H.O.W. to Remember

If you're a subscriber to H.O.W. Now News, you know that we will start a new service in April.  H.O.W. to Remember will Tweet reminders of those tasks that you know that you should do/mean to do/have a V-8 moment when you think about them.  You know, it's all of that stuff that you just don't want clogging up your calendar and are contained on some to-do list...somewhere.  Wherever possible, the Tweet will link to how-to or product information to help get the job done.

We've developed a list of those things, but want to make sure that we hit everything that we can to help a sista out.  We also want to be able to be a resource for those who really don't want to sign up for yet another site (Twitter).  This area of the blog is where a list of these chores will reside, by month.  Since the length of a Tweet is sometimes a challenge, all links to helpful info will be stored here.  This is also the place where you guys can suggest tasks to add to the Tweet schedule, as well as share any great shortcuts and time or money savers related to the task at hand.

Follow us or mark the blog as a favorite so you don't miss a trick - who needs an elephant when you have the H.O.W. nation!

                                  

HTR 1-Now's the time, if you plan to plant anything, take a soil sample to make sure you're ready. (4/1/10)
HTR 2 - Is your mascara more than 3 months old? Bacteria buildup & whatnot could be lurking. Change it now & we'll remind you in 3 months! (4/2/10)
HTR 3 - Take an hour and clean out the fridge-Easter dinner leftovers. Don't forget the fresh box of baking soda (old one down the drain). (4/3/10)
HTR 4 - Can your car see clearly now? Change those windshield wipers! We'll remind you again in 6 months. (4/7/10)
HTR 5 - Great evening to welcome hummingbirds to the world of you. It only takes a minute. http://howtv.tv/Humm_Along.html (4/8/10)
HTR 6 - Probably okay to take hibernating outdoor plants back outside-season’s early this year, and what a way to finish out the day! (4/14/10)

HTR 7 - It's about that time, so get ready plant.  Now's the time to work tilling into  your toils this week. (4/19/10)

H.O.W. Now

Responsiveness is our battle cry!  We tend to get bogged down in the edit bay, so here's where we get on your requests as expeditiously as possible (I can't help it, like big words-Scrabble freak too).  Check back lots - we'd love to get your take on the questions from the Hands On Nation.


10/28/10 - Hands On Woman Carol:  "Just learned that we can prevent many transmission problems by having our transmission fluid changed periodically.  Wish I had known this."

10/29/10 - The next channel that we want to add to H.O.W. TV is automotive.  Between the way women are typcially treated when it comes to auto maintenance/repairs and the fact that we really can do a bunch of that stuff ourselves, this is a great category for Hands On Women.  In the meantime, this is a pretty informative write up:
How Often Should Automatic Transmission Fluid Be Changed


03/13/10 - Hands On Woman Susie asks:  "I would like advice on buying a hedgetrimmer, tired of the scissor type, too much work. I would also like advice on buying a hand-held steam cleaner- do they really work that well?"

03/16/10 - Well Susie, while we haven't run a product test of the hedge trimmers out there, I can say that we have given the Worx® Hedge Trimmer a workout.  I absolutey loved using it last season.  I'm overdue on the product review of the Worx® yard tools, so I'll get right on that.  You can take a look at the brief demo from the Hardware Show.  It is a really lightweight trimmer and it does a beautiful job.



As to the handheld steam cleaner, in my prior life, I had cause to test every steamer that I could find.  As a caveat, I have to say, this has been about 6 years ago, so some great product may be out there that we haven't tried.  So, steamers are gonna be our first category review.  That being said, I didn't find them particularly effective on cleaning grease (range hoods, grills, etc.), nor was I tickled with less than sparkling results on glass (soap scum or not).  Don't get me wrong - it gets clean, but I didn't find it as effortless as it appears on tv.  I did have great success cleaning the grout on floor in our sun room.  Stuff looked like new!  If disinfecting is your goal, I think this is the way to go.  Now, it's not like I've got a way to test for germs or whatever, but the concept makes sense.  If there any brands that you want us to make sure to try, post it!  Hope this helps, Susie.

The Premier of the new H.O.W. TV

After a year and a half of listening and tweaking - the new H.O.W. TV has arrived!  The search engine is more robust, the site is easier to navigate and we are fired up and ready to go!  Another cool addition is that we can now link relavent videos to articles.  As you know, there's often a lot more helpful info on a subject than makes good video.  We are able to give you all of the info, without having to make you click all over the place to get it.  One more thing,  the Fingernail Rating System.

Fingernail Rating System

Okay, here's how it works.  The more fingernails we are able to keep intact while doing a project, the happier we are with the project.  Since a lot of intact fingernails is a good thing, the more of them a product gets in a review, the better we like the product.  5 whole fingernails rocks...5 broken fingernails sucks.  There you go - the key to what we think is worth doing or buying. 

Visit H.O.W. TV 2.0 and let us know what you think!  If you like, sign up for the newsletter - we try not to be a nuisance with that, so we only publish when there's something really importat to say.  Happy H.O.W.ing!