During the warm months, many cities and towns including Boston work on their water systems to flush out the pipes and get things gushing along to improve drinking water quality.
We wanted to give you a heads up about laundry day when water main flushing is going on in your neighborhood. Check for rusty water before you do laundry and if you have had the problem, you may want to run an empty wash to clean out the lines leading to to your washer.
Patio dining often comes with table wobbles. The restaurant may have taken the trouble to adjust each table so that it was on the level and stable when the day began. But, as diners make slight adjustments to assist someone to enter or exit or simply bump the table a bit this way or that, wobbles develop on uneven paving.
Ed's solution is a quarter, or rather a stack of quarters, plus one more to set on the tabletop as a reminder to take back the others as we leave.
Normally, adjusting one leg will do the trick. This one needed a dollar's worth of lift.
We've also cut corks in half on the diagonal to use as wedges to keep doors open at rental homes or to prevent tables from wobbling. I still recall the amazed look on a waiter's face the time we asked for a cork and a steak knife to solve their tippy table issue.
And, if you're in the hospitality business, you must be the reason Wobble Wedges Leveling Shims are sold in jars of 50 or 100. We've thought about carrying one with us but since we usually have quarters, we'll stick with those.
Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!
Patio dining often comes with table wobbles. The restaurant may have taken the trouble to adjust each table so that it was on the level and stable when the day began. But, as diners make slight adjustments to assist someone to enter or exit or simply bump the table a bit this way or that, wobbles develop on uneven paving.
Ed's solution is a quarter, or rather a stack of quarters, plus one more to set on the tabletop as a reminder to take back the others as we leave.
Normally, adjusting one leg will do the trick. This one needed a dollar's worth of lift.
We've also cut corks in half on the diagonal to use as wedges to keep doors open at rental homes or to prevent tables from wobbling. I still recall the amazed look on a waiter's face the time we asked for a cork and a steak knife to solve their tippy table issue.
And, if you're in the hospitality business, you must be the reason Wobble Wedges Leveling Shims are sold in jars of 50 or 100. We've thought about carrying one with us but since we usually have quarters, we'll stick with those.
Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!
Whether you're coming to run or watch the 2015 Boston Marathon or just want to log some miles, it's an exciting time to visit the city. And, we hope this piece will help all the runners who are new to the city, here for a vacation or business trip.
Right onto Hereford Street – Less Than a Mile to Go!
I remember my first Boston Marathon as a spectator – I've yet to put in the training needed to actually compete. Penny and I booked a hotel room for the weekend and left the car parked. We took in the runners' expo, pasta supper, and other pre-race activities, then watched a spectacular Boylston Street finish.
As an out-of-state runner staying near Faneuil Hall, I still wanted to get in a run or two, but wasn't sure where to head.
Now, as a Boston resident, I can recommend a couple of my favorite routes.
Charles River Run …
If you're a visiting runner staying anywhere near the finish line, you can't beat a daytime run along the Charles River. It offers great views and a more open course without having to constantly cross roadways. This multi-use path is shared by bikes, blades, skate boards, dogs, and walkers. It can get congested as the day wears on but, who knows, you may find yourself sharing the trail with some famous, elite runners. It's easy to make any number of loops between the Boston and Cambridge sides of the river by using the many bridges along the way.
From Back Bay, you can access the Charles River Esplanade from Massachusetts Avenue, Fairfield, Dartmouth, and Arlington Streets. If you head west from the Massachusetts Avenue ramp you can also use the parcourse workout station that's located just up-river. Click here for photos and details including a map to find it.
Morning Run Along the Esplanade
Parks in the Heart of the City
For a tree-lined route, try the Commonwealth Avenue Mall – not a shopping center, but a park – that runs down the center of this residential street. At Commonwealth and Arlington, you can enter the pristine Public Garden for a slower pace. Moving through the center of the Garden will lead you across Charles Street to the Boston Common.
Inside tip: Local-isms
Mass Ave = Massachusetts Avenue Comm Ave = Commonwealth Avenue And, it's Boston Common (singular) not Boston Commons
Whether you're coming to run or watch the 2015 Boston Marathon or just want to log some miles, it's an exciting time to visit the city. And, we hope this piece will help all the runners who are new to the city, here for a vacation or business trip.
Right onto Hereford Street – Less Than a Mile to Go!
I remember my first Boston Marathon as a spectator – I've yet to put in the training needed to actually compete. Penny and I booked a hotel room for the weekend and left the car parked. We took in the runners' expo, pasta supper, and other pre-race activities, then watched a spectacular Boylston Street finish.
As an out-of-state runner staying near Faneuil Hall, I still wanted to get in a run or two, but wasn't sure where to head.
Now, as a Boston resident, I can recommend a couple of my favorite routes.
Charles River Run …
If you're a visiting runner staying anywhere near the finish line, you can't beat a daytime run along the Charles River. It offers great views and a more open course without having to constantly cross roadways. This multi-use path is shared by bikes, blades, skate boards, dogs, and walkers. It can get congested as the day wears on but, who knows, you may find yourself sharing the trail with some famous, elite runners. It's easy to make any number of loops between the Boston and Cambridge sides of the river by using the many bridges along the way.
From Back Bay, you can access the Charles River Esplanade from Massachusetts Avenue, Fairfield, Dartmouth, and Arlington Streets. If you head west from the Massachusetts Avenue ramp you can also use the parcourse workout station that's located just up-river. Click here for photos and details including a map to find it.
Morning Run Along the Esplanade
Parks in the Heart of the City
For a tree-lined route, try the Commonwealth Avenue Mall – not a shopping center, but a park – that runs down the center of this residential street. At Commonwealth and Arlington, you can enter the pristine Public Garden for a slower pace. Moving through the center of the Garden will lead you across Charles Street to the Boston Common.
Inside tip: Local-isms
Mass Ave = Massachusetts Avenue Comm Ave = Commonwealth Avenue And, it's Boston Common (singular) not Boston Commons
Here's how to track a friend or any runner competing in the Boston Marathon on Monday, April 20, 2015.
The Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) Website explains:
The B.A.A. will post split times to its website during the race. This feature, complete with search access directions, will not show up on their official site until race day.
To learn how to Track a Boston Marathon Runner, Click Here then select, “Q: How can family members at home track me in the Boston Marathon?”
Mobile Phone Alert System
The Boston Athletic Association has also set up the "AT&T Athlete Alert Program." It allows you to receive updates on a runner’s progress. Here’s how to sign-up!
Where are the Leaders & Crowd Favorites?
For a rough idea of where the race leaders are, in relation to your viewing position, watch the sky for the helicopters that hover above them.
For favorites, you must rely on the roar of the crowd as they approach. Or, you can track your favorite by using the mobile alert system.
Related Posts: A collection of tips for Marathon Weekend, some are from past years and we'll be updating them between now and Marathon Monday.
This Canon PowerShot G15 camera will give you what you need to take stills and video at the event. Canon's G series is our all-time favorite for everyday cameras. We own the G10 and G11. They are a little bigger than the compacts most people use, but let you shoot with automatic settings or easy-to-use manual controls that please the many pros who use them as second cameras. And, if you are ready to turn pro, follow our lead. Ed shoots with the Nikon D7000 Digital SLR too and we've added the Nikon D600 to our camera fleet and are extremely happy with the performance it has delivered.
Finding new uses for our favorite blue tape has become a bit of a game around here. I grabbed a knife that I seldom use – but that is Ed's favorite – and it was dull, dull, dull. He was still asleep when I sharpened it, so I marked it with blue tape.
This reminded him that the knife was not as he had left it the night before. And, he was alerted at the very moment he was about to use it.
Top quality fresh fruit and vegetables are expensive and tossing them in the trash hurts. But sometimes you can forget to rotate your supplies and an item spoils right in plain view. First-In First-Out (FIFO) is a smart way to save money and waste less food.
Once again, the roll of blue tape that hangs on the side of my refrigerator is my means of identifying which piece of fruit to use first. In this case, the two tomatoes with bits of blue tape are the oldest. When I added the new package of tomatoes to the dish on my counter, I tagged the older ones with tape. That way, anyone taking tomatoes from the dish, will know which ones were the First-In and therefore the next to be used.
A couple of years ago, we showed you our system for drying dog boots. Our Westie Poppy's Pawz Dog Boots are still drying on chopsticks, but we've improved on the container we're using to store them between trips outside.
Now, the chopsticks holding the wet boots are secured at a good angle by a daisy Mason jar lid. This lid was designed for scented candles or for drinking with a straw. But we think it's perfect for our purpose. You can even find them in colors to match the boots – if your dog is fashion forward.
You can use this same system for gloves or mittens with wood dowel rods and some sand or beans to add weight to the mason jar.
Food safety and avoiding unnecessary clean up is important when we make our dog Poppy's raw diet. One thing that saves a lot of picky, detailed cleaning is using ScotchBlue Painter's Tape to help protect the controls of our LEM Meat Grinder and Cuisinart Food Processor.
Penny tapes a plastic sandwich bag over the switches, and then her raw meat hands never touch those electrical components.
The same thing is done with our old food processor even though we use it to shred and chop only the fruit and vegetables that are added to the raw meat Poppy eats. The base of the machine is simply easier to clean if you don't have to pick gunk out of the spaces around the switches.
Grab a roll of this tape the next time you're at a hardware store or order it from Amazon at this link. You may be surprised at how many uses you'll find for it at home. The tape clings well, even after freezing, and then comes off cleanly when you want to remove it.