respublica

One crazy "how to" advice

It seems someone I have never heard of, Lil Uzi Vert, had a diamond inserted in his forehead. I have no idea why this guy is famous and I'm not curious enough to look him up, but he got a story written in GQ about how this is possible. His piercer, Sean Dowdell, used "what's called a surface piercing to get the diamond onto his face. A surface piercing, which can also be done just about anywhere on the body, looks a little like an upside-down staple: the needle pierces the skin, makes a 90-degree turn, and emerges an inch or so from where it entered." 

Normally for gem piercings a microdermal or transdermal implant is used (depending on the size of the anchor foot), exposes a threaded post that jewelry can be screwed onto." But this diamond was too big for this and Dowdell warned if that technique had been used, there was a chance of infection and "If he got hit in the face, it would rip half his forehead off."

Another piercer, this time a celebrity piercer, Keith Thompson weighed in: "he isn't optimistic about the healing process for Uzi's diamond. A fitful night of sleep or even a kiss at the wrong angle can cause the body to reject a surface piercing, which could take over a year to heal."

It's Saturday so why not read about nutty piercings.

 

More hints

Honestly with being home all the time I believe I'm reading way too much. Everyday I come across some article or other with household, auto, or personal advice. Today was auto and how to best get frozen car doors unstuck. I've had this happen many times and last week once again when we woke up to snow piled up all over my truck. Getting the snow off was one thing, but getting the doors to open was another thing all together. I didn't want rip away the seal.

We do have a spray bottle of car de-icer, but I didn't want to use that first. Mildly warm water poured over the border of the car windows works great, but what I did first was take some advice from a car guy who wrote about this. He said get as much snow and ice off as possible and then use a small ice scraper and run one end of it across the seams. Then lean into the door and give it a shove with your side. That worked!

Anyhow, back to what I read today on hints to get us through a snow storm. This one piece of advice on how to keep ice from forming on your windshield is just plain crazy. The suggestion is to cut a potato or onion in half and rub it all over the windows. Supposedly ice won't form on it. But! Potatoes are full of starch and how in the world would you be able to keep that mess from sticking on the window? Not a fun clean up job.

Also this. If you are out of salt melt for steps or sidewalk, this person said to make a mixture of alcohol, dish soap and water and pour it on. No way we're doing this.

 

Handy hints?

Here is an article which may be helpful...or not. It sets out handy hints to fix common household issues. Some are usable, others are strange and here is the one which made me laugh out loud.

How to fill up a bucket which won't fit under your sink faucet. We've all been there but this is just...Use a pool noodle...

Extension cords are a mess

We have a lot of extension cords of all sizes and colors which we've acquired over the years to use with our outdoor Christmas scenes. But the problem always comes after it's time to put everything away. How to store those cords. How to wind them up so that they don't come apart. Do we hang them? Or do we fold them in some way to lay them in boxes? I've seen them folded up in a figure 8's and in circles. Some are wound up around one arm and others around a piece of wood. But none of these work for me, the cords always seem to have life of their own and come apart.

I know some guys who wind them up and then secure them with those zip ties. While I use zip ties for things once in a while but pretty much hate them. They are awkward to zip and you need a scissors or utility knife to undo them.

So what is the best way to put away extension cords? Today is my day to do this and it's been cold out so I'd guess they are really stiff.

Advertising logos you may never have noticed

Ok, I admit it. I have never every looked all that closely at advertising logos so this is totally a surprise to me. Parts of the design of these product logos feature something hidden in plain sight which is important to them. Take the FedEx for example:

Do you see it? There is a white arrow between the E and the x which probably signifies the company's promise to zip the delivery.

And then Tostitos, something I buy all the time but have never paid attention to.

Between the two T's is what symbolizes a bowl of salsa with two people fight over one Tostito.

And I am embarrassed to say I have never noticed this from Baskin Robbins, the home of 31 ice cream flavors.

The 31 is right in the middle of the capital letters.

There are more amazing ad secrets here.

 

 

 

 

This is inexpicable

We've had our issues with Christmas gifts ordered online and not been delivered. At my count at least 3 have been languishing in the USPS ether, no where to be seen, not delivered. However, last night, Saturday, I ordered a few bars of soap we like and can no long find in stores. Call me weird, I can live with it. In any event, one day later I'm sitting on the front porch to get some air after clearing up dinner and who pulls up, but the Amazon van with my soap. One day!

Go figure that something small like this gets here in one big hurry and the important things are stuck in who knows what city.

2020 spending

Americans have been fairly housebound this year due to Covid 19, but that hasn't stopped us from buying things. Grocery stores are one of the places we can go to as is Walmart and Target etc. But, one item has been purchased in huge numbers this year and that is guns. I have no idea why this is, but there is a list recently released of how many guns were bought by each state.

And, Hey! Illinois is number one with year to date sales of 6,625,082 !   It's nice to be number one, but this seems weird to me and I wonder who bought them and why.

Kentucky came in number two with sales so far of 2,922,940, way below Illinois. The District of Columbia (DC, not really a state) came in last just ahead of Hawaii. Missouri was 19th, buying 641,512 guns.  The entire list of states and gun buying numbers is here.

More confusing hygiene news

One month it's one thing, the next it's something different. Now we learn that showering could be bad if we overdo it. I mean, seriously, at the early stages of the Covid, all we heard was keep washing hour hands, put on clean clothes after being out in public, take a shower, use mouthwash. Now the experts are warning that taking a shower longer than 15 minutes can be bad for us. Or, 5- 15 minutes is even better. Longer showers can dramatically reduce hydration to your body, and strip it of its natural oils to a point that could cause physical skin imbalances. That’s right, just like over and under-watering your plants can drastically affect their balance and appearance, so does over-watering your skin.

Prolonged showers – especially at warmer temperatures – can lead to dry, cracked skin, acne, ingrown hairs, rashes, redness and other sensitivities. So, ugh, cold showers!

I really find all this just too much. For every one thing there is an equal and opposite thing. What they all agree on is using moisturizer.

But then this: "If you do find yourself taking showers more often, taking them at a cooler temperature will help to maintain your skin’s natural moisture and barrier composition. Cold showers aren’t always a comfortable option, but they are an option. In fact, they come with the added benefits of a metabolism boost, cleansing your lymphatic system which helps to fight off infections, training your nervous system to respond to stress differently".

Who imagined we'd be debating showering?

A whole meal in one bite

When food creators are bored with the same old same old, they come up with some off the wall things. Take this new Thanksgiving snack food from Trader Joe's for example: Thanksgiving Stuffing Flavored kettle Chips.

Actually the chips have the flavors of roast turkey, stuffing, and gravy, and as they advertise, "All the flavors of Thanksgiving in one bite." And you can get some of their cranberry sauce for dipping those chips.

My feeling is this it a bit much, meat should know its place and stay out of my potato chips.

 

Following the sun

Since being back in Collinsville we've noticed that our street is not square to the world. We considered that years ago, but had forgotten it. When we stand on our front porch in the morning, the sunrise is diagonally to out and to the right. In the early evening, standing on our back deck, we see the sunset again out diagonally to our right, but on a different side of the house. It's weird and thinking about all the other streets around us, it appears as though the early builders in this city all did this.

Dale has long wondered about this "not being square to the world" business, I've just recently come to pondering it.