INSULATION

People often like to obtain a third opinion for medical problems, insurance quotes, real estate decisions, etc. etc. Well let me tell you, I strongly recommend a third opinion for attic insulation concerns. One of the owners of the four unit, townhouse condominium in which I live, took a photo of our building last winter. She showed me that snow covered the entire roof except my unit. “You should have your insulation checked,” she advised and so I did. The home inspector I called looked at my attic and said, “You’re fine. You have the required amount of insullation.”

Luckily my neighbor was skeptical and encouraged me to get a couple more opinions. And so once again, I followed her advice. The next man who looked at my attic found that parts of it were adequately insulated, but much of the rest needed more insulation. He also said I needed to fix the venting. Interesting I thought and I anxiously awaited the third opinion. Lo and behold, the last man not only agreed that my attic needed more insulation and the venting need improvements, but he discovered an additional problem. The firewall that separates my unit from my neighbor had no insulation what so ever. I moved into my condo 30 years ago and over the years, the original insulation in the wall had blown away. No wonder I had high heating bills.

It’s only April and I won’t see a significant difference in my heating costs for months. But I had no trouble deciding whom I should hire. And meantime, I am very grateful to my neighbor. Without her keen observation, I would continue to waste lots of money on heating a hungry attic.

By Hannah --www.FunnyPhotosContest.com a photo contest for cute or funny photos and photo captions.

VOLUNTEER DINNER

Since 2002, as a volunteer tutor, I have taught many senior citizens at the local senior center how to use their computers. I have enjoyed meeting and helping many wonderful people. And like other volunteers the joy of assisting someone provides a very special personal reward. But the local senior center goes one step further.

Every year in spring they invite all the volunteers to a volunteer appreciation dinner. As I always enjoy any meal I do not have to cook or pay for, I have attended the dinners each year. The food is always good and the entertainment enjoyable. In addition, I always like the opportunity to meet other volunteers. This year there were a record number of 130 people attending. Had all the volunteers shown up there would have been 250 people. But what is most interesting is that almost every volunteer who serves the Center’s senior citizens is himself/herself a “Senior Citizen”.

By Hannah --www.FunnyPhotosContest.com a photo contest for cute or funny photos and photo captions.

FACEBOOK

It seems like all of a sudden, FaceBook.com has become a national craze. Hundreds of thousands of people are setting up FaceBook accounts and inviting everyone they know to become a “friend”. I created my own FaceBook account about three years ago, when I thought it might provide a good avenue for advertising my website, www.FunnyPhotosContest.com. Unfortunately, it didn’t and so I have rarely looked at the site since.

However, in the past several weeks, I have received numerous emails from my children, high school friends, and college friends inviting me to “be their friend”. This peeked my curiosity and so once again, I checked it out. Although, I will probably not spend much time sending messages or writing on a friend’s wall, I thoroughly enjoy reading my children’s profiles. I’m learning things about them I might otherwise never have found out. I wonder if they have heard the experts warnings to young people, “Don’t put anything on the web that you wouldn’t want your Mother to see !!!!”

PASSOVER

Passover starts on Wednesday evening and I always start preparing early as there is always so much to do. But this year I had a dilemma. Traditionally, the seder plate must contain a shank bone or a chicken neck. Thus, in the past I always made sure that weeks in advance I would save a chicken neck from a whole chicken I had cooked. But now-a-days, the large grocery store chains seldom sell whole chickens. Instead, they stock mostly prepackaged thighs and legs, breasts, or wings. Luckily, I found a small butcher shop that would sell me just a chicken neck and so for the last several years I had no problem.

But yesterday when I called the Butcher, I learned they currently have only chicken necks attached to the chicken backs. But what would I do with the back? I told my daughter and she simply said, “Mom, why don’t you just buy a thigh from Kentucky Fried Chicken and use that?” “Oh, but I couldn’t,” I replied. Later I talked to an elder cousin and asked her what to do. Much to my surprise, she gave me the same answer. “Just use any chicken bone,” she said, “it really doesn’t matter.”

Nevertheless, it just doesn’t seem quite right. But I’m easing my conscience with the knowledge that I will as always follow a couple traditions. I’ll use the recipe my Aunt Pauline gave me for her delicious brisket and I’ll bake her wonderful sponge cake from scratch, using potato starch and nine eggs.

By Hannah --www.FunnyPhotosContest.com a photo contest for cute or funny photos and photo captions.

SELLING ON THE INTERNET

When I initially launched my website, I had grandiose hopes of making millions of dollars - haha. But three years later, my costs far exceed my income. Nevertheless, I won’t give up and maybe my latest idea will prove profitable.

Although I have attempted to sell t-shirts on my site through www.cafepress.com, not even one person has purchased any of the t-shirts that display the best of my contestant’s photos. But yesterday a new idea occurred to me. A friend of mine, an excellent graphic artist, might consider designing some really great t-shirts to sell on my site. It would give her an opportunity to make some money and I would simply ask her for a small percentage of her earnings. I also have another artist friend who paints, makes jewelry, and creates other artistic knick-knacks. Perhaps she would also like to sell her things on my website and again, I would only ask for a small percentage of her earnings.

Neither friend was home when I tried calling them to offer my business proposal. So I have no idea of how they will react. But it’s worth a try and maybe I’ll finally start making some money.

By Hannah --www.FunnyPhotosContest.com a photo contest for cute or funny photos and photo captions.

FOOD PROCESSOR

A few years ago, I tasted delicious mock chop liver at a friend’s house. I enjoyed it so much, I asked for the recipe and rushed out to buy a small food processor for $40. I immediately made my own and ate it all up. However, a long time passed before I again made another batch. But when I fried the onions, boiled the eggs, poured all the ingredients in the processor, and then turned on the machine, nothing happened. To fix the problem, I tried twisting the cover tighter and tighter. Still, the motor wouldn’t start.

Obviously, the food processor was broken. But I had to take the mock chop liver to a party that night, so I went to the store to buy a new one. Luckily, I had seen a recent Walgreen’s advertisement for a larger processor priced at only $15. I quickly bought it, carried it home, and made sure the cover was tightly secured in order to finish making my hor dourve.

Unfortunately, I could not return my other food processor as it was out of warranty. But a few days after buying my new machine, I made an important discovery. It dawned on me that I had concentrated so hard on tightening the cover of my first processor, it never occurred to me to check the base. Surely that was my mistake. It probably had to be tightened as well. And so when I once again assembled my original machine correctly, it worked !!!

Now what would I do with two food processors. I offered it to my daughter, but she didn’t need it. So I put it on my top shelf and forgot about it until recently when I had a craving for humus. I bought a can of garbanzo beans, plugged in my Walgreen’s food processor, and then realized it was too big for just one can of beans. At that moment, I knew immediately what I would do with my two appliances – the big one for mock chop liver and the small one for humus.

By Hannah --www.FunnyPhotosContest.com a photo contest for cute or funny photos and photo captions.

CAN SPRING BE FAR BEHIND?

On Feb 2nd, Jimmy the ground hog saw his shadow and Wisconsinites resigned themselves to another six weeks of winter. However, the mood improved on Mar 21st, the first day of spring when the temperatures had risen and we looked forward to spring. Unfortunately our good luck did not last. Last night, Mar 28th, we received two inches of snow. What a bummer!

The weather seldom bothers me as I know that the bad never lasts long. Nevertheless, the snow last night and the prediction of two more snowfalls later this week, did dampen my spirit. And so, you can imagine my delight when I woke up this morning, saw the sun shining, and bits of grass peeking out beneath the snow. Later that morning, even larger patches of grass started to appear, and as I sit here typing on my computer, I can look out my window to see more grass than snow. Hallelujah! I should have remembered it wouldn’t last long and by tomorrow, spring will return.

By Hannah --www.FunnyPhotosContest.com a photo contest for cute or funny photos and photo captions.