Rick Martin

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:I don't replace mine on any set schedule. Good technique is a big part of it. But the difference in effective cleaning is a real thing over time. When in doubt, manipulate a new one and a used one (same type) with your finger. You'll know.

Around here, a retired toothbrush has a long and illustrious life. Great for parts cleaning, reaching into awkward crevices in the washing machine, etc. etc. When the end comes there are no bristles left.

BTW, you're not brushing your teeth so much as you're cleaning/stimulating your gums. That's where there are bona-fide health risks and benefits.

Douglas is exactly right.  Definitely clean off your pearly whites, but focus on your gums. That is where the real health benefit comes from.  Hitting the teeth will get rid of sugars stuck to your teeth, and will help whiten stains, but this is really about gum health.

As for replacing the toothbrush, I'd say if you rinse it off well between brushings and generally keep a tidy bathroom, you can go 4 months or more. It is less about the bristle condition and more about making sure you don't have any bacteria growing in the brush.

Remember, the investment in daily tooth care, even if you go on the rich end, is way less than the cost of dental work.

Grew up drinking raw milk. My gut has always been bulletproof, I get a fraction of the stomach bugs that others seem to. Not a scientific study, just one person's experience, but my two cents.

Getting rid of standing water is far and away the best non-toxic thing you can do to eliminate mosquitoes. It is a little like a doctor suggesting that a patient stop smoking. It is far and away the #1 thing you can do compared to all the other steps.

Don't forget about coffee grounds. Used coffee grounds can be placed in various spots in your yard or garden. Mosquitoes can't stand them.

Erik Pehoviack wrote:As our garden has become "overgrown" with dozens of species of plants the mosquito pressure has been less and less. I can sit in the garden or work in the bushes without bites. I think the many different smells of all the plants mask our scent. On the flip side when we walk the 20 paces to the neighbors front lawn they swarm. Oh, and standing water isn't the cause of our mosquitoes, moist soil is.

True, they can breed in moist soil. But they can also breed in a bird bath, clogged gutter, even an old tire, so standing water also needs to be managed.

These countries where Gates is trying to solve the waste problem are very poor and have cesspools everywhere.  Wastewater literally is dumped into the rivers not far from where others are getting thier drinking water.  Not surprising that diseases are out of control.  

Anything will help, but it has to be affordable for the locals or they can't do it.

The trouble with mosquitoes is that they are never really "gone".  As long as there are a few around, they can lay their eggs again with the next hatch.

If you have standing water that you can't drain, treat it with bits and dunks.  You just toss these in the open water and they dissolve.  Not harmful to animals, but they prevent the skeeters from reproducing well.  This article describes which one to use in which situation.

If you need to just keep the mosquitoes away while you work outside, look at a Mosquito killer.
.  They are much better than they used to be.  They will put a dent in the population but will not nip them at the reproductive stage the way the bits and dunks do.

I wrote a short few how-to books.  They are on Amazon and do OK.  My biggest lesson learned is that 90% of the earnings come from one book.... And that book is not the one I would have predicted would have done well.  Bottom line -- there needs to be a market for a book.  Writing a good book is not enough.

The envelope system is a good one.  Dave Ramsey thinks he invented it, but in reality my mother taught it to me 45 years ago.  Start of month, put cash in envelopes for each category of spending.  When the envelope is empty, no more until next month.

Keep in mind that new furnaces often result in a tax credit, too.  It won't help you for the initial cash outlay, but you potentially would get some money back at tax time.

Adding my two cents.  Both have been mentioned above, but I will give them an "x2" as an endorsement that they work!

The first is the "log roll" idea over a 5 gallon bucket, like in the video.  If you are OK with the idea of mice drowning, this works.  It is especially good in a shed or room where you don't want to check traps daily.

The other is peanut butter on mousetraps.  I've tried everything under the sun, and peanut butter is the superior bait on a mousetrap.  The mice smell it, can't resist it, and it takes a little effort for them to get it all, which causes the trap to spring.  

If you have not mouse-proofed, a little steel wool goes a long way. Mouse proofing tips here.

Good luck!  Those mice are resilient!

This is really interesting! I didn't know that chicken can have intelligence. I have been dreaming to build a farm of my own since my childhood. It seems that that idea is more worth to try!