Harrison Farm

It’s really quite obvious: farm animals benefit from the attention and companionship of humans.

A recent study in the UK demonstrated that milk cows who have been given names produce 3-4% more milk than those who do not have names.

Why would naming be significant?

As I’ve discussed here, naming implies respect and companionship, and naming is not incompatible with our need, as humans, to consume animal products.

It makes sense that milk cows, having been separated from their babies (their calves), would greatly benefit from all the affection we could manage to give them.  After all, they are grieving. » Read the rest of this entry «

For a few days this week, I worked on this ebay auction in my spare time.  After selling a couple of our custom Orderly Drawers on ebay a few weeks ago, we decided to try selling them in a Dutch auction format.

I’m a bit concerned about people shying away from the unusual auction format, but hopefully I’ve put in enough information to encourage buyers to take the plunge with their bids.  In this auction, we’re selling the custom organizers by the inch.  So buyers are actually bidding on “1-inch of organizer width” and putting in the quantity of width inches they want to purchase at that price.  Does that make sense?

I hope it’s clear enough.  This allows us to have one auction up for any size drawer, while leveling the playing field for those with large and small drawers, while minimizing our ebay fees.  At least, that’s the idea.  We’ll see if it flies. » Read the rest of this entry «

After being frustrated with the price of microfiber tights in the women’s section of my local department store, I walked away empty handed.   At that high price, I’d just keep tugging at my old, elastic-worn pair.  I headed to the girls’ department to get a pair of needed white tights for Sudoku.

While searching for her size and noticing the very reasonable prices (only 40% of the price on the women’s tights of the same brand!), I got an inspiration.  I looked at the sizing chart for the girl’s size 14-16.  They are sized for big girls — or short women (up to 63″).  Bingo!  I decided to give them a try.  I snatched up 2 differently colored pairs, and  they fit wonderfully!

Backing up your computer files is one of those dreaded tasks you know you should do but is hard to get around to doing.  I finally got around to backing up our computers using Karen’s Replicator, a free software tool, that works silently, lightly, and faithfully.  It’s also easy to use.

The gist of the replicator is this.  You select a file or folder you want to backup, and tell Karen’s Replicator where you want a copy to be sent.

You can also assign a schedule to your different backup jobs, and as long as it’s open, Karen’s Replicator will perform the scheduled backup without you having to lift a finger. » Read the rest of this entry «