The sign outside a local Wendy’s restaurant reads: “Everyone deserves a juicy hamburger.”

Maybe. Maybe everyone but this guy:

“Wife Says Canoe Man Faked Death”

This is something that far too many Michiganders forget how to do. Snow comes every year without fail, yet every first sticking snowfall of the year turns a bunch of experienced drivers into fifteen year old drivers’ ed. students. Listen, if you can’t remember the rules of driving in the snow and ice, either put a yellow sign on top of your car and stamp the back with a reflector that reads “Driver In Training” or don’t get behind the wheel. So, in case you are one who has forgotten, I have provided a condensed list of general rules to follow (you can get the full version here):

1. Be prepared – snow tires, chains, full tank of gas, warm clothing and an extra blanket or two.
2. Slow down – if you’re going too fast, antilock brakes won’t help you, and on ice those big ole’ tires will only help once you’ve landed yourself in a ditch.
3. Look ahead – leave plenty of distance between you and the car in front of you – four car lengths for every 10 mph you are traveling. I was way off on this one but was kindly corrected by my driving guru (the hubby).
4. Break before you enter a corner – the key word here is before. Before.
5. Practice the smooth and effective use of the vehicle’s controls – know thy vehicle and how it handles.
6. Be informed – again, know thy vehicle and where the bulk of it’s weight resides.
7. Learn how to control a skid – the hubby’s advice to everyone for this is to practice on an empty, snow covered parking lot. Experience will burn those instincts on your memory so they’ll be there when you really need them.

Be safe people. Leave yourself plenty of drive time. It’s better to be late than dead!

Technorati Tags: driving, ice, snow

I saw a tv commercial that advertised “Something + Something + Radio Shack = Joy.” I don’t remember what the Somethings were, but I’m assuming you can buy them at Radio Shack. I think one was an iPod, which would mean I’m 33% on my way to having Joy! Yay! Wait, I mean “yay.” Gotta tone that down cuz I haven’t got my Joy yet.

I told my husband about the commercial and he commented how Radio Shack used to be the place where only gadgety types of nerds shopped. I am a nerd, but not the gadgety kind. I’ve never said, “Oh, I need to get a [pick any electronic gadget]. I’m going to Radio Shack!” I did go once to pick up some connectors for the cable installers I used to work for, but other than that I can’t recall going there. To be honest, the store is totally off my radar. I had almost forgotten they were still around until I saw their commercial. Which is why I found this article from The Onion so hilarious:

Even CEO Can’t Figure Out How RadioShack Still In Business

Have you heard of this? I heard about it from one of my coworkers because her husband has it. He thought he was getting spider bites but it turns out it was this nasty, potentially fatal bacterial infection. He’s okay now but from reading this website it seems it could have been much more serious.

MRSA Infection

And here’s the interesting part:

Although the survival tactics of bacteria contribute to antibiotic resistance, humans bear most of the responsibility for the problem. Leading causes of antibiotic resistance include:

Unnecessary antibiotic use in humans. Like other superbugs, MRSA is the result of decades of excessive and unnecessary antibiotic use. For years, antibiotics have been prescribed for colds, flu and other viral infections that don’t respond to these drugs, as well as for simple bacterial infections that normally clear on their own.

I have said for years that I think many of my past health problems were in part due to doctors handing out antibiotics like candy when I was a kid. Heck, it even looked and tasted like candy. Antibiotics are useful in some cases, but a lot of times our bodies need to be left alone to build up our immunities. I have always been leary of antibiotics, which is why it pained me to give Luke antibiotics in his first week of life for his infected circumcision. (I know, I just posted an article about circumcision. I’m for it, yet because of it I had to give my son meds that I hate. Really though, it was so minor and we only gave him the meds for a couple days until the infection cleared up. They always tell you to finish the antibiotics even though your symptoms are clear. Why is that?)

Anyhoo, it sounds like a really nasty infection, this MRSA thing. And now my coworker thinks she has it. I’ll be steering clear. Yikes.

Making The Cut, a short article about the circumcision debate (a debate I was not aware of). I was actually discussing this with someone a few days ago. It’s an interesting topic I guess, but what struck me about the article (and many others like this) is that it seems to lack any real purpose. Skim through again. It’s purely useless information. They’re telling us how other people feel and giving us statistics on the decisions they have made. Why do we care about that? I finished reading the article thinking, “Hm, that’s interesting. Now what was the point?”

This is the way I feel about most “news.” It serves no purpose other than to entertain and it’s not the kind of entertaining that leaves you feeling warm and fuzzy. It’s a huge waste of time and usually leaves us feeling stressed or worried about things that we have no control over and won’t affect our lives in any significant way.  I am still puzzled at the need for channels like CNN. Do we really need all that information 24/7? It’s clutter of the mind, and you know the only real way to battle clutter is to not let it in in the first place.

I am getting really serious about this decluttering thing. Just like our decision four years ago to dump debt and stop acquiring more, I now want to dump the clutter in my home and stop acquiring more. Dumping the debt was a huge load off our shoulders and I believe dumping the clutter will have the same effect. I am reading lots of inspirational blogs about getting rid of clutter and it is getting me motivated to really work at this. I’m starting to change my whole mindset about stuff.

If you’re interested, read about this blogger’s War on Clutter:

My War on Clutter
My War on Clutter: Never “organize” what you can discard (This is a good one!)
My War on Clutter: The Tools to Purge BIG
My War on Clutter: Inspiration for Independence Day

One household task I hate to do is laundry, and I’ve decided the root of this hatred is that once I get the clean clothes folded (Mike does the washing and drying) there isn’t enough room in our closets and dressers to put them all away. I fight to cram things in drawers and between hangers. I have tried several times to weed through the clothes I don’t wear much but I still feel like I have too much. I read about a neat trick for deciding what to get rid of and I’m going to try it out. It’s a hanger trick from Peter Walsh (of Clean Sweep and author of It’s All Too Much, which I have placed a hold on at the library).

I know it’s going to be a challenge to get rid of some of my clothes but I am determined. Ever have an emotional attachment to an item of clothing? Read this cute story about a shirt. It’s just a shirt, Mindy!

I am going to take that attitude with everything in my house and get radical about getting rid of the crap. It’s just stuff, Mindy!

From a recent newsletter from Linford Detweiler of Over the Rhine:

“We were talking a lot about Home the last few weeks. Karin and I have chosen a life where pretty much every day we get to spend at home is a prize, a rare gift, something we worked for, an event drenched in gratitude. And yet, maybe home is not really about geography or air quality, or moonlight, or being in the city or out of the city, or in a red state or blue state, or in a music town or a working class town. Maybe home has more to do with the work we’ve all done as individuals to increasingly become people we can live with. Maybe home is the desire to live soulfully, the tiny ongoing decisions we make that allow the soul room to breathe.

“That’s our prayer for our extended musical family: that we would all find lives that allow the soul to thrive.”

“Maybe home has more to do with the work we’ve all done as individuals to increasingly become people we can live with.” I love that. I look at my house, my modest house in serious need of some remodeling and smart decorating, and I think back on all that has happened there. So much has changed since we moved in. We are not the same people we were seven years ago. We have learned many life lessons, we have grown and matured, we have become parents! Our house has been witness to so many great memories. The best memories are when I wasn’t worried about the cobwebs or the scuffed floors, but when I was spending time with the people I loved and really living in the moment.  Some day we will have to move and when that happens I plan on taking the memories with me. I’ll dump the clutter but I’m keepin’ the memories!

Update: On sort of a related note, I came across this great post about what matters in life. Also recommended reading is this article about stuff.

I am absolutely appalled and disgusted by this! Television producers have sunk to a new low. 

Live Childbirth on TV

This sounds a lot like The Baby Story on TLC, except that it does not allow for editing of complications, and it sounds like it will be much more graphic. I have not experienced childbirth (yet!) but I can’t imagine I would want the gory details videotaped, much less broadcast on live television! Childbirth is such a highly vulnerable time for the woman in labor. As it is, I’ve already decided to be pretty selective about who to let in the room.

Does anyone else see a problem with this or is it just me?

 From My Total Money Makeover’s Gazelle Gazette:

Shopping malls are some of the glitziest, loudest and trendiest places to shop for clothing, accessories, games and furniture. But selling is exactly what the mall markets are designed to do, and store owners have it down to a science.

Everything that goes into the look, the feel, even the smell of the store is engineered to get you to spend more money. It’s almost scary to think about how much detail is put into it, but stores are made to sell. And few other places do it as well as the mall.

Mall stores are designed with the lights, loud music, mirrors and big signs to get your juices flowing. At that point, they say, spending money is an EXPERIENCE! You’re not just buying a sweater … you’re buying a sweater in a mall with the latest tunes blaring!

Don’t fall for this! This is what is great about being on a budget. If you are disciplined and determined to stay within your written money plan, then you’ll not overspend, and even stay out of the mall in the first place!

What are some of the ways that stores are designed to bring you in?

• Stores can have open floor plans to give you a good view of everything they have to offer
• Companies study demographics and play music familiar to the area to get you in a good mood, make you happy and get you to spend more
• Employees may stand 10 feet from the entrance of a perfume store so they are ready to spray you with the latest scents when you enter
• Some companies go so far as to develop “signature scents”, aromas that are specific to their store. If they make it pleasant and you like it, you’ll want to come into the store and shop more often
• It’s all about the entrance. Some stores put their hottest and glitziest items in the front to draw you in and give you great expectations about what else the store is selling. Other places have a nice-looking storefront but no merchandise. It’s designed to make you come in looking for what they have to offer
• Let’s not forget about all those displays. Many stores and chains have mini-displays, everything from sweaters to kitchens, to get you to stop and look as you make your way through the store. THIS IS NOT A GAME!

Don’t think that you’re automatically getting a good buy if you pick an item from the stand that has a “Big Super Blowout Sale” sign over it. The stores are designed to get you to look around and spend more. Stick to your budget and your wits and don’t buy more than you can afford. Even better, stay away from malls altogether (the stuff is overpriced anyway). You can get much better deals on quality, and even trendy clothes, at consignment shops and other places.

Source: USA Today

From Dan Miller’s 48 Days Newsletter:

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. The conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.

Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups – porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain-looking, some expensive, and some exquisite – telling them to help themselves to the coffee.

After all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: “If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress.

“Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases, it’s just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups, and then began eyeing each other’s cups.

“Now consider this: Life is the coffee, and the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life, and the type of cup we have does not define nor change the quality of life we live. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us.”

God brews the coffee, not the cups . . Enjoy your coffee.

Source Unknown ¯ forwarded by Susan Powers

Be aware that your life is much more than your job. If your job defines you and controls you, you’re very vulnerable to changing circumstances. Jobs will come and go, but that should never change who you are as a person. Make sure you are making deposits of success in your life apart from your job.