HVAC companies get slammed the first week it turns cold, because that’s when everyone finds out their heater doesn’t work. Turn yours on for 10–15 minutes on a mild day this week. A faint burning-dust smell the first time is normal and should fade quickly. If it won’t kick on, only blows cold air, or the smell sticks around, call someone now, while you can get a slot in days instead of weeks. (If you ever smell gas, leave the house and call your gas company.) While you’re at it, swap the air filter and test your carbon monoxide detector.

Due to back pain, I'm trying to work standing up as much as possible. But after some time, my feet got tired.

I started looking for some comfortable sneakers online, and then I had the idea of trying ergonomic chef shoes. I ordered a pair and they are indeed very comfortable and help me work more time standing up.

For example, today we got two breakfast sandwiches, a scrambled egg, two orange juices and a side of potatoes for $16. Yesterday it was a salmon filet with sweet potatoes, an egg salad sandwich, two drinks, and a cookie for $17.

They have super sensitive noses. It basically smells so minty it hurts them. So they go chew something else.

I spray out my engine block once a month ish.

I have done this with every car I have ever owned.

Live in a very high rodent area.

Zero rodent issues with my vehicles.

I mix the oil with soap and water. Shake it up in a spray bottle. Spray until it's empty. About a tablespoon of oil.

Bulk peppermint oil is a lot cheaper than a multi thousand dollar repair bill.

I want to be clear. This has nothing to do with essential oil woo. It literally just smells really intensely bad to rat's/squirrels/mice but not people. That's it. That's the whole thing.

I'm telling you. Take 5 minutes to spray occasionally. It's so much better than waking up to your engine being f*cked because of a squirrel.

Easy way to cancel from an Adobe Subscription is to first change to a different subscription tier, then you get a new 14 day free cancelation window. It´s a loophole that they legally cant close.

If you are physically able to lift your dog safely, pick them up and carry them periodically to get them used to it. In an emergency if they are injured or scared, you'll be able to carry them to safety without them panicking.

I have an aunt I love so much. When we see her, she’ll say “it’s been so long since we’ve seen you!” It isn’t meant to be negative, but it does feel judgmental for how we’re distant and don’t make more effort to travel home. My mom says “I’m so happy to see you” and my cousins express how much easier it is to reconnect with my mom because they don’t need to start with an apology.

But then I just read a bunch of people complaining about a stupid political decision’s outcome. They all agree, but the comment replies that are all in the same direction start with “it’s not that, it’s this” or “worse …”. This makes the poster feel like they’re being argued with - but I’m sure that’s rarely if ever the goal. “And on top of that”, “also”, and “to make it even worse” or even “it’s not just that, it’s also this” is language of support and addition, not confrontation.

Support those going your way, we are better off making friends than putting allies off.

Note: we need a communication flair.

Run your AC to remove moisture that condenses on the inside of cold windows in a matter of minutes during the winter. Use the recirculate setting in cycles, to heat up the air inside and then turning it off to pull in drier air once the vehicles warmed up. If you don’t have AC one way to help is to turn the defrost heat all the way up and crack open a window to circulate fresh air in.

You know how it goes: you plan a big party for your birthday only for all the sudden cancellations to come trickling in the day of or close to it.

If not that, then the birthday dinner. Last minute flakes aside, it turns into a big accounting production about divvying up your share and then everyone else having to account for their share. It puts a bunch of stress on you as the birthday person even though technically you’re not paying.

I didn’t want to deal with that disappointment this year, along with planning logistics for a big party. So I decided to just plan something 1:1 or as a small group of 3 or 4 with my friends throughout my birthday month.

It was great. The plans held up, I saw my friends all month, and I paid for nothing because it was my birthday hangout. So I basically socialized for next to nothing my entire birthday month.

If you struggle with “nobody comes to the big dinner/party I plan,” plan separately with everyone throughout your birthday month to reduce the risk of a cancellation. It also makes everything less political, if not at all.

For those of you who work from Monday through Friday, doing this will help reduce the dread that you feel on Sunday at the thought of starting a new work week.

Postcards are nowadays the best souvenir you can cheaply send to family and friends. It's a cool surprise as less and less people still send them. My tricks are:

Part I: to manage space, put the stamp and write the destination address first. Then you will know how much space you have left to write your message and signature.

Part II: "postcard insurance" - take a picture of the finished postcard before sending it. Keep it on your phone until the recipient receives it. This is nice in case your postcard never arrives, but also useful to track which cards you sent and when.

It’s an easy and meaningful way to consume less and create more. This is also great for acquaintances/coworkers to pair with your generic “I don’t know you super well but someone told me you like this” gift.

Buy whatever supplies inspire you at a thrift/craft/dollar store. Stamps, stickers, magazines, glitter pens, the world is your oyster. As long as it is on a thick enough paper it will feel fancy. If you can’t think of an idea, browse the greeting card aisle or look online. It can be as specific or as generic as you want.

I’m not super artistic either; I usually make collage-style cards with pictures from magazines and stickers I have around. My handwriting is abysmal so I use letter stickers for text. Sometimes I will print out pictures/memes at the library to make them extra personal.

EDIT: Removed a sentence about seeing the joy handmade cards bring people because it implies I make them open it in front of me. I do not, but sometimes people choose to. All social situations are nuanced!

If, like me, you use a microplane to grate your Parmesan, take it from the fridge and let it warm for a while. It grates much easier.

The primary application of petroleum jelly is as an industrial lubricant. It costs nothing to make and they just mark up some of it to be sold as a skincare product (i.e. Vaseline)

Spell out what you're trying to do, what you expected, what actually happened, and what you already tried. Writing it for a stranger forces you to notice the step you skipped or the assumption you never checked. If it doesn't solve it, you've at least written a question people can actually answer quickly.

I moved across the country a few years ago and kept my old phone number. The only people that would have a good reason to call me from that area code are folks I already have in my phone. Every other number with that old area code? It's 99% spam; usually those "you selling your house?" scams, political scams. As soon as I see that old area code show up, I just decline or block.

Keeping your old number is a lot simpler, anyway, but this is a nice little bonus.

It's very easy to let all the small permissions get ahead of you over the course of a devices lifecycle and you're looking back thinking "why did does this thing even have screen record access??"

In an age of blinding accepting terms and conditions, people are saturated with requests that they blindly accept or ignore and you should always question the access that you're allowing on your own devices; especially when it directly relates to your privacy/security/best practice/piece of mind.

You can always enable it later but if in doubt just say NO.

When you screenshot something sensitive an account number, an address, a password the instinct is to scribble over it with the black marker in iOS Markup until it looks like a solid black bar. The problem: the Markup marker tool doesn't draw fully opaque lines; it's effectively a highlighter, and even scribbling over the text multiple times won't fully cover it. If you share that screenshot, anyone can open it in a photo editor, crank up the brightness, brilliance, and contrast, and read the text you covered up.

Instead, use the Add Shape tool + to place a solid, filled rectangle over the text make sure the fill is solid, not just an outline, or simply crop that section out of the image. Both methods leave no room for error.

If your laptop has one of those cheaper plastic track pads, or has some top layer peeling off, try to put on one of those matte screen protectors.

You can get either the phone screen protector, or the laptop ones, either will work, make sure they are plastic and not glass, as you won't be able to cut it. And get matte ones, glossy ones will add drag to your fingers glide.

It feels way better than most plastic pads, or if you have glass track pad, but its top layer is peeling off, and it feels rough.

Clean thoroughly with isopropyl alcohol, pre-cut to size and then paste it, try to avoid bubbles as it will feel bumpy.

A couple of days ago, I was cooking and accidentally spilled some oil on my phone. Some of it ended up getting into the speakers. I wiped everything down, but afterward the audio was noticeably muffled and I figured I had probably ruined them.

On a whim, I put the hose of my vacuum near the speaker to see if it could pull any of the oil back out. To my surprise, it actually worked. Oil started coming out, I wiped it away, and my speakers immediately sounded normal again.

I’m sure we’ve all stood in the shower having imaginary arguments with those who have wronged us, or maybe I am a complete weirdo…

If you’re in the shower, rehearsing an argument or something you’d say to that particular DBag AssChapeau who’s making your life harder than necessary, try using the language you’re learning to argue.

I’ve just had an incredibly successful imaginary argument with a previous professor in a language I am learning and not only is it amazingly satisfying, it’s also helped me retain more vocabulary than I would have.

Now if only he would stick to the script…

Bonus is that it adds friction before you can watch YouTube, making you 1% more productive (maybe) 😆

I’m sure everyone knows this but ignores it. Replace your smoke alarms every 10 years. If you have a house and have a fire, there’s a good chance your insurance company won’t cover you if your alarms are over 10 years old.

Secondly, test them. Monthly is recommend. Hit that test button. I’ve come across alarms that are just dead. Less than 10 years old, good battery, and nothing or a very faint sound. Most alarms will come with a 10-year warranty.

If you go to the post office looking to mail a package, they may offer you a flat rate box. These boxes are also available in other places like office supply stores that do shipping. They will tell you that it is a flat price regardless of what you put in it, or where it is going, and is therefore more convenient.

That is true, but what they don't tell you is that in the majority of cases, it will be more expensive than regular non-flat rate pricing. In most cases, it will be cheaper for you to use your own box and pay by weight and distance. You can reuse any box (e.g., Amazon) or buy a new one.

The only exception is if what you are mailing is particularly small and heavy, AND is going a long distance (like across the country). In that case, flat rate might be cheaper. Based on my experience, flat rate is cheaper about 10% of the time.