I own Chacos, which are about $100 sandals that are sturdy enough to hike in and are incredibly comfortable and supportive. Chaco has offered shoe restoration since the beginning, and when the soles wear out or the webbing gets tattered, you can mail them in and pay for restoration. Sure, restoration can cost about…

Remember that the Nook uses it's battery when you change pages or if Wifi is on. If it's on a shelf with Wifi off, it's going to last a long time. If you're sitting in a cafe all morning, on Wifi, buzzing through pages and pages of content, it's going to eat at the battery life much quicker. With things running in…

So you don't just "wait" to do another set, you move on to another body part.

Jet lag and busy weekends feel about the same to me, but I'm usually headed just 6-7 time zones to the East. I prefer over-night flights that arrive bright and early in the morning when traveling from the mid-west to Europe. When I arrive, I drop bags at the hotel, and spend as much time in daylight as possible that…

Having a physical reminder to pause instead of fill works very well. I'm sort of anti-podium, and am good at commanding my physical presence when I have free movement. I would put a small rock in my shoe or even wear a toe ring, which is enough to get your attention, but not be distracting. That little physical…

My opinion is, no matter the car, you should feel like you're driving and in control in a rain, snow, or ice storm. Light rain is one thing, but when you put your wipers into "Berserk mode", it's time to turn off the cruise and feel the resistance on your car. Your car may sense sliding, but you are an amazing,…

Using fresh herbs in food is a no-brainer for kicking up flavor. Like most leafy greens, these plants are packed with important nutrients, anti-oxidants and good-for-you stuff. If you'll spend money on vitamins or pain medications, why not try a little tweak to your diet to see if it helps your indigestion or pain. …

This is true of almost all produce but especially fruit. Apples, oranges, lemons, peaches, plums, grapes... Don't select them by their looks, pick them up. They should feel heavier in the hand than they look like they should. If the produce feels heavy then check it for bruises or moldy bits. If it passes both tests…

That kind of improvement will pay you back over time, regardless of whether the future home buyers recognize it. If you're planning to be in a house for 3-5 years, and have to do major fix anyway, take every opportunity to improve your energy efficiency while you're at it!

We use a sports wash. I think it's called Sport Suds. It's pricey, but works better than anything else we've tried. We also tumble dry all of our stuff. Some say that the dryer can break down clothes, but we honestly thought we were going to have to toss a bunch of nice-looking performance gear because of the…

It is do-able. My packing tip is to get all of the things you think you need out, and lay them across your bed. Match up outfits, and take out any shirt/pant/skirt/shoe etc. that has a single match (i.e. "these shoes will only work when I'm wearing this skirt"). Each top should have 1-2 bottoms, each jacket/cardigan…

I always wonder what the break-even point is for kicking back your thermostat when you are not around or sleeping. For example, if my heat has to run for 15 minutes an hour to maintain a constant temp of 68, but it runs for 3 hours straight while trying to go from 60 to 68 for the few hours before I go to work, is it…

My mom frequently just looses WiFi in her home, and has to cycle the power on her router to get it back up and running. We've tried putting her on a different channel, but in her rural community, there isn't much neighborly interference. Any ideas?

My husband and I are having this conversation now. My thought is, if it's my emergency fund, and I invest it all in the stock market, and the markets tank and one of us gets laid off, where does that leave our emergency fund? If you're going to invest it, at least put it somewhere stable. Don't put your emergency…

Just think - once you've finished replacing all of your appliances, your emergency fund will start to pile up! Seriously, though, it's tough luck, but imagine if you would have had to put all of those expenses on a credit card because you didn't have the money around.

The humidifier has greatly helped me this winter. I'm starting to worry that I'm depending on the sound it makes, which may not be a problem for everyone, but I travel a lot, and have gotten used to hearing whatever noises there are to hear when I sleep. Sleeping through sirens is a great thing, and I'm afraid I'm…

I never figured out why switching ends helps, but I have done this a number of times. I didn't do it for years after I got married, but I've had a few desperate nights, where my husband woke up with my feet by his face. Whatever it is, it seems to work.

I identify with the sleep paralysis. In the last year or so, I've started trying to talk (usually yelling a warning or calling for help), and occasionally, I've felt "stuck" in my dreams, and unable to move. Slowly, I realize that I'm dreaming, and I'm actually stuck in this paralysis state for about a minute,…

Maybe you've been personifying all of these named storms we've been having.

I am female, and my recurring nightmares apparently have "male" themes. I've had tornado dreams since I was a child, and they seem to come up when I am very stressed about something. I'm not sure what's behind my insect dreams, but when they happen, I often lay awake with my eyes open afterwards, because the images…