Bobby Pins… Really?

Posted by random olio

How is it that I am as old as I am and I never, ever knew that there was a right way to use a bobby pin? How is that possible?

I was on Pinterest the other day and happened on a site that had different hair how-to’s that every girl should know. The very first on the list was how to wear a bobby pin. I guess all these years I have been wearing them upside down. Sometimes it is the little things that can have a life changing impact. See, I usually go for a run with my hair back in a ponytail, and then all the stray hairs get held back with a bobby pin on each side. Partway through my run, my bobby pins often slip out and I have to put them back in. Until last week.

Last week, I learned to use a bobby pin in the appropriate way, and now they stay in place. If only I had known years ago, maybe I would not have needed to use so many bobby pins. AND, the bigger question is, why does the longer side up mean that hair will stay in place? It does not make sense to me. So when did you learn to use a bobby pin in the correct way? I imagine there are other things in our lives that we are never taught to do and the Internet has allowed us to learn things from the most mundane to the most profound. Obviously, bobby pins do not leave the profound impact on our life, but it was still an aha moment for me.

Sometimes you just have to turn something over for it to work right.

Scrooge + Piano Guys transform

Posted by random olio

The holidays are really not my thing. Maybe it is a by-product of growing up so quickly. From the age of twelve, holidays only just sort of happened in my family. My parents were divorced, and my mom was sick, so whatever happened, happened.

Due to the fact that most years Thanksgiving and Christmas either barely happened or did not happen at all, I have a bit of a Scrooge mentality about the holidays. Yet. Yes, there is a yet. Every once in a while I will hear a song and it will hit me hard. Tears will pool in my eyes and I will be infected by the music, the emotion, and the moment. So when I found this video by “The Piano Guys” I was impressed, and had to share it with you.

Hopefully for any of you that feel Scrooge come out at any point in the next few weeks, you will come back to this video. I think you will be impressed, it will calm the Scrooge in you, and for those of you that love Christmas, you will just smile and get in the groove.

Is hotel Wi-Fi just air?

Posted by random olio

I was watching Modern Family a few weeks ago, and Ed O’Neill said something to the effect of, “Wi-FI: you are just paying for air.” It really got me thinking. We were recently staying in a hotel, and they charged a $9.95 fee per night for Wi-Fi. Which is actually a fairly normal amount of money for a hotel to charge, but why? You are already paying enough to stay in the hotel, plus taxes, why not offer hotel Internet Wi-Fi for free?

Think about it. You get free shampoo, conditioner, soap, water, heat, electricity. Okay well it is not free, it is part of the rate you pay for the room, but because it does not show as a charge on your bill you think of it as free. I would almost prefer my Internet Wi-Fi just be part of my room rate, rather than have to pay for it on top of my daily rate. Why? Well, unless I have to do work, I do whatever I can on my iPhone because I am cheap and do not want to pay the same amount for my hotel Internet for four nights of use with that I would for pay for a whole month of Internet at home.

Hotels must make shit-tons of money off their guests through daily Internet charges. Yet, should they? Internet should now be seen in the same way as electricity. We do not even think about whether turning on the lights will cost us more for our stay. If we did, would some of us sit in the dark? Why do we think differently about Internet? Or, does it all have to do with money and how much hotels can make off their guests?

What do you think?

Which doors to open…

Posted by random olio

It has been a while since I have written about a book I have read. Two reasons: I have not had the time to read as many books lately, and I have not read as many books that have inspired me. However, over Thanksgiving I read a novel that I could not put down. It is called: “The Time Between” by Karen White. I am not even sure where to start in explaining this complex storyline.

It is about two sisters (Eve and Eleanor), their stories of loss, anger, longing, and forgiveness. One is in a wheelchair, and the other does everything she can to take care of her sister. She works long hours in an investment banking firm, plays the piano at night to bring in more money. The other sister sews gowns in her wheelchair. Such pieces she herself would have worn in past beauty pageants. Music is weaved throughout the story, second chances, and the beauty of an island. Of course there is so, so, so much more to the story, but I do not want to ruin it for you. There is one line near the end of the book that I had to share with you:

“There is how we were before, and how we are now, and the time between is spent choosing which doors to open, and which to close.” page 319

I thought this was the perfect morsel of insight from the book. White discusses this in different ways throughout the book. She is right. So often we are stuck in how we were before, that we cannot be okay with where we are now. As White alludes to throughout the book, there are many doors to which we can open or close and the choice is 99% ours to make. Do we forgive someone and move on, or do we stay stuck in what they have done to us? Can we get over the one that did not choose to love us, so that we can be present and ready for the one that we will love so deeply? Such good ideas for really anyone. Even with the sisterhood theme, it did not feel like chick lit to me. Just a great novel, and really I can see it made into a movie.

Open a new door. Take a few hours to read “The Time Between.” It is worth it.

Vancouver parking meter = Brilliance!

Posted by random olio

Vancouver has inspired me. The first one hit not even thirty minutes after we set foot on Canadian soil. We were starving, and so stopped off for some brunch before embarking on our list of adventures. We parallel park the car (well Chris does) and get out to pay the meter before looking at each other and realizing we do not have any Canadian change. Crap, what are we going to do? I say maybe we can ask the restaurant to give us some change and they can then charge it to our bill. We stand there for a bit and wonder if that is going to work.

Then we realize that the meter says pay by phone. Huh. How does that work? I have to pee though, so I leave Chris to get us a table and relieve myself of hours of sips of sparkling water. I find us a table, and wait for Chris to join me. When he comes in to meet me he states that all you have to do is create an account over the phone, give them your credit card and the number of the meter, and enter the amount of time you want to charge to your card.

Brilliant. Really, why do more cities not handle parking in this way? We find out later that once you have set up your account, then subsequent times you park, you just call the number and enter the meter number. It will recognize you by your phone number. I think of how many times I have stood in the pouring rain in Portland and would have gladly gone to the meter taken note of the meter number and then found my way to a dry spot to feed my meter.

The plot thickens and only gets better.

Yes. After ingesting eggs and coffee, Chris received a text message alerting him that his meter was about to expire and he could call or go to their website to add more time to his meter. That is service! To know that I would not have to go back to my car to put more time on the meter. I could stay at the salon, show, store, wherever I was and pull out my phone to pay for more time. I wonder what I have to do to get Portland on board with this clever way to pay for parking.