Pete & Jay's Tip O Da "Day"

Lesson #1: Make sure that all your windows are not slightly cracked open. Thanks Stephen J.

I recently pinpointed the cause for my disdain toward laundry. It all stems from the socks. I don't mind putting most of my things away, in fact, it gives me pleasure to see my drawers bustling and full. ( TWSS ). But the dang socks. They just rub me the wrong way. They stick to your underwear and tees, they're balled up and still wet , and the dryer always seems to snack on a few. They're the only items in your laundry that need to be paired up, so they take a lot of time to sort, fold and put away. So, to avoid my hatred of sock-sorting, I started just doing laundry and throwing them in a bin, thinking it couldn't be that hard to find mates as I'm getting ready in the morning. But, I was very wrong. In fact, it took so long that I often found myself just wearing mismatched socks rather than hunt through. Even Cheddar was stressed: he began carrying around way more socks than ever. So I asked Fowler if he had any suggestions for my sock woes , and alas, he did. ...

I don't care how much of a neat freak you are, we all leave clutter around the house from time to time. You set your keys down on the table, the mail on the couch, the DVD you just watched on top of the TV, your jacket on the back of the chair. No big deal. Until, like me, you realize there is a trail of your personal effects in every spot you've been in the house. To declutter the little things that accumulate over time, I tried having lofty goals. "Oh, I'll just make sure I always put the mail in this nice little bin out of the way." Or, "I'll always put my shoes over there." Well, it works for a day. And before you know it, it's far too hard to organize your life. Most clutter consists of items we use and rearrange every day. Clothes, toiletries, papers, shoes. Things that aren't used daily can easily be organized into closets, pantries, etc. But your everyday items have to be easily accessible if they're going to stay organized. What ...

A few tips if you're listing your house for sale. First off, NEWS FLASH: People will actually look at the photos you put online! I know this may be a surprise to you, but you may want to be careful what's in the shot. For instance, let's look at these two actual listings here in the Lexington area. I realize these may not be Lexington's finest homes. But couldn't we get the hoopty out of that shot above? "Hm, tempting. I really want to live there where an 80s model drug car is parked in front of my house...cool...it's got character." And for the love of all things, PLEASE somehow crop the broken mailbox out of the shot. Take the photo from an angle, or heck, just show interior pictures! You know, maybe, just maybe, someone will ACTUALLY come look at your house (at least that's the goal, right?) so maybe you can sorta "fix" the mailbox? After all, it is the first impression, right? "Honey, I'm sure it's just a coincidence tha...

Looking to brew that perfect glass of sweet tea? Look no further than the Mr. Coffee Iced Tea Maker! This sub-$20 little bundle of joy will deliciously brew your tea that you swear has come from Sonny's! A few things of note. The instructions take you through how to make unsweetened tea (and who wants that?!) So, to make it sweetened, we've found that adding 1/3 cup of sugar per quart of tea is about perfect. It's essential that the sugar is added to the tea when warm for quick absorption, so we recommend adding the sugar to the pitcher and allowing some hot brew to emerge before adding the ice cubes as instructed. You're well on your way to great sweetea!

It takes balls to wash your comforter! If it's time for your semi-annual down comforter washing, be sure to stock up on the cheapest tennis balls money can buy. Why, you ask? When washing anything down (comforters, coats, underwear, etc.) if you dry them, they'll go flat . But putting a few tennis balls in the dryer will help to re-fluff your comforter and make it as puffy as ever.

Looking to finish off that flower bed last minute and need some mulch? Head on over to Speedway to get you some mulch! It's only $1! It doesn't get any cheaper than that folks!

If you happen to sudden smell unwavering cleaning-supply odors in your townhouse that began strangely near the time new neighbors moved in next door, don't jump to hasty conclusions by calling the Nicholasville Police on a potential meth-lab bust. Have someone sniff around the room with you first, in an attempt to uncover the source of the smell, which may happen to be some Windex-laden cleaning rags thrown out in your office trash can. But, should you suspect there still is a meth-lab nextdoor, cross check that information with this site.

Whatever you do, don't use water to put out an oil-fire on the stove. See why in this shocking, but informative video.

The Arbor Day Foundation is excited to exploit the renewable part of renewable resources and will send you 10 trees for becoming a member for $10 . Pretty cool deal. Maybe you could go together with some friends because I for one certainly can't fit another 10 trees on my lot.

Decide that you need "a few more inches" of water and top off the pool to just over the edge of the inflatable ring. Bad idea. Wait for the rain to come. Later, observe what sounds like the coming of a tsunami, or torrential downpour. Look outside to realize that's your pool, not SLOWLY draining, but VERY RAPIDLY draining! Gallons of water pour through your yard and into your neighbor's. Go outside in your undees and lift the purging side of the pool an inch or so and draining stops immediately. Vow to never fill pool above inflatable ring, and vow to always have someone check on your house if you're out of town.

Setup the filter, and realize you need to add those chemicals you forgot to buy. Run to Lowe's and pickup granular "pool shocking" chemicals. Mix with water in a bucket and "broadcast" into pool. Drive past a pool store, stop in and ask if that was the right chemical. It wasn't. Dang. Pickup granular chlorine, and shock it again. Worry that mixing these two chemicals may cause an explosion, or corrode the pool or your skin. Pickup testing strips and observe the chlorine level is at the highest readable--10, when it's supposed to be 3. "Guess I'll wait a bit..." Wait until levels are at 3, then place dog in water to see if he disintegrates. Dog is happy, so jump in pool and splash around. Yay! Easy-setup pool setup!

There's still hope. You realize that the only truly level 12' square part of your property is your patio. And lo and behold, it's exactly 12'! To leave some room for doggers to go in/out the backdoor, you decide to setup the pool mostly on the patio, with two or three feet hanging off the edge. Cool! You'll have a pool in no time! Repeat the steps above, this time filling the pool most of the way. Success! That is, until the next morning. Observe the contents of your pool slowly spilling out, and the pool deflated to about half its once-bolstered turgor. Effingham. Realize that even those 2 feet overhanging the porch were the cause of it. "When they say level, they mean completely level." But, this is fixable. Run to Lowe's and pick up a bunch of 50 lb. bags of sand to bolster the edge of the pool that's leaking. This will gain you an inch or two of levelness. Perfection. Refill to 2 inches below the inflated ring.

If you're like me, you love being in the water! So when you find out that owning a pool is both inexpensive and "easy," of course you should get one, right? First, pick up your pool at Walmart; yes, Walmart. Then discover that an 18' pool won't fit in your back yard. Return pool. Exchange the pool for the 12' model, which will fit nicely in the backyard. Look around for 30 minutes to try to figure out what type of chlorine to put in your pool, and how much. Leave without chlorine. "I'll come back later." Get back home, unpack the box and observe "must setup pool on completely level surface." Ignore warning, but try to "grade off" your heinously sloped backyard a wee bit with a garden shovel. Unpack the pool liner, and spread it out on the "level" ground. Stop reading the instructions and try to figure things out on your own. Realize you need to inflate the upper ring, but don't have a pump. Run to Walmart, park i...

So if anyone has a wild and crazy idea to paint trim, do yourself a favor and replace your carpet too if you have any. Then you do not have to carefully and painstakingly paint your trim in order to not get any on the carpet. Trim is 1000% easier to paint with the concrete slab you can slop all over.

If you ever heard "did you lock the door?" as a question growing up, be prepared not to hear that at all when you go to Germany. You don't have to lock your doors over here. Why? Because they lock automatically behind you. So, a better question to ask is "do you have the keys?" before you finish closing the door behind you. That's true for an inner and an outer door! And, for most of them, there is not a way to leave them unlocked behind you! So, an even better idea, hide a spare set outside so you never get locked out!

I mentioned in part 1 that Germans can be backwards sometimes. First off, they don't have air conditioning, and it DOES get hot in the summer. Second, since they don't have air conditioning, residents are keen on opening their windows to help cool off. For me, as an American, this causes a problem because they don't put screens on the windows! So, if I want to be cool, I get to live with a house of bugs! Yes, the windows are ultra cool and open in two different directions , sideways and from the top, but I guess they don't make a screen for that! Or, if they do, I just haven't seen any in the neighborhoods around here. Oh, and if I wanted to buy one somewhere, I'd have to take cash because many German stores do not accept credit cards. But, it'd be cheaper for me because Americans can get VAT forms to exempt them from that hefty 19% German tax. FYI, you can get a VAT form for any European country, you just have to find out how to do it, and the lac...

When in a foreign country, check the windows, they may open various ways. This allows for venting or opening the window. In Germany, handle up will vent the window. Handle to the side will open the window and handle down will keep it closed. There are no screens, so be wary of bugs.

As many of you know, mens' dress shirts are sized by a neck measurement. This works great for your neck, but if you're one of the rare Americans who isn't obese, a shirt that fits around your neck will probably be heinously large around your mid-section. Some shirt manufacturers offer an "athletic fit," but often this fit is hard to come by. In the event that you're stuck wearing a too-baggy-in-the-midsection shirt, follow this video tutorial for how to effortlessly tailor your own shirts, brought to you by Consumerist.com, via Fowler.

Fencing can be a DIY project , but it's not for the weak of heart (or body.) Building your own fence is one project that will save you LOTS of money, but may cost you your back and/or your friends ( unless you provide beer , although, you may have crooked fence posts.) Especially in Kentucky , it won't take long before you hit solid limestone, and will have to bust it to smithereens. It's also imperative to maintain perfect distances, straight lines , and horizontal and vertical levelness. While one of the more challenging DIY projects I attempted, I did save about $1,200 doing it myself!