How to Load a Dishwasher

I wasn't going to write about this one until someone requested it. I guess she'll think twice about making smart comments about my posts next time. If you're married or have a roommate I'm willing to bet you've had a "discussion" about how to load the dishwasher. As I see it there's basically two schools of thought, practicality or convenience. The convenient way is just to throw everything in the dishwasher and turn it on. The practical way is to make the best use of the space in the dishwasher to clean the most dishes per load. Two photographs are included, I think you'll be able to tell which one's which. So if you have a large bowl that takes up a lot of space, to me it makes more sense to fit in three smaller bowls instead of one large one. Keeping plates and bowls together also makes it easier to unload later on. Here are some other useful tips that I've found work for me.

• Alternating plastic and glass cups when possible decreases the likelihood of glass banging together and breaking.
• Don't put all spoons in one section or they'll stick together and not get clean.
• Don't put plastic lids on the bottom rack. The heat from the element will warp them.

Well, that's just a little glimpse inside my head. I know what you're thinking, it's pretty scary in there. Well, I've had to live with myself for almost 32 years and my wife's been with me for 10 of those and we're still together, so it must not be too bad.

Gas Mileage...continued

I finished my test driving at 55 mph instead of 60 mph. According to my calculations it only saved me .2 of a mile per gallon. When I was at 60 mph I got 27.6 miles per gallon and this time I got 27.8 miles per gallon. There was a bigger drop when I went from 65 to 60. However, with that experiment I also started shifting up at 2K rpm's as well. So the bigger drop could be from that and not from lowering my speed. I'd have to go back to 65 again while shifting up at 2K rpm's to get an accurate measure. My next experiment is starting tomorrow when I get new tires put on my car. We'll see what difference that makes.

Gas Mileage

Since gas is getting so expensive lately and I drive about 20 miles to work each day I decided to do a little experiment. I usually set my cruise control to about 65 on the highway but for this experiment I decided to drop it to 60. I also drive a manual and started shifting up at 2,000 rpms. It took a little patience for me to do this but I kept saying to myself it will be worth it if it saves money. I drive a 2000 Subaru Outback and usually averaged about 23.5 miles per gallon and around 320 miles per tank. Under my new driving methods I averaged nearly 28 miles per gallon and around 370 miles per tank. So if you take 50 miles as the difference I'm saving about 2 gallons per tank, which depending on the price of gas is about $7/wk., $28/mo. and $336/yr. When I filled up my tank last time I decided to drop even lower to 55 mph. I'll let you know how that turns out. So there you have it, It does pay to drive slower and less aggressively, and that "Works for me".

Yoga?!

Alright, here we go. There are certain things that just work for me and I plan to write about them here. The first one is something I never thought I'd do...Yoga. About two years ago my neck started hurting a lot. I play a lot of volleyball and I figured it was from that. Since then, I've gone the Chiropractor and the "real" doctor and both of them have had temporary improvements but nothing too great. So I decided to try yoga since my wife always did it and a friend at work started doing it. After a week of doing a half hour every night my pain mostly went away and I stopped getting headaches everyday. I'm also closer to being able to touch my toes than I ever have been in my life. Back in school the best I could ever do was -3 on the sit and reach. If I stop doing yoga, my headaches come back. I don't buy into all the spiritual stuff, I do it purely for the physical benefits...yoga is something that "Works for me".