In Rock Band, there are times when the singer has to tap the microphone (symbolizing cymbals or clapping or the like.)
Over X-mas break, I rigged a setup where I was singing AND playing the guitar. Then the cymbal part came up. I discovered that making a popping noise with your mouth will also count as a cymbal to Rock Band just as well as actually tapping the mic, so I didn’t have to choose between cymbals and guitar.
Yes, it is counter-intuitive, but here’s what happens.
A regular nail uses the point to slide between the wood fibers. At the end of the board, this leverage within the grain can cause the board to split.
Blunt the tip and the nail will now have to sever the wood fibers, rather than sliding between them. by cutting its way through the board, the nail isn’t applying leverage to the grain. No splitting.
Here’s my related trick. To keep a screw from splitting the end of the board, run your drill in reverse as you push the screw in. This will drill a pilot hole. Once you’re about halfway through, put the drill in forward and finish driving the screw normally.
This reminds me of a method for alleviating poison ivy itch. I once had a bad case of poison ivy on the tops of my feet. I had heard from a friend that the way to satisfy the itch of poison ivy was to place the affected area under running warm water and slowly turn the heat up.
I would run hot and cold water in the tub, stick my bare foot under the stream of water and slowly back off the cold water input to the spout to the point where it would be near scalding in temperature. It was a release,relief, feeling which was damn near equal to sex.
After this itch was satisfied my feet would not itch for hours.
The best part was that, with a little care, I appeared to do no damage to my skin like I would have done had I scratched the itch to get relief.
Those who attend many training sessions or conferences (as you or I do), and who have folded pieces of paper sitting in front of them with their names on them, know that folding over about a quarter inch of the ‘hinge’, at either end, will keep the nametag from sagging and flattening out as the day wears on.
Did you know that if you right click on the taskbar, there’s an option for task manager? A quick right click left click sequence for me!
Sunburn remedy: several glugs of white vinegar in a cool bath. You’ll smell funky but the burn won’t sting.
If your eyeglasses fog constantly, apply a small amount of toothpaste (not gel and non-abrasive). Smear over the lens on both sides, then wash off.
(old scuba trick to prevent mask fogging)
I did not know this! I swear I used to be kind of good with computers, and now it’s a miracle I can even turn this thing on.
Excellent! The great annoyance of being four-eyed in the Midwest is going in and out and having your glasses fog up. Sometimes I’ll just put in contact lenses for a month because I don’t feel like dealing with it, but I’ll give this a go too.
I think catfish’s comment about so much wrong in this thread must be referencing all the wasted wine.
Pouring out wine?
Using wine to get out wine stains?
Smashing full bottles of wine?
I just can’t wrap my head around that.
But thanks for the ctrl-shift-T, I keep forgetting that combo.
The tip is true, perhaps not with hardwoods where it’s better to pre-drill, but in spruce or fir construction material used in North America, the blunted tip drives out some of the wood instead of just wedging it apart.
Adding to this: when I wanted to give a quickie countersink to a screw hole such as on deck planking, where it would be nice but neatness wasn’t top priority, I take the philips head driver on my drill and ram it into the wood (while spinning) a bit deeper than the screw head where I want to put the screw. The resulting void gives the screw head enough room to countersink without distressing the wood surface.
In other suggestions, during wintertime, if you have a good chunk of ice on the roof of your car, wait until you’re going about 30 or more down the road and nobody is behind you then punch the inside ceiling of your car. Most often the ice will fly off the top of your car when it won’t hurt another car.
Somehow I think my sunroof would object!
They sell a special cleaner for ceramic stovetops. This stuff is awesome! It cleans rust out of stainless steel (stainless my ass), gets permanent marker off ceramic! Cleans off soap scum (and is far less abrasive than bathtub cleaner).
We used to be pretty heavy Netflix users a few years ago, and before they had a streaming option it was all DVD. At least once a month, sometimes once every couple of weeks, we’d get a disc that was so scratched it just wouldn’t play. We discovered that if you spray lemon Pledge (only Pledge worked) on the back of it and polished it off with a paper towel, it would play without issue. It hasn’t been so much of a problem since we got our Blu-Ray player, which is pretty forgiving when it comes to scratches.
Something I’ve been doing since I was a teenager working in a deli (almost 30 years ago), but first saw here on the Dope a few years ago- keep a bunch of extra trash bags at the bottom of the can. When the bag is full and you pull it out, there’s another one right there, waiting for you. Beats having to get one out of the storeroom.
If there’s enough ambient light to walk around in the first place, why do you need to turn on the light to go to the bathroom? I never turn on the light when I get up to pee (at least once, if not twice, a night) and I’ve never bumped into walls, or peed on myself, or missed sitting on the bowl, etc.
Indeed! I’ve had heat rashes a few times over the years and I get bug bites like no one else (can get 5 mosquito bites in under a minutes 
) and the application of very hot, almost scalding, water does alleviate the itch and give a near orgasmic-type relief.
I try doing the pee pirate thing too but it doesn’t seem to work so well for me.
Your spouse/partner probably doesn’t appreciate the late night shouts of “Arrrrr!” and booty plundering attempts.
Have Comcast cable with a DVR?
You can program a remote button as a “30 second skip forward” with
the instructions.
Spill water or beer on your remote control and it no longer works? Remove the batteries, and place on a cookie sheet in the oven on ‘warm’ for a couple hours. If something stickier, like cola, you can dunk and swish the remote in rubbing alcohol first before sticking in the oven. Let cool, pop batteries back in, and voila!
Never buy green onions again: buy a bunch and stick it in a glass with water on a windowsill that gets sunlight, and change the water once a week. Snip the green part as you need for cooking, and it will continually grow back. This is, and remains, our most and only successful houseplant ever.
Once a month release a small mouse down the back of your sofa. Hey presto, no more crumbs!