See if you can guess the correct definition! 10.03.11.1.Take it From Me – Weltschmerz

Read it all here.

A listener tells Chris how to prepare cauliflower in a way she’ll actually like!  We’re going to try it out and let you know how it goes!  9.19.11.1.Listener’s Cauliflower Recipe

With thanks to our sister station WRVR in Memphis: 9.09.11.1.Tribute for 10 Year Anniversary of September 11

How can you find out where your homes is most energy inefficient?

Do you tremble when you open your monthly utility bills? If so, it’s probably time for an assessment of your home’s energy efficiency to help you to identify problem areas, like leaky ducts or ill-fitting windows, where heated or cooled air escapes.

Chris had Bertie Heating & Air evaluate her home.  They are partnered with GRU to provide this comprehensive service for FREE.  The team took about 2 hours, and examined every aspect of Chris’s home for energy efficiency.  They found leaking ducts, inefficient windows, poor and absent insulation, an oversized air conditioning system and poor A/C returns.   Once these thinsg were corrected, Chris’s electric bill fell from an all-time high of about $580.00 to $250.00 last month.  The difference was astonishing and immediate.  To have the same energy evaluation done on your home, call Bertie Heating & Air: 352.331.2005!  Thanks to Jim Bertie for joining us in the studio this morning for our 1 Thing segment!

Listen to our conversation with Jim this morning: 8.29.11.4.1 Thing – Home Energy Evaluation with Jim Bertie

Yesterday morning, as a special treat, Chris and her daughter Grace had breakfast together at the 43rd Street Deli.  About 2/3 of the way through their meal, the server dropped off their check, which totalled $15.00.  When Chris went to get her wallet out of her purse, she realized she’d left it at home on the kitchen counter.  She only had a ten dollar bill in her purse and a checkbook.  When the server came by, she explained and asked if she could run home and grab her wallet and come back to pay the tab in full, or if they could take a personal check for the difference.   So embarrassing!

The server, politely explained that they didn’t accept checks and told Chris to just pay with the ten dollars she had and not to worry about the balance.  She protested, but he insisted it was alright and that the rest of her check was taken care of.  What a great guy!  When he left her table, she and Grace returned to their meals.  Then a women from a neighboring table came by.  She had overheard Chris’s conversation with the waiter and told Chris the same thing had happened to her before and handed Chris $10.00 to pay the rest of her bill and cover the waiter’s tip!  What a wonderul thing to do!  Chris again said she’d be glad to run hom for her wallet so she could pay the woman back, but the good samaritan said it was no problem and that she was happy to help and that she just happened to have ten dollars with her that day.

So, we had an idea: What if we told people what happened and asked them to take $5 or $10 and do something kind for a stranger?  In line at the grocery store, at a restaurant, at a toll booth, whatever!  How far can we make this wonderful woman’s ten dollars go?  Tell us what you did for a stranger and let us track how far we can take one woman’s gift of ten dollars!

8.04.11.2.Thank You Kind Stranger

We got this from Dawn in Ocala:

I was listening to your story about the $10 and I thought I’d share something that happened to me.  I was driving through the BK one day for lunch and I got to the “pay here” window and was told by the cashier that the person in front of me had paid my bill, something like $6.  I said, “okay, please put this $6 towards the person behind me”.  From the “pick up here” window I witnessed the two people behind me doing the same exact thing.  It felt so good watching this chain reaction.  Started by a stranger.  So now when I go through the line and I have a few extra bucks I will give it to the cashier and ask her to put it towards the person behind me and it’s so rewarding to see a person smile… not all smile, some look like they want to throw their money at the cashier because they are so confused, but the ones that smile… well that sticks with you all day!

Thanks, Dawn!

DEAR ABBY: My stepdaughter came and cleaned our house when my wife – her mother – was ill. I appreciated her efforts, until I noticed she had put the toilet brush in the dishwasher with the dishes. I quietly removed it.

Am I overreacting because I no longer want to eat at her house? This made me extremely uncomfortable because most of our family gatherings are at her house. – TURNED OFF IN TEXAS

DEAR TURNED OFF: Ew! Had I been in your position, when I saw what she had done, I’d have hit high C. And I wouldn’t have been subtle about removing the toilet brush from the dishwasher. What a gross lapse of judgment. I wouldn’t want to eat at her house either, and I’d let my spouse know exactly why. (Please tell me your stepdaughter didn’t learn this from her mother.)

Tell us! What do you wash in the dishwasher besides your dishes?

7.07.11.2.Guy Washes His Guns in the Dishwasher

This came from Mandy:

The Alachua County Sheriff’s Office Reserve Division is comprised of highly motivated community members who volunteer their time to help with crime detection and prevention. As part of the Reserve Division, you could help patrol a zone, work special details, participate in undercover stakeouts, be an observer in the helicopter, patrol our waterways, be a member of the dive team and so much more. Join and serve today! Please read these descriptions of different types of volunteer positions and then click on FAQ link to see commonly asked questions and answers. Once you have done so, feel free to email any additional questions or submit a preliminary interest application on the Apply Now page.

6.30.11.2.ACSO Reserve Deputy Recruitment

6.16.11.1.Safety Patrols Check In

6.13.11.1.Safety Patrols Check In

Dear Storm & Chris,

Help!  Halfway through dinner the other night, my wife announced that very soon our family is going to have an “unplugged week” where we don’t use any devices. 

So her idea is that everyone (there’s me and her and our 10 and 12 year old kids) will not use anything with a screen for one week.  Naturally, I balked.  No screens…?  No iphone, no macbook, no TV, no video games? I mean, I agree that it’s certainly a good idea for our kids but, I’m not so sure I can do it!

I told her we might be able to do it during one of the weeks I have off this summer.  She says she wants to do it next week, but she realizes I’ll need to use some electronics for work.  I’m no psychic, but I guarantee you if this unplugged week is planned for next week, there will be arguments between me an my wife. 

So I’m wondering if there’s anyone who’s actually been able to make this unplugged thing work.  Do you go 100% cold turkey for everyone?  Only use stuff for certain hours of the day for certain people?  I know in our house, my wife will SAY she’s okay with me using stuff for work but somehow my use of gear will wind up causing problems anyway.   How are we going to do this???

Plugged In

6.09.11.2.How Can We Get Our Family to Unplug

6.09.11.3.Unplugged Family Call

6.09.11.4.Another Unplugged Family Call