Lifehack: Flipping the Mattress

The people say that you're supposed to flip your mattress regularly in order to minimize lumps and sagging . I've always had the problem that I don't know which way to flip. As the "strong" one in the relationship (ha!), it's always my job to do the deed, and I worry if I'm doing it right.

Last time I had to do it, I thought for a minute how to make sure I didn't mess up. I came up with:

On each of the 4 possible mattress positions, use a Sharpie to write a number 1 through 4. When it's time to flip, add one to the current side, and make that side be up. After 4, go back to 1.

Ta-da.

This post suggest one way to do it based on time of year, but I think I'd forget what season meant what. They suggest flipping every 3 months, which seems like a good interval.

American Scientist Online seems to have the same system as mine, but it's buried in complex math, and they count from o to 3, so my system is obviously better.

Knights in Shining Armor

Congratulations SKGP, you are hereby recognized by Rod Kelley School for your overall academic improvement or exemplary academic performance. We applaud you for what you have accomplished and look forward to hearing even more great things about you in the future.

Incidentally, with this honor, the child gets a pizza lunch with the principal. However, since we found the award and letter tonight (after the pizza) on the floor, she still doesn't know what she missed. When RCP was picking S from school, the principal helped load her in the car and he said "Hey, weren't you on the pizza list for today?" to which she replied "No!".

When We Soa A Tiger

I saw a tiger... as fers as can be. I was so skard I theroo my hands in the air and I sartid to screem. Me and my fierend Jazzlyn whent on a hont on are way there was a tiger we war so scard we ran away and started to screem. The next daye thot we soa a nother tiger but it was the same tiger.

(There are also pictures to go along with the story.)

iRobot II: This Time It's Personal

Our Roomba has been acting up recently. It would move about slowly and jerkily. For a bit of research on the net, it was getting clogged up. I did my best to clean it with canned air and at a tire fillling station, but it still moved crazily.

Since we had bought it at Costco, which has the greatest return policy, I returned it today. I've had it for a month and a half and they didn't bat an eye to give me a full refund. I love Costco. Then I went into the store and bought a new one.

Which brings us to the contest: Name that robot!

We're looking for a name for the new robot. The first was called "Roomba." A little family discussion yielded "Cinderella", "Snow White" (but the robot is not white), "Rosie" (from the Jetsons), or "Alice" (from the Brady Bunch).

Leave comments with your votes or suggestions. The kids will probably be the final say. Thanks for the help.

The Sloane Manuever

SKGP invented a technique for getting onto the swings at recess and starting to swing. She grabs the chains, and then jumps and gets into the swing, which starts swinging becuase of the jump. Now all the other kids are doing it too. She's quite proud of this.

Ha ha ... He Said Ballcock

As I mentioned, our toilet was running.

Last weekend, I went down to OSH and picked up a new ballcock which I had decided was the problem. Why did I think that? I looked in one of our home-repair books, and that seemed a likely candidate.

I went with the Korky QuietPlus. Sure, it costs a little more, but why be cheap with your toilet?

Halfway through the installation, I realized that I had done this before, a couple times at PaceHouse 1.0. So, things went smoothly.

Once the part had been replaced, I turned the water back on (then tightened the dripping hose) and flushed. Everything worked well, except it still ran.

So, it was the flapper. I sent RKCP to get one (another fine Korky product!), and we've been flushing just fine ever since. Except the othe leaking hose, which I fixed that night.

Touched By The Hand of God

At Mass this evening, we'd gotten through the part where we're supposed to hold hands and then the part where you shake everyone's hands. As the service moved on, I noticed the couple next to me discreetly squirting Purell hand sanitizer and rubbing it into their hands.

It seems to me that this violates the Spirit of the occasion.