Finger-Safe Rat Trap

How many times have you primed a rat trap and gingerly moved away only to have it suddenly explode, leap about 3 feet in the air and provide you with instant laxative?
Well, here's a wee tip to modify your rat-trap so you can more safely set it and run.

Parts needed:
Electric drill with 9/64" bit and a 5/8" blade
1 x 1.5", #8-32 machine screw.
4 x 5/8" washers
4 x nuts for the machine screw.
Couple of small spanners or wrenches and a screwdriver.

Standard rat trap

Using a bit size of 9/64" (or thereabouts! :-)) drill a hole all the way through the trap as shown. 

 On the bottom side of the trap, dig out some of the wood around the hole you just drilled using a 5/8" blade so that the trap will lie flat after inserting the machine screw.  You could also dig out the wood by carefully using a sharp-bladed knife or chisel.

 Insert a 1.5" #8-32 machine screw and a 5/8" washer

 Secure the screw with another washer and a nut.

 Add another nut to the machine screw, then a split washer, an angle bracket, another washer, and finally another nut.

 When it's assembled, the last nut should cover all the threads of the machine screw.  Tighten all the nuts--but not too tight: You should be able to move the angle-bracket.

 Pull back the trap's "business end" and rotate the angle-bracket as shown.  The angle bracket holds the spring mechanism in place.

 Now the trap is "set" ready to go.

 The addition of a wee handle also helps to keep fingers out of the way and allows easier placement of the trap. If when placing the "set" and baited trap, it should accidentally go off, the angle bracket will hold the spring mechanism in place (it allows it to move about a quarter of an inch) so no "laxative moment."

 After the trap is baited (mine is baited with cheese and a sprinkling of cornflour), set and placed where you want it, carefully rotate the angle bracket around as shown above.

Over time, you may have to occasionally re-tighten the top two nuts .

Good (Safe) Hunting! :-)

Uses for cat fur

Opal loves to be "Furminated."  It hadn't been done for a while and so I harvested quite a crop of fur on the last occasion.  After studying the pile of furminated fur it looked like such a waste to dispose of it all so I have some suggestions for taking advantage of this "gold mine."

This is Opal, by the way (she had just walked through a spider's web):

A cuddly toy for the kiddies, perhaps?  (Not suitable for those three-years old and under due to small parts.)

 A handy-dandy toupee to cover that little "slightly-thinning" spot (especially on those cold, winter days).

A fairly impressive 'tache!  Very dignified, I think.  (However, not suitable for those with cat allergies.)

  

Another Culinary Delight

Sallie and Joel introduced me to "Avocado Toast" which, by the way, is quite delicious.  I did, however boost the deliciousness factor up a notch or two by adding sauteed mushrooms.  Mmm mmm mmm mmm mmmmm.

Toast two or three slices of bread, butter them and spread with a generous layer of fresh avocado.  Now sprinkle them with fresh lemon juice and add ground black pepper (and maybe a little salt) to taste.  Top it off with mushrooms sauteed in olive oil.  You won't regret it!  

Clotted Cream

Had a wee look at a site called MilkDelight.com just to get some information on cream.  In it I found this statement (this is it verbatim):
"Clotted cream is also an important part of cream tea, plopping a dollop or two into a cup of tea, and cream tea is often the drink preferred with scones and jam."
I did try to correct them through their "contact" system but it failed due to "technical issues."  No wonder Americans get the wrong idea about things when sites disseminate rubbish like this.

Boxers ain't for me!

I've decided I'm going back to wearing "briefs."  I've tried the "boxer briefs" which, initially, are abundantly comfortable and lets one's appendages enjoy a feeling of nature (i.e. not caged or imprisoned)   Sadly, the darned things keep falling down (the boxers, not the appendages).  I was playing golf yesterday and 3 times in 9 holes I had to undo my belt and unzip my pants in order to hoick up my boxers.   Maybe it's the slightly rounded belly that's causing the problem.  Whatever it is, it won't be a problem much longer.
UPDATE!  Found "lo-rise" boxer briefs.  They don't "Urkel" up the belly quite so far, therefore have less tendency to fall back down again. We have a keeper!

Always be concise with your labels

The other night I decided on having enchiladas for tea. I had them previously made and frozen so it was just a case of taking them out of the freezer and sticking them in the oven. Label instructions were "Heat in 375 oven for 30 minutes." Well, it actually took longer than 30 minutes--nearer 45 but all looked well and the food was piping hot. On turning it out onto a plate I thought "Hmmmmm, what happened to the tortillas?" Deciding that the tortillas had obviously disintegrated during the freezing/reheating process I carried on but I did think that it looked a bit regurgitated. (That's a euphemism, by the way)

So we sat down and started eating. Tasted not bad but I was still looking for tell-tale signs of tortilla. Then it dawned on us: What I had put in the freezer was just the filling! I was supposed to thaw it, wrap it in tortillas, sprinkle cheese on top and "voila!" (Or "wallah" as they say here in Amerikay.) Anyway, I scraped the half-eaten regurgitation off the plates, filled a couple of tortillas, sprinkled cheese on top and stuck the whole lot back in the oven to heat it up again and melt the cheese. Now it looks right--and it tasted goooood!

Of course to any good tale there has to be a moral and it is this: When you stick something in the freezer, don't assume you'll remember what it is and don't just say (for example) "Heat in 375 oven for 30 minutes"--label the darned thing with full details and thus avoid surprises!

Banana Epiphany!

The other day I was making a banana piece and had a thought: "What would it taste like with jam on it as well."

(If you don't know what a "piece" is, all will become clear.)

Take your two slices of bread and add a good slather of butter (or margarine if you prefer) then select a softish banana and mash it on top of the butter.

Next add your choice of jam. Mine was ma Mammy's home-made raspberry.

Mmmmmmmm. Buon Appetito!

It was delish! :-)

Once bitten....

I sent a parcel to my brother in Scotland the other day there. Being in a hurry that day and not wanting to go to the post office, I figured I'd drop it off at Postal Annex. Well, it cost me $36 for First Class mail (the cheapest option) which I thought was a bit much but I hadn't checked the likely cost of it on the US Postal Service Web site before I left home. I assumed (big mistake) that that was as cheap as it could be. Well, my brother informed me that the actual postage was $22, so I checked on the USPS site and found that that would be the rate for a 2.5 pound package. Thinking that a serious mistake had been made, I went off to Postal Annex to see if I could find out what went wrong. Turns out nothing was "wrong." Postal Annex charges $14 to handle a 2.5 lb package with a $22 postage. Now off to the UPS Store to see if they are any different. Nope, If I had elected to send a 2.5 lb package by Priority Mail to Scotland using them they would stick me for $59, while the actual postage would be $36--a whopping $23 handling charge! I imagine MailBoxes Etc. and all the other shipping places are the same.

Lesson learned. I'll go to the Post Office in future!

Good ol' Stater Bros!

Made a bunch of hamburger patties yesterday using Stater Bros. ground beef, some Jennie O turkey and a cup o' shredded cheese.  Sadly, the ground beef had a load of totally unchewable bits in it--and I think Wifie got the most of it.  So the whole lot will be getting the heave (no pun intended).  Anyway, went up to Stater Bros. to disseminate my displeasure about the ground beef and of course the ingredients that were ruined.  "No problem," says Ashley B, apologising.  She quickly refunded what I had paid for the ground beef then proceeded to give me another 2 lbs of fresh ground beef, a packet of ground turkey and a new packet of cheese--all gratis.  Thanks, Stater Bros. and Ashley B.  You did good!

Itchy and Scratchy.

I'm covered in welts where there's been scratching.

There are two possibilities to how it happened:

Scenario 1:  Wife got over-amorous (but obviously while I was sleeping as I don't remember).

Scenario 2:  Mog went walkies where he shouldn't have gone walkies.  I'm thinking he found some poison oak or poison ivy or whatever.  I gave him a thoroughly good massage at bedtime.  Got washed and ready for bed.  Scratched butt on way to bed.  Woke up next day covered in scratches--serious welts!  Now developing more of a rash and it's ITCHY!

Wife says she didn't do it.  So, it must've been the cat!

Regrets: Scratching butt on way to bed.
Thankful for: Not scratching "round the corner."

New developments!  Rash went all over and was accompanied by a sore throat.  Went to the doctor and it seems it was an allergic reaction to something or other.  Not convinced but will probably never know for sure! Sorry Mog!  :-)

Shady Brands.

Isn't it sad when you buy a product and think you're getting "home grown"?

 First there's the egg problem...

 

  Aw Snap!

Then it's the fish...

Plumbing tip!

I discovered today that after a spot o' plumbing, one should make sure ALL of the joints are soldered before turning the water back on.

I learned today that in thirty seconds an awful lot of water can be squirted through a half-inch pipe.

Rolls

I've tried making rolls a couple of times: Once by hand and once using a mixer. Both times I ended up with what could be passable copies of hockey pucks or mini discus.

I followed the instructions exactly: Left the dough to double in size then knead it back to the original volume. Pull the dough and put it on a greased baking tray. Cover it with a cloth until the dough rises again. (Now that was a dumb thing to do!)

O.K. substituted cling film for the cloth! The rolls didn't rise so I stuck them in the oven anyway. They look terrible, but they taste yummy! Just like a Scottish plain loaf but exceedingly chewy (just the way I like it). :-)

What to do in a Power Outage?

Power was out yesterday for four hours. Suddenly, our lives stood still. Washing machine and drier stopped, vacuum cleaner stopped sucking, computer shut off, television no worky! Hmmmm, what to do, what to do? Wandered aimlessly for a while then finished my book (which was rather pleasant to do without feeling I should be doing something else). Wandered in and out of rooms making futile attempts at turning lights on. What to do, what to do? Went and had a shower--that killed 20 minutes. Finally gave up and had a martini. Ahhhhh, that's better.

Don't cut your nails when cats are around!

So, I had a sharp, rough point on my big toe nail which I decided to cut off with a pair of scissors. Off I go with two cats in tow. While positioning the scissors the cats started sniffing around my feet. Being slightly distracted by all this moving and sniffing, I snipped: Sadly, as well as the nail, I also took off the tiniest bit of big toe. And I mean TINY! . Even with tiny, wee cuts, big toes bleed profusely! Moral: Cut your toe nails in private.

CPK Pizza

Here's another misrepresented pizza. This time it's California Pizza Kitchen's BBQ Chicken.

Picture from the box. Mm mm mmmm!:

And here's the real thing (note that it's not yet cooked--this is just to show how the ingredients are placed) See if you can spot the 6 pieces of chicken:

Here's another one with the onions carefully distributed.

Tabby-Tote

This device, in my humble opinion, has to be the most perfectly designed vehicle for ferrying-around felines. Any malarky on the part of one's kitty can be easily and quickly "rectified." :-)

Abreva works!

For those of you who suffer the indignity of cold sores (herpes simplex) and their resulting disgusting looking scabs, try using Abreva. It really works. For years I had used after-shave lotion which made me smell nice but did nothing to allay the eventual (albeit temporary) disfigurement. Next I tried Blistex which worked marginally but always left a greasy splodge on my face. Then along came pricey, expensive Abreva in its dinky little tube! Worth every penny! At the first sign of a cold sore (funky feeling on lip), I start applying the Abreva every couple of hours, and especially after eating or drinking or snogging. It's not as magical as the television advertisements suggest but it stops the cold sore getting huge--and if you catch it quickly enough, the sore just kinda melts away (after a few days).
I cannot recommend this stuff highly enough! Brilliant!

Albertson's Culinary Circle Pizza

So I bought a Culinary Circle "Ultra Thin Crust Garlic Chicken Alfredo Pizza" from Albertson's.


Boy, did it look d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s ! I was drooling! Check out the pic from the box...


Doesn't it look great?

O.K. so here's what it really looks like!

Not too many chicken pieces, and a splodge of onion.

It tasted pretty much like how it looks (crappy)!

I contacted Culinary Circle and explained to them how disappointed I was with the product and also suggested a possible "untruth in advertising." And, no, they never responded to me!

J C Penney "Sale"

Went along to Home Depot to look at new window blinds for the family room. Total regular price (including tax) was $1,770. With sale and credit-card discounts the total came to $1,373. Not a bad price. However, JC Penney are advertising a whopping 65% off Levolor window blinds so we were quite excited to see what a bargain we'd get there. We found the exact same blind that we looked at in Home Depot. Total JC Penney price (including tax and with that humungous 65% discount...$2060.50. What a deal...NOT!!! We're going back to Home Depot.

Here's an example:
45 x 59 window: MRP (according to JCP) $905. JCP "sale price" $316.75.
Home Depot regular price: $272, HD sale price: $231.20.