Keeping Warm and the Butt-Wiping Invention That Changed Our Lives

I find it oddly comforting that pretty much any question you can think of, no matter how bizarre or random, someone somewhere has taken the time to research this odd thought you've had; you know, the one you thought no one else would ever think; and they've posted the answer somewhere on the internet.  And there it sits, just waiting for you to Google it up from wherever it is that sleepy little known facts hibernate. 


WARNING:  Possibly dangerous practices will be discussed in next paragraph.  I'm NOT suggesting this as a solution to anything, I'm just saying that my family does it.  I'm sure we do a lot of things other people should NEVER do (we're risk takers), so...keep that in mind.

Note that the image above, by mrbill of Flickr, shows no setting for "popsicle toes." This is an oversight by the manufacturer, I'm sure.

It's extraordinarily and unseasonably cold today in Missouri.  Yeah, I know...the whole country has whacked out weather right now, we're not special.  Toward the end of last year, we discovered that our electric bill was much lower if we set the oven on about 350 degrees and left the oven door open a bit instead of only running our furnace.  I'm not really sure why that is, being they're both electric, but for some reason it works.  It keeps the furnace from running constantly trying to keep up.  Maybe we just have a really old furnace, and a really efficient stove, I don't know.  What I do know is that it lowered our electric bill...a lot.  So being that my toes were about to fall off and turning blue (I have issues with shoes; I simply don't wear them at home...ever) I walked to the kitchen to do the usual "stove thing."  As I set the stove on pre-heat, it occurred to me that I had no idea why I needed to pre-heat it and not just set it to bake.  Why do I think of things like that?  Seriously, I'd like to know.  Because the next time I sit down on the toilet, I guarantee I'll probably sit there and wonder something equally abstract like...who invented toilet paper? Great...now that I've wondered it, I'll have to Google that too. *sigh*

Googlemomma to the rescue!  I shall find our answers!  YAY for Howstuffworks!  And I quote,"The idea of preheating an oven is to get all of the air in the oven up to the proper temperature so that the burner does not have to come on very often or for very long."  Well what the hell?  How could I live 45 years without knowing that?  Also...pre-heating, I come to find out, excelerates the speed of heating, whereas if you just set the oven to bake, the heat rises more slowly.  Pre-heating also keeps things from burning (when you're cooking, not heating your house) because it keeps the infrared radiation from the burner to a minimum.  There's more information on the above linked page about broiling too, because some other strange person wondered about broiling, apparently.

How can a mother cook for 20 years without knowing these things?  I bet everyone else already knew all of this, and as usual, I'm the last to know. 


DISCLAIMER:  Don't try this at home if you have a gas stove, particularly if you have a gas stove and you are a smoker.  I think there's a very good chance that could be...uhm...dangerous.

Sidenote:  If the toilet paper question is really nagging you now...here's the answer.

Note that in this image of our often-taken-for-granted-daily-butt-wiping-invention (by [s e l v i n] of Flickr), someone has managed in blatantly grievous error, to turn the roll the WRONG direction.  Don't even try debating this topic with me, I'm very stubborn about this.

 

*I'd like to take this moment to thank the Chinese.  For had it not been for you, it might have taken us much longer to have arguments with our spouses about the way the roll goes on the holder.  I have a deep sense of gratitude for this, among other things.  Ni hao.

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When it's Time to Start Over

My son, Levi, has been such a catalyst in my life so very many times, and I'm quite sure that he doesn't know that little tidbit of information. It might be best if that stays our little secret. I wouldn't want him to have any more "dirt" on his momma. Generally, parents are teachers, and I do think that I taught my son a few things, although probably not always good things. At the same time, I think we often forget how much we can learn from our children. Levi had a rough beginning to his year, and it got me to thinking about actions, consequences, and being pro-active rather than just letting life happen to you.

I haven't been active at blogging for quite some time now. It's not that my life was without things to blog about, it's just that my head has not been in the blogosphere enough to read or write. I've barely been able to simply think. But life has seasons, and it's been a long winter. In the past my blog entries have been predominantly about things that have inspired or angered me. They were topics that often caused me to reflect on my life, my actions, and reactions. This is where the "ferocious dust bunnies" come into play.

Dust bunnies. We've all had them. They seem innocuous enough, particularly when they're not blatantly obvious and they're just hiding somewhere under the bed. They're easy to forget about...well...at least for me. Anyone that knows me very well knows that I'm not the tidiest of people. I like housecleaning almost as much as I like a root canal....almost. Oh, don't get me wrong. I love the end result. I just don't love the process. But cleaning, both houses and lives, is a needful thing, and eventually I'll end up having to suck it up and just do it (on both fronts).

Dust bunnies are a funny thing. As a metaphor, they're both a bit gross, and a bit cute. I guess it depends on how you look at them. Real dust bunnies (you know, the kind that actually make homes under your literal bed) can be quite filthy. They can have mites and other non-cute things in them. Ewwww. On the other hand, someone somewhere along the way called them "bunnies" because they can resemble fluffy little...well...bunnies. And there's nothing about a bunny that isn't pretty goshdern cute. I should know, I used to have five Holland Lop rabbits as pets. My house was FULL of bunnies back then (both the dusty kind, and the furry, floppy-earred kind).

My blog has developed the not so cute kind of virtual dust bunnies. I know this because after this long "winter" I came back and "looked under the bed." It's time to sweep them out and start over. So what does that mean for this weblog? It means there's going to be a lot more going on here! It means that I've re-discovered and re-connected with purpose and meaning, and it means that I want to be part of something bigger than myself, a community of dedicated writers. It means I'm making a commitment to deal with dust bunnies, both the "ewww gross" kind and the cute and cuddly caricature kind. I hope you'll join in.