Removing Pet Odors from Carpets and Bedding - and Returning the Scent

It is easy to remove pet odor from the carpet or your pet’s bedding. Just sprinkle baking soda on the carpet or bedding - and leave this overnight, if possible. The next day, vacuum and the pet odor will be gone. Just to be safe, please test the baking soda on a small, non noticeable spot to see if it causes any problems.

For some fussy pets, removing the scent from their bedding will upset them. For example, a dog may avoid its bedding because it no longer carries its scent - or enough of the scent to make the dog comfortable. To return the ‘dog fragrance’, just rub an old towel along the dog’s coat and pick up the scent. You might not notice it but remember, the dog’s sense of smell is far more efficient than human olfactory ability. Then just put the old towel, now carrying the dog’s scent, on the bedding. Once the dog has used the bedding a couple of times, you can reclaim your old towel. The dog’s bedding will have enough of the scent, until the next time you clean. It is not that often that you will find such a dog but there are some. Just in case your pet is one of the few, you are prepared.

Catherine Forsythe

[tags]baking soda, cleaning, odors, returning scent, pets[/tags]

David Beckham Increases Television Ratings

The sports headlines are somewhat misleading. The USA Today headline is: “David Beckham’s MLS debut causes TV ratings jump”. It screams success. However, a closer look at the numbers tells a different story:

“David Beckham’s presence immediately doubled the television rating for his Major League Soccer debut.

D.C. United’s 1-0 victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy on Thursday night received an average rating of 0.45 on ESPN2, the network said Friday. That translates to 422,000 households.”

link: USA Today article

The numbers are not overwhelming. If these are the numbers after all the publicity that David Beckham and his wife have received, Major League Soccer has a long struggle ahead to win over the American sports audience.

One American sports fan sent an email, after the last time I discussed David Beckham. His analogy was to imagine if there was a professional baseball league in the United Kingdom. The owners of this league would want to win over the United Kingdom and European audience. To that end, they lure Alex Rodriguez away from North America to join one of the teams. The English and European audience would be mildly interested in the huge, huge, huge sum of money that it would take to sign Mr Rodriguez and then those people would go back and watch their usual sports. - That seemed like an excellent comparison. David Beckham will need some Harry-Potter-like magic with American sports fans.

Catherine

David Beckham Increases Television Ratings

The sports headlines are somewhat misleading. The USA Today headline is: “David Beckham’s MLS debut causes TV ratings jump”. It screams success. However, a closer look at the numbers tells a different story:

“David Beckham’s presence immediately doubled the television rating for his Major League Soccer debut.

D.C. United’s 1-0 victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy on Thursday night received an average rating of 0.45 on ESPN2, the network said Friday. That translates to 422,000 households.”

link: USA Today article

The numbers are not overwhelming. If these are the numbers after all the publicity that David Beckham and his wife have received, Major League Soccer has a long struggle ahead to win over the American sports audience.

One American sports fan sent an email, after the last time I discussed David Beckham. His analogy was to imagine if there was a professional baseball league in the United Kingdom. The owners of this league would want to win over the United Kingdom and European audience. To that end, they lure Alex Rodriguez away from North America to join one of the teams. The English and European audience would be mildly interested in the huge, huge, huge sum of money that it would take to sign Mr Rodriguez and then those people would go back and watch their usual sports. - That seemed like an excellent comparison. David Beckham will need some Harry-Potter-like magic with American sports fans.

Catherine Forsythe

[tags]david beckham, television audience, alex rodriguez, sports fans, major league soccer[/tags]

Five Most Difficult Things to Do in Sports

Lang Whitaker, in an article for Sports Illustrated, listed five of the ‘hardest moves in sports’. I disagree with them all - as you will disagree with my list. And my list of five are:

1. The Badwater 135: This is a race of a hundred thirty five miles (or two hundred seventeen kilometers) through Death Valley. That is probably the most inhospitable place to have a road race. And that is why it is held there. The valley is named ‘Death Valley’ for a good reason.

2. The Tour de France: There are twenty stages to the Tour de France. It is up steep mountains on just leg power and sheer will. In the mountain stages, a mishap can mean a fall onto a steep, rocky slope. If the rider does not fall off the road, he could be run over by the following riders (the peloton).

3. Being a National Hockey League Goalie: NHL goalies try to stop pieces of frozen rubber, shot by the some of the fastest, strongest hockey players in the world. Those scorers (or potential scorers) can come as close as possible before they blast away at the goal. And as the goalie, you are expected to put parts of your body in front of that shot.

4. Alpine Grand Slalom Racing: The mountains are steep and the object is to speed down that slope as fast as possible. It’s slippery - with varying sun and wind conditions. There is no room for error. One error, like the slightest miscue on an edge, possibly could mean falling down the mountain. And sometimes gravity is not kind.

5. Hitting a golf ball - straight: People do not appreciate Tiger Woods’ skill until they try to hit that little ball. As Mark Twain said, ‘Golf is a good walk spoiled’. Tiger Woods just makes it look graceful and fluid, but, in the long run, that little ball always wins.

Those are my five - one of the aforementioned I do give serious consideration to trying. Is there one activity (or activities) that you think should be on the list?

Catherine

Five Most Difficult Things to Do in Sports

Lang Whitaker, in an article for Sports Illustrated, listed five of the ‘hardest moves in sports’. I disagree with them all - as you will disagree with my list. And my list of five are:

1. The Badwater 135: This is a race of a hundred thirty five miles (or two hundred seventeen kilometers) through Death Valley. That is probably the most inhospitable place to have a road race. And that is why it is held there. The valley is named ‘Death Valley’ for a good reason.

2. The Tour de France: There are twenty stages to the Tour de France. It is up steep mountains on just leg power and sheer will. In the mountain stages, a mishap can mean a fall onto a steep, rocky slope. If the rider does not fall off the road, he could be run over by the following riders (the peloton).

3. Being a National Hockey League Goalie: NHL goalies try to stop pieces of frozen rubber, shot by the some of the fastest, strongest hockey players in the world. Those scorers (or potential scorers) can come as close as possible before they blast away at the goal. And as the goalie, you are expected to put parts of your body in front of that shot.

4. Alpine Grand Slalom Racing: The mountains are steep and the object is to speed down that slope as fast as possible. It’s slippery - with varying sun and wind conditions. There is no room for error. One error, like the slightest miscue on an edge, possibly could mean falling down the mountain. And sometimes gravity is not kind.

5. Hitting a golf ball - straight: People do not appreciate Tiger Woods’ skill until they try to hit that little ball. As Mark Twain said, ‘Golf is a good walk spoiled’. Tiger Woods just makes it look graceful and fluid, but, in the long run, that little ball always wins.

Those are my five - one of the aforementioned I do give serious consideration to trying. Is there one activity (or activities) that you think should be on the list?

Catherine Forsythe

[tags]sports, badwater 135, tour de france, nhl goalie, skiing, golf, list[/tags]

McDonald’s Sued for Cheese - Ten Million Dollars

It seems that McDonald’s is being sued for allegedly not doing an order properly. A customer claims that there was cheese on his hamburger:

“A Morgantown man, his mother and his friend are suing McDonald’s for $10 million.

The man says he bit into a hamburger and had a severe allergic reaction to the cheese melted on it.”

link: Man says hold the cheese, claims McDonald’s didn’t, sues for $10 million

It begs the question why this person didn’t check to see if there was indeed any cheese present. It isn’t as if cheese is a hidden ingredient. It seems that Stella Liebeck, who sued for a spilled cup of coffee, set a high standard… and pinned a target on McDonald’s.

Catherine

Google Closes Internet Video Service

Did you know that Google has a video rental and sale service? Did you or anyone you know use the service? - Perhaps that is why Google is closing that enterprise:

“Google Inc. is shutting down a service that sold and rented online video, ending a 19-month experiment doomed by the proliferation of free clips on other Web sites like the Internet search leader’s YouTube subsidiary.”

link: Google to Stop Web Video Rentals, Sales

It is odd that Google, a company that specializes in advertising, did not make market this service more aggressively. This deviated from Google’s principal business model. Google will try the sales market again with the offer of storage space.

Catherine

Cash for Trash

This may be capitalism at work. There are people selling trash online. This is actual garbage, ‘rescued’ from the trash bin:

“There’s no doubt about it, America’s obsession with celebrity is at an all-time high. But it may now be reaching a new low with a venture called HollywoodStarTrash.com. Two local 20-somethings who work by day in the entertainment industry work by night digging through celebrity trash — all so they can sell it online.”

link: Only in L.A.: Dumpster Divers Turn Celebrity Trash into Cash

Would anyone like to buy my garbage, just in case somehow fame finds me? I will give a volume discount. You might consider it a ’speculative investment’.

Catherine

McDonald’s Sued for Cheese - Ten Million Dollars

It seems that McDonald’s is being sued for allegedly not doing an order properly. A customer claims that there was cheese on his hamburger:

“A Morgantown man, his mother and his friend are suing McDonald’s for $10 million.

The man says he bit into a hamburger and had a severe allergic reaction to the cheese melted on it.”

link: Man says hold the cheese, claims McDonald’s didn’t, sues for $10 million

It begs the question why this person didn’t check to see if there was indeed any cheese present. It isn’t as if cheese is a hidden ingredient. It seems that Stella Liebeck, who sued for a spilled cup of coffee, set a high standard… and pinned a target on McDonald’s.

Catherine Forsythe

[tags]mcdonald’s, cheese, lawsuit, coffee, responsibility[/tags]

Cash for Trash

This may be capitalism at work. There are people selling trash online. This is actual garbage, ‘rescued’ from the trash bin:

“There’s no doubt about it, America’s obsession with celebrity is at an all-time high. But it may now be reaching a new low with a venture called HollywoodStarTrash.com. Two local 20-somethings who work by day in the entertainment industry work by night digging through celebrity trash — all so they can sell it online.”

link: Only in L.A.: Dumpster Divers Turn Celebrity Trash into Cash

Would anyone like to buy my garbage, just in case somehow fame finds me? I will give a volume discount. You might consider it a ’speculative investment’.

Catherine Forsythe

[tags]cash, trash, internet sales[/tags]