MAKE A NOTE!! -- June 14th, 1997

CIRCULATION 52

Previous Issue | Back To 1997 Back Issues | Next Issue  

***************************************************************************

In this Issue:

***************************************************************************

RESPONSES TO REQUESTS....

SHOWER CURTAINS AND MILDEW

Had a couple of people ask me about this one. I have had great success with plastic and cloth shower curtains, just washing them in the baking soda wash with the vinegar in the rinse cycle. The vinegar should kill the mildew, but you may need to use some kind of bleach to get rid of tough stains left behind. As far as preventing it from happening again...use that exhaust fan (if you have one) in the bathroom & let it run for a while after you leave the bathroom to get all the moisture out. Also mildew doesn't like light and air, so if you have a window, let the sun shine in or leave the light on in the bathroom. If you don't have an exhaust fan try putting a little fan on the counter to blow the air out. There is a paint that contains something to kill mildew if you have a problem with your walls or ceiling too. AND, along the same lines, CLEAN SHOWER, a new spray product will take care of mildew in the shower & tub. The only problem is finding it in stock (it is advertised on Rush Limbaugh's radio show). In our area, Target and Winn-Dixie carry it for about $3 a bottle and the bottle lasts about a month. If you start with a clean shower it keeps the mildew from coming back, but if you have it already it slowly removes it with no rubbing and no rinsing. You just spray it on once a day after you use the shower. POST IT...in your bathroom.

AVOIDING HEAT INJURIES

Someone else asked me about how much water to drink when you are out this summer. Found a little guide (from the post paper). It said that if the temperature is 85, then you should drink at least 1/2qt/hour, 88 then 1qt/hour, 90 then 1 1/2qt/hour, and above 90 then 2qt/hour to avoid heat related injuries. Ever get a headache from being out in the sun? SOMETIMES it may just mean that you are getting dehydrated. POST IT...where you keep your suntan lotion.

MORE GOOD STUFF....

EASY 4TH OF JULY DESSERT

Line a 9x13 baking dish with slices of pound cake. Top with 1C strawberry slices and 1C of blueberries. Cover with an 8oz tub of Cool Whip (use Fat Free if you like). Use 1/3C ob blueberries to make a blue field in the top left corner of your "flag" (white cool whip will show through for stars). Use 3C of sliced strawberries or strawberry halves to make red stripes. Chill for one hour before serving. Makes about 15 servings. You can do the same sort of thing with a graham cracker pie crust, vanilla ice cream in the crust and then do a flag on top of the ice cream. POST IT....in your recipe file.

ANTIBACTERIAL SOAP

It is a great thing, but doesn't do much good unless you give it a bit of time. So have your kids count to 20 (for 20 seconds), twice if they count fast, after they soap up, to give the soap time to work. Works for moms & dads too. :-) POST IT...in the bathroom.

BUYING A CAR??

Quite often you can get a better deal and have a lot less hassle by going through a car buying service. You usually end up saving more than you pay them for the service. Car Bargains is one that some friends have used and have been happy with. They usually just work with new car sales, will call the dealers in your area and basically have them bidding against each other to find the best deal for you. Their number is 1-800-475-7283. You tell them exactly what you want and they hunt it down. They charge $150. Best times to buy cars? Late at night, last day of the month, last months of the year. Also did you know that you can also bargain on the price of any warranties? Well, you can. Trying to decide what color car to get? Light COLOR cars are more visible, white and dark cars tend to fade into the background depending on the weather and time of day. What color vehicles get more tickets than any other? Let's put it this way....in the car industry they call it "Arrest Me Red". Don't know if that means people who buy red cars tend to drive faster or if cops just notice them more (by the way, I don't remember or know what color ANY of your cars are!). POST IT...in your file under auto info.

BALLOONS

A wonderful lady here in town, Patti Rigsby, gave me some good info on helium balloons. She owns Parties Plus, right across from Methodist College here in town (great prices too for those in the area). She did a little experiment to see if light or temperature would make the balloons stay up longer. She found that temperature didn't make any difference, as long as it wasn't extremely hot or cold, but that putting them in the dark (like a closet) seemed to make them last longer. So if you're heading out the door and won't be around to admire the balloons then stick them in the closet. Also there is something that they can put in balloons to make them stay up longer called "High Flow". It is a liquid they squirt in before they fill them up. Some places charge extra for it, but not Parties Plus, but you do need to ask for it. Also the mylar balloons stay up longer too. BEWARE- if you have an alarm system with infrared or motion detectors, mylar balloons can set them off, so close them off somewhere if you are using the alarm. POST IT....in the yellow pages under balloons or florists.

FLORISTS

You can save A LOT of money by using a local florist. If you send flowers to someone in another city, ask them (well before any events if you want to surprise them), or someone else who lives in the town, for the name of the florist they like to use. You can call information and get the phone number. Even with the long distance phone call you will probably save $10-$15 and get more flowers for your money. And consider getting something different for a change, like a regular bouquet or corsage (how many vases do you have under YOUR sink?:-). If you just have a bouquet then you will get more for your money and also they can use one of those vases under their sink. Waste conscious grandmothers will always be pleased with this gift. Also corsages are nice because all their friends at church will ask what the occasion is and they will be able to brag about who sent it to them. Tradition has it, on Mother's Day, that a woman wears a red or pink corsage if her mother is still living, and a white one if she has passed away. BEWARE-there are 800 number companies that try to pretend they are local when they are not. Usually there will be a number listed in the book that is a local number, but it connects to an 800 service. Here in Fayetteville, there is a listing for "Fayetteville Florist" that is like that. Usually there is no street address listed, but be sure to ask them WHERE they are in the town, not just if they ARE in the town (they have been known to lie about it). Also if you just need a bouquet as a hostess gift, try your local grocery stores. Places like Winn-Dixie and Kroger, & nicer stores have florist sections now that don't deliver, but have very good prices and selection for pick up. If you are military and heading to Germany, please note, do NOT give German ladies red roses, in fact it would probably be better to stay away from roses of any kind, it is something that you give to someone you love (romantically). POST IT....in the yellow pages under florists.

FEEDBACK-FEEDBACK-FEEDBACK

More people talking about how great the baking soda & vinegar work on the laundry. People tried the Gorilla Bars and the Pasta Bake and were very happy with the results. Karen Harper also said, regarding keeping pests out, that bay leaves worked well (putting them where the ants are coming in and in the cupboards to keep them out). POST IT...where you keep insecticides.

Janice Latendresse told me about a great idea for teaching kids to behave. She got it from John Rosemond, who has written several books on the subject and also has a web site (www.rosemond.com/index.html). I call it "3 Strikes, You're Out!". Each child has a set of 3 cards numbered 3-2-1, and they are posted in a prominent place. If they do something especially naughty they lose a card. Once they lose all their cards they have to stay in their room for the rest of the day except for eating and bathroom trips (and school for those home school readers). I tried it with mine and it works very well. POST IT....in a prominent place. :-) Janice also suggested people telling me about good books to recommend. I will do the best I can to get everything in, but am already having trouble sticking to the 2 page limit.

REQUESTS

Please feel free to forward this to anyone who might be interested. Let me know if you would like to be ADDED or REMOVED from the list, and let me know if there are any subjects you would like to see covered in the future.

COMING ATTRACTIONS

Stranger tests for kids, free videos to help recover missing children, mailing services.

QUOTE

Thanks to Nancy Cotugna who sent this one in... "If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything." Author unknown (any clues folks?).

God Bless, Sharon

^i^

TO SUBSCRIBE TO MAKE-A-NOTE EZINE

Send a blank email to: subscribe-make-a-note@hub.thedollarstretcher.com

TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM MAKE-A-NOTE EZINE

Send a blank email to: unsubscribe-make-a-note@hub.thedollarstretcher.com

                              Back to Top of Page

Previous Issue | Back To 1997 Back Issues | Next Issue