From the The Universal Household Assistant or What Every One Should Know (1884):

Household Hints. — Do not deposit wood ashes in a wooden vessel or upon a wooden floor.    Never use a light in examining a gas-meter.    Never take a light into a closet.    Never read in bed by candle or lamp light.    Never put kindling wood on top of the stove to dry.    Never leave clothes near a grate or fire-place to dry.    Be careful in making fire with shavings, and never user any kind of oil to kindle a fire.    Keep all lights as far from curtains as possible.    Always fill and trim your lamps by daylight, and never near a fire.    Good nice pie-crust can be made by always observing the following rule. One-quarter of a cup of shortening to every cup of flour used; to be mixed as dry as possible with cold water, and mixed only with a knife.    Take sweet butter only for baking purposes, and never fail to thoroughly beat together your butter and sugar, if you would be sure of good results in cake baking.    Have metal or earthen vessels for matches, and keep them out of reach of children. Wax matches are not safe.    Ground mustard mixing with a little water is an excellent agent for cleansing the hands after handling odorous substances.    Cut hot bread or cake with a hot knife, and it will not be clammy.    Salt extracts the juices of meat in cooking. Steaks ought therefore not be salted until they have been broiled.    In boiling dumplings of any kind, put them in the water one at a time. If they are put in together they will mix with each other.    Do not cut lamp-wicks, but trim them by wiping off with a scrap of paper.    Never boil vegetables with soup stock, for if you do it will certainly become sour in a short time.    Boil your cream for coffee, and see if the coffee will not taste better, as well as keep hot longer.    Pin-cushion covers made of cheese cloth embroidered and trimmed with lace, wear well and keep their looks.    Some one says that leaves of parsley, eaten with a little vinegar, will destroy the odor of breath tainted by onions.    Hot liquid lye is recommended for removing obstructions in waste pipes. Or let the potash dissolve over night in the pipes.    To wipe dust from papered walls, take a clean, soft piece of flannel. Of course it must not be damp, but the dry flannel will remove the dust.    Varnish the soles of your shoes, and it will render them impervious to dampness, and will also make them last longer. This is a good plan.    Clean the mica in stove doors with vinegar. Take clinkers out of stoves by putting a few oyster shells into the grate, when they will become loosened, and may be removed without injuring the lining.    Save the droppings from spermaceti candles, tie them in a cloth, and keep to smooth rough flat-irons.    Never starch napkins.    An old black bunting or cashmere dress may be made to serve a further period of usefulness by being made into a petticoat.    Between two evils choose neither.    Writing a will does not shorten life, and yet many men fear it will.    Save old suspender rings, and sew them on the corners of kitchen holders to hang them by. It will be easy then to flip them on to a nail, and they will not be so likely to get lost.    Powdered borax with a little sugar, blown into the cracks and crevices with a small bellows, will drive away house-ants.    Have a high stool in the kitchen to sit on when tired, to continue your work if necessary. Perched on its top you can wash dishes or iron with ease. A low stool placed on a wooden chair forms a substitute, but a poor one. A soft sheep-skin mat is restful to stand upon.    There is nothing better for cleaning brass or copper than coal ashes. They are also good to scour knives and forks with. For tin, whiting or fine sand is best.    To cleanse jars or jugs or any earthen vessel slaked lime is good, or warmed lye.    To keep a stove smooth, take a coarse and pretty large piece of flannel, roll it hard, and dip it in fine sand. Proceed to rub your stove whenever you are through cooking. Almost any stove will look better for being done the same way occasionally. Boiled starch is also very good to keep a stove looking well; put it on where it will not burn off — around the back and sides where it doesn't get very hot.

Before I had a livejournal, I wrote something on neitherday.com about school shootings. It was taken down in one of the site redesigns, but seeing as it is relevant to recent events, I thought I'd repost it here:

March 7th, 2001 School shootings, once something totally unheard of, have quickly become a part of the national landscape. Most of these shootings are performed by students who are ostracized and harassed by fellow students. While I don't believe in violence, as someone who was picked on quite a bit in school, I can see the motivations at work inside these kids. The main difference between now and when I was in high school is that when I was in high school kids who were ostracized had no real way of striking back. Now things are different. Teenagers have now heard of a method (while not one that I endorse) of striking back. Bullying, ostracization, teasing, vandalism, and even violent acts are committed against students who happen to be different in some way. Now, as when I was in school, there are rules against most of the offenses committed against non-conforming students. But we all know that in most situations school officials turn a blind eye to acts of harassment. The problem of school shootings will only get worse until these problems are addressed. Unfortunately, most plans that have been adopted only increase ostracization of students that don't fit into the norm. This is equivalent to pouring gasoline on a fire to put it out. For the safety and well-being of all students we need to promote acceptance and tolerance in our schools.

With the new MBTA fare hikes, it seems there is a desire make it more economically advantageous to buy a cheap used smog-belching car that otherwise would be heading to the junkyard than take public transit. This is because liberal Massachusetts is so concerned about fossil fuel use and air pollution.

I'm not really good about getting things done. I have some sort of strange blocks about forms and bills and the like.

The KeySpan called today requesting tribute with the tribute with the threat of discontinuing service. I have money in my bank account earmarked for them, I just hadn't sent it out. I ended up paying via check by phone, and the house_of_clocks will not be losing its gas service. I need to similarly placate Verizon at somepoint soon.

After talking to KeySpan, I decided to call MassHealth as I need to get my reenrollment straightened out. I knew that the forms they sent me in June were due sometime in late August, however I completely lost them. My therapist reminded me last Monday that I have a case manager with MassHealth and that it was their job to handle my reenrollment. She said I shouldn't be filling out the forms at all. Unfortunately the first thing I found out upon calling MassHealth was as a cost cutting measure they let all the case managers go. I was then informed that the forms need to be received by August 20^th, and that it will take them 3-5 days to get replacement forms to me. So I may experience a gap in my coverage. I don't know if I'm put on the waiting list if my coverage lapse, but if I do I may end up months without MassHealth. I do still have Medicare, but there are sizable co-pays on just about everything. I am just scraping by already and can't afford the co-pays, especially since I will also be having to pay the Medicare premium that MassHealth currently pays (around $60 a month). I would have to consider healthcare and emergency only thing. That would seal the deal on quitting therapy. I know I made my own bed with this one, but it sucks anyway.

Been riding my bike back and forth from purpleglitter's apartment several times a day. In a few minutes I'm going to take it to the post office to mail the overdue gas bill. I still need to get a lock for it so I can ride it to Davis Square. I also would like to get a light and some baskets, but those are less important. I love my bike.

I found out today that my current therapist is going to be permanent instead of temporary. This is a great improvement because it adds stability to my psychiatric treatment. I will still have a temporary therapist next month as my current therapist is going on vacation. As my current therapist is on staff and I will most likely be able to see her for an extended period of time. I've grown tired of switching therapist's every year and am hopeful that I can keep this therapist for a longer time, build up a trust, and be able to really delve into some issues that really need to be delved into.

I'm not quite sure when I am getting out of here. There are alot of factors involved with that. Hopefully this week, but that's not certain at this point.

-----

My phone got shut off today but thanks to the help of a good friend, it's back on. I was really stressed out about it and wanted to cut but luckily I was here and didn't have anything to cut with. Now I just have to make sure the gas doesn't get cut off. I should remember to call them tonight.

posted by purpleglitter

I know several people are going to gripe at me for this, but I had two cups of coffee today. But I did, with lots of help from purpleglitter, get my forms for the Department of Mental Health and MassHealth filled out. I'll be sending those off tomorrow with the phone bill and gas bill. For now, I'm going to smoke some pot and write a stream of consiousness post. At least that's the plan.

life is this
this is life
where will i go?
what am i doing here?
right now i'm sitting at a keyboard.
having listened to the preachings of rev. jeremiah weed
jeremiah weed is a pleasant fellow
he ministers in a slurred voice
his company is fine
he makes me drunk
incoming message...
...
...
comment
...
...
don't worry
i'm not going to do the three dots thing again
....
see four
.....
and five
...
shut up
anyway.
sometimes
things are different
different inside
things freeze up
it's hot in here
but it's cold too.
they might seem opposite
but can exist together.
i'm thinking of jalapeño ice cream
interesting idea
hot and cold
i wonder if it would take off
popcorn flavored jelly beans did
----
dashes
see
not dots
the world is spinning a little
but that's just old rev. weed
asking me
what's up
i don't know where i am
i don't really care
i'm somewhere
that's all that matters for the moment
it's hot in here
i open the window.
it will be cold soon
winter is coming
one of the floaters doesn't like winter
finds it triggery
i wonder what happened in the winter
i wonder why the winter is so cold
the beast comes out in the cold
the beast is protective
the beast sees the cold as something to protect against
winters long march
through my bones
----
four even
and only once
so there
-----
symmetry is overrated
i overrate it
i look at it as important
feel rebellious if i part my hair asymmetrically
fuck symmetry
-----
i hear the leaves
falling to the ground
winter is coming
coming fast
we need oil
do we have money for oil?
no.
but we need it
or we will freeze
i can keep the house heated with the gas stove and oven
but people need to cooperate
i have to stay up all night to make sure the pipes don't freeze some nights
winter is always about tending the fires
making sure everything stays warm
against the bitter cold
and here it comes
winter