Eddie On Everything » How To http://www.eddieoneverything.com Tips & tricks on things that interest me Wed, 11 Jan 2012 08:29:23 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Why You Should Write “For Deposit Only” On Checks As Soon As You Receive Them http://www.eddieoneverything.com/articles/why-you-should-write-for-deposit-only-on-checks-as-soon-as-you-receive-them.php http://www.eddieoneverything.com/articles/why-you-should-write-for-deposit-only-on-checks-as-soon-as-you-receive-them.php#comments Fri, 22 Oct 2010 18:50:33 +0000 eddie http://www.eddieoneverything.com/?p=1313 Since I was writing another article about checks, How To Sign A Check Over To Someone Else, I thought I would share another useful tidbit about checks and banking.

When you receive a check from another person, you should immediately indorse (that is, sign the back of) that check and write the words “For Deposit Only” under your signature. If you want to get fancy, you can put your bank account number under there as well, but you don’t have to.

Why? Because this is what is known as a “restrictive indorsement“, and it puts certain conditions on how that check can be redeemed. By signing the check and putting the magic words “For Deposit Only” under your signature you are basically telling the bank “If anyone else shows up with this check, it’s been stolen, don’t cash it.”

How to sign a check for deposit only

My parents always taught me (incorrectly) that I shouldn’t sign a check until I was ready to deposit it. They told me that if I did sign the check and later lost it, another party could then cash that check. This isn’t quite correct, as the person who cashed the check would still be committing fraud. Still, it might make it a little easier for them.

My parents never considered what would happen if I lost an un-indorsed check – Wouldn’t a would-be fraudster simply sign my name to the check and simply deposit it? Of course they would.

Signing the check immediately and writing “For deposit only” on the back, along with your bank account number, offers you the best protection.

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]]> http://www.eddieoneverything.com/articles/why-you-should-write-for-deposit-only-on-checks-as-soon-as-you-receive-them.php/feed 3 How To Sign A Check Over To Someone Else http://www.eddieoneverything.com/articles/how-to-sign-a-check-over-to-someone-else.php http://www.eddieoneverything.com/articles/how-to-sign-a-check-over-to-someone-else.php#comments Fri, 22 Oct 2010 18:22:18 +0000 eddie http://www.eddieoneverything.com/?p=1308 As a local slumlord, I rent to a lot of tenants who don’t have their own checking accounts. What they do have, though, are checks made out to them from their employer. And I want ‘em.

I’m kidding – I’m not really a slumlord.

(Honest!)

But I do occasionally need to accept & deposit checks made out to another person. When I find myself in this situation, I have the person “sign the check over” to me. It’s pretty easy, and saves the time of that person having to deposit the check at their bank, wait for it to clear, then write me a separate check that I in turn need to deposit.

See, a check is a special legal instrument called a negotiable instrument, and you can do all kinds of fun things with negotiable instruments.

Here’s how to sign a check over to someone else

  1. Indorse (that is, sign your name on the back) of the check as you normally would.
  2. Beneath your signature, write the magic words “Pay to the order of Eddie on Everything” (or whomever you’d like to sign your check over to).
  3. Have that person then sign their name beneath where you’ve written those magic words.

How to Sign Over a Check to Someone Else

According to Article 3 of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), that person may now deposit that check at their local bank. They have become what’s known as a holder in due course, and have, in effect, become the payee.

Bear in mind that while the UCC provides that the other person is now the payee, any party (including a bank) is free to decline to honor that check. Some banks won’t cash so-called “third party checks” for their customers.

If your bank is one of the banks that won’t allow you to deposit third party checks, and if you’re a good customer, I’d recommend that you find a new bank. I’ve been using Wells Fargo for years, and I’m very happy with their service.

Note: You should probably not write “For Deposit Only” on checks indorsed in this way, as that may complicate things.

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]]> http://www.eddieoneverything.com/articles/how-to-sign-a-check-over-to-someone-else.php/feed 10 A How-to Guide to Making Fruit Smoothies at Home http://www.eddieoneverything.com/recipes/a-how-to-guide-to-making-fruit-smoothies-at-home.php http://www.eddieoneverything.com/recipes/a-how-to-guide-to-making-fruit-smoothies-at-home.php#comments Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:58:03 +0000 eddie http://www.eddieoneverything.com/?p=648 I’m a big fan of smoothies. Both kinds – fruit smoothies and so-called “green” smoothies that contain leafy greens like spinach and kale. After realizing that I was spending quite a bit of money at Jamba Juice, I decided to learn how to make smoothies at home.

When I got started, I looked around for information on how to make a good smoothie. Unfortunately, information seems pretty hard to come by – I was able to find a bunch of recipes here and there, but I didn’t find a guide that explained the basics of smoothie creation.

After months of home experimentation, here’s what I’ve learned. If you follow these simple steps, you can get started on trying out your own creations.

  1. First and foremost, you need a decent blender. And by “decent” I don’t mean “expensive” – there are many sub-$50 blenders out there that work just fine for smoothie creation. I use an Oster that I picked up at Target for $40. I would caution against getting the cheapest blender you can find, though- the lowest-end blenders often have smaller blades, and clog when blending frozen fruit. I found this out for myself when I started down the path of smoothie chefdom. When I began, I was using a $17 Hamilton Walmart cheapie blender with a plastic jar. While it mostly worked, I did have problems with clogging and would have to stop every so often to manually stir the fruit around in the jar. A good rule of thumb, I think, is to look for a glass-jar blender in the $40 range.Don’t be fooled by the plethora of so-called “Smoothie makers” on the market. These are often just cheap blenders with a spigot built in to the jar, allowing the manufacturer to charge a lot of extra money for a blender that would otherwise sell for $15. You don’t need a spigot. You may not even want a spigot – they’re messy, and they often break. Save yourself the hassle and just go with a regular blender.
  2. Using frozen fruit eliminates the need for ice. I’ve never really liked the smoothies that result from using ice cubes. They feel “gritty” on my tongue, and they always seem to taste a little like ice, no matter how well blended. Instead, I prefer to use frozen fruit, thus eliminating the need for ice cubes. Of course, if you want to make fresh-fruit smoothies, you’ll need to include ice cubes. 1/2 cup of ice usually does the trick.
  3. Use an inexpensive juice as your “base” juice. Juice can be expensive. And while I love specialty craft blended juices as much as the next guy, the fact is that you’re going to lose a lot of the taste when blending it together with a few fruits and other juices. For that reason, I just don’t see the benefit of using a $10/gallon juice in a smoothie. Instead, I like to use apple juice, which you can find on sale for as low as $1.50/64-oz container. It blends well with nearly everything, and the taste is not overpowering.
  4. Soy milk adds protein. Smoothies are, for the most part, pure sugar. I like to counteract that by making sure that 1/2 of my liquid is Soy Milk, which adds a little bit of protein to the mix. You could probably use regular milk for this, though I have never tried. (Lactose intolerant. :)
  5. Use a 1:1 fruit to liquid ratio. I like to use a roughly 1:1 fruit-to-liquid ratio. So my typical smoothie is 1 cup apple juice, 1 cup soy milk, and 2 cups fruit. This produces a nice consistency, not too thick and not too runny. You can adjust this up or down depending on your personal preference.
  6. Yogurt makes for a smoother smoothie. Adding just a few tablespoons of yogurt to your smoothie will produce a much smoother and silkier consistence. Seriously. Just a few tablespoons make all the difference. I use plain yogurt, which you can get a giant honkin container of at Costco for just $4. Of course, you may prefer to use fruity Yoplait or something like that. And I do that sometimes as well – often times, the grocery store will price plain yogurt higher than fruit yogurt. Either works fine.
  7. Avoid store-bought “smoothie mix” and instead buy your fruit separately. Most stores sell bags of fruit called “smoothie blend” or “smoothie mix.” This fruit is usually priced much higher than if you’d buy the fruit separately. On top of that, these blends are often heavy on the cheaper fruits and low on the more expensive fruits. Use the mixes as a guide in telling you which fruits go well together, but buy them separately.
  8. When selecting fruit, use at least 1 cup of inexpensive, fiber-filled “base” fruit. Berries are expensive. And to my palate, a smoothie with one cup of berries doesn’t taste much different than a smoothie with 2 cups of berries. That’s why I like to make sure that 1/2 of my smoothie fruit is either mango or peaches, which are two of the less expensive frozen fruits. These fruits are high in fiber and mix well with others. And, like apple juice, neither has an overpowering taste.
  9. Flax seeds add fiber and health benefits, but grind them first. Adding a couple tablespoons of flax seed to your smoothie adds a ton of health benefits. According to Wikipedia,

    Flax seeds contain high levels of lignans and Omega-3 fatty acids. Lignans may benefit the heart, possess anti-cancer properties and studies performed on mice found reduced growth in specific types of tumors. Flax seed may also lower cholesterol levels, especially in women. Initial studies suggest that flaxseed taken in the diet may benefit individuals with certain types of breast and prostate cancers.

    One caveat, though – if you choose to add flax seeds, grind them in the blender before adding anything else. I’ve read that the human body isn’t great at digesting flax, and you maximize their benefit by first grinding the seeds.

  10. Do-it-yourself “boosts” with protein powder. Being a physically active vegetarian, I like to keep tabs on my protein intake. I find that adding a scoop of whey protein powder helps me meet my daily protein goal. A caution, though – protein powder is usually flavored, and this flavor is strong enough to overtake the entire smoothie. I haven’t yet found a powder that blends nicely into the background. If I find one, I’ll update this article. (And if you know of one, please let me know.)
  11. Loading the blender – add the liquid first. OK, now that you’ve read the above, you’re ready to get-a-blendin’. Add the liquid to your blender first, then add the fruit. I have to admit, this is counter-intuitive to me; to me, it seems that you should add the big stuff first, because that’s the stuff you want blended. Nope. Most blender manufacturers recommend adding the liquid first, and after much experimentation, I’ve found that this works best. (Of course, if you’re adding flax seeds, grind them first, then add the liquid, then add your fruit.)

I hope these tips help you down the path to Smoothie Chefdom. If you come up with any great recipes, please share them in the comments here, or in the Eddie on Everything forums.

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]]> http://www.eddieoneverything.com/recipes/a-how-to-guide-to-making-fruit-smoothies-at-home.php/feed 5 How To Fix Your Kindle 2 When It Won’t Charge http://www.eddieoneverything.com/how-to/how-to-fix-your-kindle-2-when-it-wont-charge.php http://www.eddieoneverything.com/how-to/how-to-fix-your-kindle-2-when-it-wont-charge.php#comments Tue, 26 Jan 2010 01:30:06 +0000 eddie http://www.eddieoneverything.com/?p=536 Egad! My Kindle stopped charging!

I settled in to bed the other night and grabbed my Amazon Kindle, looking to pick up where I left off in The Hades Factor. I was met with a familiar “Your battery is running low” message, so I plugged the Kindle in to the charger for the night and instead settled in with an old-fashioned, low-tech, printed-on-dead-trees style book.

The next morning, I unplugged my should-have-been-fully-charged Kindle & sat down to read the morning paper, only to be met with the “your battery is CRITICAL error!” Zoinks! For some reason, despite being plugged in all night, my Kindle had not charged!

I quickly ran to my computer & attached the Kindle. My Windows XP PC popped up that dreaded “USB Device Not Recognized” balloon. “It’s OK,” I thought. “It’ll be OK. I’ll just power the Kindle off by holding the power on/off slider for 15 seconds, and I’ll check back later.”

I returned later and … No dice! The Kindle was still not charging!

Thankfully, I was able to find a solution to this problem. (Whew!) After searching for things like “Kindle reset,” “Kindle hard reset,” and “Kindle soft reset,” I learned that while the Kindle 1 can be reset with a paper clip, or by using the Shift-Alt-R trick, these methods didn’t work on the Kindle 2.

I eventually came across a page that relayed a tip by Amazon Kindle Tech Support. I followed these steps, and within a couple of hours, I was back in action.

How to reset your Kindle when it won’t charge

1. Slide the power button and hold it for 30 sec.

2. Release and wait for 20 sec until the screen begins to flash.

3. As soon as it does, plug in the power and keep it connected for 2 hours.

Big thanks to The Epistemist for pointing me in the right direction. Now, back to my Robert Ludlum book…

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]]> http://www.eddieoneverything.com/how-to/how-to-fix-your-kindle-2-when-it-wont-charge.php/feed 50 How to extend the life of your disposable razor blades http://www.eddieoneverything.com/deals/how-to-extend-the-life-of-your-disposable-razor-blades.php http://www.eddieoneverything.com/deals/how-to-extend-the-life-of-your-disposable-razor-blades.php#comments Sun, 20 Dec 2009 20:56:25 +0000 eddie http://www.eddieoneverything.com/?p=489 Razor blades are expensive. At an average cost of roughly $2.50 per “premium” blade (such as Schick Quattro or Gillette Fusion), a well-groomed man can easily spend hundreds of dollars on replacement blades each year.  Thankfully, there are a few things you can do to maximize the life of your razor blades. In fact, I think I’ve discovered the perfect solution.

First, a note:  Don’t buy razor blades on eBay

Whatever you do,  do NOT buy replacement blades from eBay!  (Ever!)  Razor blades are a popularly counterfeited item, and, more often that not, the blades that you get from eBay will be fakes.  These fakes are of very poor quality and will tear the hair right out of your face.  I’ve been burned by this one before; believe me, you’d be better of shaving with Fred Flintstone’s clam than you would a counterfeit razor blade.  If you see a deal on blades that looks too good to be true, it almost certainly is.

Think about it – if Walmart and Target, two of the largest retailers in the world, don’t have the buying power to get blades at a rock-bottom price, how does some guy on eBay have that pull?  The answer is, he doesn’t.  He is selling counterfeit blades, either knowingly or unknowingly.

A number of sites have info on spotting fake blades.  Save yourself the hassle and only buy blades from reputable retailers.

Razor blades get dull

All sharp edges dull with use.  It’s science.  That’s why expensive knife sets come with honing tools.  With a disposable razor blade, however, it’s not possible to re-sharpen the blade.  That’s why your course of action is to  fight off a sharp edge’s other enemy – moisture.

Water rusts your blades

Water causes oxidation, or rust, to develop on your blade. This rust dulls the sharp edge of your razor.  A  blade left damp with water will slowly rust away, thus dulling the cutting edge.  The single best method to extend the life of your blade is to never get it wet.  Of course, that’s not practical, so you could instead try drying your blade after each use.   Unfortunately, with today’s advanced four and five-blade designs, that’s often easier said than done.  Fortunately, there’s an even better way.

The best anti-dulling tool in your keep-sharp arsenal: Rubbing alcohol

If you want to keep your blades sharp for as long as possible, keep a small jar of rubbing alcohol in your bathroom and wash the blade with the alcohol after each use.  I use a high-percentage concentration (93%) and simply swish the blade around in the jar after each use.  This helps to clean the blade, removes excess water, and allows the blade to dry much more quickly, free of those pesky water molecules.

I have seen some people recommend storing your blade in an alcohol solution, but I don’t recommend this approach.  Today’s blades contain carefully positioned moisture strips with which the alcohol will interact, causing them to warp and distort the face of your blade, leading to a very shoddy shave. (Trust me, I’ve been there.)  The best technique is to simply swish the blade around, then place it in a drawer, where it’ll be safe from water and water vapor, until your next use.

Using this technique I have extended the life of my razor blades a bit. (I think.)

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]]> http://www.eddieoneverything.com/deals/how-to-extend-the-life-of-your-disposable-razor-blades.php/feed 1 How to fix the cursor ball on a Blackberry 8830 http://www.eddieoneverything.com/how-to/how-to-fix-the-cursor-ball-on-a-blackberry-8830.php http://www.eddieoneverything.com/how-to/how-to-fix-the-cursor-ball-on-a-blackberry-8830.php#comments Fri, 13 Nov 2009 23:48:29 +0000 eddie http://www.eddieoneverything.com/?p=252 I have an 8830 World Edition phone. The problem is that the ball cursor doesn’t work that well when I scroll.

I searched for some answers to this problem and was able to find a few tips.

Here are a few ways to fix the problem:

  • Press down firmly on the ball and roll it to the left and right. This will help dislodge anything that may be stuck underneath.
  • Try taking the trackball out and see if you can blow out the debris underneath. Simply pry off the silver ring from the bottom.
  • If these steps fail, you may have to replace the track ball and ring. New track rings and balls sell on eBay for about $10.

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