Minimisation of Kitchen Clutter

Following on from Oven and Stove Cleaning tips from this Productivity blog:
https://optimise-performance.blogspot.com/2019/07/diy-cookware-bakeware-cleaning.html

Building upon this you can also go on to try and minimise some of your Kitchen Appliances (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_appliance) and hopefully reduce the clutter.

 

Kitchen Appliance	Possible Replacement
Toaster	Toast (or grill) bread in the oven.
Coffee Percolator	Prepare coffee on the stove top e.g. using a stove top percolator …
Sandwich Maker or Electric Frypan	Use stove (or oven) cookware … you can also use a grill press to push down sandwiches etc …
Slow Cooker	A pressure cooker is the (stove top) equivalent but needs to cook much faster ~ really depends on what you are cooking
Toaster Oven	I am personally not a big fan of these when you have ovens as fixtures.

 

These tend to work better for:

•     Single people or couples without children
•     Or if you are staying somewhere temporarily for up to a few weeks or months
  

You might have noticed I haven't tried to take away an electric kettle yet because as you can probably guess that is a bit harder to replace!

If you eat a fair bit of rice you'll also probably still need that rice cooker!

Tips for using Internet on Public Wi-Fi

 

This is of course for a POST – COVID 19 world of course – personal hygiene and social distancing needs to be applied!  

I’ve encountered a variety of Internet troubles from time to time in businesses that set up Wi-Fi networks for patrons e.g. cafes, motels, airport terminals etc …

• Traffic was too high – that might have been caused by you when you notice other patrons complaining of slow Internet once you get in!
• The Internet connection was outright not working
• Difficult in getting a suitable power point i.e. not in a good location, was used by somebody else etc …
• Noise - was sitting in a cafe but the pub with live entertainment also starts at 4pm in the next room... 
• Internet cutting in and out ... Microsoft products don't seem to recover as well as say Public Cloud products built on LAMP such as Facebook, Google etc ... 
• Other restrictions …
• …

This is might be expected as the proprietors of afore mentioned businesses are concentrating on their core businesses of hospitality / tourism etc … the Managing Directors of such business might not be all too concerned about being a Partner Internet provider!

Internet Cafe's (at least the ones that let you BYOD your own laptop) on the other hand are usually able to overcome these issues. 

It is true that re-selling Internet is more complex than simply getting Internet connected in your residence! Think security, load-balancing, high availability etc ... 

I actually ordered a $20 meal + drink once at a café in Epping, got my meal – went to go on the Internet and well it had stopped working some months ago! And I’m hearing more and more of these stories these days! 

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1. If you can't get the Internet around you more reliable or faster upgrade to ensure your laptop is not a (potential) bottleneck
2. Get a proper laptop stand
3. Use an external battery charger (if one is available for your laptop) and if costs permit a second battery
4. Set your laptop lock (also have a look at my other recent blog post) 

 

https://optimise-performance.blogspot.com/2020/06/tips-for-helping-you-set-your-laptop.html

 

In short, if you can't make the Internet around you faster or increase it's ubiquity all you can do is to try and iron out bottlenecks on your end!

 

Packing your Shopping Bags - tips from the Professionals!

There's a couple of rules across the Internet for those who never got trained as check-out people ~
and growing in more importance the more self-service (particularly for perishables) that gets rolled out!

https://www.wikihow.com/Bag-Groceries
https://www.theorderexpert.com/organizing-tip-how-to-pack-a-grocery-bag/
 

...

Don't omit your eggs and don't crack them either!

DIY ~ Flat-Packed furniture vs Regular Furniture

Flat pack furniture is definetely cheaper due to lower transportation costs, labour costs etc ... so definitely worthy of consideration if you are purchasing a reasonable amount of furniture (e.g. to furnish an apartment etc ...)

 
Flat-pack furniture being generally made in Asia does not use as good quality wood as is available in Australia - they can however still survive a few trips and a few screws going in and out of them.

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There is an upfront investment in tools though before you start getting returns:

There are a few of these around:
https://www.airtasker.com/blog/ikea-furniture-assembly-tips/
https://www.quora.com/What-tools-should-I-buy-to-install-IKEA-furniture

I have assembled this list to add to the above:

1. Screwdriver [Set]
2. Impact Driver
3. Hexagonal Key [Set]
4. Work Gloves
5. Hammer
6. Mallet
7. ...

Hang on to some of the packaging so you can tape it onto your furniture when you are assembling it to prevent it from being scratched as it is moved around ...

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Kitchen Appliances with Rechargeable Batteries

Adding to 

https://optimise-performance.blogspot.com/2020/06/minimisation-of-kitchen-clutter.html

Manufacturers do not make enough of these but I think they really assist with organsiation especially when you can charge them somewhere else other than the kitchen:

1. Freeing up sparse electrical outlets which in a kitchen can cross over water, hot stuff etc...
2. Not having to be inconvenienced with cords! 
   

Not to mention - you always need to be careful when cleaning appliances as water and electrical circuits don't mix! 

:(