Gifts from Internet Friends

One of the reasons I'm so addicted to the Internet is that I get so many fun and informative "gifts" from friends online:

Many years ago we used to watch a game show called "People Art" on Hawaii's Japanese TV station KIKU every New Year's.  We enjoyed them so much we have a few on VHS tape (yes, that old).  To my knowledge they no longer broadcast the show on KIKU so I'd forgotten about it.  Recently Pennan Brae posted this video on Facebook while he was visiting Japan.

I recognized it immediately as the show I knew as "People Art" and that prompted me to email Dan Cronin, a friend in Japan, who led me to find more videos such as the "Top 15" skits below.  There are many more if you search YouTube using the actual name of the show, "Kasou Taishou".  Wouldn't it be great if the U.S. imported this idea in the same way they did those other silly Japanese game shows?  At least this one celebrates creativity rather than sadism (eg. "Wipe Out").  Enjoy! 

With all the hot weather we're having, beverage choice is a hot topic (pun intended). Also in my mailbox today was a forwarded email from Karen on Maui regarding water and Coke.  I did not confirm every statement below, but I'd guess the majority are proven facts.  (Let me know if you find out otherwise--especially about cleaning the Coke trucks--STICKY!)

I want to add that I'd just heard on the news a few days ago that a study found that test subjects who drank 2 cups of water before a meal lost 30% more weight than those who did not drink water before a meal.  Click here to read about this study in detail.

WATER


 #1. 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated.. (Likely applies to half the world population)


 #2. In 37% of Americans, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is mistaken for hunger.

#3. Even MILD dehydration will slow down one's metabolism as 3%.


#4. One glass of water will shut down midnight hunger pangs for almost 100% of the dieters studied in a University of Washington study.

#5. Lack of water, the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.


#6. Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day could significantly ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers.

#7. A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a printed page.


#8.. Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79%., and one is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer. Are you drinking the amount of water you should drink every day?


COKE 


 #1. In many states the highway patrol carries two gallons of Coke in the trunk to remove blood from the highway after a car accident.

#2. You can put a T-bone steak in a bowl of Coke and it will be gone in two days.


 #3. To clean a toilet: Pour a can of Coca-Cola into the toilet bowl and let the 'real thing' sit for one hour, then flush clean. The citric acid in Coke removes stains from vitreous china.


 #4. To remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers: Rub the bumper with a rumpled-up piece of Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil dipped in Coca-Cola.


 #5. To clean corrosion from car battery terminals: Pour a can of Coca-Cola over the terminals to bubble away the corrosion.


#6. To loosen a rusted bolt: Apply a cloth soaked in Coca-Cola to the rusted bolt for several minutes.


#7. To bake a moist ham: Empty a can of Coca-Cola into the baking pan, wrap the ham in aluminum foil, and bake. Thirty minutes before ham is finished, remove the foil, allowing the drippings to mix with the Coke for a sumptuous brown gravy.


 #8. To remove grease from clothes: Empty a can of Coke into the load of greasy clothes, add detergent, and run through a regular cycle.. The Coca-Cola will help loosen grease stains. It will also clean road haze from your windshield.



FOR YOUR INFORMATION:

#1. The active ingredient in Coke is phosphoric acid. It will dissolve a nail in about four days. Phosphoric acid also leaches calcium from bones and is a major contributor to the rising increase of osteoporosis.

 #2. To carry Coca-Cola syrup (the concentrate) the commercial trucks must use a hazardous Material place cards reserved for highly corrosive materials.

 #3. The distributors of Coke have been using it to clean engines of the trucks for about 20 years!  

Most of the statements above weren't new to me and I still drink colas despite having been diagnosed with osteoporosis, but I limit myself to 1-2 a week.  I'm not worried about putting the soda companies out of business because they have wisely diversified and produce a multitude of beverage choices--including bottled WATER!

Incidentally, watermelon is a very healthly way of cooling off because it has powerful antioxidants and is anti-inflammatory, and when you first bite into a slice, I swear it's like jumping into a swimming pool! My motto this summer is "Who needs a swimming pool, I've got watermelon!" Well, the truth is I would love to have a swimming pool, but can only afford a watermelon. *LOL*
  
Speaking of saving money again, Costco has a good deal on antibacterial hand sanitizing gel:  $2.49 for a huge bottle (40 oz)!  I have a lot of small empty plastic bottles so I filled three of them up and now each of us has one for our purse/backpack/lunchbox.   Considering you'd pay about a dollar for one of those little bottles of hand sanitizer (about a half oz.), this $2.49 is an incredible bargain!

Consider yourself "gifted"! 
P.S.  Please, this is NOT an invitation to send me more forwarded emails!  *LOL*  

You Save Fifty Cents Here...

Looks like this recession is trickling up now.  In the past week I've seen two instances of this effect.  In case you're wondering what I'm referring to by trickling UP, it means the first part of the recession affected the working man and consequently because of him spending less, businesses either went under or were forced to cut back, thus now impacting the b2b's (businesses that service other businesses) who survived in 2009.

But hey, I only took Economics 101 so what do I know...especially since that was way back when UH tuition was cheap and the campus was well maintained.  What I do know is that people are still losing jobs and if there had been course in Money Conservation at the UH, I would've been at the 404 level! 

So off the top of my head, here are a few suggestions for penny-pinching.  There are also tips on conservation and health, too...

1) I've mentioned this before:  BUDGET Basic Cable.  You really don't need "Basic" Cable for almost $50/month when there's $13/month Budget Basic (we get about 30 stations--more than enough!).

2) No shame...you don't have to buy fancy Tupperware.  I've been called "Miss Cool Whip Container" and look, this means my ecological "footprint" is that much smaller.  If you can't use all of the containers, recycle the #1's and #2's OR drop them off at a school or daycare OR sell or give them away at your garage sale.

3) Buy vitamin and herbal supplements online.  Even with shipping it's cheaper than shopping at the stores PLUS the supplements are generally higher quality.  I just ran out of calcium and went to Walmart.  Not only were their calcium supplements (all brands!) more expensive, they had a multitude of "bad" ingredients (fillers, preservatives, etc.).  I couldn't bring myself to buy any of them!  Incidentally, my favorite shampoo, Jason Natural Tea Tree Oil Scalp Normalizing Shampoo, which sells at stores for over $9, is just $4.55 at Swansonhealth.com! 

4) Turning off power bars does save a few dollars a month!  If you can't turn off the whole bar, unplug those chargers at least.  I unplug our modem and router every night too. You'll be pleasantly surprised to see your electric bill showing a difference. 

5) If you've got a tissue hog in your household, try buying single-ply toilet tissue.  Usually Safeway has the best price on this. 

6) Rather than buying new books, go to the library.  If you can't bring yourself to do this, go to Amazon.com and buy used books--as well as DVD's and CD's.  You'll save---again, even with the shipping added!  There are bestsellers for just a penny each! (Shipping=$3.99)

7) Something I just started doing is recycling water.  You could buy a contraption from Costco for saving rainwater from your gutters to water your yard, but I do this on a smaller scale by just catching rinsewater from vegetable washing or other "clean" rinsing in a bowl and transferring it into a plastic gallon bottle to use later for soaking dirty dishes or watering the few plants I bother to water.  (Growing vegetables is a great way to save money, but I did not inherit that skill from my dad, unfortunately).

8) I make healthy "snack bags" for Jordan's lunch bag instead of sending chips/cookies, etc. Costco's selling an excellent beef jerky (Pacific Gold) which uses no preservatives or HFCS (high fructose corn syrup). Cut them up into small pieces, add nuts (preferably raw/unsalted), raisins or other dried fruit cut up (I use mango, cherries, dates, or blueberries), Mini Wheats cereal pieces, chocolate chips, a few potato sticks or rice crackers. It's fun to make these bags and you can totally control the ingredients--use your imagination! Make sure to buy the ingredients on sale or by bulk.   By the way, I also put these same ingredients in a small bowl for myself to snack on during the day.

9) Home lunches--or brownbagging--is another obvious money-saver.  Have you tried banana/peanut butter/jelly sandwiches?  Use whole wheat bread and sprinkle some cinnamon on the bananas and you're getting even more health benefits! 

When you make your dinner salad, just make a bit more for your lunch the next day to save time.  Leonard's naturopathic doc, Dr. Ancharsky, recommends at least 6 ingredients for your salads.  Typically I use spinach, lettuce, cilantro, red cabbage, sweet peppers, celery, brocco sprouts, carrots, tomatoes and/or cucumbers.  For kick, add some jalapeno peppers or artichoke hearts.  Top with tuna or chicken or how about salsa and cheese for a Mexican salad? 

Instead of sandwiches, try a wrap.  You'll get less calories this way and you're able to load more healthy fillings.  Costco sells a flat bread in an oblong shape that's ideal for wrapping.  Jordan likes Mexican wraps (similar to a burrito with refried beans, tomatoes, lettuce, sweet peppers, salsa), but again, anything goes and they're easier to eat than a sandwich, too.

10) Lastly, ladies--ahem-- if you place them carefully, you can cut your pantyliner bill in half if you cut your pantyliners in half! Hint: Kotex Longs. Hey, you might think "Awww, it only costs $1.29 a box!" but remember the saying "If you take care of the pennies, the dollars will take care of themselves!" And what about Russell Peter's Chinese shop guy? "You save fitty cent here, then you go to another shop, save another fitty cent... then you got a DOL-LAH...then you go to the Dollah store and buy yourself something else!" (video below).
 



I know I have more ways to save money while keeping healthy, but these are the ten I came up with today.  I'll add more later!  Don't forget.. Russell Peters will be at the Blaisdell Concert Hall on Nov. 27!

Mother's Day and Economy Kauai Sis

Uh oh, this blog is experiencing a KauaiSis of its own, being so badly neglected. Cousin Al warned me!!

Well while Leonardo sits watching the rather inane "Hulk" movie, I'm ordering photos online for my mom on this, my 21st Mother's Day. A mother's work is never done!!!! How come the father gets to sit in front of the TV and the mother has to work? Ok, I admit this morning I lay in bed reading and dozing until 11 a.m. while he was at work.

My Mother's Day celebration included a visit to Border's and a "tall" cup of Java Chip Frappucino from Starbucks. You see, here is yet another reason America is in a sorry state these days: they call that cup a "Tall"...like we the consumers are idiots and don't realize it's really small. Just like the way they put less tissue on the toilet paper rolls then make "Double Rolls" like we're such idiots we'll be impressed. OR putting less Vienna Sausages in the cans, or less tuna, shrunken ice cream cartons, etc. ad nauseum. So the question is, are the majority of American shoppers really idiots or are we becoming idiots because the marketers who come up with these sneaky "let's fool the consumers" ideas treat us this way?

Where was I? Oh yes, Borders. We hadn't been to Borders in a few months and perhaps because our shopping habits reflect the public's in general, Borders Music has definitely gone downhill. The selection of CD's is dangerously beginning to resemble WalMart's crappy selection. Not one Bobby Caldwell CD! Whoa! They totally lost some sales today. In the past, Leonard would always end up with some new Jazz CD in his clutches (which I would try to talk him out of saying "I can order that online for cheaper!). Today, to my surprise, he had NOTHING clutched. They've removed those listening stations and now you can listen at the "search" stations. This may be more efficient, but does not encourage impulse buying, IMHO. Ironically today we were armed with gift cards and I was prepared to make purchases rather than come home to order on Amazon Marketplace. Toooo bad for Borders, they lost out except for Jordan's one purchase of "Brazilian Groove".

After "helping" Borders with Jordan's $11 purchase ($14.99 less 30% off coupon), we proceeded to Long's, Costco, and WalMart to "help" their bottomlines too. And lest you think we're only helping the "big guys", we went to Hong Kong Cafe for my Mother's Day dinner. Ron and Laura Wiley were there, by the way. Which reminds me, I got a big thrill a couple of weeks ago while flipping through the Kauai People tabloid. There was Ron wearing my Koi Shirt, posing with Senator Dan Inouye and his wife. Way cool!!! This is the second time Ron's been in the newspaper with this same shirt. He owns several of my shirts, but I'm guessing this is his fave. (FYI Ron Wiley is Kauai's #1 radio personality.) (See below)

After dinner we visited Blockbuster to give them a hand (I hear they're near bankruptcy!). I rented "Religulous" (so sue me, I'm a Bill Maher fan), George Carlin (*sob* I can't believe he's gone), and "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" (I have this very strange attraction to Russell Brand!). Hubby rented "The Day the Earth Stood Still" and "Hulk". I'd say you can tell a lot about us from those two last sentences right there. *LOOOOOOOOL* (I think I hear Karen laughing!)