She really hates moles: Nobody battles moles like Helen Crozier of Snohomish. At least, that’s what the people at Sweeney’s, a maker of mole, vole and golpher “solutions,” think.
They awarded Crozier the grand prize in their “I Hate Moles Because …” contest.
Entrants had to submit a 500-word essay extolling their mole and vole woes. Crozier’s winning entry was a poem about her husband’s epic battle with moles. She won a $500 Lowe’s gift certificate for her verse.
You can read the full poem at Debra Smith’s blog online at www.heraldnet.com.
Cleaning by the book: The editors of “Real Simple Cleaning” ($21.95), leave us no excuse not to stay spring clean during any season of the year. Did you know ketchup can shine faucets?
Writer Kathleen Squires and photographer Monica Buck do, and they’ve produced a crisply organized text following the pristine design of parent Real Simple magazine.
Short of time? Follow the 10-minute-clean routine in the laundry room while the spin cycle runs out.
For recaulking bathroom tile, you’ll put on rain boots, fill the tub with water and stand in it. Don’t worry, the book takes you step-by-step through the rest of the drill.
As for all those tools piled high in hardware stores, Squires says, “there’s a gizmo on the shelf for nearly every cleaning problem, most promising to work miracles while you lift nary a finger.”
But what really works and which do you really need?
Squires lists just 20 components, not forgetting a vacuum and baking soda, for a cleaning kit that will clean your entire place; she lays out cleaning plans for every room in the house, and advises on removing stains and organizing closets.
Lights, camera, action: The SeeSnake micro inspection camera is a hand-held tool that lets you easily make visual inspections in hard-to-reach or dark areas. Its high-resolution camera sits at the tip of a flexible 3-foot cable and relays images back to a 2.4-inch color screen attached on a pistol-grip handle.
It comes with three attachments: a hook tip that lets users pick up or pull small objects, a magnetic tip that can pick up metal objects and a mirror tip that lets users look around corners.
It weighs a little more than 1 pound and costs about $239.
For more information, see www.ridgid.com/seesnakemicro.
From Herald staff and news services
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