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Maintenance For Drains, Sewers, and Homeowners

There is a very silent and strange problem going on directly underneath our feet.  There is a good possibility that its going on right now.  Its something we cannot see, something we share with our neighbors, and something that can effect everyone.  Do you know what it is?

The answer is grease.  People put grease down their drains all the time.  I have been guilty of it, I can admit that.  The truth is, grease is not only damaging to your own drain system, but also to the entire neighborhood.  As it travels onward, it causes problems with the City’s pipes too, sometimes causing them to spend costly man hours fixing an internal problem, that isn’t necessarily their problem.  Even if it looks like the grease your pouring down your drain is flowing fine, once it cools in the sewer lines (again in private or city property) it gels, sticking to the sides of the pipes and causing backups.  A severe enough backup can create sewage backup into your home.  It can also cause it to overflow into streets, rivers, and streams.

Garbage disposals do not keep grease from gelling and sticking to pipes sides.  Product that claim to dislodge grease from lines, only push it further into the system, causing problems elsewhere.  Most of those chemical products are not biodegradable and can cause reactions and ecological problems too.

Recently the Portland Bureau of Environmental Services of Portland, Oregon has released a statement that people everywhere should stop pouring grease down their drains.  They recommend freezing it and then putting in the trash.  Its a great idea, if you have containers to do so with.  At always-free-shipping.com we have the fat trapper and bag refills.  The trapper is made of heat resistant acrylic, and the bags are foil lined.  When the bag is full, you can simply throw it out.  You could store them in the freezer too, to avoid making your kitchen smell like grease. It is an excellent way to help the environment, you community, yourself, and your city.

As always, Art.

Finding and Saving Everything

There are quite a few products out there that work better than others.  It’s a simple fact, really, one that mimics certain grocery store products.  The name brands often do taste better than the cheaper “knock-offs”.  You have to balance (on some products, I won’t say this for all) price for quality.  Sometimes this is passable because it is cheaper.  But in there lies the ultimate problem.   Do you sacrifice product quality for cash in your wallet?  It comes down to a personal decision usually. You could have “Fruit Loops” or “Frosted Fruity O’s”.  But what if you could have both quality and price?  Sounds fake doesn’t it? Or, maybe it sounds like a bad television commercial, but this time its true.

Name brand products often come at a hefty price.  Yes, the pun was intended.  Hefty bags here don’t come at that hefty price.  It can be difficult to find a lot of products that are out there, and more often than not, large superstores carry versions of their own brand to save their own money.  The question is, and always will be, are you sacrificing quality by purchasing those knock-offs.  Beyond that, there is hardly a store like that, that isn’t packed with people, long lines, and busy parking lots.  They might have a name brand or two, but not all of them.

At always-free-shipping.com there are no substitutes.  We’ve cut out the middle man and have been able to get you name brand products and more than fair prices.  We have silver care products from Qwiksilver and Hagerty.  Hefty Bags, Ever-fresh bags, and other storage and kitchen savers come at discount prices.  As always, the name says it all…FREE SHIPPING!  What you save here you would easily spend on gas to get to the store to buy sub-par brands at equal or higher prices.   It just makes lots of sense, and cents, for you and your bank account.

As we bring in February of 2008, always-free-shipping.com would really like to hear from you.  Comment on our blogs or send Janet, our President, an email at customercare@always-free-shipping.com.  It would be great to hear some stories from our VIP Customers or just tell us how you’re doing.  If we get a good story, we’ll post and publish it right here in our blog for you.  Have a great day!

As always, Art.

The ever popular Ever-fresh bags.

A Spare (and I am not talking bowling)

I have two sets of washers and dryers in my basement. My brother got them for me for free. He must not be too confident of how long of a life they have left, since he wanted me to have backups. I also use my basement as an exercise room, so I try to make it as pleasant as possible. For this reason, I ordered the Washer and Dryer covers from Always-Free-Shipping. Now I have an extra work area and the extra washer and dryer aren’t just wasting space. These covers fit most makes and models. They are a unique product that I really have not seen anywhere else. They certainly get two thumbs up from me.

Until next time… Ann

“Normal is nothing more than a cycle on a washing machine” -Whoopi Goldberg

Only You Can Prevent Dryer Fire

Bad news spreads fast…  This past weekend I heard about my long lost friend Joan,  who’s house practically burnt down after New Years… the culprit, it turns out, was her dryer. Why does it always take some tragedy to wake me up… I figured it was time to examine my own dryer.  I did my homework – checked out UL Laboritories & other sites that feature safety tips for preventing these fires.

 Truth be told, my dryer is fairly old, and it has been living in tight quarters for about 20 years.  Last night I used my Dryer Lint Brush to clean out the lint way under the basket… Have to admit, I hadn’t done that since spring. It was amazing ot see how much lint there was – scary! There was so much lint, that this weekend I’m going to try the Lint Vac Attachment, and do a thorough job of cleaning out about 20 years of lint build-up, since it reaches even further into the depth of the dryer.

Who ya gonna call?

Anyone remember that catchy song from the 1980s classic movie “Ghostbusters?” I recently came across an authentic iron on transfer from the film and made it into a tshirt for a coworker. There are a lot of faux vintage tshirts out there, but this is the real deal.

As I have mentioned in blogs before, ironing is not my thing. For this shirt, I had to iron on 24 year old transfers. I did not realize until after I finished that you are not supposed to use the steam setting. It took forever to iron on the transfers and I almost ruined one. I wish I had used this Dry Iron to iron on the transfers. According to the description, this iron works better than a steam iron when pressing starched clothing, plush garments and fragile fabrics. Plus, it’s recommended for applying iron-on decals and appliqués. I plan to make more retro shirts so I will have to get this to have on hand.
But my friend liked the shirt, so I guess that is all that matters.

Until next time… Ann

You can’t get spoiled if you do your own ironing.
-Meryl Streep

More amazing deals

There are many websites that offer excellent deals, specials, and offers.  But as I search and surf around the web I find that most of these sites do so very sporadically, or say they do even if they don’t.  It’s hard to find sites that consistently offer amazing sales.  Besides sales, here’s a site that also offers free shipping, on everything.

I’m sure that other sites offer similar great deals by increasing the shipping costs (or handling fees as some nameless sites like to call it) calling their sales unbelievable, slashing prices down in ads that show product prices cut in half.  But when you go to check out, you watch as the shipping fees far outweigh the savings that you though you were making.  That’s not a sale or deal, that’s clever advertising.  Clever ads do not mean savings in your wallet, though.
If you search some of these key words in the engine of your choice, you will find an unreal amount of websites.  Take the word “sale” for example.  Type that in the Google search engine and you will come back with 1.7 billion websites.  1.7 billion.  And how many of those websites that promote a sale will actually save you any money.  Even if half of them  really do save you money, you just erased 855,000,000.  It would take you around 10,000 days to look through the 855 million websites that would save you money. And thats only if you looked non stop, day and night, averaging 1 website every 60 seconds for those 10,000 days.  10,000 days is quite awhile (a little over 27 years for you english majors) and I don’t know about you, but I don’t have that kind of time, or energy.

What I do know is, always-free-shipping.com has a “clearance outlet” section on their site.  Prices are slashed in half, or even more in some cases, in this section and others.  Here, you know you will never make up the extra costs with high shipping and handling prices.  The trick to finding great sales and products on the internet is to find a site that has it all, including great prices.  Always-free-shipping.com is that site.   You never have to pay shipping and that always mean savings.

As always, Art.

Cooking and cookware

I have always heard that you should never cook with aluminum foil.  People have told me that the aluminum will leach into your food and cause health concerns.  There have been numerous reports that have detailed what aluminum can cause in your body, including kidney problems, Alzheimer’s disease, and other senility syndromes.  Although reports have been mostly inconclusive, the threat is still there.  I have always lived by the saying, “better safe than sorry”.  So I try not to use aluminum foil while cooking.  That’s why I have the Stove Simmer Mat.  It helps to heat pans evenly so I can basically cook anything on top of the stove, and have it covered properly, without having to use foil in the oven.  Many quick recipes call for wrapping the food in foil, or covering a casserole pan with it, and putting it in the oven.   Much like this salmon recipe I found in a blog.  But I never would cook anything like that because of my aluminum poisoning fear.

I used the Stove Simmer Mat last night, actually, to make my own salmon dish.  I chopped red onions and garlic, and simmered them in a tablespoon of olive oil, then added a 1/4 cup of white wine, and 1 1/2 cups of  chicken stock.  I then put in sliced zucchini (cut lengthwise) chopped kalamata olives, and tomatoes.  I let that simmer for about 5 minutes before I added two 4 oz salmon fillets, covered and let sit for about 8 minutes.  It was fantastic.  No aluminum needed.

But I did some more research on aluminum to find out that the trace amounts you get from cooking with aluminum are about equal to the amount of aluminum found in vegetables, naturally.  Aluminum is one of these most abundant elements on earth, and it is found a lot in soil.  The amount found in vegetable grown naturally is very small to that found in food additives, antiperspirants, and antacids.  In an average person, most aluminum is taken from the body naturally, so I don’t think that cooking with it would add enough to make you sick in the long run.  Besides, there are bigger fish to fry.

As always, Art.

Here’s a bit more on aluminum, if you are interested.

Rachel, Martha & Cooking Creativity

Over Christmas and New Year’s I had the opportunity to catch some daytime TV shows. I will say, you are not missing much if you aren’t home to view this stuff. There are the “Judge Judy” type small claims court type shows, talk shows, cooking shows and of course, the soaps. I am always intrigued by the homemaking/cooking shows like Rachel Ray and Martha Stewart. Rachel is very chirpy- I admire her ideas and energy. And Martha is just an icon.

The part that frustrates me about these shows is that they make it look so easy. All the ingredients are in premeasured cute little bowls, the finished product comes out of the oven picture perfect and we never see the clean up. Sure, if I had a staff chopping, cooking and cleaning, I could be a domestic goddess too! I mean, you never see the interior of that oven that produced a culinary masterpiece. I bet it looks like the mess you see here on our Oven Liners. And their pans are always sparkling clean and scratch free, unlike the ones I have to save using Cookware Repair Spray. Nevertheless, there are some good tips, recipes and ideas presented on these shows. I don’t think I could watch them every day, but once in awhile, it’s an entertaining diversion.

Until next time… Ann

“Cookery is not chemistry. It is an art. It requires instinct and taste rather than exact measurements.” – Marcel Boulestin, French chef, cookbook author and restauranteur

Buzz About Infrared Cooking

Lately I have noticed that there have been commercials, articles, advertisements, and a whole lot of talk in general, about Nu-wave infrared ovens.  I have heard that these ovens are amazing, that they cook food like no other oven out there.  They are better than microwaves, more efficient than convection, and use less energy than your everyday gas and electric ovens.  People say food tastes better, juicier, fresher, and that it cooks off more unnecessary fats, proving the oven to be a healthy as well.  With all this information the Nu-wave infrared oven was starting to sound TOO good.

I am a born skeptic.  I have always had a hard time trusting what someone else says is “good”, “great”, or “beneficial” in any way, shape, or form.  I have always had to research an item thoroughly and then use it for myself to decide if the product or method is as good as people say it is.

But everything they say about this Nu-wave oven is true.  It is an absolutely fantastic product that should be recommended to anybody that uses their kitchen.  It’s great for anybody in the range of college student to busy mom. I talked my grandparents into buying one, and they love it.  In fact,  I’m not sure how I got along without it before.

Infrared light works differently than microwaves or traditional heating methods.  Infrared light cause molecules to vibrate when it comes in contact with them, making them heat, naturally.  This causes food to heat evenly.  Because the infrared light works directly with the molecules in its path, there is no energy loss.  This causes the food to heat faster and maintain its moisture and flavor levels.  It’s truly amazing.

Don’t just take my word for it either.  Click here to view a forum from dealaday.com where people talk about their infrared ovens.  Post a comment here if you have used one, and/or post one here too.  We want to know what you think.

As always, Art.

Strive For Five

So, are you getting in your fruits and veggies this New Year? It can be a challenge, especially when the produce during Winter looks less than spectacular. I usually eat a lot of apples, kiwis and oranges around this time. I also buy cut pineapple and bananas. We sell a neat product to hold all this fruit. It’s called the Banana Tree Fruit Bowl. It holds a lot more than just bananas. It makes a colorful centerpiece too. Some facts about bananas (courtesy of the International Banana Association – who knew such a place even existed?)

• America’s #1 fruit? The banana.
• People eat almost 30 pounds of bananas yearly.
• Bananas are a source of vitamin C, potassium and fiber.
• Bananas help athletic and fitness endeavors because they replenish carbs, glycogen and fluids burned during workouts.
• Bananas grow on plants, not on trees

Until next time… Ann

“Watermelon – it’s a good fruit. You eat, you drink, you wash your face.”
- Enrico Caruso