Who Stole Family Hack?

By
Michael Davis
 		April 28, 2008

The little fucker.

OK…here’s the deal. We haven’t abandoned you. In fact, we love you all deeply. Really…especially you in the thong. That’ a good look for any guy.

But Hannah is knocked up again and for the past several weeks we’ve been scrambling around trying to get our crap in some reasonable order before she explodes. Which, according to people who know about such things, will be in about a month.

Now on to more important matters…TESTICLES! The new baby has a pair, so my world will be less pink and whiny…thank God! In fact, with the additional set of danglers, I’m declaring victory over these frilly broads. Sure, there may be three women in the family, but soon there will be FOUR glorious testicles. Clearly, the men win!

So, what does this mean to you, the loyal and sometimes drunken FamilyHack readers? Well, you’ll have to make do without our brand of internet pablum for a little while longer. After all, Hannah is busy building a mini-me and then I’ll be spending several weeks just staring at my new sons enormous package.

Of course, we’ll be back after the baby dust has cleared. In the meantime you’ll just have to focus on your heroin habit and that fancy new mullet you’ve been working on. It’ll go great with that thong you look so luscious in.

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Posted in Heard Around The House. 8 comments  

 

Completely Off Topic…
Singing His Face Off.

By
Michael Davis
 		April 23, 2008

I’m a sucker for a really good singer. The fact that Madonna is rich and famous and this guy is playing at the Temple Bar for a $5.00 cover charge is clear proof that life is unfair.

And no…I don’t know him. I just bumped into this and was knocked out. Here are some links to more of his stuff.
http://www.myspace.com/amirsoul
http://www.amirsmusic.net

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Posted in Heard Around The House. 1 comment  

 

More Tips For The Car…

By
Michael Davis
 		March 25, 2008

One of our brilliant readers, Jeanie Mellick, has some great car tips:

With each new car I buy the car it’s own set of “towels” that match the interior. I always keep one laid out covering the trunk area (large bath size) and then if any groceries spill, it just gets tossed in the laundry.  

I put hand towels on the floor for the kids muddy shoes/sports equipment/etc. They are very handy, and so much less costly than getting your upholstery cleaned.

Another trick I use is to just throw the Windex and paper towel roll in the car, and then clean windows, doors, etc. while waiting in the car pool line, etc. 

You can also keep a bag of “food stash” in the trunk to keep drive-through trips to a minimum. I keep packs of goldfish crackers, Gatorade, etc. so I can just give the kids something healthy rather than hit up McD’s for fat filled fake chicken!!
 
Finally, home schooling is saving $$$ big time on gas!

Do any of you have some good tricks to keep that damned car from gobbling up our time and money? Get your lazy butt to comment below or shoot us an email. We’d love to hear from you.

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Posted in Maintenance & Repairs and Stuff. 13 comments  

 

How the Wrong Color Car Is
Costing You Hours & Dollars.

By
Michael Davis
 		March 17, 2008

Family Hack's Urban Assault Vehicle

I’ve washed our car once in the last 3 years. It didn’t make any difference so I stopped. It turns out, we stumbled upon the holy grail of all car paint colors…”dirt”. Ok, technically, it’s called “Sahara Sand” but that’s just some marketing asshole’s name for “dirt”.

We owned the car for about a year when I began feeling guilty that I hadn’t washed it. I took it to the nearest car wash, spent $10.00 and an hour getting it cleaned up and no one noticed…not even me.

The lesson here is I bought a dirt colored car and accidentally found out it NEVER needs to be washed. It always looks the same…pretty good.

Granted, it’s not the sexiest beast on the road. But, I want to dry hump it every time I think of the hours and dollars it has saved me. Now, I just squeegee the windows when I fill it up with gas. That’s it…I’m done.

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Posted in Design and Stuff. 15 comments  

 

Escape 101: Sabbaticals Made Simple
An Interview with Author Dan Clements

By
Michael Davis
 		March 11, 2008

We recently had the opportunity to talk with Dan Clements about his terrific new book, “Escape 101: Sabbaticals Made Simple” It’s an inspiring and practical guide to taking a career break without losing your money or your mind. Here’s our interview with Dan.

Family Hack: Some jobs seem easier to “escape” from than others. What jobs would you choose to put in your Top 10 for easy escapism?

Dan Clements: I honestly don’t believe that it’s about the job – it’s about the mindset of the person doing the job that determines how easy it is to get away.

That being said, there are some jobs that lend themselves to portability, or to periodic downtimes:

Jobs with structured extended leave programs
Teachers
Career jobs at a companies with established sabbatical programs
Jobs with global demand
Doctors
Nurses
Portable work
Writing
Design
Programming
Any other web-based freelancing
Jobs with a defined end
Temp work
Contract work

There are many others, but these are the ones that always strike me as the easiest. A lot of these are easy because they let you take your work with you. Many people will prefer the idea of taking a complete break from work, but the trend towards mobile work lifestyles is definitely worth considering as an alternative way to escape.
Continue reading ‘Escape 101: Sabbaticals Made Simple
An Interview with Author Dan Clements‘

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Posted in Work, Books and Travel. 9 comments  

 

Diaper Alternatives:
What To Do About Doo Doo

By
Hannah Russell-Davis
 		March 3, 2008

cloth diapers

A new baby — one of the first thoughts that comes to mind is diapers. A minimum of two years of them. It’s one of the automatic expenses and hassles of modern child rearing. But, since we’re in the habit of questioning common assumptions, we have to ask the question: is there another way? Of course. Parents in other parts of the world and throughout history haven’t had the diapering, or even laundering options that we have. What do they do?

Elimination Communication

One of the answers is EC (i.e. elimination communication). I used to have a negative bias toward EC on the premise that it was simply early potty training — a throwback to the 1950s when our fore mothers were instructed to give solid foods at two weeks of age and potty train around the first birthday. Now I understand that EC is not so much about early potty training, but about not diaper training — an entirely different concept.

EC involves tuning into your baby’s elimination needs and trying to help them keep clean and dry through heightened parent-child communication, rather than simply putting something hyper-absorbant on them and forgetting it for a few years. While not everyone’s lifestyle can accommodate this method, it does make a lot of sense, and is a healthy option for babies and the earth. It is also possible to incorporate parts of this method into your baby’s life, even if you can’t do it completely. Check out the following books and links for more information.

BOOKS:
Diaper Free: The Gentle Wisdom of Natural Infant Hygiene
The Diaper-Free Baby: The Natural Toilet Training Alternative
Infant Potty Basics: With or Without Diapers–The Natural Way

LINKS:
Diaper Free Baby
Natural Family Online
Natural Wisdom

Cloth Diapers

Another baby-friendly, earth-friendly, and budget-friendly option is cloth diapering. Once you get the hang of it, washing diapers isn’t really that big a hassle — and you can also go with a diaper service if you really can’t handle that part. Check out the National Association of Diaper Services website to find a service near you.

Cloth diapering today needn’t involve the pins and plastic pants of our grandmothers experience. Velcro and snap-closure “diaper covers” or “wraps” allow you to diaper a squirmy little one without trying to use a sharp object at the same time. “All in one” cloth diapers, are as easy to use as disposables — you just don’t have to throw them away after one use! They even make disposable diaper liners that allow you to transfer the poopy mess to the toilet without any dunking — especially great if you cloth diaper while traveling.

All the cloth diapering options can be overwhelming at first. Fitted or flat? Velcro or snap? Sized or one size? Wool? Cotton? Hemp? Organic? And what the hell is a “pocket diaper?”. The good news is that with all the options out there, a little research will yield a cloth diapering system for almost any budget and lifestyle. You may not be able to save the world, but covering your child in something soft and comfy and not dumping thousands of diapers in a landfill is a good place to start. Check out the following links for more information on cloth diapers.

The Diaper Hyena
The definitive cloth diapering resource site: includes product reviews, diapering techniques, diaper-making information, and sources for WAHM-made cloth diapers.

Real Diaper Association
A non-profit organization providing cloth diapering support and education — an invaluable resource.

The Poop on Eco-Friendly Diapers
An article from Wired Magazine that delves into the good the bad and the ugly of disposable, cloth and the new “biodegradable” diapers, and the implications of their use in environment, health and business.

Mothering Magazine’s wonderful archive of cloth diapering articles.
Also check out mothering.com’s discussion forum for cloth diapering info from other parents.

The Diaper Pin
Product reviews, forums, and how-tos.

The Diaper Swappers
A forum for moms looking to buy/sell used and homemade diapers.

The Daily Unfinisher
A blog post recounting one woman’s “switch to cloth diapers”.

Where to Buy Cloth Diapers

Barefoot Baby
Wild Flower Diapers
Baby Kicks (specializing in natural hemp fiber products)
Katie Kisses
Baby Works
Baby’s Abode
Green Mountain Diapers

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Posted in Infants, Stuff, Parenting and Kids. 4 comments  

 

File Folder Travel Hack

By
Michael Davis
 		February 13, 2008

Video thumbnail. Click to play
Click to play

In this video I show you how I use a brilliantly designed and dirt cheap file holderto keep my active projects organized, in view and easy to retrieve. The system also makes working while traveling a breeze.

Product Link:
Rubbermaid File Folder Organizer

Have a good tip…we’d love to hear it.

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Posted in Work, Stuff and Travel. 3 comments  

 

Classroom To-Go:
Brain Builders for Kids on the Road.

By
Hannah Russell-Davis
 		February 7, 2008

Khymi in the car.

“Why do they call it homeschooling if we’re never home?”
— A favorite bumpersticker

I grew up (and was homeschooled) in a rural area, where it took an hour to get anywhere and an average of two hours to get the place you needed to go. My parents figured out in pretty short order that if we didn’t take advantage of our time in the car, I wasn’t going to have much in the way of formal education. Car time evolved into one of the most focused and structured part of my homeschooling life. In fact, I think one of my main motivations to get my driver’s license was to get away from algebra.

I’ll occasionally hear my homeschooling-parent friends lament a day of travel or errands as a day “lost” from homeschool. Of course, I find myself thinking “what are you talking about? That’s the best time to do schoolwork. Hey, the kids are strapped in; they can’t get away!” Of course, in all seriousness, homeschooling on the road does present challenges: reading and writing, probably the backbone of a lot of your school activities at home, are difficult, if not just impossible to accomplish in a moving vehicle; reading can cause carsickness, and writing with anything sharper than a crayon is probably a bad idea. But, if necessity is the mother of invention, these limitations should only inspire us to greater creativity. I’m firmly convinced that travel time is a great homeschool opportunity. Here are some good resources to jumpstart learning on the go.
Continue reading ‘Classroom To-Go:
Brain Builders for Kids on the Road.’

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Posted in Stuff, Parenting, School, Travel and Kids. 5 comments  

 

Linkworthy: January 28, 2008

By
Michael Davis
 		January 28, 2008

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Posted in Linkworthy, School and Travel. 1 comment  

 

A Simple Trick to Turbo Charge
Learning a Foreign Language.

By
Michael Davis
 		January 15, 2008

Video thumbnail. Click to play
Click To Play

This short video shows you a simple trick I use to “practice” a new language. If you have any trouble watching the video above, it’s also available on YouTube

UPDATE:
Our favorite way to learn a new language is by using the all-audio courses from Pimsleur. They are pricey, but they work.

You listen to a 30 minute lesson each day, then do the practice trick I spoke of in the video. Of course, audio won’t teach you to read so you’ll need another program if you need that. Here are links to the specific Pimsleur Spanishand French series’ we’ve used.

You can also see all the languages they offer and listen to a free lesson here.

What’s your favorite language learning program or trick? We’d love to hear your experiences.

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Posted in Stuff and Travel. 16 comments  

 
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Who Is Family Hack?

We are a family with two small kids figuring out how to travel the world, work from anywhere and home school our kids. We also blather on about life hacks, saving money and cool stuff we love. Snarky bios of each cast member are here.


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