Feedback on Relax Magazine???

Hi Folks;

As I posted that OTHER post, I realized that I should have posted this one!

One of the reasons we started this blog was to accept feedback and start discussions about the printed version of Relax Magazine.

Please don't post any comments of a personal nature, (email those to info@relaxmagazine.ca but ... if you have any feedback about the printed magazine, please consider THIS post your forum to add comments, suggestions, or article ideas.

Thanks for reading the magazine. If you haven't received it, you can view two articles every month by visiting the main page of our web site at: www.relaxmagazine.ca.

Thanks again for helping shape future issues.

-Kory

Cheryl is VERY Busy

Hi - shhhh - don't wake Cheryl. I'm Kory, Webmaster of Relax Magazine.

This post may APPEAR to come from Cheryl - owner and editor of Relax Magazine, but it's actually from me, Kory Hopkins - owner of www.DecentExposure.com.

Cheryl doesn't actually know I'm doing this. So ... don't tell her.

To be honest - I don't know where Cheryl gets the time to run a magazine. Every month, I read her column and discover she's taken on another hundred-hour-a-month job.

In September, she spent 200-hours working on her hardwood floors.
In August she learned to drive a racecar.
May June and July, she played (and coached? managed? hindered?) the Relaxinators softball team right into the basement of their league, (although proudly - they DID win three games by default.)
In April, by all accounts, she spent the month picking up dog poop in the back yard.

Frankly Cher - you make us look bad. Slow down woman! Just once I wanna read a column where you did nothing for a day - spend a day in bed watching Oprah and eating bon bons.

Well, there - we NOW have a post in September.

-Kory

Try finding you own Luck

Fields are filling now with greenery, perhaps you might take on a four-leaf clover hunt.
The mystical ‘weed’ has long been revered in the Irish culture in particular, but four, five or more leaves are even more common that you may think.

A four leaf clover refers to an aberration of a three leaf clover plant, the Trifolium repens or "white clover." The white clover is a deep green flowering vine with white blossoms. It is the original shamrock plant of Ireland and the unofficial state symbol. The shamrock already has powerful associations, and its occasional production of an extra leaf makes the rare four leaf clover especially lucky.

The three leaves of the white clover have become associated with the Christian Trinity, or God the Father, His Son, and The Holy Spirit. The extra leaf of the four leaf clover is said by some to stand for God's grace. A less dogmatic interpretation is that one leaf stands for faith, another for hope, the third for love and the last for luck.

One breeder claims only about 1 in 10,000 plants will naturally mutate to produce a four leaf clover. They believe environmental stresses cause the mutation, and that a plant which mutates regularly is even rarer.

Many myths are associated with four leaf clovers. Finding one not only brings good luck, but in the Middle Ages, it was also thought to allow the bearer to see fairies and plant sprites. So it was that children often searched fields for a four leaf clover in order to see into the magical realm of the spirit world.

If you find a four leaf clover you can consider yourself very lucky indeed. When Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden, legend has it that Eve was holding a four leaf clover. Curiously, the lore of the white clover plant is also associated with repelling snakes, though it didn't seem to work in the Garden of Eden!

Making a simple flower press and drying the clover that you find might make a fine gift for a friend who needs a little pick-me-up.

Whatever the reason, the next time you see a patch of clover on your lawn or in the park take a look and maybe you will find the luck of the Irish.

It might be a good deal but...

Now is the time for garage sales. There is nothing better than finding a bargain, but when is a bargain a problem in disguise.
Health Canada released this warning about the responsibilities of selling older, unapproved products, even if you sold it from your own driveway.
Everyone holding a garage sale is legally responsible for ensuring that products sold, whether new or used, are safe and meet current safety standards. It is important to only sell items that are in good condition. Damaged articles should be discarded.

Before selling a product at a garage sale, check with the manufacturer to see if it has been recalled and if the problem has been corrected. If it has been recalled and the problem has not been corrected, do not sell the product. Destroy it and throw it away.

The Hazardous Products Act is administered by Health Canada. It has safety requirements for certain consumer products, many of which are intended for use by children. Under the law you cannot import, sell, give away or distribute products that do not meet the requirements of the Hazardous Products Act.

The following is a partial list of products that must meet safety requirements under the Hazardous Products Act:

BABY GATES – Baby gates that have large diamond-shaped or large "V" openings at the top are not allowed to be sold in Canada. A child's head can get caught in these openings and the child could strangle. To meet the regulations, baby gates must come with information that identifies the manufacturer, model number, and the date of manufacture.

BABY WALKERS BANNED – Baby walkers have been illegal to sell since April 2004. Anyone with a baby walker is advised to destroy it..

CAR SEATS must meet the Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Standard. Before selling a used car seat, check with Transport Canada at 1-800-333-0371.

CHILDREN'S JEWELLERY – Lead is a soft, heavy, bluish-grey metal which is often used to make inexpensive jewellery. Lead is very toxic.. Jewellery containing lead which has a protective or decorative coating is not safe, since children can easily chew off the coating. If you are not sure if a children's jewellery product contains lead, it is wiser not to offer it for sale.

CHILDREN'S SLEEPWEAR – Loose-fitting sleepwear (including nightgowns, bathrobes, and loose pyjamas) burn more easily if made of cotton or cotton blends. To meet the flammability requirements, loose-fitting children's sleepwear should be made of polyester, nylon or polyester/ nylon blends. Cotton or cotton-blends may only be used for tight-fitting styles such as sleepers or polo pyjamas.

CRIBS – To meet the regulations, cribs must come with information that identifies the manufacturer, model number, date of manufacture and assembly instructions. Cribs made before September 1986 do not meet current safety standards and are not allowed to be sold under the law. It is also important that the mattress used in the crib fits snugly, with a gap of no more than 3 cm between the mattress and the crib. The spacing between the bars should be no more than 6 cm. Corner posts should be no more than 3 mm high. The mattress support must be firmly fixed to the end panels. Cribs that have a floating mattress support system with S or Z-shaped hooks are not safe. Cribs with visible signs of damage, missing parts, or missing warning information should be destroyed.

HOCKEY HELMETS AND FACE PROTECTORS sold in Canada must meet safety standards set by the Canadian Standards Association International (CSA). If the CSA sticker is not present throw the product away. .

LAWN DARTS BANNED – It is illegal to sell lawn darts with elongated tips in Canada.

PLAYPENS – Do not sell playpens that have protruding bolts, worn or faulty mechanisms, or torn vinyl or mesh. Playpen mesh must be small mosquito-type netting. When selling a folding playpen, ensure that all locking mechanisms work and set-up instructions are included..

STROLLERS – Carriages and strollers made before 1985 may not meet current safety standards and must not be sold. Strollers must come with a lap belt, or safety harness that is solidly attached to the seat or frame. Ensure the brakes, as well as locking mechanisms on folding models, are in working order.

BICYCLE AND ROLLERBLADING HELMETS are designed to protect the head against a single impact. It is not recommended to resell these products.

DRAWSTRINGS ON CHILDREN'S CLOTHING especially on snowsuits, jackets and sweatshirts, can become caught on playground equipment, fences or other objects. Drawstrings on children's clothing should be removed prior to sale.

WINDOW BLINDS – The cords and bead chains from blinds and curtains present two main strangulation hazards to children: pull-cords, inner cords, and bead chains forming a loop in which a child can get caught; and long cords being wrapped around a child's neck. Products with looped pull-cords, and those without inner cord stop devices and important safety labelling, should not be sold. Inner cord stops are small, plastic rings knotted to the top of the pull-cords, to stop the inner cords from being pulled through the slats. It is very important to keep blind and curtain pull-cords out of the reach of children, regardless of whether blinds are new or old.

INFANT BATH SEATS AND BATH RINGS – It is not recommended to resell these products because the suction cups or other means to attach them to a tub can be ineffective. Additionally, many people mistakenly believe that these products are safety devices and caregivers may think that the product will keep an unsupervised baby safe in the tub.
At this time of year, Health Canada reminds Canadians that along with the warmer weather comes garage sale season. This is not only a great time for bargains, but also a time to exercise caution both as a buyer and as a seller. Caution is required to protect the safety of consumers who may use second-hand products. In Canada, the safety laws that apply to the sale of new products also apply to the sale of used items. Under these laws, it is illegal to import, sell, or even give away products that do not meet the requirements of the Hazardous Products Act (HPA).

Vendors are responsible for ensuring that all items sold or distributed at garage sales, flea markets, and second-hand stores fulfill the applicable requirements of the Hazardous Products Act and the Radiation Emitting Devices Act (REDA). The REDA covers such items as microwave ovens, UV facial lamps and personal tanning equipment. Resold items must also meet current standards.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Consumer Product Safety,
Health Canada

Don't hold back the tears

From the ThirdAge website
Did you know that tears contain toxins? Sounds like crying may remove byproducts of stress from the body. What does this mean for mind-body health?
Humans are the only animals who shed tears of emotion. Why do we cry? Are there any physical or health benefits from crying?
Years of tears
"Until the Industrial Revolution, crying in public was pretty normal, even for men," says Tom Lutz, Ph.D., an associate professor of English at the University of Iowa and author of Crying: The Natural and Cultural History of Tears. "Heroic epics from Greek times through the Middle Ages are soggy with weeping of all sorts," Dr. Lutz says. "Through most of history, tearlessness has not been the standard of manliness."
For instance, when Roland, the most famous warrior of medieval France died, 20,000 other knights wept so profusely they fainted and fell from their horses. Long before that, the Greek warrior Odysseus cries in almost every chapter of Homer's Iliad while St. Francis of Assisi was said to have been blinded by weeping. Later, in the 16th century, sobbing openly at a play, opera or symphony was considered appropriately sensitive for men and women alike.
Tearless generations
The industrial age needed diligent, not emotional, workers. Crying was then delegated to privacy, behind closed doors. Children learned that weeping itself was the problem and not the result of a problem. People everywhere became more uncomfortable with public tears.
The purpose of crying
Throughout history and in every culture, people cry. "Weeping often occurs at precisely those times when we are least able to fully verbalize complex, overwhelming emotions and least able to fully articulate our feelings," Lutz writes.
Crying can also be an escape; it allows us to turn away from the cause of our anguish, and inward toward our own bodily sensations. Scientists feel that weeping is probably necessary because no human behavior has ever continuously evolved unless it somehow contributed to survival.
"Science has proven that stress is terrible for the health of your brain, heart and other organs," says William Frey II, Ph.D., biochemist and tear expert of the Ramsey Medical Center in Minnesota. "It isn't proven yet, but weeping has most likely served humans throughout our evolutionary history by reducing stress."

Studying the waterworks
In one oft-quoted study, Frey studied five different groups of people. The people kept records of all emotional and irritant crying episodes for a period of 30 days. Information such as date, time, duration, reason for crying, thoughts, emotions and physical components, such as "lump in throat," watery eyes vs. flowing tears, etc.
Frey found that 94 percent of the females had an emotional crying episode in the 30-day recording period, as compared with only 55 percent of the males. Eighty-five percent of women and 73 percent of men reported feeling better and more relieved after a good cry. Dr. Frey's lab also chemically examined tears produced by onions and compared them with emotional tears. While chemical tears (caused by onions) were 98 percent water, emotional tears contained more toxins.
Why do people produce tears?
Tears are secreted through a duct, a process much like urination or exhalation. Frey believes that like these other processes, tearing may be involved in removing waste products or toxic substances from the body. .
"Crying is natural, healthy and curative," according to Barry M. Bernfeld, Ph.D., director of the Primal Institute in Los Angeles. "[But] crying which should be the most natural, accepted way of coping with pain, stress, and sorrow is hardly mentioned in psychiatric literature. Now we seem finally to recognize that crying is good for people."

Nerd bagel box

We saw this idea on the Lifehacker website under their MacGyver tips and thought it was pretty good. It involves using a CD spindle case as a plastic container to carry a sandwich made from a bage. Just be sure to wash out the case before you use it. A 10-CD spindle fits one bagel , a 50 CD-spindle can carry up to three!
Because the lid locks there is no fear of the bagel(s) falling out and they can't be crushed.

Picnic safely

The weather is getting warm and thoughts turn to leaving the house for the afternoon, why not have a picnic.
Picnics can take on many forms, such as the community picnic, friends and neighbors, tailgate parties, or ball games. There is also one sure thing at every picnic-lots of good food. The important point is to have safe and healthy food, not food that can cause food borne illness. Always prepare and store food properly. These tips are from the What's Cooking America website.

* As always, wash hands and work areas before preparing food.

* Plan your menu with an eye to safe food handling. Cook foods in plenty of time to thoroughly chill them in shallow containers in the refrigerator.

* Have enough coolers with ice or frozen gel packs in which to store the perishable foods like meat, poultry, fish, eggs and salads. You want to keep the food at 40 degrees F. Pack foods right from the refrigerator into the coolers.

* Don't put the cooler in the car trunk; Carry it inside an air-conditioned car. At picnics, keep the cooler in the shade and keep the lid closed. Replenish the ice if it melts.

* Use a separate cooler for drinks so the one containing the food won't constantly be opened and closed.

* Find out if there's a source of safe drinking water at your destination. If not, bring water for preparation and cleaning; or pack clean, wet, disposable cloths or moist towelettes and paper towels for cleaning hands and surfaces. Cross-contamination during preparation, grilling, and serving food is a prime cause of food borne illness.

* Pack raw meats, poultry, or seafood on the bottom of the cooler. This will reduce the risk of them dripping on other foods. Pack coolers until they are full. A full cooler will stay cold longer than one that is partially full.

* If you plan on getting takeout foods such as fried chicken, Eat them within an hour of pick up.

* Do not partially grill extra meat or poultry to use later. Once you begin, cook until completely done to assure bacteria are destroyed. Grill raw poultry until the juices run clear and there is no pink. Hamburger should not be pink in the center.

* When taking food off the grill, Don't put the cooked items on the same platter which held the raw meat unless you have washed the platter in between uses.

* Two Hour Rule. Don't leave perishable food un-refrigerated for more than two hours. Put perishable foods back in the cooler or refrigerator as soon as you finish eating. Don't leave them out while you go for a swim or a hike, and don't leave them out all afternoon to nibble on.

* Chances are, picnic leftovers have been sitting out for more than an hour or two. Discard these leftovers. Cold food that were kept in a cooler that still has ice may be safe. If the ice has melted, the food should be discarded.

Finally scrub out the coolers afterward with a mild dilution of bleach to get rid of any bacteria left over from spills or drippings from the food, meat in particular.

Don't poison the family safely store leftovers

Common sense some times forgets the kitchen when you are in a rush or if you are hungry. Leftovers is a champion comfort food mainly because it normally tastes better the second day. The problem is what happened to the food after the first day.

The following information is from A Rutgers Cooperative Extension Fact Sheet
Leftover" foods are cooked foods that you or your family do not eat within 2 hours after they are cooked. Leftovers include foods that you may eat before or after they have been stored in the refrigerator or freezer. The chance of food poisoning increases the longer you store a food after it is cooked. Improper handling or storing cooked food is one of the most common causes of food poisoning in the home.

The careful cook can reduce this threat by following the guidelines below for storing, reheating, and disposing of leftover foods.

Storing Leftovers

All cooked foods should be reheated to 165° F, refrigerated, or frozen within 2 hours after cooking. In hot weather, that time limit is only 1 hour. Remember that the "safe" period starts after the food is cooked. It includes the time that the food sits before being served and the time it sits on the table while the meal is being eaten. This period lasts until the food is actually in the refrigerator or freezer.

Remember to wash your hands with soap and water before handling any cooked food, especially food you store to eat later. Use clean utensils to handle the food, and store it in clean containers. Do not put food back into the same container it was in before it was cooked, unless you have carefully cleaned the container with soap and water. Do not place food on a counter or cutting board before refrigerating or freezing, unless you have carefully cleaned the surface beforehand.

You should place foods to be refrigerated or frozen in small, shallow containers, 3 inches tall or less, and cover them completely. Don't stack these containers right next to other containers, but leave some air space around them. By using shallow containers and by leaving air space around the containers you can promote rapid, even cooling of the food. When you refrigerate or freeze cooked food in a large, deep container, the food in the center of the container remains warm for a longer time. Dangerous bacteria may grow in this warm spot without making the food look or smell bad. If you eat this food later, you may get food poisoning.

Never taste leftovers that are of questionable age or safety.

As a general rule, never keep leftovers for more than 4 days.

Remember to remove the stuffing from cooked poultry and refrigerate or freeze it separately. You should do this because the stuffing in the center of the bird can stay warm long enough for food poisoning bacteria to grow. By removing the stuffing and placing it in its own container, you allow it to cool more rapidly.

If you date leftovers before refrigerating them, this can help you ensure they don't remain in your refrigerator too long.

Mobile Snacking?

Think interpersonal communication is going to Hell in a handbasket?
This press release from Palm Canada identifies what appears to be a new term for the technology challenged set. However it is a realistic portrait of the new world order.

“Always On” Canadian Professionals Build Bite-sized Entertainment into Busy Schedules

TORONTO, May 16, 2007 – While you’d be hard-pressed to find many young adults without a cell phone in hand these days, is it all work and no play when it comes to mid-aged Canadians and mobile technology? Hardly. According to a new Palm Canada/Leger Marketing study, tech-savvy “30-to-50-somethings” are active consumers of wireless entertainment, grabbing quick nibbles of fun time during those “whenever” minutes throughout a hectic work day -- what’s referred to as “mobile snacking.”

Three in five (60 per cent) respondents surveyed consider themselves “always on” between family and work commitments. The same amount say that communication technology is key to balancing personal and professional commitments. More than half of Canadian professionals polled credit technologies such as cell phones and PDAs for keeping them connected at work, and one in five (20 per cent) say they rely on an “all-in-one” device such as a smartphone to balance their social and professional lives.

And while 71 per cent of those surveyed say that technology helps them get and stay ahead in their careers, it isn’t all about email. Almost half (45 per cent) also use PDAs, cell phones and laptops to unwind in their leisure time. In fact, 44 per cent of people surveyed use their mobile device to listen to MP3s, one in five (19 per cent) are checking out videos, and 10 per cent even admit to checking updates on social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace.

“As on-the-go Canadians consume content in bite-size, easy-to-digest portions, mobile snacking is becoming more mainstream,” says Michael Moskowitz, vice president, Americas International, Palm, Inc. “From news alerts to watching videos to sending emails, downloading information is becoming as common as downing a granola bar.”

Trends such as mobile snacking appear to be the result of working extended hours and adopting mobile lifestyles. Working beyond the traditional 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. workday is not uncommon for Canadians; over a quarter (27 per cent) surveyed admitted to working 10 hours a day or more.


Additional Fast Facts


Mobile snacking habits – that’s entertainment

- 73 per cent admit emailing on a mobile device is a form of entertainment
- 44 per cent report using mobile technology for text messaging and listening to MP3s
- 33 per cent report using mobile technology for listening to the radio
- 19 per cent report using mobile technology to watch videos

Career commitment – working for more than the weekend

- 76 per cent check email outside their work day
- 60 per cent admit to being “always on”
- 28 per cent take Saturdays off but tend to work on Sundays
- 58 per cent check email/voicemail before going to bed at night
- 37 per cent confess to doing work while attending a social or family engagement
- 27 per cent have responded to email during dinner

Mobile devices – it’s personal

- 89 per cent agreed the easier the technology, the more likely they are to use it
- 52 per cent feel they can afford innovative, high-end communications technologies
- 24 per cent say that they are defined by the tech devices they use

Honey, the perfect food?

From the website Healthbot, a serious case is made for using honey a little more liberally in the household.

Honey has been consumed by humans for 2,500 years and it’s still got the right stuff. Check it out:

1. Honey is mostly known as a sweetener. It contains about 69% glucose and fructose.
2. Honey is a universal source of energy that provides 64 calories per tablespoon. (One tablespoon of sugar will give you about 50 calories.) The sugars in honey are easily converted into glucose by even the most sensitive stomachs.
3. Honey contains a variety of vitamins and minerals. The vitamin and mineral content of honey depends on the type of flowers pollen was gathered from during the making process.
4. Good for your skin: milk and honey are often served together. Both of these help smooth and sooth skin.
5. Honey has anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties. It has traditionally been used as a natural treatment for wounds, burns and ulcers. In recent years there has been renewed interest in the medicinal properties of honey for wound care.
6. Honey is an excellent ergogenic aid and can boost the performance of athletes. Honey helps maintain blood sugar levels, muscle recuperation and glycogen restoration after a workout. During the ancient Olympics, athletes ate honey and dried figs, to enhance their performance.
7. Antioxidants: Honey contains nutraceuticals, which are effective in removing free radicals from our body. As a result, our body immunity is improved.
8. Honey can help control cholesterol levels and type II diabetes. In a series of experiments involving healthy subjects and those with either high cholesterol or type 2 diabetes, honey has proved itself the healthiest sweetener.
9. Phytonutrients found both in honey and propolis (or ‘bee glue’, which is found in raw honey) have been shown to possess cancer-preventing and anti-tumor properties. These substances include caffeic acid methyl caffeate, phenylethyl caffeate, and phenylethyl dimethylcaffeate. Researcher has shown these substances to prevent colon cancer in animals by shutting down activity of the enzymes, phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C and lipoxygenase.

Case for a helmet

From the Capital Time in Madison, Wisconson

Bike helmet crushed, but head fine

Mary Yeater Rathbun — 5/12/2007 9:27 am

A white paneled delivery truck ran over a UW-Madison graduate student's head on Division Street Friday afternoon and, except for a concussion, he wasn't hurt.

Ryan Lipscomb, 26, said he was riding his bicycle pretty fast down the East Isthmus Bike Path where it parallels Eastwood Drive on Madison's east side just before 3 p.m. Eastwood had a green light, so the crosswalk for the bike path showed a white walk sign, Lipscomb said.

He saw the large truck, the kind that usually makes deliveries to offices, coming down Eastwood, preparing to make a right turn onto Division Street. Lipscomb said he could tell the truck wasn't going to stop. So Lipscomb slammed on his brakes, flipping his bike and throwing himself into the street. He landed right at the intersection of Eastwood and Division.

The truck ran over his head.

"I didn't see it coming, but I sure felt it roll over my head. It feels really strange to have a truck run over your head."

His helmet, a Giro, was crushed, but Lipscomb's head was fine.

Madison Police Department Sgt. Chris Boyd said the officer at the scene urged Lipscomb to keep the helmet. He did. It is all flattened and mangled and broken, unlike his head.

Even though the truck did not stop, Boyd initially refused to call the incident a hit-and-run. She said the police were not sure that the truck driver knew that someone had been hit. But Sgt. Bernie Gonzalez said later in the evening that the accident report calls it a hit-and-run.

Lipscomb agrees with Gonzalez.

"The truck driver definitely would have known. You know when you run over a curb and my head was definitely higher than a curb." Moreover, Lipscomb said, he was already in the street as the truck was turning. "He had to have seen me."

He was taken to University Hospital, but was released by about 6 p.m. "I'm OK except for a concussion," he said Friday night about 10 p.m.

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.

Valuables in the Attic?

The British Artiques Roadshow Tour of the Dominion for 2007 begins this Spring with a repeat Roadshow at the KOZLOV CENTRE in Barrie on the 16^th-17^th April 2007

In keeping with the spirit of will be more than one hundred shows for the experts they offer up highlights of what they have found on their nation-wide tours.

• The single most valuable find.

Paintings: $1.2 million dollar Courbet a $750,000.00 Manet

32 Group of Seven works, 2 Renoirs and a Dufy.

• The biggest Boo Boo

A Picasso plate – dropped by the owner!

• The next biggest Boo Boo!

The lady with an $18,000 Moorcroft vase who had given all the others away to Mums friends as mementoes after mothers death! She gave away about 20 in all!

• The next biggest catastrophe!

The lady who cleaned both her Dutch oil paintings by Jacob Maris with VIM as she was too house proud to bring them in Dirty!

Bye bye to 28 grand. Each!.

• The Most difficult items to prove legitimate:

The Zulu spear that it is claimed killed Napoleon III.

The owner wondered if DNA could help but added, that the spear had been kept in a garden shed and used by Granddad for fifty years for digging up weeds in the lawn!

• Silliest item.

There was a rock from a beach in BC that the owner was certain was the worlds earliest primitive tool!

• The most incredible - by the skin of your teeth stories:

Grandfather escaped the Nazi occupation of Paris taking with him only what he could carry. He’d always told his Granddaughter that an old print was her inheritance and ‘she must look at it very, very closely one day.’ She’d always dismissed it as the old mans tale.

Not so, we spotted a bulge in the back of the frame and hidden behind the print was Renoir drawing! Her $70,000.00 inheritance!

Another inheritance story. Two prints by Sir Arthur Elsley mistakenly thought to be paintings were brought in by a road worker. Explaining that Elsley only did very large pictures and these 2 were 1980’s lithos, he told us of a much bigger one under the bed! He fetched it in the back of his pick up in the rain!

Bingo: $150,000.00!

Brush away the clouds

Since we are in the cleaning mode. And by the way don't forget the green cleaning stuff mentioned earlier, here is a tip about cleaning up those clear water tumblers that have turned opaque.
Soaking glassware in vinegar works for awhile, but maybe you noticed the stains come back even worse. We found the same thing with the mugs we use for tea.
Try brushing the goop away with toothpaste. And actually the cheap stuff works better.
Get an old toothbrush and scrub away at the stains and the clouds and stains clear. Remember to use paste not gels.
And to prove the miracle of toothpaste, fix up your scratched CDs by polishing them with a small amount of paste and a soft, damp cloth.
It won't prevent cavities, but it might bring back that old Flock of Seagulls CD.

The pain of Spring cleaning

The snow is disappearing and you can hear the birds again.
That usually means plans are afoot, at least you are starting to plan anyway, about the annual
Spring Clean.
Remember this means you have to use your muscles, don't take yourself out of the game before you start, just keep these three things in mind.

• Gently stretch each muscle group for at least 60 seconds before and after you finish your cleaning.
  
• Hydrate! Lots of water or an electrolyte containing sports drink.
• Ice the worked muscle group immediately after especially heavy lifting, maybe with a glass of wine or something. Remember you want to keep this fun or nobody will want to help you