I am a lover of all things digital and I love keeping up with technology blogs like MakeUseOf!  Well the other day I came across an article on there by Saikat about this program called “Coffee” which gives some flexibility with choosing the default program for opening files.  Within the article he lists 5 things this program called “Coffee” does for him.  Thank you Saikat, because the article reminded me of 5 things REAL coffee does for me!

Those who know me know that I love coffee, in particular, Duncan Donuts coffee!  Any morning with a medium DD coffee with 2 creams and 2 Spledas (diabetic) is a morning worth waking up to!  Here are 5 things that coffee does for me – which of these applies to you too?

1.  Coffee wakes me up

Obviously, coffee plays a huge role in MANY people’s lives by waking them up.  For some, even the smell will get them going!  Maybe it’s the caffeine but maybe it’s the taste, but there’s something about coffee that just gets people going!  I am definitely no exception!

2.  Coffee warms me when the weather’s cold

On Sundays I get up kind of early to meet the church bus to help pick people up for church.  During the winter it can be one cold ride!  If I can stop for a nice cup of coffee on the way to the bus, it is just that much more bearable!  After a day’s skiing, snow blowing or just walking in the cold, coffee can thaw the most frozen individuals!  Just don’t order ICED coffee; it would defeat the purpose!

3.  Coffee gives my mouth a rewarding vacation of wonderful taste!

OK, admittedly this depends on the kind of coffee, how it was made, and what was put in it but when done right… WOW!  If I am craving a treat and I can’t eat the sweets (diabetic, remember?) a good cup of D and D with the right amount of cream and Splenda can hit the spot!  Have you ever had something you love so much that your mouth is so overwhelmed that your whole being is affected by it?  The right cup of coffee can do this for me!

4.  Coffee can change my mood

Like I said before, this too can depend on the cup, but MOST of the time coffee can be a real mood-changer!  If I have to get up early, most of the time you should probably wait until I’ve had a cup of coffee before bugging me!  I probably won’t lash out at you (most of the time) but the conversation will just go so much better.  Don’t get me wrong, we should have control over ourselves.  I’m just saying that before I have my first cup it won’t be as easy for me.  Just warnin’ ya’ll!

5.  Coffee often gives a good excuse to share some fellowship

Who hasn’t sat with a good friend in a coffee shot or Denny’s over a nice cup of coffee and just relaxed and shared company?  Is life stressful?  Are you sitting in front of a screen all day long?  Need to get away somehow?  Take a few seconds with a friend or loved one and drink coffee!

There you have it!  5 things that coffee does for me.  Realize that I did not say that there are the ONLY 5 things coffee does for me!  If you have more to add, please do!

OK, today I found a very interesting site.  You have the RARE opportunity to find out what YOUR chances are of getting a tapeworm.  You can then get a badge to post displaying your chances.  Be careful, the number may not be something for you to be proud of, depending on the results!  For your viewing pleasure, here’s my number:

OK, I know the quiz is a bit bizzare, but I couldn’t resist.  What’s your score?

Taking a break from my more usual tech-related topics (although definitely not my first break:  more about fast food), I found this storefront and it made me chuckle!

It’s a pizza joint and a gym, right next door to each other!  Who else thinks that’s funny?

If you remember, recently I did a post about how I fixed my glasses with some pieces of heat-shrink tubing and a paper clip.  Well, it finally happened, I got new glasses!

You can only fix your glasses so many times before you have to give in and get new ones.  As it turns out, it was a good thing I did because my prescription had changed quite a bit.  Now that I have my new glasses, it’s like everything I see is a whole new world!  I can actually read signs while driving without my wife’s help!  I know, I know, that could have been even more dangerous than being drowsy or talking on the cell phone while driving (strange reference to a Facebook conversation I was having the other day)!

Anyway, I decided on an almost identical design to my last glasses.  Why is that?  Well, I guess you can call me boring.  I just didn’t feel like going though the whole “reinvent yourself” thing leaving the optometrist’s office sporting a whole new look.  I did go through the whole “duct tape stage” before I discovered the wonders of heat-shrink tubing and I guess the new ones look a lot different than that!

I also decided to get myself contacts, for the first time.  I guess I’ve had this fear of sticking my finger in my eye.  On top of that, I always wondered if God ever intend for us to run around with foreign objects on our eyeballs.  I know it’s weird but I’ve also had this strange fear of dropping a contact in the germiest place in the house: the cat box!  I guess it didn’t matter that I would never be foolish enough to actually attempt to put them n over the cat box, or even in the bathroom for that matter, but some fears are just unfounded, right?

The contacts are working out great, now that it takes less than an hour to get them in my eyes (I was late for work the day of my first appointment because of the saga in the eye doctors office with the assistants cheering for me and coaching me through the process).  That was last week.  This week I can actually get them in first or second try (clap for me please)!  My eyes are still getting use to them and my eyes are dryer than they could be but I guess that is to be expected.  I do love not having to worry about dropping my glasses or worse, breaking them!  I’ve been breaking glasses for years and I’ve got it down to an art form (I have never tried shooting them off with a red-rider though).

Well, that’s my newest glasses story!  Have you ever tried contacts?  Which do you prefer – glasses or contacts?  Why?

OK, the question came up once again for me today, which is faster, the fast food drive through? or going inside and ordering it to go?  You’ve seen the lines of cars during the busy times and wondered, I’m sure.  There have been times when I actually parked and went in just to see if it actually was faster.  I have not, however, actually timed it.

Tonight I am asking for you opinion (or investigative results if you’ve taken it that far), which is faster?  The fast food drive through or going inside and ordering to go?

Frivolous use of my blog, I know.  But if I’m wondering, someone else HAS to be, right?

I common theme on this blog is ways to save money.  For instance: How To Fix Your Glasses Quickly and Cheaply and the recent post about free programs for resizing photos.  Today I want to talk about a free way to get your hair done without emptying your wallet or pocket book.

No steps involved, just one photo is all you need to learn all about it:

Peanut is the cheapest stylist around!  She’ll do your hair for free!

For years, it seems, I have been breaking my glasses.  If you have ever seen “A Christmas Story,” that kid and his glasses was me when I was that age, always breaking them (I was never allowed the red rider, but I always seemed to find a way to break them).  Anyways, even as an adult, my glasses seem to end up broken, sometimes to the point of being unrepairable.

Well, with the fix I am going to show you today, almost no break will be unrepairable!  I have to give the credit to the lady in the optometry office at Wal-Mart for giving me a tip and directing me in the right direction: hardware or automotive!  Well, in this post I will show you exactly how easy it is to fix a pair of severly broken glasses (with illustrations done by yours truly)!

My glasses before the repair (as you can see, the damage is quite substantial):

Tools needed:

5 Simple Steps To Fix Those Severely Damaged Glasses:

1. Get rid of loose peices that can be reconstructed using the tubing and paperclip
   
2. Reshape the paperclip in order to reconstruct the broken area
   
3. Trim the heat-shrink tubing and use it to connect pieces one intersection at a time
   
4. Carefully use the stove burner to heat the heat-shrink tubing until it holds the paperclip to the glasses in the correct position (there are many heat sources to choose from but the stove was the easiest for me to access at the time.  You can try a blow dryer, lighter, or even a heater vent if you like):
   
5. Let them cool and wear them with renewed dignity and pride!

This fix is for real!  I, too, am a proud member of the fix-it-yourself glasses club!

Please note: having the amazing ability to fix almost any break DOES NOT eliminate the need to ever get new glasses ever again.  You may need a differend lens persription someday AND heat-shrink tubing does not last forever.

That being said, enjoy your glasses once again!

Well, I wouldn’t exactly call myself a coffee connoisseur, however anyone who knows me knows that I love a good cup of coffee every now and then (ok, I mean all the time!).  When I came across this recipe on About.com, I just knew I had to try it!

http://video.about.com/coffeetea/Coffee-Smoothie.htm

I have to be honest, I haven’t tried it yet, but I will!  I was distracted with trying my hand at home made egg nog for the first time.  Maybe the next time I’m either bored or I’m heading over to a friend’s place I will giver a go!

Got any recipes for drinks that you like (non-alcoholic, of course!)?  Share it with us!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Check out these two Thanksgiving videos!

Try your hand at a Turducken!

Check out what happens when you deep fry a turkey the wrong way!

I was shown this video not too long ago and I posted it on Facebook already, but I thought I’d share some humor here too!  Enjoy!

The person who posted the video on youtube made sure to mention that he in no way coaxed his kids to bite each other!  They just happened to catch it on camera.