Life Style

Prepare to spend the day avoiding mirrors, ladders, and walking over drains because the unluckiest day of the year is here.That's right, this Friday will coincide with the 13th of October, a day long associated with bad luck and superstition, and perhaps second only in the spooky states after Halloween.Often fodder for horror films (there are an impressive 12 slasher movies in the Friday the 13th franchise), the day is riddled with creepy goings-on and superstitious behaviour.Yet it's not just the stuff of Hollywood legend — hotels have often gone to great lengths to remove “room 13s”, while many tall buildings lack a 13th floor and some planes don't have a row 13.But where does our superstition around this particular date, known as paraskevidekatriaphobia, come from? And why are we so afr...

If you’re looking for the Connections answer for Wednesday, October 11, 2023, read on—I’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Beware, there are spoilers below for October 11, NYT Connections #122! Read on if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Connections game.If you want an easy way to come back to our Connections hints every day, bookmark this page. You can also find our past hints there as well, in case you want to know what you missed in a previous puzzle.Below, I’ll give you some oblique hints at today’s Connections answers. And farther down the page, I’ll reveal the themes and the answers. Scroll slowly and take just the hints you need!Nope, today’s words are common ones and pretty much mean what they say.Here ar...

Once you’ve invested in the necessary supplies, washing your car yourself—as opposed to taking it to a car wash—can save you money. But beyond that, it also gives you more control, allowing you to spend additional time on especially filthy areas, or be extra gentle on delicate parts that may have seen better days.But if you’re not using the right soap, cloths, and techniques to wash your car, you may end up damaging it in the process. Here are a few examples of things you shouldn’t do when washing your car at home.Though it might seem like all washing a car involves is filling a bucket with water, adding any kind of liquid soap, washing the car with a rag, and rinsing it with a hose, it’s not quite that straightforward. It’s not that it’s a particularly difficult task, but small decisions ...

If you’re looking for the Connections answer for Sunday, October 8, 2023, read on—I’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Beware, there are spoilers below for October 8, NYT Connections #119! Read on if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Connections game.If you want an easy way to come back to our Connections hints every day, bookmark this page. You can also find our past hints there as well, in case you want to know what you missed in a previous puzzle.Below, I’ll give you some oblique hints at today’s Connections answers. And further down the page, I’ll reveal the themes and the answers. Scroll slowly and take just the hints you need!Yes, and in some cases it’s local knowledge. Several of the words on today’s board ...

Stopping at a gas station to refuel your car is inconvenient—especially when you have to wait for a pump, or drive out of your way to find somewhere to fill up. So, in order to get the most out of a tank of gas, you may opt to top it off after the pump stopped. But according to experts at Consumer Reports and the American Automobile Association (AAA), squeezing a few extra drops into your tank is a bad idea. Here’s what to know.Even if you’ve been topping off your gas tank for decades without a problem, automotive experts have identified three reasons why you might want to break that habit:“There’s a lot more going on in a car’s fuel tank than just a tank,” says John Ibbotson, Consumer Reports’ chief mechanic. “Fuel systems have become more sophisticated over time to keep up with increasin...

From water bottles to bike computers, there’s a ton of cool bike gear on sale during Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days—provided you haven’t spent every last dime on your bike, of course.Whether you’re a dedicated lifetime cyclist or a total newb, here are some bike-centric deals you can check out during Amazon’s latest sale event. Screenshot: AmazonWinter is coming, but snow and cold are not excuses to stop training, especially when you can pick up this Garmin Tacx Boost Trainer, an indoor bike trainer, for half price: $149, down from $299. It sets up easily, and the 675 x 650 mm footprint takes up way less space than a dedicated stationary bicycle. And you still get 10 levels of resistance, a flywheel for realistic feel, and a magnetic brake. Best of all, it lets you can train on your actual b...

Photo: simon jhuan (Shutterstock)Given how much time we spend interacting with coworkers either in person or virtually, various relationship and dynamics are bound to emerge. Sometimes colleagues can become genuine friends; other times, those relationships can turn out to be toxic or manipulative. Another common dynamic is the workplace rivalry. In a 2020 survey by ResumeLab, roughly 82% of participants said they’ve experienced competition with a colleague. And while we may think of rivalries as something negative, of the employees surveyed, nearly 70% of those who’ve had a rival at work saw it as healthy competition. If you’ve found yourself with a workplace rival, here’s how to make the most of that relationship.When it comes to rivalry between colleagues at work, it’s all about finding ...

When it comes to kitchen tools and other household items that are past their prime, people typically fall into one of two camps: Those who throw something away as soon as they notice some type of flaw, and replace it with something new; and those who continue to use the old item as long as possible, then buy a new one, but hang on to the old one “just in case.”Of course, a lot depends on the condition of the kitchen tool—especially whether it’s still fit to be used to cook with—but unless an item is truly, completely broken, there’s a good chance you can repurpose it somewhere else in your home or garden. Here are a few examples.Instead of throwing out kitchen tools that have seen better day, use your imagination to come up with ways you can reuse them in other parts of your home, garage, ...

Image: Product image courtesy of AmazonAmazon’s Prime Big Deal Days are here, and while everything from Pelotons, to laptops are discounted, the best Prime Day deals are always on Amazon’s own devices. This October, it’s no different: Right now, you can get the latest Kindle Paperwhite for $94.99 (normally $139.99)—the cheapest price it’s been all year and the best deal among all of the Kindle e-readers currently discounted for Prime Big Deal Days.This Kindle Paperwhite is the 8 GB version of the black and white e-reader. It includes ads and doesn’t come with a trial of Kindle Unlimited, though you can modify those options and still get a good discount (for example, you can double your memory to 16 GB for just $5 more). Keep in mind that unless you plan to upload audiobooks to your Paperw...

If you’re looking for the Connections answer for Monday, October 9, 2023, read on—I’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Beware, there are spoilers below for October 9, NYT Connections #120! Read on if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Connections game.If you want an easy way to come back to our Connections hints every day, bookmark this page. You can also find our past hints there as well, in case you want to know what you missed in a previous puzzle.Below, I’ll give you some oblique hints at today’s Connections answers. And further down the page, I’ll reveal the themes and the answers. Scroll slowly and take just the hints you need!Nothing too specialized, but I feel like younger solvers might benefit from watchin...