Caught in mid-bray:
September 5, 2007
Great Tips!
A new feature, probably unwanted; the best of my email forwards.
Don't worry, there won't be a lot of 'em.
I did say "the best".
GREAT TIPS:
1. Reheat Pizza Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove , set heat to med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza. I saw this on the cooking channel and it really works.
2. Easy Deviled Eggs Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal , mash till they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients , reseal , keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly , cut the tip of the baggy , squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.
3. Expanding Frosting When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store , whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar and calories per serving.
4. Reheating refrigerated bread To warm biscuits , pancakes , or muffins that were refrigerated , place them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.
5. Newspaper weeds away Start putting in your plants, work the nutrients in your soil. Wet newspapers put layers around the plants overlapping as you go cover with mulch and forget about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic they will not get through wet newspapers.
6. Broken Glass Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can't see easily.
7. No More Mosquitoes Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.
8. Squirrel Away! To keep squirrels from eating your plants sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn't hurt the plant and the squirrels won't come near it.
9. Flexible vacuum To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.
10. Reducing Static Cling Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and -- ta da! -- static is gone.
11. Measuring Cups Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.
12. Foggy Windshield? Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car. When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!
13. Reopening envelope If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside, just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Viola! It unseals easily.
14. Conditioner Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It's a lot cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It's also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn't like when you tried it in your hair...
15. Goodbye Fruit Flies To get rid of pesky fruit flies , take a small glass fill it 1/2' with Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid , mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever!
16. Get Rid of Ants Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it 'home', can't digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works & you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!
17. INFO ABOUT CLOTHES DRYERS The heating unit went out on my dryer! The gentleman that fixes things around the house for us told us that he wanted to show us something and he went over to the dryer and pulled out the lint filter. It was clean. (I always clean the lint from the filter after every load clothes.) He told us that he wanted to show us something; he took the filter over to the sink, ran hot water over it. The lint filter is made of a mesh material - I'm sure you know what your dryer's lint filter looks like.
WELL... the hot water just sat on top of the mesh! It didn't go through it at all! He told us that dryer sheets cause a film over that mesh that's what burns out the heating unit. You can't SEE the film , but it's there. It's what is in the dryer sheets to make your clothes soft and static free - that nice fragrance too, you know how they can feel waxy when you take them out of the box, well this stuff builds up on your clothes and on your lint screen. This is also what causes dryer units to catch fire & potentially burn your house down with it!
He said the best way to keep your dryer working for a very long time (& to keep your electric bill lower) is to take that filter out & wash it with hot soapy water & an old toothbrush(or other brush) at least every six months. He said that makes the life of the dryer at least twice as long! How about that!?! Learn something new everyday! I certainly didn't know dryer sheets would do that. So , I thought I'd share!
Note: I went to my dryer & tested my screen by running water on it. The water ran through a little bit but mostly collected all the water in the mesh screen. I washed it with warm soapy water & a nylon brush & I had it done in 30 seconds. Then when I rinsed it the water ran right Thru the screen! There wasn't any puddling at all! That repairman knew what he was talking about!
September 4, 2007
I'm Milking These Goats
Uh, milking these goat photos, should say, for all they're worth, anyway.
Here's another shot, very similar to another one of the same goat.
But, I HAVE milked a goat. We had goats when I was growing up; oh, not a lot of 'em, but my dad (as he was prone to do) did some trading for a few of them. I think he had some sort of vision of being a goat rancher, or maybe he was just drunk as a skunk when he traded for them. We did have a nanny and I milked her for my dad's now-and-then glass of raw goat milk. Gag. My show pig and the cats and dogs we always had got the most of it until the nanny had a kid.
I remember it well; I had just turned 16, got my driver's license and a beat up '62 Pontiac Tempest (similar to a Corvair) for fifty bucks. Me 'n Dad had worked on that thing for quite a while, overhauling the tranny and fixin' some cancer spots on it and painting it back to the surprisingly lovely original maroon color. All-in-all, it was a pretty good job, considerin' it had all been done in the garage.
Then we got the goats.
Goats, as you may or may not know, are climbers, and they shunned all of our other vehicles in order to perch on top of my new/used car. Of course, the paint job went to hell under their cloven hoofs, and no matter what I did to them -- siccin' the dog on 'em, runnin' out and yellin' at them or even pepperin' 'em with my trusty childhood Daisy BB gun did the trick and kept them off the top of my precious little car.
The little female goats were pretty sweet, other than the fact that they enjoyed using my Pontiac as a substitute for a rocky craig. The billy, though...he was a piece of work. I do not know why male goats do this, but he was like all the others I've seen or heard about, and liked to pee on his whiskers and consequently stunk to high heaven. It's supposed to be an attraction to female goats, but I'm not for sure that it'd work on human girls.
I got the pressure to reach MY chin, but I can't grow a beard anyway, so.....
That goat sure tasted good though, later that summer, barbequed for several hours over hot coals in a pit I gladly helped dig in an empty spot out in the garden. This came about when, after Dad had bought a nice, but used Chrysler, the goats found it to be a better vantage point than my car. The female goats escaped the billy's fate, being traded to some Mexican for an old Dodge pickup. Come to think of it, they probably wound up in tamales anyway.
Bet they were good.
(this is basically the text of an email I sent to my friend Barb after she sent me some photos of her own new goats. I had to clean it up to post it here.)
Unlucky in Love
Lucky in litigation. Seems as though I'm eligible for a 35 dollar settlement because I viewed some porn spammers who sneaked in some ads when I had an ad on Yahoo Personals.
Actually, they were more interesting than the "real" ads.
From an email I just received:
ROBERT ANTHONY v. YAHOO! INC.,
Case No.: C05 04175 RMW
(USDC, NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA SAN JOSE DIVISION)
THIS NOTICE MAY AFFECT YOUR RIGHTS
PLEASE READ ALL OF IT CAREFULLY
ATTENTION:
ALL PERSONS IN THE UNITED STATES WHO WERE PAID SUBSCRIBERSTO YAHOO! PERSONALS BETWEEN OCTOBER 1, 2004 AND AUGUST 3, 2007
Dear Yahoo!, Inc. Customer,
This notice (the "Notice") informs you of a proposed settlement of class action claims against Yahoo!, Inc. For the sake of brevity and clarity, Yahoo!, Inc. will be referred to for the remainder of this Notice simply as Yahoo! This Notice describes the proposed settlement and informs you of your potential rights as a settlement Class Member. You are being sent this Notice because you have been identified as a Yahoo! customer who paid to subscribe to Yahoo! Personals between October 1, 2004 and August 3, 2007. Yahoo! has agreed, under the terms of the Settlement, to provide you with the opportunity to submit a valid and timely Claim Form through which you may be eligible to receive monetary compensation as discussed below in Section 5.A.2.
READ THIS FIRST
1. WHY SHOULD I READ THIS? This Notice, given pursuant to an Order of the Court dated August 3, 2007, describes a proposed settlement of a class action against Yahoo!, and you have been identified as a potential Class Member.
2. WHY DID I RECEIVE THIS NOTICE? You received this Notice because a search of Yahoo!'s computer records indicates that you were a subscriber of Yahoo! Personals at some point between October 1, 2004 and August 3, 2007. This Notice provides a summary of the terms of the proposed settlement. It also explains the lawsuit, your potential legal rights under the Settlement, what benefits may be available to you under the Settlement, and how to get them.
3. WHAT IS A CLASS ACTION? In a class action, one or more individuals or businesses, called Class Representatives (in this case, Robert Anthony) sue on behalf of others that have similar claims. All of these other individuals are members of the "class". One court resolves the issues for all Class Members, except for those who exclude themselves from the Class. United States District Court Judge Ronald M. Whyte is in charge of this class action.
4. WHAT ARE THE CRITICAL DATES?
Event
Date
The last date that your Claim Form must be postmarked if you wish to be eligible to possibly receive a payment under the terms of the Settlement.
December 15, 2007
The last date to submit your written request to be excluded from the Settlement if you are not willing to be bound by it and do not want to be eligible to receive a payment.
October 15, 2007
The last date to submit any written objection to the Settlement.
October 15, 2007
The hearing on any objections and to give final approval to the Settlement.
November 15, 2007
5. WHAT IS THIS CASE ABOUT?
On October 12, 2005, Robert Anthony ("Plaintiff") filed suit against Yahoo!, Inc. ("Yahoo!") in the United States District Court, Northern District of California. Plaintiff alleged various claims against Yahoo! (specifically, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, Florida statute §501.204 et seq.,fraud, and negligent misrepresentation), by virtue of his allegation that profiles posted for purposes other than dating appeared on the Yahoo! Personals website.
Plaintiff brought suit on his own behalf and on behalf of all Yahoo! Personals paid subscribers in the United States since October 1, 2004. Plaintiff sought recovery of damages, various forms of equitable relief and attorneys' fees and costs. Yahoo! has denied, and continues to deny any and all claims and allegations of wrongdoing asserted in the case and has substantial factual and legal defenses to all claims alleged in the case. Yahoo! has maintained and continues to maintain that it has acted in accordance with governing law. Nonetheless, the parties have concluded that further participation in the case would be protracted and expensive, and that it is desirable that the case be fully and finally settled in the manner and upon the terms set forth in this Notice and in the Parties' Settlement Agreement.
A. The Proposed Settlement Since filing the Action, Plaintiff, through Class Counsel, has conducted an investigation of the facts and has analyzed the relevant legal and factual issues. Class Counsel obtained substantial information about the nature and extent of Yahoo!'s challenged practices through this process.
Although Yahoo! does not believe it has done anything wrong and continues to deny all claims and allegations of wrongdoing asserted in the case, Plaintiff and Yahoo! agreed to enter into a Settlement Agreement after an extensive exchange of information and vigorous arms-length negotiation. If approved by the Court, the Settlement Agreement will result in dismissal of this case and final resolution of all claims raised. Such dismissal will release Yahoo! from future liability for the acts and practices complained of. The settlement terms are described in full in a document known as the Settlement Agreement (hereinafter "Agreement")1 . The Agreement is available for your inspection at the clerk's office of the United States District Court, Northern District of California. The terms of the Settlement, in summary form, are as follows:
1. To the extent that they are not already in place, no later than 30 days after Final Approval of the Settlement, Yahoo! will take the following actions, which shall remain in force and effect for a period of two (2) years from the date of Final Approval of this Settlement by the Court:
(a)
Yahoo! will maintain the "Report a Complaint" link on the profile detail pages appearing on the Yahoo! Personals website.
(b)
Profiles that have been inactive for a period of 120 days shall be rendered unsearchable by Yahoo! and Yahoo! shall include this notification in its Additional Terms of Service relating to Yahoo! Personals.
(c)
When a user of Yahoo! Personals cancels his or her subscription, a screen will be presented to the user giving the user the option to delete the profile, render the profile unsearchable or keep the profile active. If the user makes no selection, the profile will automatically be deactivated.
(d)
Yahoo! will maintain mechanisms in place to detect duplicative photographs, abusive language and the revelation of improper personal information.
(e)
Yahoo! will update its Additional Terms of Service relating to Yahoo! Personals to inform its users that that they may see profiles or other content which they feel were created by third parties, contrary to obligations in the applicable terms of services, guidelines and code of conduct, for purposes other than dating, including spam and commercial profiles.
(f)
Yahoo! will modify its Additional Terms of Service relating to Yahoo! Personals to include disclosures regarding searchable Yahoo!-created test profiles, if any, that may be used when necessary to ensure service quality. The modifications will disclose how searchable test profiles, if any, are designated so that they are readily identifiable to users.
(g)
Yahoo! may make additional changes to its site content, site functionality and Terms of Service in its sole discretion that do not substantially lessen the effectiveness of the changes listed above within the two-year period that this provision remains in effect.
2. Under the Settlement, an eligible Class Member who was a paid subscriber to Yahoo! Personals between October 1, 2004 and August 3, 2007, and who viewed a profile during his or her subscription period that he or she believes was posted for purposes other than dating, is eligible to receive a one-time payment of up to $35.00. If you are an eligible Class Member and wish to receive this benefit, you must timely submit a Claim Form to the Claims Administrator as described above.
B. Attorneys' Fees and Class Representative Compensation Counsel for the Settlement Class have pursued the Action on a contingent basis and have paid all costs of the Action. These attorneys have not yet been paid or recovered any of their expenses associated with the Action. As part of the Settlement, Class Counsel will request that the Court award them attorneys' fees and expenses. They intend to request $1,000,000 in attorneys' fees plus reasonable costs. Class Counsel's petition for fees and expenses will be filed with the Court no later than October 5, 2007, and may be reviewed by any interested party. The Court will determine a reasonable fee and expense award at the Fairness Hearing based on Settlement Class Counsel's Fee and Expense Application and responses thereto. Class Counsel will also ask the Court to approve a $20,000 Incentive Award to the Class Representative Plaintiff in this case (Robert Anthony). Any money the Court awards Settlement Class Counsel and the Plaintiff will be paid out of a settlement fund created by Yahoo!
6. DO I HAVE TO DO ANYTHING? If you are an eligible Class Member and you wish to receive a one-time payment of up to $35.00 under this Settlement, you need to complete and submit a certified and authenticated Claim Form in a timely manner. This form is necessary to ensure that Yahoo! and Settlement Class Members' privacy rights are protected and to ensure that only eligible Class Members receive a monetary benefit. The Claim Form is available at the Settlement website at http://www.anthonysettlement.com/.
The fully completed, certified and authenticated Claim Form must be submitted via U.S. Mail to the Claims Administrator at Anthony, et al. v. Yahoo!, Inc. Settlement, c/o The Garden City Group, Inc., P.O. Box 9148, Dublin, OH 43017-4148. The deadline for submission of the Claim Form is December 15, 2007. Accordingly, to be valid, Claim Forms must be postmarked not later than December 15, 2007 and addressed to the Claims Administrator at Anthony, et al. v. Yahoo!, Inc. Settlement, c/o The Garden City Group, Inc., P.O. Box 9148, Dublin, OH 43017-4148. You may attend the court hearing described below if you wish, but your attendance or non-attendance will not affect your eligibility to submit the Claim Form. You do not need to appear in court, and you do not need to hire an attorney in this case. You may object to the proposed settlement if you so desire.
7. WHAT AM I GIVING UP IF I PARTICIPATE IN THE SETTLEMENT? The Settlement provides that once the Court enters an order finding the proposed settlement fair, adequate, and reasonable and all appeals have been resolved or all appeals periods have expired, those Class Members who have not timely requested exclusion from this Action shall be deemed to have and by operation of the Final Judgment shall have fully, finally and forever released, relinquished, and discharged all Released Claims as set forth below.
Specifically, the Settlement is intended to settle any and all known and unknown claims from October 1, 2004 through August 3, 2007 against Yahoo! that Class Members have asserted or could have asserted based upon or in any way relating to, referring to, or arising out of profiles appearing on Yahoo! Personals that were posted for purposes other than dating (the "Released Claims").
The release will extend to Yahoo! and its past or present directors, officers, employees, partners, principals, agents, predecessors, successors, assigns, parents, affiliated and sister corporations, subsidiaries, licensees, divisions, and related or affiliated entities.
If the Settlement is approved by the Court and not otherwise terminated, the Court will dismiss the Action with prejudice, and bar and permanently enjoin the named Plaintiff and each Class Member from prosecuting the Released Claims. As a result, once the judgment of the Court in accordance with this Settlement has become final, each of the Class Members and their legal successors-in-interest shall be deemed to have forever given up any Released Claims against Yahoo! and the other Released Parties. If you were a paid subscriber of Yahoo! Personals between October 1, 2004 and August 3, 2007, and do not elect to exclude yourself from the Class, you will be deemed to have entered into this release and to have released the above-described claims. If the Settlement is not approved by the Court or does not become final for some other reason, the litigation will continue.
8. WHY ARE CLASS COUNSEL RECOMMENDING THIS SETTLEMENT? Relative to the risks and costs of continuing the litigation, Class Counsel believe this Settlement provides a favorable recovery which is in the best interest of the Class. Class Counsel's collective evaluation in this regard is based on the extensive investigation and discovery they have undertaken, and upon their experience prosecuting similar cases. Absent settlement, Plaintiff would have to secure class certification on the claims set forth in the Action over the opposition of Yahoo! Additionally, at trial, Plaintiff would have the burden of proof to establish liability and the amount of damages. The case involves many unresolved factual and legal issues, some of which could be decided against Plaintiff at or before trial, and which would jeopardize Plaintiff's ability to certify a class or to obtain a favorable judgment and preserve it on appeal. In addition, settling the case now has the further advantage of avoiding the very substantial additional costs and delay that further litigation would involve. Given Yahoo!'s defenses to this case and both parties' right to appeal under appropriate circumstances, absent settlement, it could be years before the litigation ends and Class Members receive benefits, if any are ultimately awarded. Given the costs involved in further litigation and the time-value of money, even if a favorable judgment were obtained at trial, it could well produce less net recovery to the Class Members than the present settlement.
9. WHAT IF I DO NOT WISH TO PARTICIPATE IN THE SETTLEMENT? A. Your Right to Exclude Yourself from the Settlement If you are a Class Member, you may elect to exclude yourself from the Settlement Class. If you wish to be excluded from the Settlement Class, you must send a completed Request for Exclusion Form to the Claims Administrator via U.S. Mail at Anthony, et al. v. Yahoo!, Inc., c/o The Garden City Group, Inc., P.O. Box 9148, Dublin, OH 43017-4148 in a timely manner. The Request for Exclusion Form must be postmarked on or before October 15, 2007 to be effective. The Exclusion Form is available at the Settlement website at http://www.anthonysettlement.com/. Exclusions can only be filed individually—not on behalf of a group or class. If you exclude yourself from the Class and the proposed settlement with Yahoo! is finally approved, you will not be entitled to receive any benefits of the Settlement and will remain free to pursue any legal rights you may have against Yahoo! at your own expense, but the representative Plaintiff and their lawyers will not represent you as to any claims against Yahoo!
B. Your Right to Appear and Object to the Proposed Settlement Any Class Member may appear at the Final Approval Hearing (also known as the "Fairness Hearing") in person or by a duly appointed authorized attorney and show cause, if any, why the Settlement should not be approved; provided that (except by special permission of the Court) no Class Member shall be heard unless, on or before, October 15, 2007, the Class Member files with the Court a written "Notice of Intent to Appear" to the clerk's address set out below, setting forth all of the Class Member's objections to the Settlement, and mails copies of all such papers to Plaintiff's and Yahoo!'s counsel at the addresses specified below. Any objection must contain: (a) a heading which refers to the Action; (b) the objector's name, address, and telephone number; (c) a statement whether the objector intends to appear at the Final Approval Hearing, either in person or through counsel, and, if through counsel, identifying counsel by name, address, and phone number; (d) a statement of the grounds supporting the claim; (e) a list of all persons who will be called to testify in support of the objection; (f) a list of other cases in which you or your counsel have appeared either as settlement objectors or as counsel for objectors during the preceding five (5) years; (g) copies of any papers, briefs, or other documents upon which the objection is based; and (h) your signature, even if you are also represented by counsel. The objection served upon Yahoo! must also include the objector's Yahoo! ID.2
Office of the Clerk
Plaintiff's Counsel
Yahoo's Counsel
United States District Court
Northern District of California
San Jose DivisionClerk's Office
280 South 1st Street
San Jose, CA 95113
Peter J. McNulty
McNulty Law Firm
827 Moraga Drive
Bel Air, California 90049
AND
Randy Rosenblum
Freidin & Dobrinsky, P.A.
One Biscayne Boulevard, Suite 3100
Miami, Florida 33131
Donald P. Rubenstein
Kirsten J. Daru
Reed Smith LLP
Two Embarcadero Center Suite 2000
San Francisco, CA 94111
C. The Final Approval Hearing The Court will conduct a hearing (the "Final Approval Hearing") at the United States District Court, Northern District of California, in the courtroom of the Honorable Ronald M. Whyte on November 15, 2007 at 9:00 a.m. (or at the dates and times to which the Court may, without further notice, reschedule the hearing). The purpose of the Final Approval Hearing will be to determine whether the proposed settlement is fair, adequate, and proper; and whether the Court should enter judgment approving the Settlement, awarding attorneys' fees and expenses, and dismissing the class action. You have the right, but are not required to attend. Attendance or non-attendance will not affect any benefit to which you may be entitled under the Settlement.
10. HOW DO I GET MORE INFORMATION?
A. Availability of the Pleadings, the Agreement, and Other Papers in this Action The Agreement, with its exhibits and all other papers filed with the Court relating to this action, are available for inspection in the offices of the clerk of the Court identified above.
B. Additional Information Regarding The Terms Of This Settlement Additional information may be obtained at the Settlement website at
http://www.anthonysettlement.com/.
You may also contact Class Counsel, whose contact information is also available at
http://www.anthonysettlement.com/.
PLEASE DO NOT TELEPHONE THE COURT OR THE CLERK OF THE COURT.
Please do not reply to this message. We are unable to respond to inquiries sent in reply to this email. To contact us, please access the official settlement website at
http://www.anthonysettlement.com/.
1 The capitalized terms as used in this Notice have the same meaning as the terms set forth in the Agreement.
2 Your Yahoo! ID is the first portion of your Yahoo! email address. For instance, if your Yahoo! email address is johnsmith@yahoo.com, then your Yahoo! ID is "johnsmith".
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