Tuesday, December 30, 2008


Dear Dr. Jim

I heard you are going out of town. Will you be answering all our burgeoning questions while you are gone? Or maybe have a fill in doctor?

If not I will be missing you a lot.

Mary, Weeping for Sadness in Ohio

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Dear Mary WSO,

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

and please don't cry. This is my line:

I will be scarce until the end part of January unless we can find a cheap Internet Cafe on the QM2 or in Grenada. It is getting cool here so we had to go. We did get new bathing suits last Sunday.

So check for me every now and once in a while on my Jim's Little Blog or Jim's (other Little Place) where I might could put up a word or two once in a while. This is my final goodbye (for now).

Hope this soothes you somewhat (for sure don't cry),

(and please leave me your comments)

Dr. Jim



So, keep on keep'n on, and till then,
"Please ask your question or leave your comment now!"
(Just ask me and you will remain anonymous)

Submit question or comment in privacy now

To read the rules and/or submit a question, click here.

(CLICK HERE NOW, I've read the rules.)

To leave a comment or non-private question, simply leave a comment below as usual.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

How to make rooster stop crowing in the middle of the night, Mr. Seed needs to know


Dear Dr. Jim

Our neighbors are complaining about our roosters. It seems they don't like the crowing these pets are doing. At least they don't like them to crow in the middle of the night.

Mrs. Seed and I can just sleep right through it and never hear them until they do their 6:30 crows. That is our waking up time. These birds are within a couple of minutes of 6:30 every morning so that is good for us.

The problem here is that we can't teach these birds when to crow and when not to. Roosters are wild in nature and they will crow when they like to crow. I told the neighbor that but he just got more angry.

Please help us with a solution Dr. Jim, you are my last straw.

Hay Seed in Arkansas

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Dear Mr. Seed

I do have some news for you. Good news. Those chickens can be taught.

It would be best for you if you did that because the neighbors told me when I contacted them that they are just about to call the city zoning commission about these problems your roosters are causing.

I have done some research on the matter, it seems that lowering the roof of their cages so they can not hold their heads up high is the best. You will have to buy an alarm clock as the roof will not get any taller at 6:30 than it was at 5:30.

I also found out that roosters crow at lights, the sun in the morning, other lights at night. Before you lower the ceiling try completely darkening their cage at nighttime.

Other suggestions on how to stop them from crowing ranged from using shotguns to eating them.

My idea is like that of training dogs and cats. You should buy a cot and sleep in the chicken pen. Whenever a rooster begins to crow in the middle of the night, tell it to be quiet. You could even throw a shoe. Then leave at 6:30. If the rooster crows when you are gone, then you are on to something. Gradually the roosters will learn not to crow at the times you have stopped them.

This should have helped, I surely hope so. It could be some of the readers can help you some as well. Best wishes on the roosters.

Dr. Jim


So, keep on keep'n on, and till then,
"Please ask your question or leave your comment now!"
(Just ask me and you will remain anonymous)

Submit question or comment in privacy now

To read the rules and/or submit a question, click here.

(CLICK HERE NOW, I've read the rules.)

To leave a comment or non-private question, simply leave a comment below as usual.

Friday, December 19, 2008

Hubby wants to wait until the last minute to buy when things get to be a bargain -- Here the Christmas tree


Dear Dr. Jim

Oh gosh, its Christmas time and here we go again.

My husband always waits until Christmas Eve or sometimes even Christmas Day to get our Christmas tree.

He gets the bargain ones that will go to the beach the next day to help slow down the erosion.

We don't have time to enjoy it before Christmas and sometimes there isn't time to decorate it properly. If you could get him to buy it now we could at least have a couple of days.

Please rush me the answer, he said he would go by your answer just this one day.

Thank you Dr. Jim, I know you will come through,

Santa's Elf # 2,981,001, a Little Miffed in the deep North

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Dear # 2,981,001 Miff

Okay, lets do this one up right and fast. After all it is Christmas time and your scenario is being repeated hundreds of thousands of time all over the country.

Normally I would have a few terrible solutions to your situation but this year let's do it right just this one time. (Meaning I won't go into stubbornness, procrastination, cheapskate-likeness, marital bickering, etc.)

Here is it: WATCH THE SALE ADS ON ARTIFICIAL TREES. OFTEN THEY ARE EVEN BEFORE CHRISTMAS DAY. BUY ONE FOR HALF PRICE OR LESS. EVEN IF YOU HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL AFTER CHRISTMAS IT WILL BE FOR JUST THIS ONE TIME AND WELL WORTH IT. TRUST ME.

Now for the good news. Next year you can take this artificial tree out any time you are ready. Your hubby might even get to like seeing it out so pretty and all earlier.

We do that at our house. Mrs. Jim gets it out whenever she is ready. Of course I get roped into helping her with the lights and assembly. She isn't an aerospace engineer like I was for a lot of my working life.

Mrs. Jim can also take it down when she is ready. I am now divorced from the whole procedure except for a little work at setup, take-down, and storage times. Oh yes, I help her when a string of lights go out but what the hey. That's being married and loved. (Read my comment on lights if you want to here a short cut I took this year.)

I know this helps, yours, Dr. Jim

p.s. I do suspect this goes on for other things, the waiting for sales. A lot of this is fine, it just depends on how badly the item is needed earlier. You guys can work that out after seeing how the Christmas tree thing works. Dr. Jim



So, keep on keep'n on, and till then,
"Please ask your question or leave your comment now!"
(Just ask me and you will remain anonymous)

Submit question or comment in privacy now

To read the rules and/or submit a question, click here.

(CLICK HERE NOW, I've read the rules.)

To leave a comment or non-private question, simply leave a comment below as usual.

Monday, December 8, 2008

Picky husband won't drink milk past its sell by date


Dear Dr. Jim

This is a small problem to my hubby and probably is small potatoes to you. But to me it supper tubers. Dr. Jim, please Google that (I did it here) for the uninformed.

Our problem doesn't involve potatoes today, it is about milk.

My hubby will not drink mild past its sell by date. I say drink it until it tastes or smells bad. Who is right.

Not so picky Jane in Kansas

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Dear N.S. Picky Jane

I hate to tell you this but there isn't any correct answer or set rule. So you drink the old stuff until it seems bad. Hubby should buy new milk when the old milk reaches the 'sell by date.'

I think my readers might have some stories to tell as to what they do about this.

In fact one lady says the milk is fine even when sour. She puts some vinegar in hers to make it taste like butter milk.

Hope this answer suits you fine,

Dr. Jim


So, keep on keep'n on, and till then,
"Please ask your question or leave your comment now!"
(Just ask me and you will remain anonymous)

Submit question or comment in privacy now

To read the rules and/or submit a question, click here.

(CLICK HERE NOW, I've read the rules.)

To leave a comment or non-private question, simply leave a comment below as usual.

Monday, December 1, 2008

Happy Blog Anniversary Jim!

My Active (whatever that means) Blogs: (3)
JIM'S LITTLE BLOG -- Started December 1, 2005
-- 1,153 Posts -- 41,0699 'Visitors' -- Currently 40/day average
Running several (3-4) posts per week currently
(Generally Ruby Tuesday on Tuesdays)

JIM'S LITTLE PHOTO AND POEM PLACE -- Started December 1, 2006
-- 359 Posts -- 7765 'Visitors' -- Currently 15/day average
Running three +/- posts per week: (these may appear sometime the day before due date)
(Wordless Wednesday -- on Wednesday)
(SkyWatch Friday -- on Friday)
(One Single Impression -- on Sunday)
(an occasional 'feel good' post)

Ask Dr. Jim (blog) -- Started November 30, 2007
-- 64 Posts -- 3445 'Visitors' -- Currently 16/day average
Running one +/- post per week, no set day
Posts are Q&A; Questions on most any subject from 'reader' and Answers by Dr. Jim who knows most everything about most everything there is to know (at least Dr. Jim always has an answer)

General Statistics:
8533 Comments on all blogs (Yahoo mail won't let me refine anymore)
2086 Total posts, all blogs

Inactive or little used blogs:
JIM'S LITTLE HAPPY PLACE – 192 Posts (once a controversial blog with a different name--I couldn't tolerate the flaming and converted it to a HAPPY PLACE--then it went inactive as I couldn't care for and feed it properly)
me, old blogs never read, and . . . – 169 Posts -- A dumping place
To All the Girls I've Loved Before – 16 Posts --purpose link -- not nearly completed
jim's little Christmas tree farm – 102 Posts -- lots of Christmas trees earlier, now a few miscelaneous posts
What Susie Wrote on My Blog – 21 Posts -- while I was on holiday


FAQ:
Q -- Do you have a YouTube?
A -- Yes, Jim1Jim1. It has very sporadic posting with 19 Videos

Q -- Will you create a new blog this year?
A -- No plans at the present time. In fact I spend too much time blogging and would like to slow down and get better quality posts.

Q -- Then will you discontinue one of these three blogs?
A -- Right now, No. Later I may consolidate JIM'S LITTLE BLOG and JIM'S LITTLE PHOTO AND POEM PLACE. They seem to overlap.

Q -- But you have different readership on each blog, I don't want to leave the one I like and am accustomed to.
A -- That is the major problem with consolidation.

Q -- What would you like to do about consolidation?
A -- I have thought about moving everything to JIM'S LITTLE BLOG. Then it would lack organization so I think I am stuck the way I am.

Q -- You don't seem to read my blog very much anymore. Why?
A -- If you don't leave comments on my blogs I won't pester you (very much).

Q -- Can I ask more questions?
A -- Yes, just leave them in a comment. Request for me to remove the comment after reading and it will soon be gone.

Q -- What if I don't like to even show my comment, thought, or idea for even a short time until you read it. Don't you have an e-mail address?
A#1 -- Yes, I have several e-mail addresses. My blogging address is jhovendic[at]yahoo[dot]com.
A#2 -- I also have one moderated comment page (click here) taking private comments. It was intended for anonymous questions to Ask Dr. Jim (blog) but you also could use it to remain anonymous.