Movie stuff

Yeah it's getting warmer outside, and maybe the idea of hitting the couch with cream soda and carmel corn isn't as appealing as it was a couple of months ago, but there are rainy days ahead. Judging by last summer ain't that the truth.
All the same Wilson Doran keeps hitting the play button to bring different ideas for discs to rent. However Willy (he really hates that) is always open to suggestions, a genre he hasn't thought of or even a star that really should brought further into the public eye. Whatever. Don't be afraid to let him know what you think by sending off an email to wdoran@relaxmagazine.ca or if that doesn't work, info@relaxmagazine.ca.
Let him know what you are thinking.

And more birds

As you may have noticed birds are coming back in great number to the area. Ontario Nature recently sent out a press release about upcoming arrivals and although most of the gang has returned, however not everyone is back including the House Wren, due May 3, the Yellow Warbler May 7 and the Ruby-throated Hummingbird ETA May 18.
If you have friends or cottages further north of the Simcoe County area tack another week or two on to these dates.
Ontario Nature offers a lot of other ideas about birding, but if you are really interested check out the Brereton Field Naturalists' Club of Barrie.
You can check out their website at www.members.tripod.com/brereton_naturalists, or just head down to Little Lake Park at 6 p.m. on Thursday, May 3. Dress for the weather.

Chicken ears

In the first issue of Relax Chef Michael Cortese broached the subject of chicken ears. Apparently this caused a bit of a ruckus among the non-fowl aware set so checking out the Mad Science website we found confirmation as follows.

Chickens do have ears, but they are more like ear holes.  They do not 
possess an outer ear, or pinna, as most mammals possess, but they do have 
ear lobes.  The color of the lobe does somewhat indicate the color of 
their eggs.  It is believed that the same gene that determines the color 
of the ear lobe also determines egg color.

An all white chicken has white ear lobes therefore, white hens will lay 
white eggs.  A non-specific breed of broiler hen can be one of many colors 
or multi-colored.  Their ear lobes also can be colored from near white to 
near black.  These birds will lay eggs that are nearly white to a deep, 
soft brown.  The shade of brown of the egg will be indicated by the degree 
of color of the ear lobe.  In other words, a chicken with blackish lobes 
will not lay a black egg, but it may be a deep brown.

Let the debate continue

Somebody actually read the manual

There are a few things that can be done in times of grave emergencies. Your mobile phone can actually be a life saver or an emergency tool for survival. Check out the things that you can do with it:

FIRST - Emergency

The Emergency Number worldwide for Mobile is 112. If you find yourself out of the coverage area of your mobile network and there is an emergency, dial 112 and the mobile will search any existing network to establish the emergency number for you, and interestingly this number 112 can be dialed even if the keypad is locked. Try it out.

SECOND - Have you locked your keys in the car?

Does your car have remote keyless entry? This may come in handy someday. Good reason to own a cell phone: If you lock your keys in the car and the spare keys are at home, call someone at home on their cell phone from your cell phone. Hold your cell phone about a foot from your car door and have the person at your home press the unlock button, holding it near the mobile phone on their end. Your car wil unlock.

Save someone from having to drive your keys to you. Distance is no object. You could be hundreds of miles away, and if you can reach someone who has the other "remote" for your car, you can unlock the doors (or the trunk).
Editor's Note: It works fine! We tried it out and it unlocked our car over a cell phone!

THIRD - Hidden Battery

Power

Imagine your cell battery is very low. To activate, press the keys *3370#. Your cell will restart with this reserve and the instrument will show a 50% increase in battery. This reserve will get charged when you charge your cell next time.

FOURTH - How to disable a STOLEN mobile phone

To check your Mobile phone's serial number, key in the Following digits on your phone:

* # 0 6 #

A 15 digit code will appear on the screen. This number is unique to your handset.

Write it down and keep it somewhere safe. When your phone gets stolen, you can phone your service provider and give them this code. They will then be able to block your handset so even if the thief changes the SIM card, your phone will be totally useless. You probably won't get your phone back, but at least you know that whoever stole it can't use/sell it either.

Manual, what manual?

The season has changed and again, Spring cleaning is on tap. Here is a tip from an American house organizer, we really hadn't thought of.
Have you gone through cupboards, drawers and hutches and found piles of old product manuals.
Here is a couple of question you might want to ask to free up some space and fill up the recycling box.

• Do you still own the product?
• Do you need the manual in English, French, Spanish, German, and Chinese? Many manuals are printed in multiple languages. I tear out all but the English version, saving LOTS of space.
• Do you need the manual on paper? Many manuals can be found on-line, so you don't need to keep the paper version.

It's been a long time

It has been a month between postings. Sorry about that. I would like to say it was because of the weather, getting the flu, changing seasons, work, getting the taxes ready, but that wouldn't be fair.
But it really was because of the weather, getting the flu, changing seasons, work, getting the taxes ready. That said, we will try to do better. Again sorry.