I was trying to sleep this morning around 6:30 when I heard this insistent beeping. Four short beeps and a pause, four short beeps and a pause, four short beeps….. You get the picture.
My first thought was that the smoke alarm went off. But the smoke alarm has one long high pitched scream of a sound. Then, I thought that Mother was listening to the messages on her answering machine…..or perhaps the answering machine was signaling that there were messages to be read. Just about the time I thought I should check on DH, he opened the door and said that the noise was his cell phone.

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Did you know that in 2001, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission required a change in the manufacture of cords for window coverings in response to child-strangulation concerns?
This is another of those cases where my Mother asks, “How did we manage to raise you with all that danger around?” It seems to me that parents could have managed this all by themselves, rather than requiring the expense of an entire Federal Safety Commission.
If you have cords that were purchased prior to 2001, and feel that you need to protect your children from their threat, free retro-fit repair devices are available to you through the Window Covering Safetly Council. Go to www.windowcoverings.org for information.

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For years, we’ve been told that we needed Downy Fresh softness in our wash, or the convenience of Bounce dryer sheets. Fabric softeners take away the scratchiness of towel, and, well…..soften them.
Unfortunately they also take away some of the absorbancy. Have you ever had to use a hotel towel, or perhaps one from a gym? Those scratchy towels are much more absorbant because they don’t use any fabric softener in the wash.
There are two other reasons not to use fabric softener. As a quilter, I’ve found that cottons which will be used in quilts shouldn’t be softened. The chemicals stay in the fabric longer, because quilts are not frequently washed, and they can deteriorate the fibers.
And, for those of you who have asthma, the perfume added to fabric softeners can be a problem. Years ago, we lived in an apartment building that had laundry facilities. I had to go down a flight of stairs, out the door, over to the next entry and down another flight of stairs to get to the washers. I noticed as I was reversing the trip that I was wheezing by the time I got back to my front door, and even started an exercise program to get into shape.
When the wheezing didn’t go away, it finally dawned on me that I could add fabric softners to the list of materials that I was allergic to. Now, whites, are the only clothes that I use softener on. I wash and bleach them, rinse them, start the washer a second time with a quarter of a cap of softener, and then rinse them once more. The rest of our clothes go softener-less, and no one has complained!
Try giving it up. It will save you money, and might make your towels more functional!

It astounds me what you will find in the newspaper these days. On the front page of the October 5, 2003, Chicago Tribune “Q” section, the editor saw fit to post an article on a new product called The Flatulence Deodorizer, or the Flat-D.
The Flat-D is shaped like a flat light bulb, and contains a layer of activated charcoal. It’s worn inside your underwear. It’s a washable device which sells for $12.95.
I know there’s a use for this product. I was thinking about getting some as stocking stuffers, or handing them out at Thanksgiving. The writer actually tested it so that he could give his personal opinion, and he found it to function well if you make sure there is a comfortable seal. (We’re well past the TMI! limit…)
What astounded me about this was that it wasn’t buried in the back of the section, but it was on the FRONT PAGE! Either flatulence has become epidemic in proportion, or editorial standards have slipped.