UsedEverywhere.com

There's Something New on It's Way

There is a new feature coming down the pipeline that I wanted to tell you about! It’s not so much of a new feature as it is changing an old feature that opened the door to some trouble. HTML links in the ad description will be stripped out, and instead replaced with a link for all of you ad posters who want to provide an HTML link to more information. Basically:

• We now have a NEW “website link” field in the “Place Ad” page.  It is located below the description field and allows users to include one website link per ad.
• HTML capabilities have been removed within the description field of free ads.  This was done to reduce link spam, increase ad quality and security, and create consistency with the use of links in all ads.

The bottom line is, this will increase your protection on the site, while still making it possible for you to have links in your ads! High five!

Lucky St. Patty's?

I was never really one to have lucky charms. I definitely collected a lot of random stuff when I was a kid – I can’t even tell you how many sticker albums I had, or quite explain the sheer volume of keychains I managed to amass considering I spent my childhood unemployed. I have vague recollections of bringing some sort of trinket to exams with me, but that was more for the social aspect (everyone was doing it) than for the luck aspect. Yup, not so much a lucky charms kind of gal. The cereal was, of course, a different story. I vacuumed that stuff up out of the carpet with my mouth, none of it went to waste. The only reason I stopped eating it was because I got old and my teeth got sensitive. Let me tell you, if those marshmallow rainbows didn’t send stabs of pain through my skull I would have at least 3 boxes in my cupboard right now.

But I digress. There are so many different “lucky charms” out there, most of them bordering on completely bizarre. For instance, the rabbit foot, which I have never understood; a horseshoe, which for absolutely no reason at all makes more sense to me; or a wishbone, a.k.a. the clavicles of a bird – who decided that was lucky?

Creative Commons Image Courtesy of Neil T

There is also the four-leaf clover, which makes a bit more sense to me as a symbol of good luck. Like finding a walrus in the middle of the forest, it’s an anomaly, a rarity; that makes it special and by extension makes you special since few people will ever actually find such a rare thing. I guess that’s luck? Overcoming improbable odds unintentionally?

As far as I can tell, St. Patrick’s Day (while I’m sure some take it more seriously) is mainly about getting greened-up, drinking alcohol, and decorating yourself with as many stereotypically Irish things you can find. This usually includes plenty of four-leaf clovers. There are so many symbols considered both lucky and quintessentially Irish. But I’ve seen Leprechaun. Finding one would be absolutely unlucky. I know all about potatoes, and would not feel lucky to have them make up the bulk of my diet. How did all these Irish symbols become associated with luck?

I looked up “The Luck of the Irish” and the debate is open – some claim that it actually refers to having bad luck; some say the total opposite! What do you think? What is “The Luck of the Irish?” Is it good, or not so good?

Have a Happy (and responsible) St. Patrick’s Day!

The Useful Podcast #5

Creative Commons image courtesy of eyeliam

If you’re interested in participating in these podcasts or have any questions or comments, please leave a comment.

Click on the purple play button below!

Do you feed a cold? If so, what do you feed it?

It’s March Break for us here in Ottawa and (of course) a cold has been making its way through my family, taking down one person at a time.

It’s times like this that I realize that cold remedies are essentially a product of our childhood and our culture. When a cold hits, we flock to things that bring us comfort, regardless whether they’re a medically-proven remedy or not.

I’m the first generation child of eastern European parents, and when a cold rears its ugly head it’s all about ingesting as much garlic as possible. And when we’re not eating garlic we need to be drinking tea with honey and lemon. As much as we can possibly stomach.

When I was pregnant I got tired of the tea and switched to “faux” Neo Citrons when I had a cold; hot water with lots of honey and lemon. Ahhh. I still love it.

The husband, who wears several generations of Canadian genes with a fraction of British heritage thrown in for good measure, craves nothing but canned chicken noodle soup (I can’t stand the stuff) and warm blankets.

Neither is wrong, but it certainly is interesting.

Who knows what food will comfort our children when they become germ-infested adults. Maybe it’ll be a combination of the two.

What about you? Do you feed a cold or starve it? What’s your favourite cold remedy?

Our Funky New Office!

This past week our office was under a major renovation. This rainy Monday morning we walked into our brand-spanking new office in Victoria, and what a transformation! Let me just show you rather than tell you:

And….

You can see more before, after, during pictures here.

What do you think? Do you like our funky new office?

Hi. I'm New.

Yesterday, the UsedEverywhere Social Media Royal Family got together to record a podcast, as we do when the mood strikes us, for the sole purpose of massaging your inner ear like a Q-tip made of angels and rainbows; once it has been edited to perfection and put online, of course. This podcast didn’t go quite so smoothly for me, though. As you may or may not find out, depending on what audio gets tossed out, I was forced to reveal a dirty dirty secret.

Here’s what happened: while introducing ourselves, Nick asked us “what we like”. Charlotte and Eden, to my horror, interpreted this as,  “tell me how often you use the site”. My turn came around and I felt like I had to keep the pattern and couldn’t just say “I like baby sloths and Gremlins 2” as I had planned in my head. But here’s the problem: I have never actually bought or sold anything on the site.

GASP

I know, I know. It’s like working at the chocolate factory and never having a Wonka Bar. But I know how all the machines work. And I know what all of the Oompa Loompas do. But I think the time has come to strike that, reverse it, and get my sell-on.

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory 1971. Warner Brothers Family Entertainment

There are various explanations for why I haven’t yet “used” the Used. The simple answer is that I couldn’t seem to find the time and I don’t have a lot of stuff to sell. I need most of what I have. Secondly, while I grew up pretty much entirely on second-hand goods, the only thing I have ever bought second-hand myself was my TV. The remote was extremely sticky. So I threw it in the back of my closet and I plan on leaving it there when I move for the next tenant to find.

I think I also have irrational fears that develop as an outcome of watching nothing but Law & Order and shows narrated by Bill Kurtis as a child. I think a touch of paranoia does a person good, but since working at UsedEverywhere.com I’ve realized that maybe I am a bit too guarded. That being said, it is time for action. Mark my words, this weekend I will post my very first (real) ad. Wish me luck!

It's a Green Initiative!

Holy water-bottle/light-bulbs, Batman!

Check out this incredible idea from an ingenious engineer in Brazil! Use a 2 L bottle in the place of a 50 Watt light bulb!

7 Things NOT to Give Up for Lent

It’s time to sacrifice for Jesus, people. It’s time for Lent, my friends. There are 40 days until Easter, so it’s advisable to refrain from playing with bunnies, wearing pastel, and eating chocolate until it is acceptable to do so in as exaggerated a fashion as possible. So, in this time of fasting, there may be many things that are good to give up, such as junk food or Warcraft. But what shouldn’t you give up? Allow me,

1. Laundry Please do not give up doing your laundry for 40 days. Unless you have an impressive supply of clothing, keep the laundry thing going, for all of our sakes.

2. Your Children While under other circumstances I might recommend you give them up, I don’t think Jesus would be too impressed.

Creative Commons image courtesy of epSos.de

3. Tarzan Why punish yourself? Am I right, Ladies?

4. Brain Quest Because Lent is no excuse to stop learning.

5. Sleep I don’t know if you can die from not sleeping for 40 days, but I’m sure the outcome isn’t a good one.

6. General Hygiene Brush your teeth, people.

7. Coffee Some might argue that coffee is a good thing to give up for lent – “it’s not good for you” people might say. Well guess what, haters, you’re wrong. Keep drinking the seeds of pure awesome. Totally legitimate medical advice from Katie Bresner. There is also just no need to make everyone around you miserable for the next 40 days.

Creative Commons image courtesy of nate steiner

Bookin' it for the Break

The Ottawa Public Library is one of my favourite institutions. They have provided our family with countless hours of enjoyment. But more than that, the library has helped preserve my sanity. I am a better mom because of the library.

The library is a godsend. You can borrow books and magazines, music, movies and Wii games (YES YOU CAN), pedometers and museum and gallery passes, ski passes for Gatineau Park and City of Ottawa, and even Kill A Watt meters to help you figure out how deeply that beer fridge has been impacting your hydro bill.

March Break is nigh here in Ottawa and once again I find myself vastly unprepared. For work-at-homers like myself, March Break is a mixed blessing. Sure, we get to spend a lot of special time with our little ones, but at the same time, we get to spend a lot of special time with our little ones… if you catch my meaning.

Lo and behold, the library will be saving my hide once again. Case in point: they plan some fantastic March Break programming for kids every year. It’s all free and activities take place at branches all across the city. You can check them all out here. It the perfect antidote for squirrely children (and their twitchy parents).

I am very happy that my library fines go towards supporting so many great programs for so many people, aren’t you?

If you’re not planning on leaving your house anytime during March Break, I strongly urge you to hit the library and borrow a giant stack of books for when you need to enforce quiet times. You won’t be sorry you did.

The Big Lead Bag Debacle

We all know plastic bags are bad. Very, very bad. They take about 4 trillion years (roughly) to decompose in landfills and they fall apart when you bring home heavy groceries and they pile up in your kitchen and make you want to explode. Or something like that.

But seriously, reusable bags are an awesome way to take care of the environment, plain and simple. Plus there are lots of really cool ones on the market right now. You may have heard that there are a lot of reusable bags being recalled at the moment because of concerns over lead content. Everyone from Lululemon to Whole Foods to Sears Canada are calling into question the safety of their reusable bags.

Some have said that the quantity of lead is tiny, and that the bags are not likely to cause harm to humans. When we’re dealing with lead however, I think it’s better to be safe than sorry. Having said that, I’m happy to say that UsedEverywhere’s (very popular, very stylish) bags are lead-free! The bags we have right now are from a company called smartbag.ca and they are non-woven polypropelene with ZERO lead in them. Yes!

Eden showing off our UsedPEI.com and UsedVictoria.com bags!