Construction and Industrial Articles
posted on 25 October 2011
One of the reasons I have a garden is to be able to harvest enough tomatoes to make a sauce to get me through the winter months. So I'm often outdoors with my winter overalls attending to my garden! Even though I can buy a jar of spaghetti sauce in the store for a little over a buck, it just doesn't taste as good as when you make it from scratch. So for the last several years I have planted several dozen tomato plants and harvested the large, meaty tomatoes that work well for my own special sauce recipe. I also grow my own herbs, so in addition to fresh garden tomatoes, I use my own home-grown basil, oregano, thyme and rosemary, plus lots of garlic. You can't have any good tomato sauce without lots of garlic. Once harvested, you have to skin the tomatoes by dropping them in boiling water for about 30 seconds (the skins slide right off) and then cooking them down for several hours, seasoning as you go. Once you get it to the consistency that you like, it's ready to preserve. I use a pressure canner so I know it is safe. Although this is a lot of work, it is very satisfying knowing that I will be eating from my garden all winter long. |
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posted on 16 August 2011
I would like to change my kitchen a lot. The cupboard doors open into each other, which makes it hard to get things from multiple cabinets at once. Also, the handles on the doors snag on each other and must be screwed off from the doors if they both are open at once. The kitchen is also way too small. There is barely enough room for one person to cook and one to pour a drink. I would make the kitchen much bigger and fix the cabinet doors. I would also move the refrigerator. The door hits the door to the kitchen which is also the main door to the house. If someone is getting food while someone trys to come in, the door will slam into them. Another thing I would change about my kitchen is that I would take out the ceiling fan. I am very tall, and hit my head on it a lot. We have enough tools in the garage to maybe even attempt these jobs with what we have - we have everything from Pinkgrip to circular saws - however, I will need a professional opinion on this first. |
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posted on 3 August 2011
I never went to university. I never even went to college. I finished my GCSEs and went straight into the world of work. I call it my "practical university" - everything I've learnt now can all be contributed to all that experience I've gained. I learnt to use screeds, got a fork-lift license, picked up on the psychology of sales, learnt the subtle cues from prospective customers, and learnt how to manage people. All these skills you cannot learn at college or at university - you can only learn these skills by getting out there in the field. You might think I'm justifying my choices, and I'm probably scraping a living even today, but if I were to tell you I'm a millionaire and manage a company of over 100 employees, you might think differently. What's the secret? Tenacity. Everything else follows. A tenacious character will take you to where you want to be. |
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posted on 18 July 2011
Me and 8 friends had a 2 months internship in a remote village-like place. We were given a single room to share. Initially, it was just us, our luggage and mattresses. There was barely any place to move. Now, I must tell you that we are a rowdy bunch. We all drink and smoke. We would go through packs of cigarettes a day and just stub them on any visible space on the floor (which was not occupied by the floor). I still have a pair of flip-flops, on which millions of cigarettes have been stubbed. Fastforward. It's time to go. The owners want the place spick and span. I'd done tank cleaning so was used to tough jobs, but this one was a big one.
We get on with the daunting task, led by yours truly. First up, we pile all the mattresses on the 2 beds provided and discover a whole bunch of rubbish. It's as if we are in a sea of garbage. There's uneaten rotting food, stubs, empty cigarette packets, whiskey bottles and what not. My strategy, brush them onto a newspaper using a broom, then unload it in a plastic bag. So, upon cleaning, I come upon a newspaper glued to the floor. I pry it out. Yes you have guessed it right. Its a month old puke just behind a chair. Well, atleast the mystery of the stench was solved. Though, who did it was not. Well after 5 hours of unrelenting cleaning, it was over. A huge mound of rubbish lay in the center of the room. I still remember being proud of getting out their alive. |
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