Pete & Jay's Tip O Da "Day"

This is what our tip for today would have been 6 years ago if Tip O Da Day were in existence in 1999 As you go home tonight be very careful, or just plan on staying where everyou are. Because as soon as the ball drops the entire eastern time zone should shut down. All the computers will go down causing: everyone to be flat broke (so go to the ATM), there will be no electricity (so buy a generator), your children will run away from home (make sure to have recent pictures on hand), Dick Clark will have a stoke (then they would have to put Regis on ), rioting will ensue (so get pick the places you want to loot now, before all the good ones are taken), nuclear explosions will occur (well you'll basicly be screwed then) and a hurricane from 5 years in the future called Katrina, will team up with Andrew from 7 years ago to devastate southern states (so board up your houses). So be ready kids, this could be the end of Tip O Da Day, because we all know that Blogs weren't around in 1900...

When dealing with insurance companies, specifically home owner’s insurance, but I imagine this would apply to any type of insurance company, you must be a PITA (pain in the #@$.) Call them often with sternness in your voice, be borderline demanding, do your research, know what you want before you make the call and once you get someone of importance on the phone in a position of authority that can make decisions about your claim, don’t get off the phone until you have answers. I am convinced if you have the guts to stand to up the insurance companies they give you what you have been paying them to cover, but if you allow them to put you on the back burner, oh they will and hope you settle for less than you are entitled. So my friends, stand your ground, demand what you rightly deserve and get action from insurance agents!

Here's a post-script to Kris' tip on the programmable thermostat! I've recently discovered that these gadgets are ideal for those with gas heat, but not so much for those with electric heat (particularly Rheem units), unless your set-back and at-home temperatures are less than four degrees apart. Even then, the heating and air conditioning guys (or at least mine) don't recommend it for electric heat, especially when it's very chilly. Apparently, when an electrically run furnace tries to return to your at-home temperature after you've been gone for the day, or after it's dropped to your during-sleep temperature, it has to kick in the resistant heat, which is much more expensive to run. They say keeping these particular heating/cooling systems constant (and at the lowest temperature you can comfortably live in) is the most cost-efficient way to run these systems. Bonus tip: Some heating and A/C systems just don't play nice with programmable thermostats, e...

Don't put turkey livers in the microwave. They can, and will explode.

If your wipers (or wiper blades for that matter) are causing obnoxious streaking on your windshield, before you throw in the towel and buy some new ones, first try this. Squirt lots of Windex, or generic window cleaner on a wad of paper towels. Then, clean off the blades with the wad . Chances are, you'll get rid of that obnoxious blob. Worst case scenario, you'll still have to buy wiper inserts, but at least your current ones will be squeaky clean until you get to Wally World!

Perhaps someone who can actually understand what this diagram means should be writing this tip. Unfortunately, the Tip O Da Day staff is not paid to come in over the Holiday. With the holiday's soon to be over, those on a school calendar could start to get bored before you hit the books again. So its time to whip up some fun. There are many traditional pranks, but none so exotic and mystical as cow tipping! Thanks to the wonders of the 21st century, cow tipping has now become more science than art. Some Canadian professor and student had some extra time on their hands. So that figured out exactly how much force it takes to tip a cow. (Evidently they didn't believe in "give it the ol college try") Cow tipping seems like it could be a rural legend, while the article makes it sound like they debunked the cow tipping claim, they do kind of say if you've got 5 people you could pull it off. Who wants to cow tip alone anyway?

Don't use SpyMac Hosting to host your website. They have a tendency to go down at random times . Such as Christmas Day for example. Merry Christmas everyone! (Even those of you at SpyMac)

So you forgot to order the animatronic chimp head , or portable yoga mat on time. And you aren't going to dare brave the store's today? (I don't blame you). Well, there is always the chance to regift something, but what do you really have unopened in your house anyway? (Well I guess you could take that one Lean Pocket Ultra that you accidently bought a couple months ago) So instead of looking for some thing unopened, look for something that doesn't normally come in a fancy package. Your soon to be gift recipient will have no idea that the gift is "gently used". One item at comes to mind right now is mugs. Just make sure they don't have any nasty coffee stains, so I guess that means, give them a dark mug. Any other idea?

If you need to replace your wipers (because what you attempted in the previous tip didn't work) don't buy them until you've successfully read this tip. You see, in an attempt to scam the general public, auto manufactures have attempted to dupe those who know little about cars. In actuality, wipers consist of essentially two parts. The wiper itself, and the wiper blade. The wiper is the entire mechanism that attaches to the wiper motor. The blade is simply a $2 piece of rubber that slides in. Most times, it's the insert that goes bad. So, before you rush out to buy an $18 set of wiper blades, try replacing the blade inserts first. And when you go to Wal-Mart, use their computer to enter in your car's make/model/year to find the correct part. Tell 'em Jay sent ya.

Grease can be very messy and hot to deal with. So to keep you from third degree grease burns just wait untill the grease cools and congeals. Then it will be very easy to simply scoop up and throw away. How easy is that? Now to top that even better, use the otherwise waste to power you car . Yes, that's right, you can use used vegatable oil as a replacement to deseal fuel. (With a do it yourself $1100 kit that is.)

Ahh, its here. My least favorite day of the year. Today is the day that is super short, the shortest day of the year, and what's that I hear? Oh, it is also the first day of winter The only thing that would make today worse is if I had a splinter. Or maybe a paper cut, but I diverse. I'm not good a rhyming, can I come up with another verse? Keep your chin up, I say to myself. At least last friday I saw the movie Elf . And days will only get longer from here. But say it isn't so. It's 19 degrees and no chance of snow. Here's to another freezing cold season, Soon it will be Christmas, don't forget the reason !

If you're someone with 1.) ADD, 2.) The ole' shaky hand or 3.) the coordination of a bull in a china shop, you really shouldn't apply to work as a chef at one of those Hibatchi-cook-it-on-your-table Japanese restaurants. You're just setting yourself up for failure. I mean, do you actually think you can balance an revolving egg on a spatula? And do you actually think you can avoid hurting yourself and others while mixing oil and water on a hot cooktop? What about when it comes time to fling shrimp at people? Do you really want to see Grandma lose an eyeball?

You know something you're allowed to wish on? Stars? Yes. Birthdays? Yes. Four Leaf clovers? Yes. Eyelashes? Yes. Boggers? No, that's just gross. But one thing you can wish on that a lot of people may not realize is time. Yes, if the time includes a pattern of numbers, such as 11:11, then you can make a wish. That comes in especially handy around here since lots of posts here are tagged with times that have repeating numbers. However, we're not entirely sure that counts, it might have to be what the clock say.

The infamous SkyMall magazine has plenty of great gift ideas. On our most recent flights, we found this…um…gift idea.

iTunes downloads almost always make the perfect gift. And now it makes a great gift to give if you pay with PayPal. Paying is PayPal is basically just like paying with your credit card straight up, so why not? If you buy a $20 gift certificate, they'll throw a 10 song credit in your account. If you really want to out do last year's gift. Buy a $50 certificate and get 25 songs for you! Bonus Tip: Know you're going to end up wanting 30 songs with in the next year or so, just get yourself a gift certificate for $20 and work the system! (Note, this has been untested but theoretically it should work)

Based on the discussion following our last mythological humanoid type creature discussion there seems to be some different preconceived notions about what some of these beings are, and who is the proper spokes person for their species. Well here are my observations on who should be the poster child for each being, and well since this is my site, I will exploit that fact and hereby propose that the following notions are "right" if not always "accurate" (remember we don't hold journalistic integrity very high around here). If you want journalism visit Fox News or something . First, a quick clarification of Gnomes . You can tell he's up to something by his hands are always behind his back. Now on to dwarves, dwarves are real vicious and good fighters. Because of the skills in combat they are not to be confused with Munchkins . If munchkins had any mad skillz (asides from lollypop licking), they would have easily been able to beat off a couple of monkeys and ...

Over the years, troublemakers have walked off with garden gnomes, giant inflated Spongebobs from the roofs of Burger Kings, and front-yard "wishing wells." But no thefts seem to be as frequent (or maybe just written about!) as nativity thefts. My goodness, is ANY prank more cliché than taking off with the replica Christ child (see below)? My tip: Put some kind of transponder, maybe even a tiny hidden camera in the figure depicting Baby Jesus, and don’t publicize your security measures. Just track the thief each time and surprise the daylights out of them, then drag ‘em in for a lineup. From Fox News’ Dec. 15 “Out There” Can't Stop Stealin' That Baby Jesus CHEVIOT, Ohio (AP) — The life-size baby Jesus from this Cincinnati suburb's nativity scene has disappeared again. This time, one of the sheep is missing, too. "At first, we thought it was just a prank and they would be returned quickly," said Steve Neal, Cheviot's safety service director. Several ye...

When dealing with a large amount of water (we are talking 1,000 gallons here) on a carpet, vacuuming up the water is a feeble attempt to rectify the situation. The padding under carpet is a super sponge capable of soaking up TONS of water. My advice from personal experience...get professional help . Believe it or not people exist out there that actually deal with flooded carpet on a regular basis! Or, tear up that carpet and set it on the curb for the garbage man !

If you happen to strategically pack a suitcase so that literally not an OUNCE of free space exists, that suitcase will undoubtedly either 1.) be about 52 pounds, and unable to pass without a $50 fee, or 2.) be heavily screened by the TSA resulting in them opening and searching your bag, and then being unable to close it without approximately 80 yards of "Inspected by TSA" tape sealing it.

If you're going to the bathroom in the middle of the night in a hotel, or other strange sleeping site, please feel free to turn on the lights, even it means waking other people up. Trust me. It's a good idea.

This tip is only for those of use who use Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, *roar*. Normally when you want to burn a CD or a DVD you stick it in your disc drive/cup holder and you pop it in and you can just drag some files to it. What you might not realize is what is happening in the background is that it makes a whole extra copy of that black disc on your computer. So say you're burning a DVD, that means it takes up 4.5GB on your hard drive (this is a hidden disc image). So as you are copying everything to the disc, you are really copying everything to your hidden disc image on your hard drive. Then when you are ready to finely burn the disc, it copies that disc image over to the physical plastic disc you stuck in there. As you know, that works, and as you can imagine its not the most efficient way to do stuff since you're really just making copies of all that junk (which takes time and space). But now, in Tiger there is a better way. This really comes in handy if you don't exactly hav...

This one's for our designer friends. Looking for an interesting background for something you're designing? Open iTunes, and turn on visualization. Use "Grab" to do a screen capture when you see something interesting. Of course you can manipulate your image in Photoshop later, but using a screengrab from iTunes and using a Gaussian blur can make some very visually interesting backgrounds. A few additional tips. I noticed when doing the image grab, you need to do "capture selection" instead of window. In addition, the lower the frame rate, the less chance you have at capturing the interpolation associated with de-interlacing as the image refreshes.

"Stocky"

"Big-Boned"

"Beast"

"Thick"

This week the publishers of Pete & Jay's TodD bring you a delightful series: "Words Not to Call Girls." The following five tips will be simply one word apiece, each a word you should never use when referring to a woman. Now, you'll probably notice that it's perfectly acceptable, in fact, possibly complimentary, to use these words to refer to a man. But, the same sentiment is NOT portrayed to any woman. So erase these words from your feminine vernacular. You'll be glad you did. What does happen, we've noted, is that if you use one of these words to a woman, they will turn into the word you use. For example, try using Wednesday's word to a girl. She'll become one. Words Not to Call Women I: "Brute" Words Not to Call Women II Words Not to Call Women III Words Not to Call Women IV Words Not to Call Women V

Addictions can be a tough thing to kick, but one that has particularly tough for everyone but Jason to kick is our reliance of Microsoft. Some people even…gasp…use Microsoft products everyday. I think according to Super Size Me that makes you a "heavy user". Well thanks so much to this book there is hope, even for those who use Outlook.

So you want to start a company, or may be a daily tip site…simply follow these Ten Rules for Web Startups . And well he doesn't actually guarentee anything, but they seem like good advice. And this guy should know, used to the CEO of the company that came up with Blogger (The service we use to publish Tip O Da Day), well before Google bought them and all.

When driving a tractor, it's generally customary to first understand exactly how the tractor works prior to hopping on it. For instance, be sure your tractor is in 4-low instead of 4-high, or else you might just end up tearing through a field and start freaking out because you can't remember what you're supposed to do to stop it. If you feel that you've finally mastered the art of tractordom, bring an iPod shuffle along and begin jamming to tunes. Because the tractor is noisy, you can likely sing as loud as can be without fear of others hearing you. Although, if they do hear you, they may in fact think that you are screaming like a school girl because the tractor has run you over . So, make the "rock and roll" fist symbol as seen in the illustration above to indicate that you are not screaming because you've been run over by a tractor, rather, you are merely enjoying your tunes. Should you need to scream like a school girl because you've been run ove...

You all know about the numbs on most gas pumps that allow you to lock the pump in place so you don't have to stand there holding it for 5 minutes. Well as you have also noticed, not all pumps have this feature. There are a couple of things you can do about it. One, is never shop at that gas station again. Aka. give em some good old kick in the shins capitalism style. But before you can do that you still need gas and you can just jam your gas cap in there to keep it running. And don't worry, you're not going to make a mess, gas pumps have that handy cut off feature, the same one you use if the pump had the little notches still there. Big thanks to Joe B on this one.

If you are a guy and you normally wash everything in the dishwasher including skillets and knives and you think "Is this dishwasher safe?" It probably isn't. If there are more then one of you and you both think "Is this dishwasher safe?" then it is definitely not.

With the holidays just around the corner, undoubtedly you're looking for some great gifts for the loved ones in your life. May we suggest the iPod Invisa.™

Thanks to the wonders of failed marketing you can get a brand new iPod shuffle for only $80. HP and Apple had a deal where HP would sell iPods and the only difference from Apple's iPod was an HP logo. Well that agreement only lasted a year or so, but there are still some left in stock and they are trying to get rid of them. Head on over to MacMall and get some cheap iPod shuffles while they are still in stock. Or go to hpshopping.com and get some iPod accessories for 15-60% off.

Warning: Random. If you're feeling bored, put a carrot in a binder clip. Then attach a string to the binder clip and swing it around like a medieval weapon.

When renting a car, don't necessarily be scared away by seemingly generic companies like "Fox Rent-A-Car." It may end up they are a great value and great price. And, if you flirt with their sales manager a bit, they may be tempted to give you a huge discount on that nasty "under 25 renter" fee. Thank you Fox for making our LA trip a huge success.

Everyone's families are quirky. But no one's family is more quirky than your husband/wife's or boyfriend/girlfriend's. Here are a few tips to help you minimize the awkwardity of the holiday season when you'll undoubtedly interact with some very weird individuals if the family is nice enough to invite you to join in the festivities. And remember, your significant other has had likely 20+ years to get used to these odd fellows. You're just meeting them. 1. Find an overly-gabbing, self-glorifying nincompoop to talk to. By finding one such person, you yourself can avoid small-talk. Just smile, nod, and let the holiday tryptophan kick in. 2. Sidestep the "Booby Hug." Every family's got one. The "booby-hugger." The person who insists on hugging WAY too close. Turn a booby-hug into a side hug and avoid the awkward press. 3. Wait for the awkward in-law to determine the greeting. Will it be a hug? A hand-shake? A kiss? Let the person you'r...

We have a lot to be thankful for. Even if we're not making all the cash we want, or not exactly where we want to be, things are good. I thought for today's tip, we should all post a comment for one thing we're thankful for!

No, this is not what it sounds like. We are not that kind of tip production operation. Here's the tip: some plants can regenerate simply by placing a cut-off (by the way, how in the world do you wear those?) vine in some water! The vine will actually grow roots and spontaneously reproduce! It's a sight to behold.

This is pulled straight from a News.com Article : "If you're really bored--and don't have to worry about long-distance phone bills--you can make calls to pay phones listed on this site and perhaps strike up a random conversation with whomever answers. Aptly named Phoneswarm, the site is updated with a new number and location each week. We're still not exactly sure why it exists, but here's the FAQ for your edification."

Bored? Call up your local Wal-mart, and with the best Nicholasville accent you can muster, utter the words, "Yes, is this Wal-Mark?" And proceed to ask the receptionist how to "git yer pitchers from yer pitcher-taker to your terminal, and to the Wal-Mark photo center." Also ask, "do I need an Internet?" It'll be a great evening of fun.

If you want nuts, don't fly Northworst--I mean, Northwest. Not only do they serve Pepsi products (how dare they), they also don't serve ANY snacking mechanism on most flights, but will "conveniently" charge you $3 for a "snack caddy." On top of your already expensive fare.

If you're working in the makeup department of a film, and you need to "muddy someone up," our research on the set of "Strong Medicine" has shown us that pudding works best. And, it seems like you could create a tasty ice-breaker game for your actors with it as well. :-)

Now it can be very confusing when it comes to figuring out which small mythological humanoid type creatures are to blame when things aren't as you remember leaving them. At work when you come in the next morning and one of your files you know you saved the day before is mysteriously missing, you can likely assume gnomes are the cause of the trouble. All gnomes are mischievious, but not all gnomes are necessarily evil like gremlins. Gnomes, such as the garden variety, are inherently good, but still mischievious. Just imagine what would happen if you put the Travelocity gnome and the Orbitz marionettes in the same room. Now on the other side, if something good happens, you can pretty much make a safe bet and say that Elves did it. A) Elves are always good B) Elves have a past history for making things on humans' behalf . Now it is important to note that there are really three main types of elves. There are the little elves, such as those who make cookies and shoes, Santa's ...

Before using an unfamiliar toilet, please. Do yourself a favor. Make sure that the last jacker didn't put GLUE on the seat. Otherwise, you'll end up screaming for your life, passing out, and threatening to sue Home Depot or something. And folks, I'm not making this up. True story.

If you still need gift ideas, SkyMall delivers again with their ever popular Animatronic Chimp Bust . Although if you can get a non-lifelike Animatronic bear head for free I would suggest saving yourself the $150.

Guess what kids? Our good friends over at Google have unleashed an exciting new phenomenon. Google video. Bookmark http://video.google.com and you can search for videos on darn near anything. This is one of my favorite searches here.

To conclude our week of LA driving tips, we bring you this. When driving in LA, always be sure to allow for at least one wrong turn. It's practically inevitable. At the very least, you'll have to drive PAST the intersection you need to find parking. At the very MOST, you'll accidentally go the wrong way and end up in Beverly Hills when you were supposed to end up in downtown LA. So, yeah. Give yourself an hour. Even if you're going 15 minutes -- yeah right -- away.

In LA, note that rush hour is NOT simply during the hours of 5-6 on weekdays. No, it can actually be anytime. Even weekends. In fact, most of the time it IS rush hour. Yes, all day it is. Until about 11 at night. Moreover, if I ever make a comment like, "nah, we can leave later to get to the airport! It's Saturday--there won't be rush hour," then you can bet your sweet bippy &nbsp (origin of this phrase here) that you will spend at LEAST 30 minutes stuck in traffic. Don't tempt fate by saying those things.

If you ever need to book a plane flight for an emergency, such as a funeral, don't book a flight on-line. Call the airline direct and ask for an emergency rate. Yes, they'll have to verify the information, but it's worth the hassle for a ticket that's less than half the best price you could find on-line.

There is a wonderful thing in this modern world of ours called "Global Positioning Something" (which is commonly known as GPS). It is amazing. Thanks to the wonders of the US government satellites, you can with the use of a relatively inexpensive device know exactly where you are in the world, down to a few feet. These things are super handy while your traveling. That may be in LA or rural Virginia. But if you are expecting to have navigational difficulties, and you have a GPS, just, now get this, USE IT. Cough up a couple bucks for batteries and stop getting lost. If you have a GPS there is almost no reason to worry about meandering down the wrong road for 20 minutes.

When driving in LA, you can basically pretend you're on the Autobahn. Why? Because police in LA have better things to do with their time than pull over three cronies in a Ford Focus doing 90 on the 101. They actually have real crime to fight. So, essentially, ignore all posted signs and placards referring to speed in the greater LA area.

When driving more than 100 miles a day in Los Angeles, try as often as you can to make sure the E-brake is disengaged. Otherwise, you might render the brakes a little squeaky, and may find yourself getting made fun of by your passengers. Another tip would be to AUTO MANUFACTURERS. I know you try to skimp and save as often as possible, and there's nothing inherently wrong with that. However. Don't skimp on putting a "your-e-brake-is-on-you-idiot" light in. And in addition, make sure the e-brake actually does something. If you can drive 50 miles without knowing the e-brake is on, then it's not really doing its job. C'mon people. This was NOT my fault!

A Magoffin County woman is accused of taking an older nursing home patient to her home and pulling a gun on the nursing home staff who tried to retrieve the man she says she wanted to marry. Full Story I know some people think they are desperate to get married, but that story shows true desperation. This tips really has 2 tips. Tip 1 (The funny tip): While, everyone wants to be wanted, no one really wants to be literally kidnaped at gun point. Its just not cool and can land you in jail, which kind of limits how often you'll be able to see the person you kidnaped. Tip 2 (the real tip): It seems more often then not, that when you become content with who you are as a single person, and stop pretending like you are desperate is just about the time God chooses to bring the right person into your life.

Quicksilver is a great piece of software I found for the Mac. If you're like me, you use many different programs each day, but don't necessarily want to keep scarcely used ones in your dock, and also don't want to try to remember where programs like "Network Utility" or "Disk Utility" are. I found a great solution in this program. Once installed, simply press F5, and type the first few letters of the program. Quicksilver immediately finds the application, and when you hit "Enter," you can open it effortlessly. Saves clicking on Mac HD, Applications, and scrolling to find it.

Dried apricots, though good, have the texture of a human ear . Just so you know.

These are from the Late Show with David Letterman from October 26 10. 'Before eating chicken, soak it in Lysol' 9. 'Don't lick unfamiliar pigeons' 8. 'Frighten birds by constantly meowing' 7. 'Stay away from basketball great Larry Bird' 6. 'Anti-bacterial smoothies' 5. 'Move to a place where there are no birds, like the moon' 4. 'Avoid birds that look like they're up to something' 3. 'Go back to the old Y2K bunker, start drinking' 2. 'Fill birdfeeder with Sucrets' 1. 'If you have a chicken, check for swelling in the McNuggets'"

After surviving (and enjoying) my 10-year high school reunion this past weekend, I have a few helpful tips that I will post from time to time. I will begin with this one: Study your yearbook intensively before going, especially if you were a class officer and theoretically are supposed to know everyone. It is unavoidable --you will run into those five people at once who all know your name and you can only recall one of theirs. I will attest that God will provide moments of clarity that will allow you to spit out the correct name in association with the familiar face , but there will be blanks to fill. (The only reason they probably remembered my name was because I was e-mailing out reunion reminders...no fair.) Anyway, the trick to not appear as if you're blanking is a quick and nonchalant entry into a conversation (Oh, wow! How have you been doing? Do you still live around here?). Dazzle them with charm and in the meantime, you've bought time to remember their names. If ...

Maybe you are wondering whether or not it is okay to buy a handbag so ridiculously sequined it looks like it was stolen from a Roccocco Period gypsy and carry it when you're wearing jeans and tennis shoes. It is not. The geisha workout look is out. Sorry.

Some occupations involve traveling to meetings and we are not always talking across town. I was recently scheduled to attend a meeting at a job site two hours away. For some reason I decided to confirm the schedule only to find out that the meeting had been rescheduled for the following week and the information was not passed along to all parties involved. WOW , now I felt pretty lucky here and smart. A two hour drive for no reason would have totally ruined my day. So the tip discovered from this accidental blessing is that it's never a bad idea to confirm meetings that require substantial travel time. Better to be safe then find yourself the lone attendee of a meeting halfway across the state.

First of all, you have to admit it's pretty amazing to have a prayer tip by someone who recently posted a tip about putting a face on a walnut for entertainment. But this works, and I give Peter, (well, actually God, but Peter for passing the idea to me) all the credit. If you aren't exactly proud of your prayer life, and find yourself falling asleep too quickly after "Dear Lord," this may help get you on the right track. Keep a very simple prayer chart, organized by day of the week. For example, on Monday, just list the names of about 5 people you want to pray for that day. Change it up a little on Tuesday, and so on. By keeping it just a name (or simple topic) you will be forced to actually pray something thoughtful and specific for that person, rather than, "Lord help so-and-so's situation; be with them." It prevents generic prayer, and makes you think about the people you care the most about. And, it makes you pray every day. After all, you don'...

So many people like dogs, everything like little "that thing looks like a stuffed doll" to big ol eat your face of dogs. However, most dogs don't know common driving safety tips, or would rather have your attention now and not really car if you get in an accident cause they just really want to lick your face. If you have a dog like that and you just like to take them everywhere you can Honda is prototyping a solution . So now your dog can ride safely with you in the glove apartment (sounds very downtown) or strapped to the floor.

When getting a puppy from a litter , always check the gender of the dog before completing the transaction . Believe it or not, you can't always take people's word for it . If possible, take pictures of the dog you have chosen when you first meet him/her. This will be useful in pointing out the differences in markings if there is any question down the road. Or if your seller is just stupid .

If it rains a lot in a place like Los Angeles, where the water has nowhere to go except the ocean, resist the urge to swim . According to garish signage , the bacteria levels of the water will be excessive, and could cause health risks. Seeing washed up seals in such water is also not a good sign that water is "healthy" to swim in. Still, if you can't resist the call of the water, at least take a shower before too long.

Need some exercise? Want to have fun? Then you want to Swing Dance! A couple weekends ago myself and some friends attended a monthly swing dance activity at Arthur Murry Dance studio sponsered by the U.K. Swing Dance Club . Talk about fun. For the low price of $5.00 you get a one hour lesson and then three hours of fun fun dancing. Don't have a partner? Don't worry! Other people come without partners as well and there are plenty of people to dance with. So, next night is October 29th. Mark it on the calendar!

If you are looking for a good party game for your next party or corporate picnic try the Cinnamon challenge. The cinnamon challenge basically entails taking a heaping spoonful of cinnamon and trying to eat the whole thing in something like a minute. It is surprisingly hard, don't believe me, try it. You get extra points for shooting cinnamon dust out your nose.

You must always communicate with your roommate prior to making a date for a party that will be hosted by your roommate and yourself. If your roommate can't be there that date, then it causes a problem since you are supposed to be hosting it together. -Elissa

Why make pretty wallpaper for your computer if no one can see it? I hate clutter on my desktop. On a Mac, your Finder preferences will let you hide all your servers as well as your hard drive. This is convenient if you have to log onto five or six every day and don't want to look at ugly icons except in column view. You can store them in the dock, load them as necessary, and reclaim valuable desktop space.

When you are updating your blog and getting ready to publish a new post, it is best to make sure that you are publishing your latest post in the correct blog....otherwise it may seem out of place or odd...hmm....see the "un" tip o the day under Thursday, Oct. 20th...

If you have pets that are rather curious and are not afraid to check out every corner of their living space, a tip for the day is to make sure your kitchen chairs are pushed in, or you may find the little critter up on the kitchen table. Worse yet, you might find evidence (table cloth all out-of-sorts) that someone (more than likely a curious little furball) has been up messing around on the table . In that case, I think any edible item left on the table is suspect....eat at your own risk!

Yesterday I went to the gym for the first time in what feels like forever...I never thought 40 min. on the elliptical could feel so long! Anyway, I forgot how much I missed going there and people watching. There are some interesting people you will see at the gym. 1. Sterroids Man Is he on sterroids or is it all natural? hmmm....he walks around the gym like he's carrying two heavy pieces of luggage and his thighs rub together so much you wonder how he could ever walk. Normally you see him there for 2-3 hour periods and only lifting weights for about 30 minutes of that time. The rest of the time it looks like he's practicing walking around with the imaginary luggage....hmmm, maybe he's planning a big vacation.... 2. Miracle Man Having a gym membership for only a week really can do miracles! Suddenly, you and your oh so untoned body is walking around the gym in your cut off t-shirt, leaning on equipment, and buddying around with all the people that are actua...

There seems to be a lot of dating advice swarming our little tip site of late! Intriguing. Your auntie Vander is here to help. Here are some classy pick-up lines to get conversation going on that awkward first date: "If you were a booger, I'd pick you first." "Do you have a BOYfriend? . . . How about a MANfriend?" "Did it hurt?" "What?" "Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?" (Be careful with this one. Theologically it sort of implies that the girl is Satan; that's not flattering. Well, maybe in some circles. Anyway, be cautious.)

If you have a recurrent phlegm problem, don't climb on the elliptical machine at your local gym before solving it. Remember that when your fellow exercisers' iPods are at home or out of commission and there's nothing to grace their ears but the heavy breathing of everyone else in the gym, the additional burden of lurking phlegm--perpetual halfway throat clearing efforts, borderline grunts or groaning sounds--is not desirable. Figure out how to solve the phlegm problem at hand before you cause the people on neighboring treadmills to gag with you.

When selecting a photo for a design project, be careful cropping. Otherwise, someone who sees your design later, in print, might be horrified. For example, let's say you go the Fazoli's in Zandale. You look up from your breadsticks to see a banner ad of what appears to be a woman in her forties hugging her grandmother (because everyone who eats three pounds of pasta in one sitting is going to outlive those who eat french fries, or so their fat-free marketing campaign leads us to believe). Only grandma's shirt is flesh-colored and the crop is very close, so what we have here is the simulation of nudy grandma. Very disconcerting. Careful, fellow designers. Avoid the nudy grandma.

If you are bored, and have already checked out today's tip. You should check out our "Links" section on the bottom right of the page. There you'll finds lots of good, clean fun! Comment Topic: Which one of those links is your favorite, and is there any web gem we missed?

If you are a video editor, and want some great free plug-in's check out stib's free plugins for final cut pro . My personal favorite is Blur Dissolve. Other companies are selling similar plug in backs for big money, but Stib is giving them away for free. Go Stib!

In iTunes, you can often get confused and add the same song to the same playlist multiple times. To avoid doing this you can right click on a song and you will see a menu item called "Playlists", select that and it will show you every playlist that song is on!

When you're leaving town for a few days and don't have time to do the dishes, put them back in the fridge. This way, they won't mold or funk up the kitchen. Maybe scoot them away from the actual food, just in case.

If you are the kind of person who never cooks, be wary of trips to the Farmer's Market. All that open-air ambiance will trick you into purchasing things you have no idea how to prepare. You will leave bags of vegetables on your countertop for three days before throwing them away and going to a restaurant . On the first day, you will flip through recipe books and daydream about food preparation . On the second day , you will forget you bought vegetables in the first place - until it's just dark enough out that you can't bear the thought of venturing to your local megastore to find hominy or lemongrass or some other froo-froo nonsense the recipe called for. On the third day , out of sheer mold panic , you will chop up all the vegetables, whatever they are, and attempt an on-the-fly stir fry adventure because at least that way you don't have to buy any new ingredients. This will not be successful. You will lament the fact that you did not go to the megastore for hominy ...

If you do get her to agree to a first date , don't ask her "how do you like to be kissed?" Wew, altra (different from ultra) creepy alert just went off. Don't be worrying about kissing her this early on. Worry about getting to know her, making a good first impression, and finding out if she is a quality girl. The only thing that could possible make this worse is if she hasn't even met you in person yet. Ugh, gross .

Guys, do some stupid stuff, but here is a tip that will hopefully help you avoid doing at least one thing. First, I hope that no one needs this tip, but there has been at least one reported case, so here it goes: If you want to asked a girl out, don't pre-ask her out, but says that you "have a personal question" that you want to ask her later. Hum, personal question…I bet it is not "do you have any T-shirts with numbers on them?" If your going to ask her out then just do it, or if you are going to wait till later, just wait. None of this pre-asking stuff.

Canoeing, while normally a recreational activity, call also be a competitive sport. Like any other physical endurance race sport it is best to pace yourself. Nice long steady strides will be your best bet. Don't do what I am tempted to do and go as fast as you can for a short time and then just wear you self out when you still have over half the course to go.

If you're making Amish Friendship bread and the bread starts making bubbles in the bag, DON'T FREAK OUT. It's supposed to. It will still remain, always and forever, an "ENDLESS SUPPLY of BREAD!"

Discovering a yet-undiscovered (at least to us) brunch location is cause for celebration. Vander molen and I visited Cheapside Bar & Grill this morning--brunch there goes from 11am-4pm. It has more than just your average brunch items (we tried a creative take called Cowboy eggs, which was potato slices, chorizo sausage, peppers, onions, and ...eggs, of course). Pretty darn tasty, if you ask me. And if you walk around the Farmers' Market and all the way around the city, you can burn off breakfast before you even get there.

To keep your Apples from browning you can sprinkle lemon juice on them. Now we are talking about the fruit apples here. Not the computer or iPod type Apple s. If you are having a problem with your computer type Apples browning then you have serious issues. I seriously doubt that lemon juice will help. Actually it will probably not help, but its citric acid could help get sticky stuff off the case.

So often when we feel ourselves getting sick, we pump ourselves full of vitamin C, Advil , and everything else that will make us feel just a little better. We go to bed somewhat early, hope we'll get a good night sleep, and ultimately go to work just a little sicker the next day. My tip? Take the day off from work. You'll be on the road to recovery much faster. It's better to take one day off and being more productive at work, than to go to work two or three days sick, and have half or less of the productivity than you would normally have.

This one hails from my mom. Apparently, Papa John's Pizza is now charging a dollar for delivery. Because of this, it is assumed that the driver is now getting paid more to compensate for his/her gas costs, and people are not tipping as much. In reality, where as the drivers were getting paid 85 cents per delivery before, they are now getting paid one dollar. Where are those other 85 cents of your extra money going? Papa's Pocket . So do the poor drivers a favor and don't cut back on tips just because your pie costs more to come to your door. Or, do everyone a favor and either pick it up, or order from somewhere else that is more fair to their drivers.

Reciently, a few of us took a little trip to Pittsburgh . On the way there, I admit to driving very slow, a cool 65 mph the whole way. However, my gas mileage was great! I got over 42 mpg! On the way back, I guess we were in a little more of a hurry. We probably averaged 70 to 72 miles per hour, and the trip only took us around a half hour less (of course, we did get lost in the city for a little while), but the gas mileage we got just didn't compare. We only got 37 mpg. If you think about it, in 10 gallons, we could have gone 50 more miles at the slower speed! So, take it easy, take your time. You won't get tickets, your insurance cost will be lower , and you won't have to pay as much for gas!

So its monday and you feel guilty about not doing anything and jumping on the trampoline all last week. There are so many things that can easily distract us. So maybe it would be best to make a Not-Do-List. Here is a great sample one to get you started. So if you need to, put off cleaning the tub one more day and get some work done. Now I'm not saying that those things on the list are bad things to do. (Guys, yes you do need to clean your toilet, at least that's what people say after visiting Pete & Jay Enterprises' World Headquarters), but you might not need to do them today if you've got a huge project breathing down your neck. I, for one, will take all of those things I don't do today and to them Wednesday.

Feeling down while at work? Nothing will brighten up your office and your life like a walnut buddy . Simply place a walnut on your desk and draw a face on him with a fine-tipped Sharpie.

With the holiday season sneaking up on us things are going to start getting more crazy and hectic from here on out. To help avoid some of this craziness it is always a good idea to book a flight during the holiday season at least 6 months in advance if you know you're going somewhere for the following reasons: You'll avoid the rush and be able to get the exact flight you want right down to the time, aisle, and window seat. The earlier you book a flight the cheaper it costs so you're getting more for your American dollar. And since I like to plan things ahead I thought it would be cool to see how far back in advance you can actually book flight to go somewhere. After making some phone calls here are the results. Using Delta Airlines you can book a flight up to 331 days in advance! A one way trip to Los Angeles booked 331 days in advance or for August 26, 2006 would cost $407.90. The same flight booked for October 1st 2005 would cost $487.90 That's a whopping $80 ...

English Muffins are the English's gift to breakfast eaters everywhere. An now'a days the folks over at Thomas' are getting fancy and making muffins in many different varieties. The trick is with these differences you might be confused as to toasting times. Right now they come in Regular , Sourdough, Cinnamon Raisin , and a wide variety of hearty grains . You already know what setting you want your toaster on to get the regular muffins toasted correctly. For the rest of them, remember this little line "If it looks different, then toast different, if it just tastes different don't tough the toaster." How that plays out in real life. Sourdough you can toast for the same time that you toast regular. It will produce the same about of crispiness. However on the hearty grains and the raisin variety the bread is darker so it will take a couple more seconds to achieve the same level of crispiness.

The Developers of Tip of the Day would like to apologize for being "hungover" from a wild party last night, and consequently only now posting today's tip. If you're planning a surprise dinner for a friend's birthday, it's typically a good idea to park your car far away from most conventional parking spaces. Otherwise said friend may see you car, and your surprise is a bust.

Now we know to not forget our underpants , but how do I remember to remember that and everything else I will need? I have had great luck using lists. Just cross it off when you get it in your bag. This way you won't have that nagging feeling like you're forgetting something as you head out the door. No, if you forget it, you forgot it when you made the list, but you can be confident that you have everything on your list. Ta da, no nagging feeling!

So to you, you just write email messages all day and probably don't even think twice about them. Why do that, when you can add another detail in your life you can worry about? So if you want way too much information on writing emails, and the thought process that goes into them check out Writing sensible email messages . I guess all technologies mature into an crafted art form, bur seriously this might be overkill. On the other hand I have gotten some work emails that could really befit from these tips. At least it will take you longer writing emails this way which can help prevent you from getting actual work done. Dogging the article aside it does have some good points, especially about Subject lines, but I do enjoy a good "stand-up act" work email every once in a while.

8. Rock Paper Scissors - Only use this devastating strategy as a last resort, as the mental and psychological ramifications can be extreme. Come out your front door waving a white flag, and asking for negotiations. (For you French out there, you will have a strong temptation to make this your first strategy, but you must not give in.) Challenge the highest ranking government official to a high-stakes no-holds-barred game of Rock Paper Scissors. This could be the mayor, but by this time, it is entirely possible that a 4-star general or even the governor may be present. Regardless of rank, no one can resist the sirens' song of Rock Paper Scissors. Make sure you have refined your strategies and technique . If you lose the first round, quickly say, "Best of three!" If you find yourself losing again, shout out, "Best of five!" No chivalrous man would do you the dishonor of refusing. Unfortunately, outside the military's officer corps, very few government officia...

**TODAY'S TIP ACTUALLY TESTED BY RECRUITED TEST-SUBJECTS™** It's generally not a good idea to drink more than three alcoholic beverages in the morning before 7:00 am. Unless you're attempting a non-conventional fish lure whilst fishing.

All fish are not like the little fishys you get at Wal-Mart. Their are not gold fish. Some fish even have teeth. So when are are out on a big lake or ocean fishing be careful. If a fish is flopping around you can pick it up, but before you become a trained expert you should probably not pick up the fish. They will try to bite your fingers off or even if they don't have teeth they might try to stab you with their extra sharp razor fins.

When both namesakes of a tip of the day blog are leaving town to be in a wedding, they should remind the rest of the blog's writing team to post tips in their absence. ;-) Bonus Wedding Tip of the Day: Girls, if you're tired of catching the bouquet at weddings (and then consequently not fulfilling the old wives' tale that you'll be the next to marry), don't try NOT to catch it, because it will more than likely bounce off a ceiling and a wall in order to land in your hands. Put a 7-year-old in front of you and pretend like you're trying to catch the bouquet. Generally, the little girl will excitedly grab the flowers, inches from your hands. (p.s.-this tip doesn't work if you're six feet tall, as the rebound catch is inevitable.)

When packing for a long trip, don't forget to bring underwear.

When you are involved in a conversation, one key part you should be aware of is the other person's body language . Non-verbal signals make up 90% of our communication so it is very important that you know how to read them. This way you will know when to keep talking or when it's time to move along... Normally when we talk to another person we nod and say "yeah" and "uh huh" to let the other person know that you are listening. Well, if the person you are talking to is nodding a lot constantly saying "yeah, go on..." then really they are telling you to "speed it up already and get to the point..." It's not that they are really interested in the conversation they really just want you to wrap it up. Usually the head nods and constant " affirmation " makes you want to add more detail to your story. Well, you may want to rethink next time your friend turns into a bobble head in the middle of a conversation.

Bacon is mighty tasty, but you should be careful when you cook it. It turns out dodgy bacon killed some senior citizens . We're not 100% sure what classifies bacon as "dodgy", we are also not sure exactly sure what gastroenteritis is. But, any word that starts with "gas" can't be too good, and with a word that long it must have been painful. So remember boys and girls, to bac 1 your bacon fully or you could be letting bac 2 live! 1 bāk 2 bak

7. Fortify Your Perimeter - Once you have your little militia formed, they will need battlestations to man. The government will probably try to stop you from getting artillery emplacements or anti-tank weapons, but that doesn't mean you are without your options! (By the way, we probably should have told you earlier, but just for reading this guide, you are now on the Homeland Security No-Fly Watch List. Sucks to be you, dude.) If they won't sell you any weaponry, you can always fall back on an old reliable stand-by: construct tree houses at strategic locations (preferably trees) around your yard. Many ancient cultures, such as the Ewoks and the Swiss Family Robinson, used these primitive fortifications to overcome superior numbers and technology, and I see no reason why you cannot, as well. By Citizen Grim Guide to Keep the Government from Seizing your Property (Part I) Guide to Keep the Government from Seizing your Property (Part II) Guide to Keep the Government from Seizing...

This tip is from Mr. Amerman, Christine's dad, originally...but the "spice" is added by me. You can greatly prolong the longevity of your car by following this tip. When you start your car up, wait one minute before you put the car in gear and drive off. (Regardless of season). Why is this important? You may already know that when your engine shuts off, the oil that is lubricating the internal parts drains to the oil pan . So, when you start your car, it takes a little time for the oil to recirculate through the engine parts. If you take off immediately, you'll be running an non-lubricated engine! Giving the engine a minute or so will enable the oil to coat the parts and reduce engine wear and tear. Obviously, your engine needs lubricated in the winter and the summer, but in the winter, you may want to wait a bit longer to go, just so your car has a chance to warm up. Here's where it gets fun. Most of your friends will laugh at you if you take a minute to let y...

Out in the middle of nowhere and want to make some bacon, but your fry pan is a little smaller then the traditional king sized bacon you normally enjoy. Well if your professional campers you would have a knife or something like that handy, if you are amateur campers like the TodD staff, then you lost the knife the night before while you were trying to fend of a bear. So what do you do? Just take the hatchet that you used to cut up firewood and use it on the bacon. Bonus tip: Put a nice big rock under the bacon for a clean sliced cut.

For those of you lucky enough to avoid working in an "educational institution" you may not know that September 17th is Constitution Day! On this day back in 1787 our Constitution was signed. You may also not know that last year our federal government instituted a law about Constitution Day: Section 111(b) states ``[e]ach educational institution that receives Federal funds for a fiscal year shall hold an educational program on the United States Constitution on September 17 of such year for the students served by the educational institution.'' So, if you are in any way affiliated with an educational institution you should be celebrating this Friday, September 16th, something to do with the Constitution. Perhaps you want to visit the site of the National Constitution Center or join the country in a recitation of the Preamble to the Constitution at 2 pm eastern time. However you choose to celebrate, remember, you have to! It's a federal law--and we don't want ...

It is always a delicate issue what people are crying in your presence, and sometimes you might not be having the same emotional reaction as they are. Here are three things, in increasing degrees of rudeness, not to do if other's are crying. 1) Let them know that you do not think what they are crying about it is worth shedding tears. 2) Laugh, while they are crying 3) Laugh at them, because they are crying .

When I was in school, and also in life in general, I tend to be a GoodyTwoShoes . I ran this word together because Pete only allows ONE word before "Tip of the Day." Anyway, I think it paid off for me, because my brother definitely is not that, and it got him in a little trouble . (Which was well-deserved.) The tip is this. If you're on a mission trip and asked to memorize verses, or read a book, DO IT. Otherwise, you may be on your youth pastor's "hit list." This is NOT a good list to be on, especially in a third-world country with poor sewer service. Someone is guaranteed to put toilet paper in the toilet, and when it comes time to unclog it, if you're on the hit list, you probably will be the one to do it. So, being a good kid and doing what you're asked may not always be fun or convenient, but you'll have your laugh when you're NOT the one fishing toilet paper out of a clogged toilet.

Thanks to the US Department of Agriculture Forest Service for today's tip