I find that raising one eyebrow, lowering the other and tilting my head slightly helps me sound more debonnaire.

I need to read these Tips more closely. Now I'm wearing a shower cap full of broccoli with a bent USB cable stuck between my teeth.

You can also use a matchbook as contingency floss. That's probably why my neighborhood burrito place still gives out matches even though you can't smoke there. Mmmmm...flank steak.

This would be a great hack, except I'm married and I don't get a closet. Whenever I get one set up, the spousal unit moves in and appropriates it. So I have a dresser full of jeans and polo shirts. Good thing I'm in IT.

So glad you like my desk.

If I didn't have clutter I wouldn't need a desk.

@shoemitt001: [www.austinchronicle.com]

This little fellow seems to do all right on my desk. All the other kids seem to like to pick off his leaves when they get dry, though.

Since I covered my windows with aluminum foil, I don't have to worry about cleaning them. The other benefit is that the mind-control rays are blocked when I'm in the house.

Can I get the same result by rubbing my iPad against the window?

You had me at 'bacon'...

If I'm really in a hurry, there's a Denny's nearby. Just blot everything with napkins before you eat it! Rooty-tooty-fresh-and-fruity or easy-peasy-hot-and-greasy?

I cook steelcut oats overnight in a double-boiler sutup, using a glass bowl and a crockpot. I can make enough to have breakfast for a week, and steelcuts are easy to pop into the microwave to heat up. I add walnuts, a good dash of cinnamon, some Craisins and usually about a tblsp of maple syrup. With black coffee…

A true DIYer needs but two things for most repairs, duct tape and WD40. If it moves and shouldn't, use duct tape. If it should move and doesn't, apply WD40. Also a good multitool and a paperclip. And C4.

Sometimes I use my Sarah Palin Teleprompter...I write notes on my paw.

I've used paper notebooks for years. I love Moleskines and nice pens but I find I can do just as well when I buy a stack of spiral notebooks and stick pens when they go on sale at 'back to school' time and keep those around. I have one in my backpack, one in the car, a few around the house. They're like flyswatters…

When I'm feeling stuck, I'll pack it in and go for a walk, usually with the dog. I've learned to keep a hipster and a pen handy and while I'm out moving around in a different environment, my mind can tumble ideas without interference from the other voices in my head (not the creepy ones, I mean the ones that tell me…

@leave_aMessage: Nah, it's only Dried Fool. Never mind.

Good idea about the pictures of the moving boxes. Especially since digital storage is cheap so I can shoot away and be thorough. I still have boxes from 1997 marked "Books". Lots of them. And one marked "Caution - Bears".

@applesanity: You're right about the boomers - I'm 52 and I see guys with bald heads and ratty grey ponytails and just stupid attitudes about 'the man' - even though they are The Man now.