Haven’t seen this one yet, and it seems to have subsided in recent years, but: Cars that honk the horn when locked up with the fob. A car horn is supposed to be a warning of possible danger, but with all the routine beeps from locking, there’s a “Boy Who Cried Wolf” effect, and no one pays any attention when there’s a…

This Granny has the proper response: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pY8OekuzOgs (from Scam Spotter https://scamspotter.org/)

The “joke” refers to Interstate 35, which crosses from Minnesota into Iowa near my home town. I-35 splits into 35E and 35W in the Minneapolis - St. Paul area but north and south of there it’s just I-35. For many years some people in Minnesota have incorrectly referred to the entire length of I-35 as “35W”, don’t know…

I live in the mountains where deer are commonplace. I also drove a UPS truck up here 100 miles a day for 28 years. I’d say your advice is good, especially when you mention that where there’s one there are likely more. One thing you didn’t mention: they like to lick road salt.

I once ran over a chicken. I never did know WHY that chicken was crossing the road. 

Feel free to “OK Boomer” me, but the world would be a better place without social media. A few people wouldn’t be as rich, but that would be a good thing too.

In my dishwasher the fork tines fit nicely in the little square holes in the bottom of the silverware rack, so they can be together. But spoons have to be mixed in with butter knives and other things, or they cuddle together (like spoons) and don’t get clean. I’ll put inexpensive plastic-handled paring knives in the…

I’ve seen it argued that even the official government site for Global Entry (for example) is a scam, in that they are now charging for what used to be free, i.e. easy access to one’s flight. I don’t agree.

You CAN rely on your phone. But you have to get an app that downloads the maps ahead of time. I think highly of Maps.me (available for Android and iPhone). I’ve used it in about six other countries (it was accurate in rural Thailand and Costa Rica, for example) and extensively in the US.

And definitely better than I-76 in Colorado, in addition to which, the Nebraska rest areas are better.  I say this as a proud (except for the roads) Coloradan.

It feels strange to be here defending Nebraska, but here goes: Since leaving Minnesota in 1970 to go to school in Colorado, but with family, and eventually aging parents, remaining in Minnesota, I’ve driven I-80 across Nebraska easily 300 times. I’ve never felt unsafe or unwelcome or threatened (except, well, there…

Maybe you could explain why I’d want to get rid of mice without killing them. I don’t enjoy killing them, but I enjoy having them in my house quite a bit less than that. I catch them in snap traps, put their remains outside, and the foxes or birds dispose of them promptly.

This little essay is much too good to just be stuck on a comment page.

I believe I would have said at the time that he was kind of a dick too.  Actually rather more than kind of.

“I gave my cat a bath the other day...they love it. He sat there, he enjoyed it, it was fun for me. The fur would stick to my tongue, but other than that...”

I mess with PC’s a lot, and have for years. I can’t think of the last time I’ve run chkdsk, but it has to have been quite awhile, like maybe a decade?

Very good summary, Beth! Well done! But my fear is that you’re “preaching to the choir”, and many of those who really need to read and understand the facts you lay out won’t be reading your article. That’s sad.

My go-to is the store-bought with a scoop of vanilla ice cream (or maybe two) and a healthy serving of dark rum (Meyer’s or the like). Am I the only one that likes ice cream in eggnog?

I’m very nearly a septuagenarian (what a cool word!) myself, and have used KeePass for years. My passwords for things like the Lifehacker forum may be relatively simple, but all the important ones, like credit card & banking logins, are ~20 character goobledygook passwords generated by KeePass.  I sync it via Dropbox…

I agree with that, but I feel sorry for the stupid person’s kids, wife, aged mother, medical people who have to take care of them and watch them die, and so on.