_crystalmyth, posting in hip_domestics:
Since I'm poor, but am also a goddess in the kitchen.. I've decided that I'm giving baked goods for Christmas presents this year. Stuff like chocolate chip cookies.. peppermint bark.. etc.

However.

A few of my family members are diabetic, so I was wondering if anyone had any diabetic-friendly recipes?

jfoufou, posting in hip_domestics:
I have a white rain jacket which is water resistant and windproof, etc.

The only issue I have is that because it is white in colour (got it at the UA outlet for a steal), my make-up smudges on the top part of the collar when I zip the jacket all the way up - not attractive. (I wear mineral powder makeup, not a whole ton of it or anything.)

Any ideas of how to spot clean the collar area when this occurs? I tried wet wipes, but it didn't seem to do much.

Thx!

mightydoll, posting in asperger:


What do you guys think? He reminds me of my 11 year old aspie.

iluvhistory, posting in hip_domestics:
Our current air filter seems to have gotten completely filthy within a single day. My husband and I own two short hair cats, and their "kitten room" is right across from the main vent for our A/C. We don't know if our previous filters ever had this problem because, well, I never thought to check the air filter a single day after installing it before. We're currently cleaning the cat room and rearranging their furniture so I thought maybe the filth is because of the vacuuming and such, but it still freaks me out!

The pictures below are the current air filter, and the exact same air filter (another of the same pack). Dirty on left, clean on right.

Here are also some pics of the cat room, so you guys don't deduce that we're filthy people with a filthy cat room and that's what is happening to our air filter. (here, here, and here)

What should we do to ensure that our air filters last as long as possible?

Why would our filter get this dirty in 24 hours? (aka What the hell is going on with our air filter?!)

Are there any websites that sell awesome filters? The 1200's are the best we can find in stores around here.

poetcsw, posting in asperger:
Three weeks ago, I posted an intro to my dissertation project. I'm now within six surveys of the number required by my committee. It has been, as I'm sure people here understand, a long and trying journey through several graduate programs (I left a few along the way) and finishing the Ph.D is something of a personal victory. Not sure what I'll do with the degree… not sure I'm "designed" for departmental politics or other workplace issues after this experience. But, hey, at least I'm almost done!!

Honestly, the job hunt (which I did start) is rough. I hate to travel, hate huge conferences, answer questions too honestly, and am more symptomatic under stress. Try interviewing during a nearly non-verbal, tapping, quivering day and self-esteem gets shot to heck.

Anyone else think universities, with their social atmospheres, are in some way more challenging than "industry" work settings? Maybe it is just me. I skip all the department social events, out of necessity. Most workplaces I've been didn't do so many social things -- maybe an annual BBQ/picnic and something in the winter.

I'm thinking the PhD might be a help in industry if the academic thing (especially with budget cuts) isn't on the horizon. For now, just want the degree in April.

Anyway, here's the survey again. Please consider taking it if you haven't...

( Read more... )

sabonai_rss:

http://sabonai.blogspot.com/2009/11/not-really-sick-days.html

Mina was up all night with a fever, so I couldn't send her to school today. However, she is feeling JUST FINE, and has pretty much been talking my ear off all day. Not just talking, either. Asking questions. Drawing pictures for me to color, and asking me to draw pictures for her. Then not being able to find exactly the right crayon.

It's messing with my routine.

I am thankful that she isn't sick, that she can talk, that she is super creative and inquisitive and interesting, I really am. I just need two minutes of quiet.

demiraks_world, posting in hip_domestics:
I want to make these Margarita Cookies for a gift basket for Christmas.

Can I make the dough ahead of time and freeze it? I'm guessing I should roll into a log first and then add the salt/sugar coating AFTER they've thawed? Correct?

(also, does anyone know where I can find the salt it calls for - Flaky Maldon Sea Salt?)



And just in a general sense - are there any types of cookie doughs you can't/shouldn't freeze?

Thanks!

alibee:

When I adopted Nicky into my then-home (pre-Brandon), he never barked because he’d had bordatella pneumonia his entire puppy life so even panting had been a chore. So, his first exposure to consistent barking (besides at the Humane Society) was Murray’s dachshund Max, who barked constantly. Murray put a shock collar on Max to try to quell is barking, so Max figured out how to bark below the threshold of the collar and instead of barking loudly, would do this under-the-breath sort of “woof, woof” thing.

That is the bark that Nicky picked up, and was his only bark until Ash came along and taught him the Way Of The Inappropriately Loud And Very Annoying Bark That Is Set Off By The Wind Looking Cross-Eyed At A Dog Through The Window.

This morning, the dogs were watching Puppy TV (aka sitting on the top of the love seat looking out the window) while I was getting Katie dressed for the day, when Nicky started doing his under-the-breath bark.

Nicky: “Ruff, ruff.”
Katie: “Wuff.”
Nicky: “Ruff.”
Katie: “Wuff.”

Katie was actually copying Nicky! I simultaneously died of cute and realized that my child might as well be brought up by wolves, for all the conversational ability that will give her. (Katie doesn’t seem to realize she should be copying her very loquacious mom and dad. :) )

humanoid27:
( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

agentxpndble, posting in madisonwi:

I have a vintage locket I really love a lot but the little metal pip that keeps it latched closed has snapped off and it gapes open when I wear it. It's a very cheap locket - I don't think it's even brass, just some cheap tin/aluminum/whatever metal mix... Has anyone here ever had one of these fixed before? What sort of a place did you bring it to? I can't imagine any modern jeweler would touch the thing... I thought maybe a watch repair place or maybe there's still some independent, old-school jewelers out there that might enjoy a special case/challenge, but before I make a hundred phone calls to try and figure it out, I thought I'd run it past the hive-mind and see if someone has already done the work for me. :-)

Actually, as long as we're at it I have a second question - The other day I was digging through the really nice quality rhinestone jewelry my Grandma gave me years ago and it's not aging well - They all could use a good cleaning and the rhinestones are starting to get damaged (that metal paint on the back is spotting/beginning to tarnish and the glue has yellowed in places.) I can't imagine there's a way to repair/clean these but you never know... Anyone ever have this done? Where?

humanoid27:
( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

humanoid27:
( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

humanoid27:
( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

iheartsarahduh, posting in hip_domestics:
Anyone know anything about cleaning a kosher home?
I work on the office staff of an eco-friendly cleaning company, and one of our clients keeps a kosher home. My manager has recommended that we put together a "Kosher Kit". Do we need to throw away towels after each use? I don't really know how to explain this otherwise, haha.

Thanks a lot in advance for ANY help you could give me in regards to keeping a kosher home.

quixoticgoat, posting in madisonwi:
Dairyland Greyhound Racetrack in Kenosha, Wisconsin will be closing on December 31, 2009 . . . 900 greyhounds need to be adopted or they will be euthanized. Contact Joanne Kehoe Operations Director P: 312.559.0887 Or Dairyland Race Track Adoption Center direct at (262) 612-8256. Can anyone help?

http://www.dairylandgreyhoundpark.com/adoption.asp

gemfyre, posting in hip_domestics:
In effort to tidy things up I moved two boxes (one of clothes, one of shoes) that had been sitting against the wall in our walk-in-robe since we moved in (almost a year ago).

Horrors! That wall backs against the bathroom and the shower has obviously been leaking because there is some serious mould and water damage there. I never noticed the smell before, but now it's very strong and wafting through the bathroom/robe/bedroom area.

Our agent won't be in until Monday (she's very good and will probably send someone around quick smart early next week to fix it).

In the meantime is there anything I can do to reduce the risk of getting sick from this mold smell? The damage is on the wall (plaster over brick) and the carpet.

turnberryknkn:


Her cart neatly piled high with instruments -- doumbeks, bongos, guitars, tambourins, bodhrans -- she strides purposefully through the hospital wards, from patient room to patient room.

Her name is Christy. And she is the Wash U / St. Louis Children's Music Therapist.





Like the travelling troubadours of old, Christy is a jack-of-all trades. She can play any of a plethora of instruments, improvise on a drop of a hat, sing low or high with proficency. But she is far more than an musician; she also is trained in physical therapy and occupational therapy and psychology. More than just music for music's sake, her education and her experience allows her to use music as a tool to help her children -- *our* children -- push themselves torwards recovery.

Watching Christy in action is to see her pull constantly from her bag of tricks -- figurative and literal -- to address the myriad challenges each child faces. Music, for example, is a way to get a burn victim to stretch contractured, scarred down limbs. It is very hard to convince a five year old to reach out and stretch, especially when it hurts to do so -- but much easier to convince them to reach out and bang a drum, or ring a chime. Convincing a young restrictive-lung disease patient to make the effort to get up out of bed and sit in a chair -- with all the effort before and during the exercise -- is a lot easier when they're getting out of bed to play an impromptu guitar duet. Christy can find ways to wrap monotonous or painful therapy into a musical adventure, and helping children do the things they must in order to get better. She can also use music as an icebreaker, as a means of building connection and trust, and get children and adolescents to open up their feelings and concerns to her in a way they hesitate to do with their medical team or even their own family members. And often, music and the joy that comes is the sole purpose, giving a child too sick to even go outside something to look forward to on a regular basis, something other than bleak hours waiting between rounds of wracking chemo or painful dressing changes.

In a facility filled with specialists clocking long hours in the effort to help the sickest of children, Christy is no exception. She is here every day before dawn, often here well after dusk, Monday to Friday, day in and day out. She makes her rounds from service to service, room to room, all the way from the first floor Surgical clinics all the way to the 12th floor neurotrauma wards. The whole hospital is her beat, from the intensive care units to the cancer wards, from the rehabilitation facilities to the epilepsy beds. She works with her fellow physical therapists and occupational therapists, the child life specialists and the in-hospital teachers, seamlessly adding her note to each child's personal rehabilitation and therapy plan. We all have personally written for "Music therapy" as a specific order; it even has it's own specific drop-box in the computer order entry system. And as someone who myself has a deep love of music and many, *many* fond memories of shared joy in music with family and friends; as someone whose own patients have found laughter and song with Christy the Music Lady; I count myself as one of Christy's big-time fans.

Life for a critically ill child is hard and bleak. Many of our children will spend weeks and months unable to leave their rooms. For too many of them, they never will. And while we on the medical staff fight night and day to keep them alive, our colleagues like Christy try to give them a little something to actually live *for*. A little bit of brightness, a moment of escape, from the unrelenting reality of needles and nausea and pain.

Our privelege is to fight for the sickest of children, to fight against disease and death and despair. There is a place in this fight for the masters of the blade. There is a place in this fight for the scholars of the arcane. And there is a place for this battle for the bard, keeping the darkness at bay with doumbek and whistle and steel-stringed guitar.

sabonai_rss:

http://sabonai.blogspot.com/2009/11/i-dont-really-have-anything-to-say.html

If you read that title and said, "OoooOOOOooh! Must read on!" then you are... Something special.

I just felt like writing. For some reason the fact that this posts on facebook creates more pressure to write something that isn't totally stupid. It doesn't always work...

I'm going to do my own NaBloPoMo or whatever starting at this totally random mid-month day. I'm going to write and post something every day, no matter what, and hopefully I won't lose too many readers from cranking out this garbage. It will be cathartic and that's the most important thing. That and FAME! Just kidding.

It's been a long day. It's almost always been a long day. In fact, I'm beginning to suspect that all days are the same length!

Someday soon I'd like to put the kids to bed in a good mood. Today we told them to get ready an hour early and read in bed. This plan backfired, though, because Mina couldn't find her library books. They must be at school. She wouldn't accept this. She was upset, almost hysterical, we turned this place inside out looking for them. Finally after 35 minutes, she stopped and said, "I could read a book I've already read!"

*blinkblink*

Yyyyyeah. Why didn't I say that? I guess I thought it was implied? Am I new here?

Alright people. It's TV time.

for_u_alone, posting in asperger:
Aspergic Nicole Fox won America's Next Top Model!

(I don't know that she's officially on the spectrum, but I feel quite certain of it).

alibee:

Since a few people asked for them, here is an example of a puzzle question. It involves PIRATES! (I did not write this up, ftr.) Also, this is more involved than anything I’d ask in an interview.

Pirates!

Five pirates discover a chest full of 100 gold coins. The pirates are ranked by their years of service, Pirate 5 having five years of service, Pirate 4 four years, and so on down to Pirate 1 with only one year of deck scrubbing under his belt. To divide up the loot, they agree on the following:

The most senior pirate will propose a distribution of the booty. All pirates will then vote, including the most senior pirate, and if at least 50% of the pirates on board accept the proposal, the gold is divided as proposed. If not, the most senior pirate is forced to walk the plank and sink to Davy Jones’ locker. Then the process starts over with the next most senior pirate until a plan is approved.

These pirates are not your ordinary swashbucklers. Besides their democratic leanings, they are also perfectly rational and know exactly how the others will vote in every situation. Emotions play no part in their decisions. Their preference is first to remain alive, and next to get as much gold as possible and finally, if given a choice between otherwise equal outcomes, to have fewer pirates on the boat.

The most senior pirate thinks for a moment and then proposes a plan that maximizes his gold, and which he knows the others will accept. How does he divide up the coins? What plan would the most senior pirate propose on a boat full of 15 pirates?

( the solution )