Ask Happy Homemaker!

by compound complex 337 Replies latest jw friends

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  compound complex

  22 Jan 2008 11:55 AM

  Finding A Wringer Washer frugal.families.com

  by Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger

  Okay, so now you know all about using a wringer washer, including the great deal of savings you will get from it. Wringer washers are very popular with homesteaders, as well as with my Amish neighbors.

  Finding a wringer washer isn't as easy as heading over to your local department or home improvement store. You can still find wringer washers, but they are starting to become more scarce. This is because of two reasons. First of all, the last new wringer washer was manufactured sometime in 1990, which is 18 years ago. That still mens that there are plenty of "modern" wringer washers as well as ones from the wringer washer heyday, the late 1940s, the 1950s and later. The Speed Queen is a popular wringer washer that is used by many people today.
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  compound complex

  Dear Happy Homemaker,

  I am beside myself with anger in livid color!

  My pet beavers, Leva and Tuu, have occupancy of the master bath, their aqueous home being the not small Roman tub. Being the literate and clever cleavers they are, Leva and Tuu went through my entire collection of ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST and HYDRAULICS FOR DAILY LIVING and conspired to render them into a dam spanning the estimable breadth of said Roman tub.

  What shall I do?

  June
  
  
  Dear June,

  Send the Beavs to college. Get new magazines (back copies are pricey but eminently obtainable).

  Rather than allowing yourself to get bent all out of shape and giving these rascally rodents the business, I'd recommend that you should see the aqueous humour in this incident fraught with mandible mirth!

  Eddie Haskell, er, Happy Homemaker!
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  compound complex

  
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  Hortensia

  my god, they're old and they look thoroughly trashed! as for dog hair all over the place, just put up a sign that says no home is complete with dog hair! as for laundry, John Steinbeck had a good system very similar to your, that he described in "Travels with Charly" He put his laundry with some water and laundry soap (very little needed) in a 5 gallon bucket. He put on a tight lid and tied it to the roof of his camper. All day long, as he drove along highways and byways (cliche alert!) the bucket vibrated and wobbled and shook. His laundry was perfectly clean at the end of the day and only needed rinsing before he would hang them up in the shower.
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  compound complex

  Dear Hortensia,

  Happy Homemaker thanks you for your humorous repartee and helpful suggestions from Travels With John Steinbeck.

  Our Illustrious One is away on a road trip, his laundry agitating in a bucket affixed to his car's roof and a chicken roasting in foil in the engine compartment.

  Staff
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  compound complex

  

  This beaver is a cleaver though not a Theodore.
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  compound complex

  Tide entered the scene in a U.S. test market in 1946. The first advertising theme, "Cleaner than any soap," was replaced in 1949 with "Tide's in, dirt's out." In the U.S., Tide Liquid was launched in 1984, followed by Tide with Bleach in 1988. By the 1990s, Ultra Tide Powder and Liquid and Ultra Tide Powder with Bleach and Ultra Tide Liquid with Bleach Alternative had rolled out nationally in Canada.
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  compound complex

  Dear Happy Homemaker,

  Hi. I always try to do the right thing, like when I go for a walk on a windy day and see empty garbage cans rolling helter-skelter up (yes, the winds here are quite ferocious) and down the lane. Neighbors are so used to my little good deed that, I fear, they are taking advantage of me. Now they call all hours of the day and ask all manner of sundry favors of me: walk the dog, go marketing for them, babysit their kids, ad infinitum ...

  I try to be jolly and keep a stiff upper lip though I am as far away from being an Englishman as is Yanni [NOT].

  What shall I do? I feel I am being used.

  Thank you.

  Dudley

  Dear Dudley,

  Tell your would-be favor-demanders, "I am not a doormat. Do not attempt to wipe your boots on me." It shocked the holy heck out of William F. Robinson when Elise McKenna, the quintessential actress of her day, figuratively slapped an unprepared Svengali in the face with said diatribe.

  Or leave town, no forwarding address.

  Fight or flight. The choice is yours.

  Happy Homemaker
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  compound complex

  Dear Happy Homemaker,

  I am very stressed out at the moment because my home is tiny and the mini-storage unit I've rented for the overflow costs money that should be going elsewhere. Downsizing is not so easy as it may seem. Selling even the good stuff is tough with today's economy and the junk has to be hauled off - another expense. When I realize how much I've already paid in rental fees to hold onto possessions that I'll never use again, I get nauseous.

  How do I go about straightening out both my life and my storage unit?

  Thanks for listening and your help.

  Harried Harry
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  compound complex

  Dear Harr Harr,

  Chill out (kindly intended).

  I perceive an agitated frame of mind, one that could readily lead to rushing headlong into unsatisfactory decision making. You're upset having spent "wasted" dollars on your storage unit. Understood. Yet many individuals squander their disposable income on things of no genuine, lasting value. You must have moved from a larger residence into, I gather, one much smaller than your present digs. You certainly could not have tossed it all into the bin!

  Set a goal, with a time line in mind. If you need to raise cash and feel you must do it by selling off some of your belongings, give it time. Do not expect to empty your unit immediately. You might want to relocate some pieces to your home, if that would make them more accessible to potential buyers. Too, some items may not be truly salable. Can you donate some of your possessions to charity? I once lost all hope of disposing of two vehicles when I had to move; there was no room for them at my new location. Both cars were gross polluters. What to do? I happened to receive an advertisement in the post for a childrens' charity that asked specifically for one's used vehicles. The group came to me with a car carrier, the driver filled out the requisite paper work, and, after I signed off, he drove away. A painless, done deal. In other words, charities are grateful for your donations and offer services to render your efforts less taxing.

  The point? Give yourself time to downsize and, possibly, to garner some consequent cash. Rome was neither built nor emptied in a day.

  Hope this helps!

  Happy Homemaker!