishment of government entities to coordinate and respond to networking emergencies so there was a silver lining to the event. And what happened to Robert Morris? He became the first person convicted of a felony under the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act serving 3 years of probation, 400 hours of community service and paying a $10,500 fine for releasing the virus.
Want to know more about Robert Morris and the Morris worm? Check out these links:
Made me laugh! Happy weekend everyone!
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