Tip: Organizing kitchen utensils

I don't like having my utensils in a drawer. Too disorganized.

For several years I had a white flower pot on the counter with all my utensils standing up inside it like a bunch of flowers. Then I found a clear plastic Brita pitcher and put all the utensils inside. It was lighter in weight and I could see inside the pitcher to see the handle of the utensil I wanted. But in both cases, it was difficult putting the clean utensils in and getting them out because they always got tangled.

Then this past week I obtained (through Freecycle.org) an over-the-door shoe organizer. Perfect! My basement door is very close to my stove, and I can use each compartment for related items: ladles, slotted spoons, whisks, rubber scrapers, pancake turners, etc. Here's a photo:



Andrea

Updated web site, lower fees

A quick post to announce the updating of the web site and the accompanying reduction of membership fees. Tomorrow I write and distribute a news release to promote my services locally but also to promote my intention to generate visibility for my counterparts (concierges) in other cities throughout North America. I reduced the membership fee by $5-10, to $5.95 for 3 months membership, $10.95 for 6 months membership, and $19.95 for a full year's membership. To find the detail scroll down to the last link in the navigation bar/menu.

Please have a look around Handy Ande. I invite you to join right away so your services can benefit from my visibility. Let's all enjoy some extra income.

Andrea

A Bit of News

I am no longer traveling and am re-establishing my personal concierge services. You can download my brochure and my business card by clicking on the links on AndreaReynolds.com.

Now that I'm in one place I am considering establishing a network of personal concierges who want to promote their services to generate extra income. The annual membership has been $19.95. This will increase sometime in 2009, so you might want to take advantage of the low price now so I can promote your services to press and media wherever you are and bring you some business.

You can also have a 3 month trial membership for $5.95 and a 6 month membership for $10.95. I want to make these rates affordable for as many as possible.

Andrea

Cleaning cat water fountains

I have two of those pet fountains (Drinkwell) because my original one is in storage in Ontario Canada. (I've been traveling in the US but am about to move into an apartment.) Casper has been dehydrated so I bought him a second one, same kind (Drinkwell). The interesting difference is the one I bought in Canada ($69) had 3 bottle brushes in varying sizes included in the box for cleaning the unit. The one I bought in the US ($49) did not have the cleaning brushes. I saw somewhere where you can purchase the brush kit separately. Here: http://www.thepetstoreonline.com/drinkwell-cleaning-kit---3-brush-set.html ($10)

Here are my tips for cleaning (I post this because I know of several cat owners who hate cleaning so much they allow their pet fountains to get very slimy and clogged with cat hair) :

1. Clean thoroughly at least once a week. In addition, I often will empty, rinse and refill with clean water mid-week. I also add ice cubes during the summer to cool and replenish water. Casper loves it and drinks often which keeps him hydrated.

2. Don't allow the unit to dry out before cleaning. The slime/scum is more easily removed when still wet.

3. After dumping the water out, dry your hands. You need dry hands to grip the motor mechanism, turn it and remove it. It can be a tight fit.

4. Then soak the unit parts - excluding the motor - in warm sudsy water. I do clean the inside of the motor where the magnetized propeller sits: a cotton swab works well.

5. In addition to the bottle brushes, I use a clean toothbrush to get in the corners when the pink stuff is.

6. When I don't have bottle brushes, I use a flat dish scrubber (3M and dollar store brands) and poke it down into the center with a wooden spoon handle or something similar and scrub.

7. For the hard-to-reach corners I've also used toothpicks and I found in the dental aisle a package of tiny, tiny pipe cleaners (Plackers) to use for flossing. (I wish someone would make a fountain with no angles or corners.)

8. I also give Casper Brita-filtered water when I can. That keeps mineral deposits from forming.

9. Filling the unit usually takes a whole Brita jug full of water, which I pour only after I put the unit in place. (I'm too klutzy to carry it filled with water.) Then I plug it in.

I dislike this task, but with the right tools the job gets done faster and I'm less frustrated with it. Less frustration means I'll clean it more often... usually on Sundays.

UPDATE: I tried cleaning it in the top shelf of the dishwasher but that didn't work as well. I've found that cotton swabs are useful for the tiny corners.

Now that I am back in an apartment and have collected my things from storage, I have two units. I use one at a time, and clean the other at my leisure, ready for Sunday exchange. This means Casper doesn't have to wait without flowing water until I get the unit cleaned.

Andrea

Emergency Move

On Saturday at 5:30 PM I received a distress call. A young man had an opportunity to move to a better apartment, thanks to his kind landlord. The new tenants were already moving in to his digs and he needed to get his things out right away. He wasn't even packed and his friends still had not shown up to help and nobody had a truck. So Handy Ande to the rescue.

I had a migraine and a van that was stuck in ice, but I was out the door and on the way inside of 30 minutes. My van had no room in it, but I emptied out half of its contents at his mother's house, then headed for the "old" house. Nothing had been done to prepare for the move. I organized the few men who did show up (who were very willing to take direction) by explaining that I was the veteran of more than 90 moves and we needed to dismantle the bed and large screen TV first. Big items first, small items last.

If someone had thought ahead the cars would have been moved out of the driveway to shorten the distance that heavy things had to be carried. I had to park the van in the street. I dismantled the double bed so the guys could get the box spring and mattress into the van, then I collected all the pillows and bedding to be used as cushioning for the TV. The guys got the TV up the stairs and used the furniture dolley I remembered to bring- not bad considering the migraine - and I found bungee cords to strap down the boxspring to the rack on top of the van. We managed to fit in the office chair and placed some smaller things on the seat and underneath. The rest of the stuff was small and fit into the 2 cars.

We got to the "new" house. Had I had time to think ahead - I like to have a minimum of 2 days notice so I can anticipate all problems - I would have brought a snow shovel to remove a mound of snow on the sidewalk next to the front steps, and brought old sheets to protect the carpeting we had to walk on with our wet shoes.

I quickly assessed the layout of the room for the best placement of furniture and set up the bed. The guys brought in the TV and soon the van was empty and the young man had a new home and a bed to sleep in that night. I went back to his mom's to repack my van, and gratefully received a cup of tea and a meal before I left.

I relay this story to illustrate that this not atypical for Handy Ande; it's the kind of service that the winners of my Handy Ande essay contest could receive.

Garage parking tool

I've seen advertised on TV these laser parking assistants. The laser beam points a red dot to show you exactly how far to pull your car up so that you don't crunch your front fender or have your back bumper crushed by the garage door.

A much cheaper solution is to hang an old tennis ball on a string from the rafters so it just touches the wind shield as it hangs straight down. The point at which the ball touches the windshield is the point at which you stop the car when you drive in. You'll need to park the car where you want it, then throw the ball connected to a longer piece of string. While holding the other end of the string, pull it until the ball touches the glass. Then tie the string on itself. You've just saved $20 to $35.

Compare sizes and prices when shopping

Pay attention to pricing and you could save a few bucks. I expected that family sizes and packages of several items would be priced lower per unit. Ha!

Instead, I noticed that when I wanted to buy a 1.8 kg box of frozen lasagna for $14.99, that two boxes of 900 gram lasagna (same item, same mfr., same quantity) cost $6.99 each or $1.01 less than the family size box. What I liked is that I could cook one and store one.

I also found that I could buy 4 separate single use cameras for $1.00 less than if I bought the package of 4 identical cameras. So you're paying more to have only one item in your shopping cart. And you're paying less for more packaging. It's the opposite of my thinking, and perhaps yours too. But the one advantage to paying more, if you can call it one: having 4 cameras count as one item could get you into the "8 Items or Fewer" line. (And yes, fewer is the correct word.)

Have you entered my Handy Ande contest to have me work for you, your household or your business yet?

How do I live simply and cheaply?

Question: I lost everything in a fire and had no insurance. How do I replace appliances I need without expense? I don't want to ever be attached to things again and want to spend as little as possible.

Consider asking your local Freecycle group for what you need. Go to Freecycle.org and find your local online group. Once you join you will start receiving postings of items that people want to get rid of that may or may not be working. If there is something you need you can post a request. Some groups allow only one request per person per week, but most of the time someone has something you can use.

When I left everything behind (again) to return to Canada I was dependent on Freecycle for basic things like a bed, lamps, and small appliances like an iron, coffeemaker and a small vacuum. Many items, like the vacuum and more recently a toaster-convection oven just need a thorough cleaning and they will work beautifully. The coffee maker went through about 4 cycles with vinegar and clear water to clear out all the debris including a dead spider. I cleaned the outside with scouring powder and it looked pretty good. It came without a coffee pot, but someone had given me one that fit perfectly. It has a tiny leak but I just place it on a shallow pan and voila! it's back in use.

The vacuum needed some intensive picking apart but once all the stuff clogging it was removed it had good suction again. The toaster oven was a little gummy from baked on grease, but I sprayed the removal pan with oven cleaner to get off all the baked on stains and cleaned the outside with one of those "eraser" sponges. It looks new. I was able to find an instruction manual online and download it so I'm now in business and don't have to use my full oven to heat items like fish sticks that don't taste good out of the microwave.

So if you're willing to do a little fixing and cleaning, someone else's throwaways become useful workhorses again at no monetary cost to you but the gas it takes to go pick up the item. If you're handy you can restore items that others don't have the patience for.

Ask me anything

One thing I loved about teaching junior high school Family Studies was answering students' questions. Years later, whenever someone asks an off-topic question on a writer's or publisher's discussion forum, in my profession, I answer with an answer that seems to be helpful. It's possible that most adults don't need to know how things work or how to fix things, or they can look them up on the Internet.

Yet, I decided to start this interactive blog to see what, if anything, people want to know. If a trend becomes apparent I may consider the topic for a new booklet. So it's possible you could become my muse.

Go ahead, challenge me with a question.