Tag Archives: lifestyle

Flat Packs

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Trash bag packaging has long been plagued by inefficient roll designs that consume unnecessary storage space and complicate replacement. A superior alternative lies in flat-packed bags strategically folded to nestle compactly at the bottom of waste receptacles. This innovative approach ensures that when a full bag is removed, a fresh replacement is instantly accessible, streamlining the disposal process and maximizing convenience for users.

Stacked bags offer superior convenience compared to rolled bags. Retrieving a bag from the top of a neatly arranged stack is significantly more straightforward than struggling to separate one from a tightly wound roll. Moreover, this storage method optimizes space efficiency and reduces overall packaging requirements, making it a more practical and environmentally conscious choice.

Oddly, it would also require less space for warehousing and shipping. It eliminates the space between rolls because rolls are round, whereas stacks are rectangular, resulting in less air between them.

This also holds true for the packaging of the proverbial ‘hand wipes’ and similar hygienic wipes. Moreover, when they do go to rectangular packaging, they interleaved them. I reach for one, I get two or even three. This means stuffing the access back into the container or waste the extra wipes. That’s not just wasteful but also not thrifty. In addition, sometimes frustrating when working one handed.

Innovative hygiene wipe containers should prioritize sustainability and user convenience. Reusable packaging with intuitive access mechanisms, such as fold-up or removable tops, can significantly reduce waste and improve functionality. These containers can be engineered with superior sealing technology, ensuring the wipes remain moist and effective. Additionally, the shift to reusable containers would not only minimize environmental impact but also provide cost savings in packaging materials, making the product more economical for consumers.

Innovative container designs can enhance the functionality and user experience of wipes packaging. By strategically increasing the container’s weight and stability, manufacturers can address current ergonomic challenges. A more robust construction would prevent the container from lifting or shifting when users extract wipes from nearly empty packages. Moreover, modular mounting options and varied design aesthetics could expand the versatility of these containers, enabling placement in diverse settings such as kitchens, workshops, or other specialized environments. These improvements would not only solve practical usability issues but also introduce potential new applications for wipe products across different spaces.

Maybe automakers would start building them into consoles.

Brown-bagging it Without the Brown Bag

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Some of “brown-bag it” to save money. I can’t imagine there are many out there that don’t know what brown-bagging it means but, just in case, this is the explanation. When in school, some of us ate in the cafeteria. Those that were not able, frequently carried lunch boxes to school. Those who could not afford lunch boxes, carried our lunches in brown bags.

Then there were those of us who could not afford brown paper bags. We carried out lunch in our plastic see through bags. Sometimes, I could buy a carton of milk, but I was always required to take the plastic bag home. It would be washed and reused the next day. I got weeks of use out of my plastic bags.

When my wife and I first moved to Desoto county with our two sons, I didn’t make much so my older son qualified to for cost free lunches. He really liked it because he traded for hamburgers. One day he had five of them, which made him sick. (He still likes hamburgers) After, he was told no more trading.

At any rate, as time went by, I started receiving promotions and, of course a larger paycheck. Then one year, we no longer qualified for free lunches. Strange as it seems, it took us about a week to get them to discontinue them. I suspect that no one would have ever said anything if I said nothing and let my sons receive the lunches. Thing is, unlike many, it does go against my grain to receive the free lunches. Besides, it hurt my ego. I did work hard for the privilege of paying for the lunches myself.

Now, once a day, my wife and I go somewhere to eat. Today, we went to McAlister’s Deli. I had one of their stuffed potatoes, which I could not finish. My wife had a cup of potato soup and a half ham sandwich. I paid for it. Right there at the counter, I pulled out my debit card and waved it over their magic reader. In a while, of course they brought us our dinner. I figure you ought to know. I mean the tax payers did put the money in my checking account. Shouldn’t I explain what I am doing with the money?

On the other hand, there are those who think they need not explain what they are going with the tax money entrusted to them.

By the way, I do want to thank everyone for the lunch.

Not All Air Conditioners Are “Air Conditioners”

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I know. It sounds confusing. It might be. However, there are two major ways of cooling air. Mostly, when we say air conditioner, we normally mean a refrigeration unit. That is to say, it generally compresses Freon to perform the air conditioning.

The second form is water evaporating air conditioners, frequently called swamp coolers.

There is one other possible type that, well I don’t even know if anyone sells them, but I guess I should mention it as it is possibly being used.

Nowadays, the refrigeration type is the most common as it works well in most situations. In essence it works by transferring indoor heat outdoors. While it definitely works best in high humidity, much of the energy used by the unit to remove water from the air. Hence, they do work better in low humidity environments.

Swamp coolers, contrary to their name, work best in non swamp conditions. That is to say, they work best when the climate is dry. They work by blowing air over something soaked with water and they evaporate the water. The evaporation does two things. First it cools the air. Second, it increases the humidity in the air, in a humid environment, that is pretty much a bad thing.

On the other hand, in a desert environment, it actually is good. Increasing air from less than 10 percent to 50 percent increases the comfort. So, in places like Death Valley, the swamp cooler would work pretty effectively. When I was in the Marines, I was temporarily assigned to China Lake, California. (Never did see a lake there) It was a very hot, and dry. The barracks I was in used a swamp cooler very effectively. I was very comfortable while in them. If for some reason I had to live in China Lake the rest of my life, I would be very satisfied with swamp cooling.

However, even there, when the air conditioning really counted, they still used refrigeration. However, condensation was nowhere near the problem we have here in Desoto County. My little 8000 BTU unit takes about a quart of water from my 900 sq ft house in less than half a day. That takes a lot of KW hours. On the other hand, it does lower the humidity in my house.

Right now, it is 58% humidity in my house and probably close to 90% outside. To me, that is worth the the money I paid for the window unit as well as the electricity I pay for.

The third type, hardly worth mentioning, simply compresses room air and cools it, generally with outdoor air, then decompresses the air back into the room. I am told, that though it is effective, the air going back into the room frequently contains ice crystals. I have no idea, at all, how efficient it is, but I would guess it is impractical. Otherwise they’d be building them like crazy.

Now. Why in the world am I going through all this explanation. There are a slew of ads these days where they are advertising what they call air conditioners and they aren’t much bigger than a shoe box. Technically, they are air conditioners, swamp coolers. They do cool the air going through them and, they are effective in some situations. However, do not expect them to work as well as my window unit, and certainly not as the central units. In China Lake, they will be effective. In Desoto County, not so much.

As a quick afterthought, I guess I should add that there is one more type of unit, those powered by natural gas. I checked into getting one for my house. The guy said yes, they are far more efficient. However, it would take about 40 years to recover the expense of buying one. They are big and expensive to purchase and install. In the early 1900s they were very common. However, today they are mostly used in situations where large areas need to be cooled. Even so, I really put them in the same category as the refrigeration type, in that they do cool by refrigeration.

I do find them somewhat confusing though, in that they use the heat from a gas flame as the energy source for cooling. It seems very contradictory.

1989 Plus or Minus a Year or Two

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Why in the world do I bring up the year? What would be the significance? Most folks weren’t even around then or are aware of what all is going on in the world beyond their own home or school. Approximately at that time, a news announcement that bras would be advertised on TV with models wearing them OVER their clothing.

It wasn’t long after that, I remember seeing one of the commercials. Before that time, they did not model bras on TV. They did advertise them but no one ever wore them on TV. It seems a few weeks later, they lowered the standards and started modeling the bras without the clothing. Indeed, nowadays, they model underwear, both genders, with just the underwear.

However, it is more than that. It is a matter of frequency. It used to be that the underwear ads weren’t all that frequent. Now, it seems that we are treated to undergarment shows at least once every commercial break.

I guess we can thank the TV industry to the fact that all children past the age of 4 knows what a woman looks like in her underwear. I don’t know about others, but I really don’t think that is much of a progress. I mean, as they say, we can turn the TVs off, which I am tempted to do. However, that is not really an answer. Do we really want to deny the entertainment to 4 year-olds just so the world of lingerie can display their wears any time any day, and by the way, without forewarning. No one makes any remark, “The following ad might not be suitable for children.”

The fact of the matter is, none of us can dive for the remote fast enough keep our children from seeing such things.

I guess, there is nothing to be done. We must actually live in a world where modesty is disappearing at lightning speed.

Just one last question. Is this really the sort of thing we want want our children watching? Does this really improve their environment during their formative years? Okay. I know. Two questions. Still, sort of a different way of asking the same thing.

Now What?

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Sometimes things happen in real life that just can’t be imagined. I guess the one thing in my lifetime that I found unbelievable was that planes were actually running into buildings, on purpose. Really airplanes could be used as weapons for killing people, thousands?

Immediately things were changed. The world of travel has undergone a dramatic metamorphosis.

Apparently, those piloting that ship that ran into the Francis Scott Key Bridge did all they could to keep the ship from hitting the bridge, but the damage was still beyond any idea. Two days ago, ships passed back and forth under it. Today, what had been the bridge lies in a long heap, blocking sea traffic and thousands, if not millions are wondering just how they are going to get to where they need to go.

Being a person who prefers to think of the the practical aspects of a problem, I started thinking, What now?

l mean, it was a horrible thing. People died. However, immediately, there must be some thought of the future, short term and long.

I would guess getting that big barrier out of the way of the shipping is probably task one. Then maybe they need to think about the car traffic. Maybe they could find an old ferry boat or two to carry a small part of the traffic. Just how difficult would it be to put a floating bridge in.

Nonetheless, someone, or perhaps several someones will need to start long term plans. It’s well beyond my knowledge level, but whatever they plan should take into mind anything that happens might again happen. Decisions need to be made.

Perhaps plans can be made for barriers. Maybe they can choose a tunnel instead. Hard for a ship to run into a tunnel. On the other hand, the tunnel idea might take far too long.

Regardless, to someone, it is a big question, What now. I would guess, even now, there are those thinking of alternate routes.

Couldn’t Figure it Out

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Ordered a little, I guess you call it a wallet. I call it a credit card holder. When I got it, I couldn’t figure it out. As I put one of my cards in there, I was afraid I’d not get it out again. However, after about 30 minutes, I figured it out. It works great and has for quite a while, I guess about a year now.

I suppose it is designed to fit up to 8, but I never have more than 6, many of those are not credit cards. When I need one of the cards, I push a lever and up pops 3 cards, somewhat separated. Sorry, just cant think of the right word. Nonetheless, if I want my Kroger card, it is easy to separate if from the other 2. If I want one of the other 3 cards, I use the other lever.

It actually works faster than the wallet I was using and the other wallet was cracking and breaking the cards. The card easily goes back into the place designed for it. Once I figured it out, it works far better than I expected. Moreover, I have gotten a number of complements on it. Someone sees me get a card out and they say something like, “Wow. That’s neat.” I think maybe I should keep the name of web site handy for the next person that asks about it.

It has some side benefits. The cards are safe from hacking and I would suppose, they do provide some anti-theft advantages.

Just thought I’d pass it on to someone, maybe looking for a solution. Sorry, like all other wallets, it is not large enough for SS cards or Medicare cards. I figure one day, they will either make the cards smaller or the wallets bigger. They just might switch from paper to plastic as well, but not likely in my lifetime.

As mentioned, I got it through Amazon. I looked it up and it appears that they are still sold through Amazon and VM Fashion also has its own site. I don’t know. I might buy another, maybe two. The size is 3.74 x 2.56 x 0.59 inches, not much larger profile than the card itself. Also, as I checked, I noticed they had many other things along the same line. There might be a good gift among them.

Might I remind one and all, I do not get money for this blog site. I am not receiving anything in return for this post. It just is, when I see a good idea, I figure I should pass it on, for whatever good it might serve.