fourhats's Profile

When I was young, we had far fewer clothes and much smaller closets (all of the houses in our area were Victorian). There was no way that all the clothes could fit into closets and dressers, year round. Everyone put their winter clothes into dry cleaning storage in late fall, and there was an exciting day in mid-September when the truck pulled up and our winter wardrobes reappeared, fresh, moth-free, and like new. It announced the changing of the seasons. Our summer clothes went into boxes in the attic. I really liked this seasonal living, and was delighted when I noticed recently that our local dry cleaner offers free winter storage.

I've always read that it's very bad for a laptop to be used directly on a lap, both for the computer and for the lap, because of overheating. I always put mine on a lap desk, and if I'm not at home, on a large book.

One of the reasons I like to make risotto is that it isn't time consuming! If you have the ingredients ready, it cooks in about 20 minutes on top of the stove. And believe it or not, it is just as good made in a pressure cooker (cooks in about 5 minutes).

I really don't like it when guests (meaning overnight guests) don't bring their own toiletries. I've had whole families run through all my toothpaste and shampoo. I have a large bathroom, so I leave the sample sized ones out in a bowl for them, and put mine away.

I bought a couple of these at the British Library. I'm sure there's an American source as well. You can order them on line at http://shop.bl.uk/mall/departmentpage.cfm/BritishLibrary/_435478/1/Posters

Modern dishwashers are very energy and water efficient, very quiet, and come with different cycles, so that you can do a quick wash or a longer one. I've never had my dishes come out with a funny smell, or had to rinse them beforehand. There's nothing like them to clean plastic containers, either--I've never been able to get those really squeaky clean by hand. There's no rack on the counter to take up space. We run ours at the same time everyday, so it's an easy habit. Most manufacturers recommend a little additive to prevent cloudiness. We lived here for two years without out one, and I'm never going back!

Most charities will give you a tax receipt if you donate. You need to write it out yourself (it doesn't need to be fully itemized, but by category, i.e. women's clothing, children's clothing, furniture, etc. and give each category a value), give it to them when you drop off your donation, and they will stamp and date it. You actually can come out ahead by taking the tax deduction over having a yard sale, and everything still benefits a good cause. In NYC, Housing Works will do this, and most other places like Goodwill, local charities, etc. do also. Even a church rummage sale will give you a receipt for donations.

So pretty! Well done.

I'm a professor, and think that we do our students a disservice when we seem to be available to them at all hours! Most of my colleagues let students know that they will answer within 24 hours--and generally less--and tell the students know to plan accordingly. I would never put them ahead of the person I'm with, unless it's absolutely urgent, since they understand I will get back to them in a timely manner.

I always throw out the cards with photographs of children, family and pets. I always display the ones that show a real holiday spirit: landscape, religious, fine art, handcrafted. I don't know--the photo ones just seem kind of "look at us" rather than true spirit of the holiday.