Efficiency

There was a piece on the radio the other morning about an efficiency expert and how his job is to go into an office and make it more efficient. I suppose one of those things is setting your printers to automatically print double sided. Many of you have probably heard how printers are often poorly located and you spend all this time walking around for printing. The "Expert" said he had been bodily threatened once when he walked in and moved a guys desk. Of course he made it sound like the poor guy had not been told an efficiency expert would be visiting and possibly moving office furniture around.

The interviewer asked him what he does in his own life. One thing was pouring the cream in your coffee first so that you don't have to use a spoon to mix it. I never thought about it that way, but without a dishwasher, I make a point of doing this now. I was also pulling into the parking lot as the interview ended and pulled through the parking spaces so that I wouldn't have to put my car in reverse at the end of the day to drive home.

Right after, I saw a cooking piece and the chef said you only really need 3 knives: a long bread knife, Chef's knife, and a paring knife. I would probably add a paring-sized serrated knife to the list. That would be an efficient use of space in a small kitchen though!

Is there anything you intentionally do to make your day or activities more efficient?

Only an undergrad...

...would fail to inform their direct supervisor in the lab (me for example), that they had submitted their proposal for the semester to the head of the lab, even though they had been getting feedback from said supervisor along the way.
(That's why I check up on these things...)

...would show up 30 minutes late and ask if I meant "MidWest time" when I proceeded to ask the undergrad to be on time or to call me.
(Now he apologizes when he is 5 minutes late...)

...would make a procedure that should (generously speaking) take 3 1/2 hours take 5 1/2 hours.
(Oh, well?)

...who has a blackberry would wait until 10 minutes after they are supposed to be in lab email to say they've been sick all morning and won't be in.
(At least he didn't come in and spread the germs...)

Neighborly

I am in a duplex, and the other half has been empty for about 2 months. I am sitting on my couch last night enjoying the Olympics and posting. Around 10:15 I hear the front door being unlocked. I wonder if CF decided to stop by (although that would have been unlikely and a nice surprise). The cat jumps down and sits facing the door with her tail curled around her feet per usual. The person has a bit of trouble unlocking the front door, then unlocks the door of the other unit. So I think maybe the landlord has stopped by to do something.

Nope.

Then there is lots of rustling between the two doors; the front door is left open; I hear a ginormous belch in the hallway, and a man and woman's voice and stuff being moved in; I turn on my humidifier for white noise, move my door draft blocker to that door to block the cold air and muffle the noise, and go to bed. I cleverly realize I have new neighbors.

I was filled with dread by the late night moving and belching to that extent (and I am one to burp when not completely inappropriate!). What might this mean for their general habits? This morning, there was a nice note apologizing and telling me to stop by and maybe we could have dinner or drinks sometime to meet, being that we're neighbors and all.

PHEW. Hopefully we do get along! The doors are thin, so hopefully they aren't super noisy late night. Maybe they'll even check in on my cat when I am gone. [fingers crossed]

Food, glorious food!

A company like Tupperware doesn't stick around if their products don't work. I don't remember if I have ever written about some of their products I have or not, but these Fridgesmarts are great. They are for produce and have an aeration system that you can adjust depending on what is in them. And seriously, they keep your produce good for a long time! A back of salad will stay good at least a week. Fresh strawberries? Up to two weeks (admittedly, after about a week and a half they start losing flavor, but don't get all smooshy)! They are those square things in the picture below on the middle shelf. (Welcome to my fridge...)
My sister recently had a catalog party that was rolled into a fundraiser for the swim team or something in her town. I had been meaning to try out the FreezerSmarts: my friend who has them said they totally prevent freezer burn. Here is my freezer before.And an improvement afterward. I have veggies on the top and fruit on the bottom of the door and the system works well. Now all the stuff shoved in there I can see instead of digging around. Now I also know what sizes I need more of to keep my freezer organized.
And I have been cooking recently. I do like having pancakes to grab and eat in the morning. These are the most recent. They are yummy, but I forgot to add spices, and some cinnamon or vanilla would make them better.
We got a snow storm this week, and for some reason that made me want to make cookies. I have decided in the past year or so that cookie bars are WAY easier (except for cooling them a long time before cutting them). These are oatmeal chocolate chip bars. I also had some coconut that has been hanging around for too long, so I tossed it in. I also replaced the corn syrup with honey.
This picture is not very exciting, but it falls into my use-things-up category, as well as breakfast-for-dinner, which I love. An omelette with fresh dill, leek, artichoke hearts, and cheese curds.
Last time I made omelettes I had left over ham and did peppers, onions, ham, and cheese. THAT was good.

Travelled

I got a scanner/printer/combo thing for Christmas and love that I can scan my older photos in now. I scanned in a select few from my year in China. I have put together maybe 6 or 8 pages for my scrap book and then have all these other pictures from 8 years ago just in a box. Maybe while I am off Facebook for Lent, I can work on the album!

Along the 7200 steps to the top of Tai Shan.
At the Forbidden City.
A guard at the Great Wall.
Tienanmen Square.
In Xi'an.

On display

I was at Tar-jay when they had their big Deals section and picked up a set of 8 black 4x6 frames for some low price I cannot remember now. I had this great idea to print out some pictures I had taken and hang them somewhere. My bathroom is small, probably about right for 4x6 pictures and needs stuff on the walls. I also like how one of my friends has some brown/green colors going on with her own photos in her bathroom, so I guess I am copying her a bit.Anyway. Here is my bathroom. I picked out the curtain because it is colorful but not super busy. (As an aside, I also really like picking out shower curtains when I move into a place. In my last apartment, it ended up matching my cat when I got her.) How to choose pictures though because I do not think I have many pictures of square-shaped things (though I could check).I actually had printed some pictures before I remembered while writing this that I had thought to hang them in the bathroom. I am not sure they really go with the curtain.

From a grad student apple picking trip last fall.
From my sister's garden at my niece's birthday party.
What I like to think of as a very fortuitous moment in my friend's kitchen. It was New Year's Eve but I still had my wits about me enough to take some photos of this rose fallen into her dishwasher.
A leaf (obviously) when I headed to Niagra Falls this summer and met CF's Mom and sister who were visiting (have I mentioned he is not from the U.S.?)
So those all have some red in them, but the difference in shape between an apple and a maple leaf bothers me. Here are some other contenders I have not actually printed.
Really this is just a post of a lot of pictures I have taken and like with lots not included. I almost wish I did not have a shower curtain already and I would probably go with something red and/or green. I could just stick with roses or leaves I suppose. If you have some brilliant decorating idea inspired by my bathroom and photos, do share. :-)