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On occasion of me stepping uncertainly into the wild terrains of adult existence, I thought I'd ask the advice of those who've been there before me and learned its systems of cartography. That is, the internets!
So, please share a few of the tips you've figured out along the way that have made your life just that little bit easier!
They can be simple and well known - maybe it really *is* easier if you install the toilet paper with the leading edge facing out! - or extremely, oddly specific - what *is* the best compass direction to face when writing love letters in a second story hotel room?
Who knows. Maybe they will make someone else's life just that little bit easier as well!
So, please share a few of the tips you've figured out along the way that have made your life just that little bit easier!
They can be simple and well known - maybe it really *is* easier if you install the toilet paper with the leading edge facing out! - or extremely, oddly specific - what *is* the best compass direction to face when writing love letters in a second story hotel room?
Who knows. Maybe they will make someone else's life just that little bit easier as well!
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1: High heels are supposed to follow the curve of your foot, but if you've got "short"-type toes or a longer heel (like me), you'll end up with a gap under your arch. If this happens, there's a couple options. You can throw the offending footwear against the wall after about 20 minutes, insult its parentage in imaginative and unpublishable ways, and vow never to wear heels again. This is perfectly reasonable! Alternatively, you can try insoles. There are various kinds made especially for high heels and, while they won't beat out running shoes at comfort, shoe shopping will seem less like a practical joke at your expense.
2: When, after an unsuccessful cooking adventure, you're left staring in horror at a pot that looks like this (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v427/justiard/badly_burned_pot.jpg), break out the WD-40 (or other penetrating oil/solvent of your preference). Verily, the topologists and hammer salesmen have each told us truth, there is no fundamental difference between a pot and a nail.
3: If you've got asthma, particularly that sort of asthma that even on good days never quite entirely goes away, check out Symbicort. I am serious. It will *change your life*.
4: In the winter and summer you might be able to get away with trusting the weather patterns, but if you find yourself near the south-west coast of British Columbia in the spring or fall, always pack both an umbrella and a pair of sunglasses among your day's accessories. Always. 'Else you are going to be really irritated at 2 pm, when the torrential downpour takes a 40 minute break and the sun multiplies off the glistening streets and your fingers make a really crappy sunvisor. (Or the rain comes out and totally messes up your hair. It is the same solution!)
5: Don't eat DrainO.
I hope my wisdom serves you well. *nods solemnly*
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Total sympathy. I am currently mildly distraught because I've nearly worn out my favourite shoe, but they are no longer made or sold :(
I have very narrow (AAA) feet, so finding anything that remotely fits requires patience
Sadly, I have no ready made advice by which to wow you with my genius. Wait! I know! You could... get really, really rich and buy bespoke, Y? Y?
Y?
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2. Some people are never going to give back. Decide if that's okay with you and act accordingly.
3. When you find a surface that hasn't been cleaned in so long the dust has gone greasy, a little powdered laundry detergent on a rag will do more than eight hours of scrubbing with cleaning solutions.
4. On the subject of laundry detergent, lots of gross stuff will yield to a pre-soak of about an hour in one part laundry detergent to ten parts water in a small bucket.
5. Remember to eat. Food is necessary for your survival.
6. Cheese. White people love cheese.
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Even when we're lactose-intolerant and it's more of a love/hate thing.
*siiiiigh*
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And good health insurance is a really good thing.
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That is shockingly apt. I lost an entire day this week. My brain is still convinced it is Wednesday. D:
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I'm sorry I typoed at you.
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;)
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":-D
2) When, on the other hand, faced with door-to-door religion-mongers, cultists etc, SMILE. Dig up your creepiest, jokerishest grin and apply it generously. In addition, spout lines like "Finally, brothers, there you are! I've had the chicken blood and virgin sacrifice ready for ages!"
3) Try not to drop full rum bottles in your bedroom. It's been two years, but as soon as the window's closed, the smell is back.
4) If you or any other family member wants to bring new pets into the household, consider beforehand whether there exists a predator-prey relationship between them and any of your pre-existing pets. It prevents tragedies.
5) Remember to always watch your baggage at the airport.
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-Never be willfully ignorant nor willfully malicious. In the end, the price you pay for either is too high.
-Jeans can be worn several times between washings. Shirts, socks and underwear should be washed after each wearing.
-Put your t-shirt on a hanger and bring it into the bathroom when you shower. The steam will soften it up enough that tug or two should pull out most (if not all) wrinkles.
-Put lotion or moisturizers on just after the bath and while the room is still steamy. They work far better that way.
-Rinsing your mouth with a weak infusion of sage tea, two or three times per day, will clear up almost any gum problem in astoundingly short order.
-Practice reading aloud. Be mindful of your inflection and rhythm and be sure to do all the voices. It's good practice for public speaking.
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Within the limits of work-required decorum, be yourself. Whatever your interests, don't hide them. Sure, if you like country music and everyone else is an opera fan, they may rib you--but they're not the ones you want to find. You want to find the other country music* fans lurking beneath the surface like Superman hiding behind a pair of glasses.
*Or whatever.
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2. If you are an introvert join "Toastmasters" and learn how to act more like an extrovert. Heck, join "Toastmasters" even if you are an extrovert.
3. Surround yourself with people who are smarter than you
4. But watch out for group-think: Regardless of whether it is in the board room or the construction site, people do stupid things when they let other people do the actual thinking for them.
5. Definitely don't take yourself too seriously. Don't get insulted when others laugh at the goofy thing you just did.
6. Communication is everything. Communicate your problems to others BEFORE they become other people's problems too.
7. Recognize that everyone communicates differently and there will be misunderstandings anyway. Fighting about misunderstandings (who said what and when) will not prevent them from happening the next time, so don't waste your time bothering to do so.
8. Do not get angry while the problem is still not fixed.
9. It is not your employees job to make you look good. Your job is to facilitate their, to clear the way for them to be productive, and to protect them when the personal stakes get too high.
And my most important piece of grown-up advice:
10. Never mistreat your waiter.
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Figure out whether your goal in a given situation is to get your way or to have people admit you were right. Both is usually not going to happen.
If you don't already know, learn how to do public speaking. Quick cheat sheet: 1) PRACTICE. Run through it all first. At least twice. 2) Talk about half as fast as you think you should. Because you're talking about twice as fast as you think you are.
Lack of prior planning promotes piss-poor performance.
People will lie about you. Especially on the internet. That's just the way it is and you don't have to pay it too much mind.
This is one I got out of Orson Scott Card, of all things, but it's actually true. In many situations, there is a certain amount of awkwardness or embarrassment that is going to be experienced. The key is, the person who is going to experience it, that may be fungible: if you refuse to accept it, there is a very good chance it will devolve upon the other person. This is equally true in regards to the excellent advice above about not smiling at people who want to make your life harder, and to being willing to make a huge fuss about getting groped on the subway.
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TenTwelve Commandments (Golden Rules for Living) (http://sneakykitchen.com/Ten_commandments/golden_rules.htm)From:
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Also, UHT milk no longer tastes like the devil's sweat. Always have a carton of it in the house for when you run out of regular milk at 3am and suddenly need it . . .
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2. Don't snuzzle cats after applying chapstick.
3. Pets are never ever cheap. But they make life better.
4. You can never have too many library cards.
5. If out in hot sun for long periods of time, for the love of god, chapstick with sunscreen. Sunburned lips are horrifying.
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P.S. I have some idea of what you go through to find shoes that fit; my feet are size 9-1/2 to 9-1/2W, depending on the shoe style. Shoes stores carry all the half sizes right up to size 9... and then most of them jump straight to 10. Some will carry an extremely limited selection of 9-1/2. So when I find a shoe that fits just right AND looks nice, I usually buy two pairs on the spot.
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Hey, it worked for me.