What is the most helpful tip you could give to a fellow flutherite?

Duck!

I would tell anyone and everyone:
A vast amount of information is on the Internet. Use it, and get used to it. Be curious.

EDIT: I suppose Flutherites already know this. It’s most of my real-life acquaintances that need to learn…

Never spit into the wind.

And

Don’t pull the mask off that old Lone Ranger
and don’t mess around with Jim!

A never-fail technique for stopping hiccups:

Take a teaspoonful of granulated sugar and try to swallow it quickly, without letting it dissolve in your mouth. Instant hiccup killer. Seriously.

Treasure every moment as if it was your last.

A Fluther-specific tip(s): Be respectful of others, and don’t post just for the sake of posting. This is a question and answer site after all, and not a chat room.

I learned the following, very early in life, and have always shared it with others:

“You can accomplish so much more in this world, with a kind word and a gun, than with just a kind word.”

—Alphonse Capone (1899–1947) Used Furniture Dealer

@harp – thank you for making me look forward to having hiccups. can’t wait to test this out

You would think he would have had the decency to describe how to get the hiccups.

I never go to bed mad.

Great sayings and advice, so don’t please don’t take offense to this, but I was looking for more tangible things, like the hiccup cure or McGiver stuff. you know, Fix a flat tire with Binnaca and some Mintos or something like that.

But then again, to each his own I will shut up and let fluther take its course!

Run with it!!! :-)

Toothpaste can help get a scratch out of a monitor (its a long story)

Oh! You want Hints From Heloise!

Gotcha!

@ jackAdams – woah, she is scary. Kinda but related to the expertise we all have. for instance I happen to know, your a master contortionist. Please share.

If you have a stain on a shirt that you have done everything you can think of to get it out and it will still not come out ~ bleach it! It is wrecked anyway’s and bleaching it might just work. It has for me 9 out of 10 times!

Oh! Okay, how about how to avoid hitting your thumb while hammering a nail. Use a comb to hold the nail. I always keep a comb in my toolbox ever since… the incident…

that is a good one for me to remember loser Thanks

@ mugsie and Loser – Now we are talking Those kick ass!!!!

@ jack, once again you make me laugh

Oh, I keep one of those rubber jar openers in my tool box to help get a better grip on screw drivers and other tools sometimes.

Here’s one that I have remembered all of my life, which I read somewhere, when I was just nine years old:

If you have a task that you cannot stand to do, you can always get someone else to do it for you, if you pretend that it is exciting.

It worked with one kid I read about, who got his younger brother to paint a picket fence for him.

Tangible, hmmm?

When using hairspray from a metal canister, use the side of the bottle to smoothen the hair (it prevents your hands from getting sticky and produces a flat lock). Especially handy if you are a dancer putting your hair into a ponytail or bun.

use butter n minor burns

use mayonaisse to treat lice

use baking soda and water paste for bee stings

use alcohol for mosquito bites

i don’t dance but it would help since I have flyaway baby fine hair I usually keep in a ponytail

Tomato sauce for skunk sprays?

Always keep a white piece of paper with you if you work with cameras. Or be ready to hunt down a white wall (or even someone in a white T-shirt).

@ mitsu Neko – is the alcohol taken or applied (sorry someone had to say it) I will remember the butter. I have a bad burn on my hand. A spark flew down my protective gloves at a fire and ouch proceeded.

If you are ever having any consumer related problems (a company not following through on an ad, wrong billing, bad service, or more serious issues) www.consumerist.com is a GREAT resource for solving your problem. They have also been super for spelling out the financial crisis of late for the everyman to understand. If they don’t already have your answer, you can write in and they’ll do their best to give you advice. They also post recalls and consumer credit alerts (breaches that companies have announced).

So my advice is to search their site when you have a problem or need some consumer-issue-related help.

I’m not affiliated with them in any way and this isn’t really meant to be an ad and if it offends, I’m sorry

You know those folks who have agoraphobia and won’t leave the comfort/safety of their homes, no matter what?

This guy in Hawaii had that problem with his own wife, who had been homebound for three continuous years.

He set the house on fire, and she left, immediately.

It was, as witnesses later said, “A Miracle!”

Ok. Let’s see. I went to my profile and looked at my supposed fields of expertise.

For the computers/tech fields, here is what I would suggest – Google yourself (as in your real name) at least once a month. You will be surprised at how much you see. A good way of googling yourself is doing it once with your names in quotations and once without. For example, if your name is Sara Parker. You would google “Sara Parker” and also “Sara Parker”. You might find some really personal information out there and then you can contact the webmaster or whatever to have it removed if that’s what you want.

Also, if you have a PC (i can’t speak for Macs cuz I don’t own one) – it is good to have an antivirus program, regardless of what you have heard. And set your anti virus software to automatically scan your computer once/week. You don’t have to pay to get good anti virus, you can get free software such as Avast anti virus to do the same trick.

As for softwares, since we were just discussing this in the chat room, Microsoft Onenote is an amazing software for note-taking, or general organizing such as organizing your recipes. Here’s how my recipe note book looks in it. As you can see it’s a notebook software so it can be divided into sections and pages in cute color coded tabs. Perfect for any organizing freak :) Also, if you have Microsoft Office on your computer, you probably have this program already (go look :P)

Hmm what else…for TV shows – many Flutherites already know this, but for those who don’t, you can catch up on tv shows/seasons for free legally by using Hulu , no need to install any software. You can also watch movies on Hulu. Also check out abc, fox, etc channels that broadcast the show, many of them have a “watch online” feature for free.

If I think of anything else, I will return to this thread!

@PnL – Some of those sites don’t work in Canada. But thanks for rubbing it in ;)
Alternative for TV viewing? surfthechannel.com

Excellent job PnL!!! Great recipe to.

OH, I have movies listed.

If you go to www.IMDB.com (International Movie Data Base) it isn’t just movies it has TV as well. It also has really cool info like continuity errors and easter eggs (side jokes and secret apperences and the like) and such listed. It will also talk about movies that are not released yet, or are rumored to be released.

@shadling – i try my best :P j/k. I know of surfthechannel too but didn’t want to suggest it because it’s sources are (cough) notalwayslegal (cough). But if we are adding it, we might as well add sidereel to that list too :)

Thanks Bri!

catnip can be used to treat colic

make a “tea” out of it and cool it making sure to strain well

If you get in the habit of setting the timer for 15 minutes a day (usually before bedtime) and doing as much picking up/tidying up as you can in that 15 minutes, you will be amazed at how much less ‘clutter’ and mess you have to deal with when it is time to really clean house.

Also, if you have a large drink container with a spigot at the bottom that you push in to release the liquid (think big orange gatorade type container you see on side lines) and it drips on the floor when you use it, cut the top of a plastic two liter bottle at an angle so that the cut starts about 1/4 of the way from the top and ends up being 3/4 down from the top, then cut a hole at the top (on the side that is the tallest) and slip it over the spigot. You can still fit a cup under the spigot to fill it, but the bottom of the bottle catches the drips, so it doesn’t hit the floor.

If you have a bug you want to kill, but you can’t reach it properly to make sure you will squash it, spray it with hairspray (I keep a can of aerosol hairspray just for this yes, I know aerosol is bad for the environment, but i only use it for this a one can lasts years). That way it will kill the bug and/or immobilize it for you making it easier to get. Works great with those spiders that jump :0)

If you are trying to thread a needle, schmear a tiny bit of wax on the end of the thread. This will make the end more stable for when you shove it through the eye of the needle.

As for butter on a burn, that’s contrary to the first aid training I’ve received over the years. Interesting.

@ tedibeare39 – That needle thing is awesome! I just mended a sock last night and with my essential tremors you can imagine how hard that was to begin with, let alone threading the needle. Cool.

It was contrary to mine too but my mom did it at work when I accidentally burned my arm on a 400 degree oven, and it soothed the burn

It’s good to treat people as you want to be treated yourself
– It’s better to treat people as they want to be treated.

Much respect, wildflower.

Here’s a pastry tip for the serious cooks among us-

Don’t fall for that rubbish about marble being the ideal surface for rolling out pastry dough. If your dough is chilled (as it should be before rolling), marble is a terrible surface to work on, as it will quickly transfer heat back into the dough. An un-finished wood surface is great; it won’t pass heat to the dough, so it won’t turn to mush as you work it. Plus, the porosity of the surface holds a thin layer of flour in place, so you end up using less flour to roll the dough out.

Get a 2’ X 2’ X 3/8” piece of birch plywood from Home Depot and use it only for rolling out dough. Just scrape and wipe it after each use; no need to wash.

And you thought Coca-Cola was just for drinking.

Rubbing alcohol removes permanent marker from most surfaces.

thats handy to know cheeb

rubbing alcohol also works wel to sit paint brushes in while painting with acrylics….I use it when I paint on ceramics

DO NOT PUT BUTTER ON BURNS.
You have two goals in treating a burn: soothe the pain and prevent infection.
The butter may soothe the pain, but may cause infection.
Plus, it doesn’t allow for the heat to escape the burn.

Running a burn under cold water for 10 minutes may be able to take it down one degree.
Do not use small amounts of water on chemical burns. (It may trigger the chemical.)
Do not use water if the blisters are open.
Do not use ice water.

Very important. Pay attention here, folks.
LIQUID DISH DETERGENT IS NOT INTERCHANGEABLE WITH POWDER DISH DETERGENT.

Sorry for shouting. Just wanted to make sure you got that.

Good to know Nimis
Thankfully mine was small and not infected, my arm had bumped against the door of a convection oven

a week and a half- two weeks later and there is just a small patch of shiny skin where it was scorched

Mitsu: Glad to hear. It sounded minor. But I totally know what you mean though. Whenever I get a burn, I really just want to shove it into a gallon of ice cream. (Probably not the best idea.)

mom reacted I was too busy cussing out the cast like splint on my hand that caused the accident and yelping

@Nimi: You are RIGHT about the dish detergent. The soap suds would greet you at the door.

I still remember the Brady bunch episode.

Emp: No, the soap suds have greeted me at the door.

Bri: Was there a Brady Bunch episode? Damn it!
Are you telling me I could have learned something from watching the Brady Bunch?!
I did feel like I was in a sitcom…

Nimi: I narrowly avoided your fate by telling my mum “oh I’ll just…” and hearing the story of someone else who had”

Emp: Yup, laugh at others’ mistakes.
Oop. I meant learn from others’ mistakes.

@ Nimis – actually I think it was the middle boy who got his dress up cloths dirty saving a cat and was afraid he would get in trouble so he tried to wash them by himself. When he added soap to the washer he put WAY to much in and it was over his head. Not the same thing really. Kinda in that one is a much more concentrated form of the other.

Bri: I once added a dozen softener sheets to the dryer because I wanted my stuffed animal to be really soft.
Got to say, it didn’t exactly work out that way. He came out sticky!

Don’t buy RAM directly from Apple.

Nimis: ewwwww

Jballou: guy at work learned that the hard way.

don’t talk politics or religion or weight on Fluther…..

@allengreen: are those topics to be reserved for you? You do seem fond of them, so why would you recommend others not to talk about them?

I’ve been banned, but my password is still working….so long!

I’ll try the wax for threading a needle, but this is a different one I learned. Fold the thread over the eye of the needle about an inch or so from the thread end and press it hard with your fingers. Now take the thread away from the needle and look at it. The thread will form a tiny crease. Now don’t try to feed the end of the thread through the needle. Feed that crease through the eye instead. Then you don’t have the problem of stray bits of the thread splitting and having the thread half-thread and half-missed. The whole thing should go straight through the eye.

I haven’t quite got the sticky but yeah I have out too many dryer sheets in the dryer. And that was after accidenttally putting 2x the amount of LIQUID softener in the washer with the soap. (he phone had rang and i forgot if I put it in, pour it in again…...wash and forget that I used liquid when I go back to thlaundry room and toss about 5 or 6 dryer sheets in each dryer load…....My clothes smelled very lavendery

Here are a couple of small things I’ve found really useful.

When learning to play a musical instrument practicing 15 minutes a day every day gets you a lot farther than 7×15minutes all in one sitting once a week. You’re more likely to have your lessons sort of soak into your mind and your hands with regular daily practice than with bursts of practice.

Writing and editing are different processes. When you feel stuck, it might be that you’re trying to make something perfect before you even get it down on paper. Stop trying to edit and write at the same time. Write all the information you want to get across, all the words and phrases you want to use, all the bits of scenes or descriptions, all the possibly interesting tidbits. It might be a mess, but get it all down. Once you think the page includes everything you want to say, then stop adding new stuff. Just edit for a while. Rearrange things. Give it order. Make it flow when editing. You’ll get a lot more writing done this way than if you just sit staring at a page because you can’t think of the perfect way to phrase something.

When knitting a lot of back and forth stuff, like entrelac knitting, it’s worth your time to teach yourself to knit and/or purl with the other hand leading (as a leftie if you normally knit right-handed). It doesn’t take much time to do this, and it can save you a whole lot of time flipping your work back and forth every few stitches. So, if you’re right-handed you knit as normal going one way and then don’t flip your work and do your purl row by knitting through the back loop left-handed going the other way.

I’ll see if I can think of more. I like this question. :^>

The Coca ~ Cola web site was awesome Tiny!

Marry someone you love exactly as they are and be sure they feel the same. That way you’ll never expect more of each other than you are each happy to give. I didn’t realize this until my second marriage. Another secret? Don’t get married until you’re sure of who you are. That won me “letter of the month” in Real Simple Magazine!

Problem Solving Flowsheet

Use toothpaste and a soft-bristle toothbrush to clean jewelry. It will shine!

Also toothpaste, the white kind, is very good for a quick fix if you have a nail size hole on your wall to patch (if your walls are white).

@ Cheeb—Classic!!

a tea bag can help with a toothache

Don’t go off-topic on Fluther, if ya know what is good for ya.

Who me? Not me! Could be!

Mugs: Haha…that’s super ghetto, but I’ve totally done that.
My friends were idiots and didn’t put something in the back of their dartboard.
Come time to move, the wall was crazy mottled with holes.
Whipped out the toothpaste and soon enough it looked spanking new.
And smelled minty fresh to boot!

hello doctor. my tip is when you cook rice, to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pot, spray some Pam or put a little oil into the pot first (mush it around on bottom) before putting rice in. no more messy pot to clean.

Wear sunscreen. Seriously

@ Mugsie: the renters best friend is toothpaste!! good one.

@ Jca: don’t miss your apptment.

Toothpaste does work for spackle, but spackle is crazy cheap these days. I think toothpaste actually costs more now.

hehe, good point cyndyh!

Cynd: Good point! But the gas to get the spackle is expensive!
Unless, of course, you already have some around the house somewhere?
I didn’t! College students are G-H-E-T-T-O.

i think to actually buy the spackle, when you have toothpaste (probably, presumably) already in the house, is the point of using toothpaste.

More dishwashing/laundry detergent actually means DIRTIER dishes/laundry.

By “more” I mean filling above the lines and by “dirtier” i mean having a soapy film that can gunk up your machine.

When using a roller or regular paint brush to paint a large area over a long period of time…..no need to clean the brush when you take a break or overnight….just to dip it back into the paint again…..
Instead, wrap the roller or paint brush in saran wrap…..as long as you are going to start painting again within 10–12 hours, the brush remains damp and you just pick up where you left off…..

@Snoopy – your my hero. we are about to paint the trim on our house. GREAT timing on the tip

beagle blushing :)

Rotate your tires regularly.

And also your girlfriends.

i have a good friend who had her tires rotated regularly at the local mechanic, and then found out at one point that he didn’t always do it (even tho she paid for it) and when she found out and asked him why he said “because you didn’t always need it.” so my little tip for this one is if you have your tires rotated, and you can put a mark or some other identifying mark on one tire, you can make sure they’re actually rotated.

Excellent advice! Thanks!

If you buy something with a sticker on it that will not come off ~ cover it with peanut butter and let it sit over night, now it will wipe right off. Awesome for glass etc.

this is not a tip, it’s more in the category of “advice” but my suggestion is to find out as much family history from your family members as you can, while they’re here to ask. my daughter’s father died last year when she was only a few months old. he was only 48 and i did not expect him to die. i didn’t ask much about his family, and i knew little about them. when he died, i decided to do some genealogy research on his family. this would be for me to know more about my daughter (his daughter) and for her to have when she’s older, if she wants it. how much nicer these documents that i got would be if i had some personal details to go with them. so for the people in your family, your parents, grandparents, whatever, ask them where they lived, where they worked, when they moved, why they moved, what their hobbies are or were. once these people die, that information is gone forever. birth certificates, death certificates and the like can recreate some details of a person’s life, but not the little details that make the person interesting to those still living.

I soak my hair brush in conditioner at least once a month. It helps to keep static down, especially in the winter.

mugsie- wouldn’t that just make your hair greasy? Just curious

No, not at all. I fill the sink up with water and a good size squirt of cond, and let it soak.

jca ~ sorry to hear that. Great advice.

I sometimes grab a sheet of fabric softener with me on flights.
Gets your crazy just-got-off-a-flight hair down with a good swipe.
Just one sheet will do.

To further snoopy’s advice on the painting: You can also wrap the brush, put it in a ziplock bag and FREEZE it! It will keep for a very long time like that, and takes only minutes to “defrost” when you’re ready to resume painting.

This is gonna sound weird, but I just realized about a year ago at the gym that not everyone does this. Put your shirt on before you put deodorant on. That way you don’t get weird deodorant patches on your shirt. A button up shirt is easy, since it’s on and unbuttoned when you put deodorant on. You can do the same for a t-shirt, though. It’s easier to maneuver the stick in and out of your shirt than maneuver the whole shirt over your armpits without a smudge.

If you’ve got multiple toothbrushes, dental implements, and tubes of toothpaste like we do, use a small canister (without the lid) or crock to hold them all together.

Here’s my automotive tip of the century! Always carry a pair Leggs nylons in your glove-box. In the event of a serpentine or fanbelt failure or breakage, you can substitute the broken belt with the nylons! Courtesy of a couple of good friends of mine, racing legends, Rick and Roger Mears.

@sccrowell Now that’s useful.

For our college students: Do not wait until your senior year to fulfill your phys. ed. requirements. My college required only three of these buggers and I waited on the last two until my last two quarters. Thank heaven for independent study! But you really, really don’t want that hassle when you’re trying to do senior level work like seminars, mahor lab work or student teaching. Trust me.

Always get a CPA to prepare and/or file your state & federal income taxes.

I didn’t think I needed one, until one year, a friend gave me a kind of gift certificate for the services of one, and I compared my own computations, against those done by the CPA.

The computations of his associates led to my getting a federal refund that was $4,000 larger than my own calculations. That was in 1980, and I have used the services of a CPA, ever since.

I recommend them, very highly, and the one I use, is the same one utilized by actor Tom Hanks.

jack: my father is a CPA. another benefit: if there’s a mistake they fix it for free, and if there’s an audit, they walk you through it.

You’re right. I’m sorry I didn’t include that, in my remarks.

Appreciate the addendum!

@Jack & JCA: The benefits of using one can be seen really easily: did they find enough more for you to cover the cost of the prep? (In my case yes.) If so, use next year. If not, find a different CPA and repeat the experiment.

one more tip i thought of while driving home on a one lane road today – if you’re going slow, braking a lot, looking at scenery, doing less than the speed limit, PLEASE pull over and let other cars pass. it is soooo sooo frustrating to be behind someone sightseeing, riding the brake, hesitant, etc.

Another driving tip:

Department store mannequins (from the waist part, up) look like passengers when strategically placed in a car, then driven in the car pool lane.

This works particularly well on the Southern California Highway System.

And please note that if you are driving a hearse and have a dead body in the back, that the corpse will not qualify for you to drive on the diamond lanes, no matter how much you argue with the CHP officers.

my dad and his buddy used to take his (the friend)‘s dad’s hears to do body pickups and once they got into a car accident with an ambulance. The driver was a rookie and he is FREAKING outbecause he thought he killd the woman in the car he ran into when he ran a red light (no lights or sirens were on) My dad and his friend lay there laughing for a good ten minutes before they could get enough air to tell the poor guy she ws already dead as they were taking her back to the funeral home

Mits: A-ha! Morbid humour runs in your family!
That might explain the frozen goldfish…

@Mitsu-Neko: After reading your story, I almost died laughing, and had to go out and get a stiff drink, but then came to the grave realization that I am a recovering alcoholic, so I abandoned that idea, then when I was reading some of my newspapers, I saw these headines:

“Typhoon Rips Through
Cemetery; Hundreds Dead”

And, in the Escondido North County Times:
“Three dead, two seriously”

JackA: Oh, you. You so punny.

Me so glad you like me puns!

JackA: If you insist on speaking like that, I must refer you to this thread.

I’ll pass. But thanks for the thought, anyway.

Besides, I have already told you (and everyone else) my Halloween Pirate joke, didn’t I?

JackA: Hmmm…I don’t remember. Will we be flagged if you re-tell it?

Just in case this is getting too off topic, here is a tip to my fellow Flutherers:
Pyrex, while able to stand high heat, should not be used on the stove top.

Also learned first hand from my vast personal experience of what not to do.

Here’s a tip: If you are a guy and give your bartender a very large tip every time you visit his establishment, he will always unhesitatingly give you an ironclad alibi, whenever you are charged with first-degree murder. (Or so I’ve heard.)

One Halloween, I was about 7 years of age, and my mother dressed me up in a pirate costume, that she had created/sewn from scratch, with her own hands. I was so proud of it.

I went to this house and Mrs. Jones was impressed with my trick-or-treat costume and said, “You’re all alone! Where are your buccaneers?”

I replied, “They’re underneath my BUCKIN’ HAT!”

Too funny Jack!

I have a Never Do hint…..never attempt to cook eggs in their shell in the microwave

never microwave a peeld grape

Why ~ what will happen to the grape, exploded?

nimis y uncle is on my mom’s side and was intoxicated

Never use your Dad’s car battery to play a game you made-up called, Frankenstein’s Monster

Spend time with your family now they wont be around forever.

gooch ~ your so right. I cherish every waken moment I can with my family! I know how fast time goes by. My two older boys are adult ages. I make the most of my time (as I did with the two older ones) now with my two elementary age boys because I know first hand how fast time flies!

Don’t misuse your position as a “Moderator,” for personal reasons and immature vendettas against people whom you don’t really know.

Learn to be tolerant of others (and have respect for their opinions/beliefs, even if different from your own), and treat people the way YOU would wish to be treated, if you were just a member and they were the “Moderator.”

And above all, NEVER TELL LIES about another member, ever.

Many of you will know this already, but this tip is more for the younger/living w/ roommates or by themselves people. Instead of just putting dishes in the sink, quick rinse them and if it has a lot of food particles stuck on it, then add some soap and water on top. This will make cleaning the dishes so much easier when you get around to it. Also, it prevents the dishes leaving a smell in the kitchen and saves, time and soap in the long run!

I have been really busy over the past few days so I neglected to wash dishes, but I made sure to rinse them. I spent majority of today in cooking and so I was really not looking forward to about 30 min of dish washing. But I got it all done in 10 min, with only one use of soap on the sponge! what did i do with all the time i saved? why, i Fluthered of course :)

They also sell these really cool scrub brushes that hold soap in them. BAM washed and done.

Put shopping bags in your bathroom trash can Makes emptying faster and tidier

along with my driving tips that i gave previously, if you’re doing the speed limit or below, please don’t stay in the left lane.

@bri L: I LOVE those scrub brushes. I always have one.

I think they rule!

Jesus can be found in prison…

P.S.- Dont drop the soap

Ugh. Thanks for the visual, cheeb.

don’t hitch hike naked

Think positive.

Never use a lighter to check your Christmas tree water.

A tip for newbie flutherites: Be yourself. Count to 10 if someone pisses you off. PM’s are suitable for arguing – not the thread – however, even in PM keep it civil. Bendrew is watching. Racist? Stupid? Slow or arrogant (whichever is worse): go to Yahoo answers. Fluther is unique – it’s the EQ meets IQ place.

Lastly: don’t count the lurve – the lurve counts you.

When stir frying chicken, dredge pieces first in cornstarch along with any spices you are using. The chicken will be very moist and tender.