Thursday, April 26, 2012

Save Those Jars!


While we were in Arkansas for vacation last week, my mom and I went to their local Atwoods, (best store ever) and picked up a bunch of small mason jars to store our spices in. She bought the small size so she could stick them to her fridge with magnets and I bought a larger size to sit on my counter top. I am in love with how it looks and how easy it was, so I looked up some other things I could do with jars.

I found some super cute citronella candle jars sprayed with frosted glass spray paint to use outside. One person painted hers bright colors and used them to grow herbs in her kitchen window while another made an amazingly cool flower vase for their shelf.

Of course, mason jars are perfect for storing food, but did you know you could make single serving pies in them? Or salads for a week?


I never throw anything away, so I have a crap-ton of jars to make cool stuff with now. I'm very excited.


Happy crafting!

-Shala-

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

It's Trivia Time!

So, lately my life has been a roller coaster between trying to move and finish up yet another grad school class.  But, ya gotta take some time out for yourself right?  I'm a lover of trivia.  I watch Jeopardy every single night at 6pm while I eat supper - some nights I kill it, others I'm left wondering who the heck knows the answer to that?! Back in college I discovered "Geeks Who Drink," which is one of the greatest ideas of all time.  Geeks Who Drink organizes trivia nights at local bars/pubs all over the U.S., and the best part is they are actually a Denver-based company!  So, whether you are in Aurora, Northglenn, or any other city in the Denver Metro there's definitely a bar near you with a trivia night.  Back to my point - tonight I'm planning to take a short load off from all of the packing, organizing, and cramming I've been doing lately to enjoy a trivia game and maybe some yummy wings :)  If you like trivia, be sure and check out the Geeks Who Drink participating pub near you!

Happy quizzing,
Allison

Thursday, April 19, 2012

What about the 0.1%?

Germs are everywhere. They are especially prevalent on your hands and if they are on your hands then they are on anything you touch. So what do you touch with your hands? Here is a small list:

The TV Remote
Light Switches
Door Knobs
Computer Keyboards
Phone
Money
Toothbrush
Car Door Handle & Steering Wheel
Fishing Poles
Makeup Containers
Tools


Germs are even on the dispenser to your "germ killer". Interestingly the germ killer only kills 99.9% of the germs so what about the other 0.1%?


Curious to know
Dale

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Lessons from a PodCast

I'm a frequent podcast listener.  I've got my favorites and listen to them almost everyday.  Some days they make me laugh, other days I learn something new.  Today I even learned a few lessons -

*Use your gifts - they may not stick around forever
*Don't over-think things
*Replace negative thoughts with positive ones

One of today's podcasts featured select stories about times where people can't stop getting in their own way, and they told the story of Steve Blass.  I'm a recent baseball fan so I've never heard of the guy, but Steve Blass was a former MLB All-Star Pitcher for the Pirates. While he was an amazing pitcher, he is best known for his sudden and inexplicable loss of control after the 1972 season now referred to as "Steve Blass Disease."  Steve Blass Disease is a widely used term in baseball to describe talented players who inexplicably and permanently seem to lose their ability to accurately throw a baseball.  Post Steve Blass, researchers have done studies proving that coaches shouldn't say things like "focus on the mechanics" when a player suddenly loses their abilities.  This is because it causes a person who is already thinking too much to think more! So, how does Steve Blass feel about all of this?  Well, he's just happy he got to live his dream.

 Moral of the story - don't over-think things or you'll just make it worse. 

Tata for now,
Allison

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Road Trippin

Tomorrow, Shala and I are puttin' on our straw hats, leavin' our shoes behind, packin' the old banjo and settin' off on a road trip to visit Shala's family in Arkansas. Driving just one way is going to total up to 825 miles, and if we don't stop or consider time changes, the drive will be just shy of 13 hours. I've found we can cut about 20 miles off the trip if we just walk. It would only be 806 miles and take about 11 days. If we ride our bikes, the mileage shoots up to over 900 miles, but would only take us about 3 days to get there. As the crow flies, their house is only 675 miles away. Why that's only:

195 leagues (roughly)
39,600 stone's throws (assuming you can throw a stone 30 yards)
194,400 1953 Cadillac Eldorados (end to end)
594,000 fathoms
1,188,000 yards
3,564,000 feet
42,768,000 inches
1,086,307,200 millimeters

Bye,
Ruben

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

WTF*

Last month Ruben's sister flew to Oklahoma from Japan to visit, so we took a mini vacation to go see her and her family. The weather was warm and sunny all month until we get there. Two of the three days we were there were cold and rainy. I wasn't too surprised, after all, it is Oklahoma. The same Oklahoma that is famous for weather that has your heater and air conditioner on in the same day, but I was still a little disappointed that we didn't get a break from the cold.

This Saturday Ruben, The Toddler and I are leaving for Arkansas to spend a week with my family. The weather in Arkansas has been gorgeous since February, so we're excited to enjoy the week outside swimming and just relaxing...were excited. Yesterday we took a look at the weather and found out it's not only going to be cold, but there are also going to be severe storms the whole way there and throughout the week. *WellThat'sFantastic. What was planned as a 14 hour Saturday drive is now looking like a weekend long venture through rain, hail, wind and possibly some naders. Good thing we're getting new tires! I know it's probably a coincidence and I'm sure the fact that it's Spring adds to the chances, but I'm starting to feel like I have some badweathervacation mojo or something.

We're still super excited to see my family, so the trip will be worth it, but if you don't see me or Ruben on the blog anymore it's probably because we got blown off a mountain somewhere.


Happy Spring!
-Shala-

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Baseball: An Almost Deadly Game

As you may have read yesterday was the home-opener for the Colorado Rockies, and it was almost a deadly one (besides the fact the Rockies really stunk up the field).  A 69-year-old grandmother from right here in Nortghlenn, CO (Home of OldWillKnottScales) was struck in the head by a line drive hit.  Don't worry, she's okay and she's not even upset.  But, it got me wondering just how common is it to be hit by a baseball at a game?  Surprisingly, over the last 150 years only one person has actually died from being struck in the head by a baseball.  Regardless of this fact, and the fact that baseball is almost as safe as it can be, hundreds of players, coaches, and spectators have died at the ballpark over the years.  Maybe the sport is cursed, or maybe it's just a coincidence...either it way it makes for an interesting read.  Check out the full story of yesterday's incident below, and the link to the book Death at the Ballpark.

Woman Hit By Line Drive at Coors Field
Death at the Ballpark

...At the old ball game...
Allison

Monday, April 09, 2012

It's Finally Spring In Denver!

If you thought spring arrived on March 20th, you were wrong. Even if you go by the weather, spring didn't start on any day this March, despite breaking 6 high temperature records or being the least snowiest and second warmest on record. My friends, spring in Denver starts today at 2:10pm. That's when the Colorado Rockies have their home opener against the San Francisco Giants. Now LoDo will be packed with people having fun and slamming hot dogs. If you're hitting up a Rockies game this season you must try Biker Jim's Gourmet Dogs. By far the best hot dog I've ever had!

On a separate note, go Jets!

Happy Spring,
T-dog

Friday, April 06, 2012

442

I about got hit by about 10 different Olds' 88's the other day and it got me thinking about Oldsmobile.

The year was 1964 and muscle cars were getting more and more popular. Oldsmobile, fearing GM budget cuts, had to rival the Pontiac GTO. Their answer was the 442. The first thing you're going to think of is an engine. But actually, 442 was not the engine size at all. It was the name of the car. The 442 was originally fitted with a 4 speed manual gear box, a 4 barrel carburetor, and dual exhaust. 442 was originally an options package for their already popular Cutlass and the F-85, but in 1968, 442 was a model name. Available engines were the modest 330 CI V8 and my favorite, the 400 CI V8 (the longer stroke brought the torque curve higher so you could stay in the same gear a little longer before shifting, and the next gear would be that much closer to the desired spot on the torque curve).

Maybe one day, you'll find a broken down 442 in my driveway.

Have a good weekend,
Ruben

The Future

Most likely you've heard of Google's Project Glass. If not, stand by to be blown away. I'm totally stoked for these glasses to come out. Google must release Google Glass(G²) before the end of 2012 just to keep up with Apple. If Google does this right, G² is destined to knock Apple back to number two. No more chit-chat required, just watch the video.

The Future

Wednesday, April 04, 2012

Pretty Easter Eggs with ZERO Mess!

Easter is right around the corner and I love to decorate eggs - mostly because I like to eat hard-boiled eggs :) But, the one thing I don't like about decorating eggs, or any holiday fun crafty project is that it's messy!  I hate messy, and I'm too OCD for having dye all over the place in the event I might spill some in a place where it can't be cleaned up.   With the help of my friends on Pinterest I have found a solution - several ideas for Pretty No-Dye Easter Eggs.  Leave it to those geniuses over at Better Homes and Gardens to collect these ideas. 

Happy Decorating and Have a pleasant Easter holiday!

Allison

A Little of This, A Little of That

Lately, We've been going through Old Will's website and sprucing it up a bit with new features and designs. We've added a printer friendly link on our invoice page, so you don't have to print the whole website after you place an order. We spiffed up the product review form by adding a handy little counter that shows you how many characters you have left for your review. We also changed our fancy headers to an easier to read font. Right now we're working on adding recently viewed products to product pages, making available product accessories easy to find, adding more social buttons to our product ads and I hear rumors that Old Will is working on a new homepage.

A lot of our changes are requests from customers, so if you have some feedback let us know!


- Shala -