QUARANTINE BLOG # 308

February 1, 2021

Website Lifestyl.com – that’s not a “typo” – offers what they call “Life Hacks” to help you out during these difficult times.  Disclaimer: it’s on the Internet, so it has to be true, right?  QB has tested none of these, so you buys your ticket and you takes your chances.  

Oh, and almost half of their tips are just come-ons to get you to buy something that should be labeled “As Seen On TV” – in other words, it works in the commercial but rarely at home.  Twelve of the 27 tips are for things you have to buy and you can only get a 50% off coupon by clicking on the website. 

Here at 233, we eat a lot of eggs (fried dippy, scrambled, hard boiled, egg salad, fried egg sandwich, and probably a couple more) so the idea of how fresh our eggs are has never occurred to me.  Lifestyl says you can tell how fresh they are, by putting your eggs, not all in one basket, but in a bowl of water.  Really fresh eggs will sink to the bottom, laying on their sides.  Slightly older eggs with sink at a tilted somewhat, almost upright position.   Old or out of date eggs will float on top of the water indicating that they are past their prime date.

Salt is mostly associated with cooking, but ½ a cup of salt can be used to help fix clogged drains if mixed with ½ a cup of baking soda and poured it into the offending drain.  To complete the fix, pour vinegar down the hole.  When the offending receptacle stops bubbling, the clog should be gone.  Salt can also put out a dangerous grease fire, or as an abrasive to help clean a very dirty pot or pan.  QB notes that salt may have as many uses as WD-40.

If you are troubled by SSO (Smelly Sneaker Odor) wash the sneakers and allow them to air dry.  Then, sprinkle them with deodorizing power.  Next, stuff them with newspaper and allow them to set overnight.  Finally, place them into your deep freezer.  Or if they are as ratty looking as the ones in this picture, buy new sneakers.

Two more great tips tomorrow.

👉  QB’s own “Did You Know Department” has stumbled on another interesting fact.

In the 1990s, half of the world’s CDs were made for AOL sign-up discs.  That’s because America On Line built their business by first giving it away, first using direct mail campaigns to get free trial discs – originally floppy and later CDs – into the hands of consumers (they hoped you’d like it well enough to pay for it after the free trial ran out).  Then they teamed up with many stores and products to pass them out.  AOL even froze discs to see if they would still work if put inside frozen foods – they would.  Now, I’m going back into the Dark Ages, but I really liked the AOL floppy discs.  After I subscribed to the service, I’d format the discs and use them for personal computer storage.

👉  A national park is a park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments.  The United States established the first “public park or pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people” in 1872 – Yellowstone National Park.  Although Native Americans have lived in the Yellowstone region for more than 10,000 years, organized exploration did not begin until the late 1860s.  The park contains the headwaters of the Yellowstone River, from which it takes its historical name.  

Yellowstone Lake is one of the largest high-elevation lakes in North America and is centered over the Yellowstone Caldera, the largest supervolcano on the continent.  Half of the world’s geysers and hydrothermal features are in Yellowstone.  The most famous geyser in the park, and perhaps the world, is Old Faithful geyser.  The park contains the largest active geyser in the world – Steamboat Geyser.  A study that was completed in 2011 found that at least 1283 geysers have erupted in Yellowstone.  Of these, an average of 465 are active in a given year.  Half of the world’s geysers and hydrothermal features are concentrated in Yellowstone. 

Old Faithful

Steamboat Geyser

One of the most popular of these features is Mammoth Hot Springs, a large complex of hot springs on a hill of travertine.  Terraces form when water rises through limestone, which then allows the water to carry high amounts of dissolved calcium carbonate.  Over two tons calcium carbonate, a mineral found in many popular antacid tablets, flow into Mammoth each day in a solution.  Park Ranger Beth Taylor talks too quickly in this video about the hydro-thermal features, it is worth a look to see nature in action.

Back to Yellowstone National Park tomorrow.

👉  The index for QB 2021 is now online.

**  Today’s sermon from the Crawfordville UMC pulpit is “God Is Always On Time.”  Should you wish to download this sermon or any of the messages, click on the three dots at the right side of the time bar and select “download.”

👉   Today’s close is by Debbie McDaniel.

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.”  (Psalm 91:1).

We trudged slowly back to the car through a crowded parking lot in the Texas summer heat.  Hot, humid, full sun bearing down.  I noticed my daughter matching my steps, walking close by my side the entire way back. She smiled up at me and said, “Mom, look, I’m walking in your shade.”  She’d found the shadow, the safe place to walk.  I loved that my side was her shield, giving her protection from the heat.

We may not always see it, or feel it, we might forget it’s there at times, or even wonder if God has left us to fend for ourselves in the heat of hard situations of life. But His protection is real.  In whatever troubles we face today, God is the place of refuge we can run to, He is our safe place.

Pressure and stress can seem as stifling as a hot afternoon summer sun.  Yet God whispers truth, strong and sure, “Walk in my shadow, up close to my side.”  It’s in the safe place that brings confidence; for when we are resting in God’s shadow, we will never face the full heat of our difficulties.  His shade, His shadow, diminishes what is actually felt in the intensity of all the heat.  Rest, peace, and calm rise up strong, right in the struggling mess of life, and we’re assured, He’s in control.

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