Sandy McKee's (the_sandman) Blog

Use Newspaper to keep weeds away, not a trick. First of all, collect all your old newspapers! Then, wet the newpapers while putting layers around the plants (overlapping as you go). Next, cover the area with mulch and forget about your weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic but they...

The Oro Valley Optimist Club is organizing its annual golf tournament. The proceeds go towards bettering the lives of youth in the community. Last year the event raised approximately $11,000. The entry fee this year is $95 and is being played at the Hilton El Conquistador Country Club in Oro Vall...

It is with great regret that I have to tell you that the corn meal trick is not working this year. It seems that the cricket population is chowing down on all the piles of corn meal. At first, I thought I saw dead ants around the piles (this is supposed to happen). However, it was cricket poo... ...

Recently, my lovely bride decided to clean up our desktop. She not so carefully removed programs that looked like they had not been used, did not recognize, etc. We noticed the next day that we could not open any of our saved documents in Microsoft Word. I have tried to find it to no avail... Any...

Add a tablespoon of water to hamburger while cooking as this will allow the fat to separate from the meat. Try it, it really works! My wife and I love onions. We like to slow cook them and put them on top of a steak. If you slow cook them long enough, they will caramelize and have a terrific flav...

I love to cook and often like to experiment with different techniques. This might sound like it does not make a difference but it really does! Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of garlic andat the end of the recipe if your want a stronger taste of garlic. Enjoy!

    Daily Forecast Update: New Home Sales, Mortgage Applications Share  Today at 11:34am August 26, 2009By Lawrence Yun, Chief EconomistDaily Forecast Update NAR's monthly official forecast as of August 4th GDP Q2: +1.6% GDP Q3: +1.5% GDP Q4: +2.5% Unemployment rate by the end of 2009: 10.5% Aver...

On Monday August 10th I became a Great Uncle! The day was bittersweet as we knew in advance that the baby (Maximus Evan Griffin) had a condition called CDH. About CDH Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) refers to a defect in the diaphragm that allows the abdominal organs (stomach, intestine, li...

Mortgage pricing has improved during the day with the stock market closing up just over 30 points.Experts are saying to float your rate at the moment. This mornings report by Case/Shiller showed some improvement in home prices which was liked by most except Robert Shiller. He thinks the prices ma...

As of today, over 9% of all home loans are delinquent!! This is outrageous and must be helping sales of Maalox and Tums. Unemployment is at 7.4% nationally with over 5 million people being out of work for over 6 months. If only 10% of all delinquencies turned into short sales or foreclosures, thi...