Idea Blog

Would you rather be…

Stuck in an elevator with somebody who talks a lot?(A)
OR
Stuck in an elevator with nobody at all?(B)

If you said (A) then you are probably extroverted like a dog.
If you said (B) then you are probably introverted like a cat.

Dogs usually like being with other people.
Cats usually like being alone.

My mom was scratching my head this morning and said, “Ethan, you are just like a puppy.” But I sort of think I am more like a cat.

If your garbage disposal stops working, particularly if it’s been working fine and then one day simply dies, you just might be able to fix it yourself with the press of a little red button. Who knew?

Just like your hair dryer, garbage disposals have a GFCI: a circuit interrupter that shuts the device off if there’s a safety issue. If that safety issue was just a fluke, resetting the button will do the trick. You should be able to find the reset button just underneath the disposal. Just make sure the normal on-off switch is set to ‘off’ and that there aren’t any spoons in the sink, so you won’t have any surprises when the disposal starts running again.

Is this common knowledge? Well, my friend didn’t know, and had gone 3 weeks thinking her garbage disposal was broken before I fixed it tonight. I wouldn’t have known had my brother not told me. And he didn’t know before either: he figured it out when installing a replacement disposal for his mother-in-law, who’d gone without for ages.

So if you didn’t know, well, now you do, and knowing is half the battle. Maybe someday it’ll save you or a friend the cost of a new disposal or visit from a repairman.

I figured this out by accident in Russia; today I’m making it with my kids again. And it is surprisingly simple… (more…)

I just joined the Biggest Loser contest at UVU. The person who loses the highest percent of their initial body weight wins, with prizes each week as well a grand prize at the end. My problem? A woefully efficient metabolism. No matter how much I’ve exercised and dieted, the weight doesn’t drop. My body is very good not only at living within a very tiny caloric budget, but also at saving some of those calories for later. The net result over a few years of living off 900 calories per day? 5 more pounds and zero energy.

So my goal is not only to lose weight, but to figure out how to get myself a spendy metabolism. And the wise words of my friends mom are seeming to make more and more sense. (more…)

This year, I resolve to do unto myself what I would have myself do unto others. Wait… what? (more…)