HOUSEHOLD TIPS NOT FOUND IN WOMAN'S WEEKLY

[Stanley]

It struck me this morning that one of the side benefits of doing my cleaning routine on the sink each morning is that my hands get a mild dose of bleach. Tiz tells us that infection picked up on our hands is a major vector of disease and illness. I wonder whether this is a bigger benefit than I suspected?

[chinatyke]

It struck me this morning that one of the side benefits of doing my cleaning routine on the sink each morning is that my hands get a mild dose of bleach. Tiz tells us that infection picked up on our hands is a major vector of disease and illness. I wonder whether this is a bigger benefit than I suspected?

Or less of a benefit according to this article: Microbes are needed

[Stanley]

Yes, and in the right place I let them alone but the ones that arrive in food preparation (Especially meat), handling public hand rails and doorknobs and anything to do with defecation can be safely killed. That's why in certain areas, like the sink, lavatory, food preparation surfaces and chopping boards I aim for sterility.

[Stanley]

I've always had this glitch in the way my brain is wired where if I have something to do, remember it and don't do it immediately it gets wiped from my memory. For instance, yesterday I needed to pick up my medication from the chemist's. I remembered first thing in the morning but knew I would forget it so what I did was put the empty pill bottle on the draining board and when I had done my early morning walk that reminded me to put my keys next to it. I need the keys to go out of the house for the later walk so the fact that they were with the pill bottle reminded me. I do the same for other things, bit like tying a knot in the corner of your handkerchief.

[Bodger]

My reminder is to put my wrist watch on the other hand, when you check the time it's on the wrong hand and you say to yourself why ?

[Marilyn]

(Ha!) I always pop my Laundry Basket in the passage, because I shut the laundry door to keep the noise of the washer down whilst hubby is working and taking phone calls, and I can forget there was a load on! Seeing the basket sat there, where it shouldn't be, reminds me to check the washing is done and hang it out. Nowt worse than finding a damp load of washing hours after it could have been hung out and dried.

[Cathy]

I keep a pink laundry peg to hand and place it where I can see it. It reminds me to bring the washing in or clean the kitty-litter, put the bin out, all sorts of things. I just know when I see that there's something I have to do.

[Stanley]

Lovely! I had an idea that we might all have a version of that one! I don'r wear a wrist watch but that's a good reason for doing so!

[plaques]

After spending £millions on education why don't people use these new found skills and write it down on one the the ubiquitous 'post it' papers and stick it where you can see it. Like on the end of your nose. Then you have the advantage that others will comment on what you have to do next!

[Marilyn]

We don't waste trees, Plaques. My old laundry basket, and Cazza's pink peg, will last longer than us! Might even be able to leave them to someone special...

[Tizer]

I think it was in a Lynne Truss novel where there was a man living alone who left himself lots of post-it notes around the house as reminders. He had one stuck on the cat which said: `Feed the cat'.

Like many of you, I resort to strategies to help my memory and the `thing out of place' is the one used regularly. I remember in the old days my mum had a card that said `Switch off immersion heater' - she was always frightened of leaving it on, not just because of the cost but also the perceived danger - she never did understand thermostats!

[PanBiker]

Immersion heaters and thermostats. While we were doing up our first house I installed a new plastic cold water tank to replace the original zinc one in the cistern cupboard. With us both working before we got married we worked on the house in the evenings. I had a job in Barlick mid afternoon so I took the opportunity of popping in and switching the immersion heater on so that we would have hot water in the evening. I went round and picked Sally up from work in Skipton, we had a quick tea at my mum and dads and then went up to work on the house.

I knew something was wrong when I got out of the van. There was the noise of clattering and banging and when I opened the front door the house was full of steam. Approaching the bathroom where all the racket was coming from I could see straight away that my shiny new grey plastic header tank was trying to bulge it's way out of the top of the cistern cupboard. Boiling hot water was splashing all over the place and It was clear that there was something sadly wrong. The thermostat was faulty and the expansion system was circulating hot water back into the cold header tank. Nothing to stop the cycle and the header tank had got up to the same temperature as the cistern below. Hence its bid for freedom from its cubby hole above it was sticking out about a foot. I knocked of the power and when everything had come off the boil turned on the hot taps to get some cold water back into the system.

I ended up replacing the whole lot again and I had to remove the damaged tank by cutting it up to get it out of the cupboard.

[Stanley]

Today's tip. Don't leave the damper drawn on the back boiler of the kitchen fire when you go out. It will boil the water in the system and damage it.

[Tizer]

Immersion heaters and thermostats....

When my dad got to 90 years old he was still using thermostats OK but it all went to pot when he moved into the care home. He'd been used to a room stat which had the figures on the box and the pointer on a central disc, so you turned the disc clockwise to raise the temperature setting. The one in his care home room worked the opposite way: the figures were on the disc and the pointer was on the box, so you turned it anticlockwise for more heat. He never got used to this. When he felt cold he would turn it clockwise but of course didn't get any heat, so he'd turn it even further clockwise. We tried putting arrows on the stat to help him but, no, his brain was hard-wired to the old stat. It's the type of problem that care homes and carers need to keep in mind.

[Stanley]

That's a good one, I had never thought about that but of course you are quite right.
The damper control on the kitchen fire had a built in indicator, if the loop that you shoved the poker through was down the damper was open and drawing through the gap under the boiler. At Napier Road, because it was a three storey house and a good draught you had the added benefit of the noise of it drawing!

[Stanley]

Resist the urge to wash hard to dry items like loose covers on the first summer day. Just enjoy the ride!

[Stanley]

I was thinking about my Friday shopping and reflecting on the fact that my weekly visit to Kath at the butchers is as much a social occasion as anything else. My veggie shopping at Chaudrey's is the same. I try to speak to all the ladies at the Pioneer Store but it isn't the same. So today's tip is use your local small shops and talk to the owners. It pays off in the end and if we don't use them we shall lose them!

[Stanley]

We all have vicissitudes to deal with, everything from bereavement to bills. It struck me this morning that all these can be dealt with. The real bummer is bad health. As long as we are able to maintain our health, everything in the garden is rosy! So work at getting rid of the small matters, deal with the larger ones and look after your health!

[Stanley]

I'm a big fan of Woman's Hour on BBC R4 and often think it should be compulsory listening for men especially politicians. They have a 'no subject is off limits' policy and the programme can be vary informative on subjects that aren't usually aired in public. Of late they have covered coercive domestic abuse, menstruation and the menopause. Even a well travelled bloke like me can be enlightened at times. Us blokes are so lucky in many ways, I know a lady who has entered the menopause and one of the consequences is that she is suffering violent migraines. If men had this problem there would be an immediate world-wide research programme funded by governments but as far as I can see all it's getting in most quarters is a shrug of the shoulders. So there is no tip today, just a message to the ladies that some of us are aware and care about these things.....
By the way, the presenters are wonderful and Jenni Murray is God!! (BIO)

[plaques]

Just reading a biography on Mikhail Gorbachev. After marrying Raisa his mother in law disapproved of him. He got up early one morning and popped into the kitchen and asked " is there anything I can do?" something that Russian men never did. Her response later in a comment to Raisa was " is he some kind of Jew?". This was meant as a compliment, Jewish men were known for being caring towards their wives. We can all learn something from everybody.

[chinatyke]

This was meant as a compliment, Jewish men were known for being caring towards their wives. We can all learn something from everybody.

My youngest stepdaughter is married to a Jewish man in California and he is the nicest person you could ever meet. Born in Persia, he was part of a persecuted minority and his family lost all their possessions to the Iranian Revolution (1979?) before they fled to USA when he was 6.

[Marilyn]

There is a lot of information available regarding the menopause. What I wish was available is more information about how men age. Some men age well, others don't. It is the wives who bear the brunt of that.
Why is it that some men become grumpy old "b's"?

[Stanley]

I don't know the answer to that one Maz...... I can't see the point in being grumpy, that is unless you are being oined by someone you don't want to bother with. A bit of grumpy can be useful then!

[chinatyke]

Why is it that some men become grumpy old "b's"?

Why is it that some old men (and women) are OLD whilst others are young? Are the "old" old men the GOBs?

[Marilyn]

I think some men fall in a heap after retirement. The trick is to have an interest or hobby.
( I'm still trying to get mine to cook - partly because I go through periods of hating cooking. )
Not that I'm saying I have a grumpy husband (though he has his grumpy moments). He is still working (from home), but he has no hobbies that will become more of an interest when he does retire. It would be nice if something interested him, otherwise I'm going to be tripping over him all day.