Ideas for beating the Summer Heat

Ideas for beating the Heat During the Dog Days of Summer

1. Pick cooler times of the day to job or do outdoor activities
2. Wear loose-fitting, light color, clothing. Cotton clothing will keep you cooler than many synthetics.
3. Fans can make you feel cooler even in an air-conditioned house but fans are not effective at 90 and above.
4. Store lotions in the refrigerator to use on hot, overtired feet. Soak feet in cold water.
5. Keep plastic bottles of water in the freezer; you'll get icy cold water to drink as they melt
6. Take a cool bath or shower or go swimming
7. Water also helps by wetting your hat or hair or shirt.
8. Drink plenty of water along with sports drinks or other sources of electrolytes. Don't wait to be thirsty to drink.
9. Use a portable, battery-powered fan. Some include a water bottle for misting.
10. Avoid caffeine and alcohol as these will promote dehydration.
11. Instead of hot foods, enjoy lighter, more frequent small meals or snacks containing cold fruit or dairy products.
12. Pay special attention to the elderly, infants, anyone with a chronic illness, and pets during extreme heat.
13. During cool times of day/night open windows and doors with screens to bring the house temperature down. During the day close up your house and draw blinds and drapes to keep out the sun.
14. Sit in the lowest part of your house where it's coolest 

A Summer Swim

As summer nears, thoughts turn to playing at the pool or the beach but did you know that drowning is the second leading cause of accidental death between the ages of 5 and 24? A backyard swimming pool is 100 times more deadly to children than a gun at home! Swimming lessons are available for all ages - even infants! Teach your children to swim today - it may save a life.

Every Cub Scout is taught to "Buddy up!" when swimming. Always swim with a partner, every time — whether you're swimming in a backyard pool or in a lake. Even experienced swimmers can become tired or get muscle cramps, which might make it difficult to get out of the water. When people swim together, they can help each other or go for help in case of an emergency.

When swimming, watch out for the dangerous “too’s” – too tired, too cold, too far from safety, and too much sun activity. Never swim so far into a lake or ocean that you haven't enough energy left for the swim back. Body temperature can drop quickly in water. If a child is shivering or experiencing muscle cramps, get him or her out of the water immediately.

Don't assume that a child who knows how to swim isn't at risk for drowning. All kids need to be supervised in the water, no matter what their swimming skill levels. Set water safety rules for the whole family based on swimming abilities. For example, inexperienced swimmers should stay in water less than chest deep or be required to wear a life jacket.

What Flavor is Your Potato Chip?

I like BBQ flavored potato chips; my wife does not. But that's OK, there are lots of flavors out there so everyone can have a personal favorite. Just how many flavors? A lot more than I ever would have guessed.

In 1932, salesman Herman W. Lay opened a successful snack food operation in Nashville, Tennessee. A few years later he purchased a potato chip manufacturer and called it the "H. W. Lay Lingo & Company", later renamed simply "Lay's". This company bought the first TV commercials for snack food, "de-Lay-sious!", using Bert Lahr, the comedian who played the Cowdardly Lion of Oz.

Today Lay's controls 59% of the US savory snack-food market and sells chips around the world. Potato chip flavors are customized for each country - how many of the following flavors would sell in America?

Canada: Ketchup (My sister sent me some. They're good!), Wasabi, Smokey Bacon, Fries & Gravy

UK: Prawn Cocktail, German Bratwurst Sausage, Scottish Haggis (really?!!!), Yorkshire Pudding, Welsh Rarebit, Australian BBQ Kangaroo, Marmite

Australia: Vegemite
India: Massaman  (enjoyed this one!)

Greece and Cyprus: Feta cheese, Tzatziki, Oregano

Holland: Paprika, Bolognese, Balsamico

Belgium: Cucumber & Goats  (goats?)

Russia: Red Cariar, Shishkebab

Poland: Chilli and Knuckle of Pork

Argentina, Chile and Uruguay: Beef Carpaccio with Parmeggiano

Thailand: Bacon and Cheese with Seaweed, squid, French Mayonnaise, Garlic Soft Shelled Crab

China: Kiwi, Blueberry, Finger Licking Braised Pork

Vietnam: Peeking Duck

Egypt: Kebab on Charcoal

Bottom Line

204 chip flavors are listed at Now That's Nifty which closely match the flavors listed on Wikipedia for Lay's.

Last year my wife & I encountered a similar flavor explosion with mustard at the National Mustard Museum near Madison, Wisconsin. So many flavors to try, so many countries.

License Plates and Language

CheeseWiz (or Chez using French)

Environmentalists have a very conflicted relationship with their cars.-Tom Arnold

To help keep me awake when driving long distances I like to make words from license plates I see. The rules are this: keep the letters in the order you see and add the fewest additional letters to make a word.

Here are some examples from this morning:

A truck plate had just two letters. Easy!, I thought. But the letters CJ made me think a bit until I came up with cajole. Later I thought of cajun.

Some plates are hopeless - what can you do with XNK?

Some plates are easy like EER. Sadly my first thought was beer, then deer and then I wondered, just how common is this pattern? Sometimes in the license plate game I discover a letter pattern that is rare in the English language like CJ; other times I find popular letter combinations.

Allowing for spelling variations, the <ir> sound is very common indeed:
beer
bleary
clear
deer
dreary
ear
fear
gear
hear
jeer
Kir (a French cocktail made with blackcurrant liqueur)
Kirsh (Swedish Cherry liqueur used in fondue)
mere
near
pier, peer
queer
rear
seer, sear
steer,
smear
tier, Tir (Norse god), tear
veer
weir (a river dam)
year
The only simple consonant + <ir> combination that is missing is <z><ir>. I Googled "Zir" and found that some have proposed this unused word as a gender-neutral pronoun so we can stop saying him/her in writing.

Bottom Line

I love linguistics, the study of language. This was my minor in graduate school while I majored in mathematics. You might think the <ir> list above is "obvious". Any simple vowel + consonant will have a long list of words. Consider <ar> (car, mar, jar) or <at> (cat, mat, rat). But <ir> is not a simple sound. We usually think of it as one syllable but it really has two parts smeared together.

Say "tear". The mouth starts with TE like tea then shifts to (e)R like the sound in jerk.
With a  simple vowel you can make the sound continuously until you run out of breath.
<aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa>
<ooooooooooooooooooooo>
Ditto for some asperants like <sssssssssssssssssssssssss>

With "tear" I can stretch it out as
<TEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE> <(e)RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR>
The 'i' is a funny two part vowel E(eh). Complex but apparently quite natural to the English tongue. It reminds me of the two part sound of "yu" in yuck; feel your tongue move as you it.

Ice Cream

I had always thought that once you grew up you could do anything you wanted -- stay up all night or eat ice-cream straight out of the container.” - Bill Bryson

Here's an activity that is fun for summer and teaches an old fashion skill: making ice cream.

Ingredients for one serving:

• Sugar: 1 to 2 tablespoons
• Milk: 1/2 cup
  You need milk fat so don't use skim! Some folks use half & half or a mixture of milk and heavy cream for extra richness
• Vanilla flavoring: 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon

1. Mix the above into a small pint-size plastic food bag and seal it tight.
   
2. Fill a large gallon size plastic bag with a cup of ice and 6 tablespoons of rock salt.
   
3. Place the small bag into the large bag. Seal the large bag and start shaking. It will take 5 t0 10 minutes for the milk to freeze.
   
4. Remove the small bag carefully. You don't want it to open accidentally and have the salt water spoil the ice cream. Wipe off the small bag to remove any salt and enjoy!

Bottom Line

This is a good teaching activity to show kids and adults that it is possible to make things from scratch. It is recommended that each person make their own serving. If you try to make many servings in one bag, it will get very heavy, be more likely to break open, and will take longer to freeze.

Summertime Auto Myths

“If all the cars in the United States were placed end to end, it would probably be Labor Day Weekend.”
- Doug Larson

Popular Mechanics looks at Seven Summertime Auto Myths:

1. "Does turning the heat on really help cool an engine?" Yes. But if you have to do this on a regular basis, then you have an engine problem.
   
2. "Does the summertime require thicker oil?"
   Yes, but not too thick. Modern cars don’t need anything heavier than 10W-30.
   
3. Should I thin the engine coolant for summer? No, always use a 50-50 mix of pure coolant and water to maintain anticorrosion and antiwear additives. Check the label of your coolant to see if it’s been pre-diluted with water.
   
4. Should I buy gasoline in the morning before it expands with heat of day?No, the gas is stored in underground tanks that remain a constant temperature.
   
5. Do open windows use more gas than air conditioning?Perhaps. If you are traveling at highway speeds in an aerodynamic car then the AC is more efficient. For low speeds or blocky cars like SUVs, use open windows instead.
   
6. Can I save money by using low tread tires in the summer? Yes, but only if the road is dry. Tread is necessary to grip the road on raining days. This could be an option for a friend of mine who drives his Corvette only on sunny days. For everyone else, why risk a crash with low tread?
   
7. Is it safe to stay in a car during a lightning storm?
   Yes, the car’s metal bodywork should safely conduct lightning to the ground around you IF you are not plugged into the electrical system with headphones, etc. Keep your arms inside the car!

Bottom Line

Before traveling on long summer trips, get your oil changed and have your car checked. Carry a cell phone so you can call for help if you break down.

Saving Money at Amusement Parks

“I look just like the girls next door... if you happen to live next door to an amusement park.”-Dolly Parton

If you have kids, it’s very likely that you’ll visit an amusement part sometime this summer. A day at a park can be VERY expensive – Dad, I want another hot dog. Mom, can I have more tickets for the carnival games? I want a balloon!

Because of the recession, park attendance is down and parks are hurting (Six Flags In Bankruptcy Court). So this is a great time to get bargains on the entrance price.

“Wet N’ Wild Orlando, for instance, is currently advertising its “best deal ever” -- unlimited visits to the park during 2009, for the regular single-day pass price of $45. … Southern California residents can snag a three-day pass to Disneyland at a special rate of $99, compared with $180 for other visitors. In fact, discounts on admission are pretty much standard these days.” [SmartMoney.com]

SmartMoney.com suggests the following ways to save money at Amusement Parks:

1. Look for weekday discounts on admission or tickets. Wet 'n Wild is offering a discounted “season pass” that is good for weekday visits only.
2. Look for discounts by buying your tickets online.
3. Stick to one Park – most parks are big enough to keep you busy for the whole day. Why pay to visit two? Even at Disney you’ll save by buying a one-day ticket to just one-kingdom/park.
4. Look for discounts for arriving later in the day
5. Use coupons for Parks
6. If you plan to visit more than once or for more than one day, buy a season pass
7. Look for employee discounts or state residence discounts

Bottom Line

Last year we took our niece to Rye Playland, a state run amusement part in Rye, New York. There is a small parking fee but no per-person entrance fee. We bought her an unlimited ride pass, which was not cheap, but within an hour she had ridden so many rides that the unlimited pass was saving money over the individual ride costs.

Don’t forget that admission cost or ride cost is just half the battle. We gave a friend a free pass to a local fair and she then proceeded to spend nearly $100 on t-shirts and souvenirs for her two girls. Another cost factor at fairs and parks is food. Six dollars for a hamburger? Bring your own food if you can. If coolers are prohibited, pack some snack bars in a purse.

Watch out for the midway of games! Perhaps some are honest but many are not. I once spent many tickets trying to knock items off a shelf with a cork gun at a fair. The non-prize items fell over easily. When I finally hit a prize winning item, the cork bounced off it! The prize items were heavily bottom weighted. Another common trick is bent rims and an over-inflated ball with the basketball hoop toss. You can not see it from where you stand but the hoop is slightly oval, not round, and the backboard is extra bouncy. This makes it much harder to make the shot.

EHow.com has some advice how to win at coin toss and balloon dart toss.
See also How To Beat Carnival Games