The Old Farmer's Almanac 2015 (39 page)

TYPES OF FAT

One way to minimize your total blood cholesterol is to manage the amount and types of fat in your diet. Aim for monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats; avoid saturated and trans fats.

• Monounsaturated fat
  lowers
  LDL
  (bad cholesterol) and may raise HDL (good cholesterol) or leave it unchanged; found in almonds, avocados, canola oil, cashews, olive oil, peanut oil, and peanuts.
  
• Polyunsaturated fat
  lowers
  LDL
  and may lower HDL; includes omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids; found in corn oil, cottonseed oil, fish such as salmon and tuna, safflower oil, sesame seeds, soybeans, and sunflower oil.
  
• Saturated fat
  raises both
  LDL
  and
  HDL
  ; found in chocolate, cocoa butter, coconut oil, dairy products (milk, butter, cheese, ice cream), egg yolks, palm oil, and red meat.
  
• Trans fat
  raises
  LDL
  and lowers
  HDL
  ; a type of fat common in many processed foods, such as most margarines (especially stick), vegetable shortening, partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, many commercial fried foods (doughnuts; french fries), and commercial baked goods (cookies, crackers, cakes).
  

HOW MUCH DO YOU NEED?

WALLPAPER

Before choosing your wallpaper, keep in mind that wallpaper with little or no pattern to match at the seams and the ceiling will be the easiest to apply, thus resulting in the least amount of wasted wallpaper. If you choose a patterned wallpaper, a small repeating pattern will result in less waste than a large repeating pattern. And a pattern that is aligned horizontally (matching on each column of paper) will waste less than one that drops or alternates its pattern (matching on every other column).

To determine the amount of wall space you’re covering:

• Measure the length of each wall, add these figures together, and multiply by the height of the walls to get the area (square footage) of the room’s walls.
  
• Calculate the square footage of each door, window, and other opening in the room. Add these figures together and subtract the total from the area of the room’s walls.
  
• Take that figure and multiply by 1.15, to account for a waste rate of about 15 percent in your wallpaper project. You’ll end up with a target amount to purchase when you shop.
  
• Wallpaper is sold in single, double, and triple rolls. Coverage can vary, so be sure to refer to the roll’s label for the proper square footage. (The average coverage for a double roll, for example, is 56 square feet.) After choosing a paper, divide the coverage figure (from the label) into the total square footage of the walls of the room you’re papering. Round the answer up to the nearest whole number. This is the number of rolls you need to buy.
  
• Save leftover wallpaper rolls, carefully wrapped to keep clean.
  

INTERIOR PAINT

Estimate your room size and paint needs before you go to the store. Running out of a custom color halfway through the job could mean disaster. For the sake of the following exercise, assume that you have a 10×15-foot room with an 8-foot ceiling. The room has two doors and two windows.

For Walls

Measure the total distance (perimeter) around the room:

(10 ft. + 15 ft.) × 2 = 50 ft.

Multiply the perimeter by the ceiling height to get the total wall area:

50 ft. × 8 ft. = 400 sq. ft.

Doors are usually 21 square feet (there are two in this exercise):

21 sq. ft. × 2 = 42 sq. ft.

Windows average 15 square feet (there are two in this exercise):

15 sq. ft. × 2 = 30 sq. ft.

Take the total wall area and subtract the area for the doors and windows to get the wall surface to be painted:

As a rule of thumb, one gallon of quality paint will usually cover 400 square feet. One quart will, cover 100 square feet. Because you need to cover 328 square feet in this example, one gallon will be adequate to give one coat of paint to the walls. (Coverage will tie affected by? the porosity and texture of the surface. In addition, bright colors may require a minimum of two coats.)

Metric Conversion

If you know the U.S. measurement and want to convert it to metric, multiply it by the number in the left shaded column (example: 1 inch equals 2.54 centimeters). If you know the metric measurement, multiply it by the number in the right shaded column (example: 2 meters equals 2.18 yards).

Lasting Words

THE GOLDEN RULE

(It’s true in all faiths.)

Brahmanism:
This is the sum of duty: Do naught unto others which would cause you pain if done to you.

Mahabharata 5:1517

Buddhism:
Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.

Udana-Varga 5:18

Christianity:
All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them; for this is the law and the prophets.

Matthew 7:12

Confucianism:
Surely it is the maxim of loving-kindness: Do not unto others what you would not have them do unto you.

Analects 15:23

Islam:
No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself.

Sunnah

Judaism:
What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow man. That is the entire Law; all the rest is commentary.

Talmud, Shabbat 31a

Taoism:
Regard your neighbor’s gain as your own gain and your neighbor’s loss as your own loss.

T’ai Shang Kan Ying P’ien

Zoroastrianism:
That nature alone is good which refrains from doing unto another whatsoever is not good for itself.

Dadistan-i-dinik 94:5–courtesy Elizabeth Pool

FAMOUS LAST WORDS

Waiting, are they? Waiting, are they? Well—let ’em wait. (To an attending doctor who attempted to comfort him by saying, “General, I fear the angels are waiting for you.”)

–
Ethan Allen, American Revolutionary general, d. February 12, 1789

A dying man can do nothing easy.

–
Benjamin Franklin, American statesman, d. April 17, 1790

Now I shall go to sleep. Good night.

–
Lord George Byron, English writer, d. April 19, 1824

Is it the Fourth?

–
Thomas Jefferson, 3rd U.S. president, d. July 4, 1826

Thomas Jefferson—still survives...(Actually, Jefferson had died earlier that same day.)

–
John Adams, 2nd U.S. president, d. July 4, 1826

Friends, applaud. The comedy is finished.

–
Ludwig van Beethoven, German-Austrian composer, d. March 26, 1827

Moose ... Indian...

–
Henry David Thoreau, American writer, d. May 6, 1862

Go on, get out—last words are for fools who haven’t said enough. (To his housekeeper, who urged him to tell her his last words so she could write them down for posterity.)

–
Karl Marx, German political philosopher, d. March 14,
1883

Is it not meningitis?

–
Louisa M. Alcott, American writer, d. March 6, 1888

How were the receipts today at Madison Square Garden?

–
P. T. Barnum, American entrepreneur, d. April 7, 1891

Turn up the lights, I don’t want to go home in the dark.

–
O. Henry (William Sidney Porter), American writer, d.
June 4, 1910

Get my swan costume ready.

–
Anna Pavlova, Russian ballerina, d. January 23, 1931