Good point! I didn't think of that.

My kids are older and neither need nor want anything for Christmas. Our community is doing a gift drive for foster kids ages 1-17 so I thought I would buy some presents for them instead. I would like gift ideas for the older kids--mine were pretty dorky and wanted non traditional things so I can't go by memory as to what would be popular. Thanks in advance!

Not a minimalist here. We are the people you minimalists come to when you need to borrow something.

So, I have an Ott-lite and asked customer service what sort of lux it has and if it could be used for seasonal affective disorder. This is the response I received: "Unfortunately Ottlite is unable to make any claim to SAD, it is recommended to confer with your physician regarding SAD. All of Ottlite’s products is a 1 O’clock afternoon sunshine without the heat, glare or rays (no UVA, no UVB, and only the smallest UVC enough to assist with plant growth). All of Ottlite’s products has a CRI (Color Rendering Index) of above 90, with the Kelvin temperature between 5000-6000." Soooo, does this mean that their lamps would be work for treating SAD or not? There was no mention of "lux" which seems to be a gauge for happy lights. Thanks for helping me interpret this!!!

Husband's passport expired in April 2018. Got a call from a business friend in Mexico wanting him to travel there THIS WEEKEND (the 19th). Anyone have experience getting an expedited passport renewal? Advice?

That's how much my "new" butcher block weighs. Be jealous, Bill. Be jealous.

The world of toaster ovens is a new territory for me--could you give me an example of what all you use it for during the day?

I'm 5'9", old, and not overweight. Looks small to me. I would ditch the rice and eat about 5X the vegetables using a variety of different ones.

I have a memory of an oil rain lamp....mostly I remember the dead flies that accumulated in the center.

My guess is #4--you are tired of feeling crummy and are trying different things. Sometimes just getting out of the old pattern helps one feel better--all three are good on their own, but maybe just shaking things up is what is helping.

Steam? For my kids, I used to put a tiny dab of Vicks Vaporub in a bowl, pour boiling water in the bowl and tent their heads over it. Hum. Some studies have shown humming can help sinuses.

This has become such an interesting conversation and has brought up other questions. I look at hate as being a very, very intense emotion. So, my question to all you haters 🙂 is do you feel other emotions with equal intensity?

I honestly don't think I actively hate anyone. So, it kinda surprises me when I hear someone say they hate someone, be it someone they know in real life, a politician (Trump for instance), TV personality, etc... Are there people you hate?

Well, I don't have a tattoo but I do have some spider veins on my legs that small children have thought were tattoos and were cool.....

I have tooled up in order to upholster a number of different things in my house. I have two chairs that I stripped to the bones and am in the process of putting springs in them--they didn't have any before. My guides are Kim's Upholstery (online)--she has some free videos and stuff or you can pay for membership and get expert help, and a book by Amanda Brown--Spruce: A Step-by-Step Guide to Upholstery and Design.