Category Archives: My Posts

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Get that True Cinnamon Flavor!

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I really like Cinnamon flavored foods, particularly, breads, cakes, pancakes, and ice cream. And I like it “straight”, that is, with no other items added, such as nuts, apple pieces, raisins, peanuts, or peanut butter.

Unfortunately, foods with just cinnamon added are quite rare, and, when I do find them, the amount of cinnamon is often very small, so you don’t get much of a cinnamon taste.

Luckily, cinnamon is sold separately, so, if you do it yourself, you can have those foods with cinnamon and only cinnamon! Pancakes is one example. My mom made cinnamon pancakes for me a few times when I was younger and they were great. Just by adding cinnamon to the batter. Now, if you’re like me, I don’t always want the hassle of making the batter itself. But there is a solution. You can find batter in a plastic container, usually where the pancake mixes are kept in the store. You just add water and shake and your batter is ready. Just add the cinnamon and you’re all set. I tried this recently and the pancakes came out great!

This can also be done when baking a cake. Just add the cinnamon to the cake mix before baking. For bread, cookies, and, if you know how to make ice cream, this can be done. And since you are the one adding the cinnamon, you get to decide how much to add and can avoid adding too little. And you don’t have to add the apple, raisins, or other things that stores and bakeries insist on adding that we cinnamon purists just cannot stand!

If you’re not into doing it yourself, you may want to give it a try. Lots of people you know may be able to give you hints about cooking that will help, and there’s always the internet and the library.

So now, you can get that true cinnamon flavor! Yea!

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Thanks for reading! 🙂

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Is The Advice in that Article Really for You?

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You’re in the job market and you’re looking for a position as a cake decorator for a small mom-and-pop neighborhood bakery. You spot an article on the internet regarding interviewing techniques or what to put on your resume and how to say it. The article is on a reputable career guidance website. The article mentions all kinds of things like SEO (Search Engine Optimization), and “Keywords” for your resume. Or how you should walk in a certain way, make or not make certain gestures, and try to read the interviewer’s state of mind by how he or she acts.

How good is this advice for you? 

Well, the problem is that much advice is often centered on a target audience that usually fits a certain criteria. I’ve found that most career advice centers around getting that mid to upper level office job in a well-known non-manufacturing firm. This is where your resume would be scanned by the HR department, where they will often be looking for keywords,  and where the interviewer may not be the person you would be working for and where the decision to hire you or not is almost entirely subjective and often made by those not even connected to the department you would be working in!

The bakery owner is probably not interested in SEO or keyword on your resume and is also the person who would be looking it over, and interviewing you. And, should you be called in for an interview, he or she is probably going to base the decision to hire on whether you can decorate a cake to their liking or not, and doesn’t care that your tie or earrings may not be the best color. He or she is just looking for someone who can decorate a cake, period.

Can the advice you get from articles like this help you even if it doesn’t addresses your case to a T? The answer is, in most cases, yes! If you use the things that the article focuses on and modify them to fit your situation.

On your resume, for instance, while you may not know what keywords a corporate recruiter would look for, you would know what a bakery owner is looking for in a cake decorator and what terms the bakery owner might use and recognize. Having these on your resume, and using the words in the interview will tell the bakery owner that you are at least familiar with baking terms and that he or she can give you instructions using those terms knowing you won’t need to have them explained to you.

And it’s not just articles about job hunting that can help. An article about saving money may  talk about a “latte factor’, saying that one can save a lot of money over the course of a year if they just give up having that $3.50 latte on the way to work each morning. You may not have a latte factor, but you can use, and give up, that morning donut or Friday night beer or that 3rd movie you go to see each month in order to save money in the same way the article talks about.

Sometimes an article that looks like it may have advice that, while it may be good advice, may have nothing for you no matter how much you think about it and read it. But before you toss an article’s advice out of your head completely, do think about how it may apply to you if you mentally modify things to fit your situation. You may be surprised!

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Thank you for reading! 🙂

Unknown's avatar

Disconnect a Little!

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You may have noticed that many people today have things plugged into them, or they’re plugged into things, as the case may be. You’ve seen them. The guy crossing the street with earplugs in his ears, and maybe texting at the same time. You may even notice that when you get together with friends or family, that one or more of them may have a smart phone and a tablet or small laptop with them, and, in some cases, they may insist on texting or typing away on the tablet while they’re talking to you!

And of course, we’ve seen the commercials showing the dangers of texting while driving and the foolishness that can result when texting and walking, like the person shown falling into the fountain.

And, I’ve heard at least two commentators say that, in essence, we should not let technology take over our lives completely and stop us from interacting with one another. And they’re right.

Now, this is not completely new. It may have started somewhat with the invention of the telegraph, then was made significantly more so with the invention of the telephone, which brought ‘non-face-to-face’ communication to the masses. But, with the advent of cell phones and computers, and related software and hardware it is getting more obvious today.

I’m not saying that all of the new technology is bad and I could never be a technophobe. But I do believe in taking a look at both edges of the double edge sword that technology, as well as just about everything else, is, before jumping in. Also, there is the fact that new technology in general is at its most bug ridden, expensive, and least capable, when it first comes out and everybody ‘wants one’. But that is a different subject.

For me, while I like new technology in general, especially for what it can do for me, I do hold off in many cases, for a number of reasons. When cell phones came out, they were big and just added another thing I would have to carry on me. And, in addition, I didn’t always want to be reachable. (Read, “bothered”).

But, with my dad’s urging, we both got cell phones. And, I’ve come to see where they can be helpful. And, they’ve gotten a lot smaller and lighter and their battery life has greatly improved. I now feel naked if I go out without my phone. However, regarding cell phones, some things I haven’t felt a need to jump into or add. For instance, while my phone can do a lot more than my first phone could, it’s not a smart phone, and I don’t feel the need for one. I can text with my phone, but I really see no need to use texting, when I can call and leave a voice message, or talk directly to a person. So, I’m not a ‘texter’. As a matter of fact, if someone I know sends me a text, I often call them instead of replying to the text. It’s just faster and easier for me. Also, I do take safety into account. If I’m driving, I don’t answer the phone without a bluetooth hands free device, and even then, I will pull over first to a safe area. If I can’t answer the call, my voice mail will pick it up. After all, that’s what it’s for!

And of course, I don’t make calls when I’m with other people unless it’s for the whole group, such as calling to see why one of our group is late or checking on the time that a movie is going to start that we all want to go to. And I will often turn my phone off during these occasions, only turning it on to check my voice mail later on. And of course, my phone is always off during movies, plays, performances, or interviews and similar situations.

If you want to get another opinion supporting the idea of not upgrading to a Smart Phone, click on this link here below:

http://www.xojane.com/tech/my-flip-phone-has-made-me-a-rebel

As for always being connected? Well, I do distribute flyers door to door and I’m by myself most of this time, so I do use my mp3 player, which is filled with music of my choosing, as well as having an fm radio. But, I’m alone during this time, so no one else could be offended because I’m not paying attention to them. Also, my headphones are not the noise cancelling type so I do hear things around me, including cars and my cell phone ringing.

And even then, I will often turn off my mp3 player and take the headphones off, just to hear the world around me, which I do think is vital from time to time.

My computers? I have two of them. And I’m not on them all the time, nor do I feel the need to check my e-mail every 15 minutes.

So, I guess the message here is, disconnect a little! When you’re with friends or family at dinner, take off those headphones and stop texting! Interact with the people who are with you! And by all means, make sure your kids do the same! They won’t die if they are disconnected from their smartphones for an hour. Trust me. Real life is worth it!

If you like what you’ve read here, please let others know of this post, blog, and website!

Thanks for reading! 🙂

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Go Ahead and Experiment! You may Like Those New Foods!

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Lately, I’ve been experimenting with different foods. You may have read about my earlier post about eggs with bacon bits and pimentos. Well, I’ve also tried some things with pasta recently.

Here’s what I’ve tried:

Spaghetti and chili. Combine spaghetti with Hormel chili without beans. It was different, certainly not as Italian tasting, but good nevertheless, especially when shredded mozzarella cheese is put on top. It does taste good, but I’ve only tried it once, and more can be added, such as spices or garlic salt.

Spaghetti and lentils. I used a packet of Tasty-Bite brand lentils in a tomato like sauce and poured this over spaghetti. It also was different, giving an Indian taste to the spaghetti. Again, I’ve only tried this once and more can be added.

Lastly so far, I’ve made capellini, a very thin spaghetti, with Trader Joe’s brand roasted garlic blend sauce. It does taste very garlicky, and the capellini tends to bunch together a lot more than thicker angel hair, spaghettini, or spaghetti. But it does taste good, especially the leftovers.

I do plan more culinary experiments, so stay tuned!

Bon Appetit, and thanks for reading!

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Don’t Wait til Spring! Plant that New Tree Now!

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You’ve just bought a new sapling at the nursery and can’t wait til Spring to plant it in your yard, right? Well, Spring may not be the best time to plant that new tree. At the time of this writing, it is Winter. And that can be the best time to plant a new sapling into the ground.

I once was employed distributing fliers for a landscaping company. In hearing discussions at the office, I found that some people had new plants and trees placed in the ground during the winter. Curious, I asked about this, thinking winter was the worst time to put a new tree into the ground, due to the cold and elements.

The answer was that most trees go dormant in the winter months, especially if they are deciduous trees, the ones that lose their leaves in the fall and grow them back in the spring, such as Maple, Elm, and Aspen trees.

When a sapling is planted into the ground, there is actually a sort of “Shock” as the tree must “get used to” the new soil of the yard. This would go for shrubs, too, or any plant that is “transplanted” to a new location. The tree’s dormancy in winter lessens this shock greatly and helps insure that the tree will take to its new location. Not only that, but the lessening of the shock will also keep the tree’s natural defenses against insect pests from being overtaxed and weakened.

So that’s why, unless the ground is truly covered with ice, it’s often better to plant a new sapling or shrub in the winter months.

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Thanks for reading!  🙂

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Miss that Old TV Series or Movie? See it on You Tube!

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Don’t you wish that you could watch that old TV series or movie that is rarely or no longer shown on tv? Well, if you have a cable or satellite tv subscription, you may have a channel or two where they feature some old series’ and movies. Then there’s Hulu. 

But the place where I’ve seen some old series’ and movies is You Tube. I haven’t tried Hulu.com yet, so I don’t know how it would really compare with You Tube, but I do know that, on You Tube, I’ve been able to see a number of shows, tv series’, and movies, at my discretion. Among the shows I’ve seen are, Gunsmoke, The Rifleman, The Big Valley, Charlie’s Angels, Wagon Train, The 6 Million Dollar Man, and an Australian series, Prisoner, Cellblock H. 

Now, there are some disadvantages to using You Tube:

  1. Not all shows are available, as it depends what has been uploaded.
  2. Some series’ and movies are only available as truncated versions, having left out less important parts of the stories.
  3. If you are following a series on You Tube from the first to the last episode, you may find that some video posters don’t have all of the episodes and the whole series may be spread out among several video posters.
  4. Some videos may just be slow to load.
  5. Not all episodes of a series may be available.

Of course, there are some good advantages to using You Tube:

  1. No need to sign up for anything, create usernames, or passwords, etc., in order to view videos on You Tube. You just go to http://www.youtube.com, type in the series or movie you’re looking for in the search box, and, if it’s available, you can watch it!
  2. You can pause a video at anytime, and also go back if there was a part you didn’t quite see or hear!
  3. No fees!
  4. Videos are usually on You Tube for some time, even years, so, if you have to stop watching a series for a time, it will probably still be there when you resume.
  5. You can sometimes find videos of rare movies or series’ that you may not be able to find on cable channels.
  6. You can watch videos in full screen mode and, if you have your computer connected to your big flat screen tv using an HDMI cable, it can be like watching the show on broadcast tv!

So, if you’re really wanting to see that old series or movie that is just not shown anywhere, You Tube may be the answer!

If you like what you’ve read here, please let others know of this post, blog, and website! Thanks!

Happy watching and thanks for reading! 🙂

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How to Organize Your E-Mail Folders Without Getting Scatterbrained!

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The easiest way to organize your e-mail is to simply read your e-mails then delete them. Of course, for many, if not most of us, this is just not practical, so we organize our e-mail by creating folders, and this is a good idea.

But, how you organize and name the folders can have an impact as to how easily you can find any particular old e-mail.

Like most people, when I had my first e-mail account, I would have folders created for family members, topics, subscriptions, etc. Examples of folder names that I used would be for various relatives such as, “Uncle John & Aunt Kate”, cousin “Brad”, etc. Then there would be folders for friends like “Terry”, “Bob”, “Cheryl”, then other folders for different things like, “ABC Magazine”, “BRX Co.”, “My Employer”, “CMS Insurance”, “IFLY Airways”, “Annual Car Show”, and “Park Fair 2013”.

Nothing wrong with these folder names, but, it can get complicated with the more folders you add. Let’s look at how they would be arranged in most e-mail systems below:

FOLDERS:

ABC Magazine

Annual Car Show

BRX

Brad

Bob

CMS Insurance

Cheryl

IFLY Airways

My Employer

Park Fair 2013

Uncle John & Aunt Kate

You’ll notice that friends, family, and business and events folders are split among each other. Now, this is a small number of folders, so it wouldn’t be much of a problem. But if you have lot’s of family members, friends, and businesses and events that you communicate with or receive e-mails from, this can get complicated.

In this type of organizing, your cousin Brad’s folder will be far from your folder for Uncle John & Aunt Kate, and if you’re looking for an old e-mail that involved you and both of them, those two folders won’t be together. If you have to look in several family members’ folders, this could become a real chore if they’re scattered among your other folders.

Now, some e-mail systems allow you to create sub-folders, that is, a folder within a folder. If your system is like this, you can create a “Family” folder instead, then within this “Family” folder, you create folders for your family members. See the example below:

Family

Brad

Uncle John & Aunt Kate

As you can see, this groups all folders with a similar relationship to you, together. Believe me, this really helps if you have lots of folders.

But what if your e-mail system doesn’t allow creation of sub-folders?

Yes, I do have this problem and I solved it. The best way is to use a category word, such as “Family”, or “Friends” in front of the folder name. I abbreviate these category names to make the full folder names shorter. Of course, these are abbreviations that are mostly made up, but they are easier for me to understand. You may have your own abbreviations that only you can understand, and that’s fine, as you would be the only one who would need to know in most cases. I use “B” for business, “Fm” for family members, “Fr” for friends, “Ent” for entertainment or events, “Tr” for travel or travel businesses, “”Fx” for various information sources, and “Ins” for insurance companies. You can always use different groupings, like placing insurance under business, or separating cousins from other family members as you wish. See the example below:

FOLDERS:

B ABC Magazine

B BRX

B My Employer

Ent Annual Car Show

Ent Park Fair 2013

Fm Brad

Fm Uncle John & Aunt Kate

Fr Bob

Fr Cheryl

Ins CMS Insurance

Tr IFLY Airways

As you can see, this will still keep related folders together. Notice that by using the abbreviations “Fm” and “Fr” this keeps the family and friends folders next to each other. By the manipulation of the abbreviations you use, you can keep groups of folders in close proximity to one another.

If you get to have 40, 50, 100, or more folders, this can be a really big help!

Hope this makes your e-mail life easier!

If you like what you’ve read here, please let others know of this post, blog, and website, so they, too, can make their e-mail life, and other things, easier too!

Thanks for reading! 🙂

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Holiday Get-Together? No Place for Issues!

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Now that it’s the thick of the holiday season, a family or office get together is probably on the horizon. And that may mean seeing that relative, friend, or colleague that you have some big issue with. And, you may be thinking “When I see (whoever), I’m really going to let them have it!”

Before you do, try to see that scene as an independent observer, like a friend who’s been invited by one of the other people who will be there. This person would be coming for the first time. If you were that person, and you saw “John” go up to “Bill” and yell at him in front of everyone, what would you think? How would you feel about John? Or his family, or company if it is an office gathering?

And of course, you may feel uncomfortable as a result of John’s actions, but what about the host? Or the other people at the gathering? John’s actions could mar the whole thing for just about everyone there.

Do you really want to be John?

My belief is that, If I have an issue with someone, it’s much better to deal with that person privately and settle things, peacefully, preferably before said gathering. If that can’t be done, then I do not try to hash things out at the gathering, but instead, act only to keep the peace where that person is concerned. Even if that means saying ‘hello’ to that person and even making small talk with that person. If I feel beforehand that I can’t keep my emotions in check, I just won’t attend the gathering. Luckily, I have no such issues with anyone, nor have I really had any in a very long time. But if I did, I certainly don’t want to be remembered as the one who ruined what could have been a great holiday celebration. Because that’s what would happen.

Wishing everyone one who reads this a merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year!  🙂

If you liked what you read on this post, please let others know of this post, blog, and website.

And thanks for reading! 🙂

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An Egg Recipe for You

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I’m sure this is not a new idea, as it was originally introduced to me by my grandmother. When I was a kid, she would make scrambled eggs with pieces of salami thrown in. The pieces were embedded in the eggs and boy, did it taste great!

More recently, my mother made a similar dish for me at times, using bacon bits and pimentos, and it was equally good!

So, I decided to try making it myself, so I can have it whenever I wish. First time I tried, it didn’t go all that well, but not a disaster. I bought some pre sliced salami, which was sliced too thin. Then, I threw in the salami after the eggs were already mostly scrambled, and so the salami wasn’t embedded in the eggs.

Well, after contacting my mother, I followed her advice. I bought the bacon bits she used, made by Hormel. These bacon bits are not the small crunchy ones you throw on salads, though I suppose you can throw these on salads, too.

These are softer and definitely tastier, in different size chunks.

First, I threw these and some pimentos into a skillet first, with the heat on medium. Then, I cracked two eggs into a bowl and beat them first. If you’re concerned about cholesterol, throw out one of the egg yolks before beating them. 

Then, once the eggs were beaten, which didn’t take more than a minute, I poured them into the skillet, over the bacon bits and pimentos, and moved them around with a spatula, mixing the eggs with the bacon bits and pimentos. The eggs cooked in minutes.

I turned off the heat and put the eggs on a plate ready to eat. And boy, were they good! Just like my mother and grandmother made!

And best of all, there can be many variants to this recipe! One can throw in seasonings, different meats or veggies like chives or scallions, or sauces, too!

If you liked what you read here, please let others know about this post and blog.

And thanks for reading!  🙂

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Want to SEE who you’re talking to? Try Skype!

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Sure, you have access to phones everywhere now, but sometimes you just want to see who you’re talking to!  But if they’re far away or you just cannot get to see them right now, what do you do?

Now, with better computers, laptops and tablets and, I believe, even smartphones, you can download programs that allow you to see who you’re talking to. I have used another messenger service in the past, but it was sometimes unreliable and not so easy to use. This was a few years ago, so improvements may have been made since then.

The one I use and like now, is Skype.

Why Skype?

1. Skype is easy to find and install. All I had to do was google Skype and found the website. It was very easy to set up my account, install the software, and add my contacts. And also easy to use, which may be why it is so popular.

2. Skype is reliable. So far, in my experience, Skype has been very reliable. I don’t believe it has ever crashed on me and the settings are easy to use. I like the fact that you can check you connection, webcam, speakers, and microphone performance as well.

3. Skype updates automatically and with little hassle. Skype updates automatically and these updates have never caused any problems on my computer.

4. Quality of Skype calls is usually quite good. The few problems I’ve had have been due to equipment problems rather than Skype itself.

5. Perhaps best of all, as of this writing, a basic Skype account is free to set up and use!

So, how is a Skype call different? The fact that you can see who you’re talking to, which is really great, when you stop to think about it! Of course, Skype and similar programs have been around for a while now, but I’m still not complacent about Skype. If you skype with someone who is far away, such as family members or friends, seeing them, and they seeing you, is the next best thing to actually visiting them!

A program like Skype also allows you to show things to those you’re speaking with, and vice versa. You just got the latest smartphone and want to show your friend across the country what it looks like. With Skype, you can! If you’re “skyping” using a portable device with WiFi or an extra long Ethernet (Cat-5E) cable, you can show the person you’re skyping with, your new home or that great sunset from your balcony!

Now, like other messenger programs of this type, Skype does require both parties to have Skype accounts, but as I mentioned above, setting up a basic Skype account is easy and free. So getting those family and friends with internet access to sign up can be easy to do.

So, even if you now live far away from friends and family, there’s no excuse for not keeping in touch! Get a Skype account and get your friends and loved ones to do the same! The “virtual visiting” effect is well worth it!

If you like what you’ve read here, please let others know of this post, blog, and website! Thanks for reading! 🙂