the list of 9 for march 5, 2004:
NINE NERDY TIPS FOR IMPROVING YOUR LIFE
I dedicate this to my father, who turns 66 today, for he has given me nerdy self-improvement tipsmuch like these ever since I was a kid. (The only one I really retained was "wash your hands afterusing the bathroom.") I've since come across various little household tips throughout my nearly 34years, some of which I have found useful enough to incorporate into my own daily routine. Forthose needing new ideas on how to add efficiency or comfort to their lives, here are ninesure-fire winners. They may make you look like a dork, but what of it? Thank me later.
- Eat salads after the main course. The French came up withthis. The idea is, eating leafy green roughage last helps you digest your food more easily. I canattest to this. Also, you don't have to worry about the salad getting cold while it sits there. Soif you get a salad with your meal, push it off to the side and nibble on it once you're finishedwith your entree.
- Roll up your clothes when packing. Instead of folding. Igot this from my mom. It saves tons of space in your suitcase and also, provided you do it right,keeps your clothes from wrinking as much.
- Put tennis balls in the dryer when drying pillows. Downpillows are really expensive to dry clean, and even that doesn't remove the inevitable yellowingthat occurs over time (thanks to your sweaty, drooly head). However, you can machine wash featherand down pillows (with bleach if necessary) and tumble dry them with three clean tennis balls,which will "fluff" the pillows (or comforters, or jackets) very nicely and prevent the feathersfrom clumping.
- Put bar soap in your dresser drawers. It's nice to keep anunwrapped bar of fragrant soap with your clothes, to keep them smelling fresh until you need touse the soap for your shower (it is not advisable to put the used soap back in the dresser). Worksfor closets, too.
- Lift Chinese food out of the container. Chinese food issuper greasy. When you get take-out, it's best to use your spoon or your chopsticks to lift thefood out, leaving much of the oil behind in the container. If you just dump it out into plates orbowls, you get all the fat as well.
- Use ACT instead of PLAX. Dental rinses do a lot to helpyou fight cavities, though not as much as flossing, which I hope you're all doing anyway. Thereare two main dental rinses on store shelves: PLAX is basically just mouthwash. It doesn't do yourmouth any better than if you gargled with tap water. ACT actually has fluoride and will do itsjob. (This entry is not sponsered by ACT.)
- Rub your nose oil on your chapped lips. In a pinch, thisworks, if your lips are chapped and you don't have any Chapstick. The oil found naturally on yournose (and your forehead) will actually help moisturize your lips. I don't think it's gross at all,but you may want to do this away from people.
- Grunt loudly while lifting heavy objects. This trick comesfrom Japan. You may sound a little silly, but it invariably makes it easier to do heavy lifting,or pushing, or whatever else requires physical exertion. You hear professional weight lifters andeven tennis players doing it all the time. It's not just showing off; somehow it truly does give your strength a boost.
- Use two toothbrushes. More oral hygiene. I admit, thisone's too much even for me, but if you use two toothbrushes (one in the morning and one at night),each toothbrush will last not twice as long, as would seem obvious, but several timeslonger than if you just used one brush all the time. The reason behind this is that, given a fullday for the bristles to dry out, the brush won't wear out as quickly. Somebody want to be a guineapig on this and get back to me?
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