NEW CARD GAME – How to Play CRAZY

Want to learn a new card game?  One that’s easy to learn to play?  When I joined a local social club, the members were playing a game called “Crazy”, and now my group of friends get together most weekends to socialize and have some ‘Crazy’ fun.

Crazy is fast, fun and can be played with any number of people from 4 to 8.  If you had to, you could even squeeze in 1 or 2 more.

You play it with 2 decks for 4 players, 3 decks for 5 or 6 players and 4 decks for more than 6.  You also use 2 jokers per deck.

This game resembles Gin Rummy, but there are a few rules that differ.

To start the game, one of the players deals a card face up to each player.  High card deals.  In case of a tie, the players tied get another card until the tie is broken.  The high card is the dealer, and deals 10 cards to each player.

The reason this is called ‘Crazy’, is that the cards can be dealt any way the dealer wishes…forward, backwards, any number at a time to any player, any way you want to until each player gets 10 cards.  Each person counts their cards face down, and if there is a mis-deal to anyone, the dealer either takes back, or deals more cards until each player gets 10 cards.

The dealer then determines the wild card, by turning over, or cutting the cards.  So, if a 5 of spades is selected, ALL fives are wild regardless of suit.  Jokers are also wild.  If a Joker is selected, only Jokers are wild.

The players pick up their cards and sort their hands.  Runs must be a minimum of 3 cards, and must be the same suit.  Sets must be a minimum of 3 cards, which must be all different suits.   No sets or runs are played until the end of the hand.

The player to the left of the dealer draws off the deck.  If the deck is split so it’s easier for the players at the ends of the table to reach, any player can draw a card of either stack when it’s their turn.

The player can either keep the drawn card and discard another card into the middle of the table, or can discard the drawn card.  If a player discards a wild card by mistake, all the other players immediately stand up and give him/her a round of applause.

Cards cannot be picked up from the discard pile.  They are now dead.

Play continues around the table.  You do NOT have to wait until the player before you has drawn and discarded…you can draw a card ahead of time, so when it’s your turn to play, you will already know which card to discard.  HOWEVER, don’t put the drawn card in your hand.  Look at it, but leave it face down on the table in front of you.  If you do put it in your hand, and a player ahead of you goes ‘Out’, you have to count all of the cards in your hand.

As soon as a player can lay down ALL 10 of his/her cards by making runs or sets, and still have a discard, the hand is over.  All the other players then lay down whatever sets or runs that they have.  The rest of the cards are then counted…10s and faces are worth 10, Aces are 1, and the rest are face value.  Wild cards, including Jokers, are 0.

One player keeps score…players names across the top, and the scores beneath their names.

The game is to 100.  When a player goes over 100, he/she can ‘Buy Back In’ at the next highest player’s score.   The game ends when all the players go over 100 except one.  That player is the winner.

We play for ‘units’.  These ‘units’ can be matchsticks, tokens, chips or (I hope I don’t get in trouble by suggesting this) cash.

The game costs 3 ‘units’ to play.  The first ‘Buy Back In’ is free, succeeding ones cost 2 ‘units’.

A running tally is calculated at the end of each game.

Whoever wins the first game, is the dealer for the next game.

A fun night with good friends… a few drinks… perhaps a snack… and a few games of Crazy. 

Ah…life is good!

Beginning Musician – How to Sing and Play Along On Your Guitar

OK...you are a beginning musician.  You love to sing along with the radio.  Recently you got a guitar, and learned to play a few chords.  Now you would like to sing along while you play.

But there are so many songs that you love...and you don’t know how to start. 

Here’s how.

Simply choose a simple, older song that you know all of the words to.  I learned by singing and playing the old country song, “Please Release Me”.  It’s a slow, simple song that sounds good.  I still play it at just about every party and gig where I perform.

Type the words out.  I use MS WORD because I want to get the song’s words as large as possible, and I can do this using MS WORD.  This is how...after typing out the entire song, highlight it (Ctrl-A), then, using the scrollbar at the right of the page, scroll down to where the page ends.  It doesn’t matter where the text is at this time.  Then put your mouse over the down-arrow beside the font size, so the sub-menu showing all the font sizes appears.  If you put your mouse over these font sizes, the song text size will change accordingly.  Choose the font size that will fill the page, but not spill over into a second page, then click on it.

The reason I do this is so I can hand-write in where the chord changes are as I’m playing my guitar.  Print this page, 3-hole punch it and put it in a binder.  This binder will get thicker as you add to your repertoire.  My binder holds over 400 songs, and I’m still adding.

You probably already know that the pitch of the song is determined by the key that it is in.  A song sung in the key of C is lower in pitch than a song sung in the key of D.  You will have to experiment with the key to find which key is easiest for you to sing in for this particular song.  You will find that no two songs are the same, but, over time you will find that you sing MOST of the songs in a particular key, and that is where you start.  Also, some songs just sound better in a particular key than in another key due to the makeup of the chords within the key.

Most songs use 3 main chords within the key.  For example, in the key ‘C’ you will find the C, F and G chords.  The popular keys are A,C,D,E,and G.  So the chords you need to know are: A (A,D,E), C (C,F,G), D(D,G,A), E (E,A,B7), G(G,C,D).  In other words, you only have to learn 7 chords (A, B7, C, D, E, F, G) to play most songs.

See if you can play the song using the 3 chords within the key, and, using a pencil so you can change it if you need to, mark down on your printed sheet where the chord changes are.  Play the song over and over until you can sing it and make the chord changes effortlessly.

As you play, you might find that there are places in the song that the usual 3 chords just don’t fit.  Often, if you get a song that sounds almost right, you can experiment with the chord by adding your little finger on the upper strings, or removing a finger (often the 3^rd) will give you the chord that you want.  All of these chord changes produce a different chord, and all you have to do is go on-line and google a chord chart to see what they are called.  Pencil that chord into your song, and play it over and over so you will memorize it.  You will be adding to your chord repertoire this way and soon you will find other songs that the chord will fit into.

Most music stores will be glad to mark in the chords for you if you bring the lyrics to them, and tell them what key you would like to sing it in.  Google a free chord chart to learn how to finger any unfamiliar chords.

Before long, you’ll have enough songs to perform at parties to entertain your friends, then, someday, you’ll be asked to join a band, or to perform with one at some community event.  And who knows how far your talent can take you from there.  Maybe you will get to perform for thousands of people. 

I did, and this is how I started.

LAUNDRY SUGGESTIONS For The Single Man

When I found myself alone after a number of years, I had to learn a whole new set of skills.  I had always looked after the household maintenance chores…painting, repairing, wiring, lawn maintenance etc., but had no idea about the other chores like cooking, cleaning and laundering.  I hope that this article will help with one of these, namely, laundering.

All of my life I would take clothes out of my bureau, or my closet.  I would put them on and wear them, and they often got sweaty and dirty.  When this happened, I would toss them in a hamper in the hall.  Once a week, they would magically re-appear in my closet and bureau…clean and pressed.  All set for me to get them dirty all over again.

Somehow I didn’t associate these re-appearing clean clothes with my mother, and later, my wife.

So when I found myself alone, the bureau and closet empty, and the hamper in the hall overflowing (and that area of the hall starting to get a distinct odor), I decided that I had to take the bull by the horns and do some laundry.

I discovered that there is a plethora of information from a million sources in internet-land that try to help you.  Everybody and his mother have ideas.  Talk about information overload.

So I decided to do it my way, and, after some simple refinements, discovered that this is the way to do laundry the quickest and easiest.

First of all…get out all the shirts and pants that need to be pressed or dry-cleaned and give them away to the needy.  True Men Don’t Do Ironing and it’s a pain having to go to the dry-cleaners.  Instead, buy a new wardrobe of shirts and slacks that are perma-press.  So when they come out of the dryer, they are ready to wear…wrinkle-free and looking good.  Casual is IN.  You can pay for them from the money you saved by not using the dry-cleaner.

You are going to want to wash the clothes that you are wearing along with the other soiled clothes in the hamper.  When you strip down, you might as well take a shower (you’re naked anyway), and when you get out of the shower you’re going to want to step onto a clean floor mat, so you are going to want to wash the bathroom floor-mat, and the toilet mat first.  If you have a mat by the sauna or hot-tub, you might as well do them at the same time.  Turn the heat up because you are going to be naked for awhile.  I’ll explain later.

I know that you don’t need instructions on how to use the washer or dryer, because you’re a man and men are good with mechanical things.  Just a word of caution…don’t put in extra soap thinking that it will do a better job.  It doesn’t.  Not only are you wasting money, but you might have a mess to clean before you take your shower.  And you don’t need to add softener, unless you plan to lie on the mat on the bathroom floor.  More money saved.

When the mats finish washing, put them in the dryer.  Most mats have a rubber back that might melt if it gets too hot, so set the dryer on perma-press and let it get ‘just dry’.  When they are done, bring them, along with a couple of empty baskets, back to the bathroom and/or sauna/hot-tub area.

Put the mats back on the bathroom floor, pick up any towels and washcloths in there and toss them in the hamper.  Strip off your clothes and put them in there also.

Sorting the clothes is easy.

If it’s white, or close to it, put it in one hamper.  Put everything else in the other hamper.

Put the white stuff in the first load (if you have a lot of whites, divide in half and do 2 white loads).  Remember what happened when you used too much soap, so act accordingly.  This time, you are going to want to add some liquid softener.  Make those towels nice and fluffy.

Don’t have your shower yet, because the washer will use the hot water intermittently, and you’ll freeze your **s.  Wait until after the last washer load is done and in the dryer.  Shower while the last load is in the dryer, unless, of course, you just have a small hot water tank and there isn’t any hot water anymore.  If that’s the case, get out your hardware store catalogue and look up the price of a new, larger hot water tank while you are sitting there in the nude waiting for the water to heat back up.

When you put the clothes in the dryer, put in 2 or 3 of those ‘dryer balls’ that you can get cheap at the dollar store.  They make lots of noise, so you know the dryer is on and working, and your towels fluff up beautifully.  And don’t forget to toss in a couple of those scented sheets.  The ladies love the way they make the towels smell, and you’ll score lots of points if you can entice a lady into the shower (after you’ve replaced the hot water tank, of course).

Dump the clothes from the dryer onto the bed to sort and put away.  No problem with the perma press stuff…it looks so good it almost hangs itself.

Roll the underwear into a ball and put in a drawer side by side.  They probably are different colors anyway, and this makes it easy to pick out the black ones to put on after you’ve had your shower with the lady.

A really kool way to fold tee shirts is this.  Lay it down face up and neck to the right, on the bed.  With your right hand, pinch the tee on the shoulder seam, half way between the neck and the sleeve.  Eyeball an imaginary line from this point down the tee to the bottom hem.  With your left hand, pinch the tee about half way down this line.  Then, keeping the tee pinched, cross your right hand UNDER your left hand and pinch the tee at the bottom hem at the imaginary line.  Uncross your arms, shake it a little, and the tee will fold itself.  Pretty kool, eh?

Put your tees in the drawer, neatly folded.

Socks go side by side in another drawer, rolled into a ball and tucked together.  You know what I mean.  That way, you can instantly see which socks are which, so you won’t make the mistake of grabbing the top pair and finding that you are not color co-ordinated.  That’s NOT kool!

The water should be hot enough now to at least get a WARM shower, and you’ve earned it.

By the way…don’t forget to re-adjust the heat.

CARPET ART - A Fun, Easy Way to Earn Extra Cash

Would you like to make some extra money with a relatively unknown, inexpensive, fun project?  Consider making some Carpet Art!

What is Carpet Art?

Simply, Carpet Art is the art of making beautiful designs out of carpet scraps that can be either put on the floor or hung as tapestries.

I started by making unique, personalized floor mats for my family and friends, but there became such a demand for my Carpet Art that I was soon approached to make Carpet Art for money.

For example, my brother’s hobby is racing pigeons.  Where the pigeons are housed is called a loft, and he named his Legend Loft.

So, for a gift, I made a tapestry for his den wall that shows an image of a racing pigeon, wings outstretched, with Legend Loft emblazoned in a banner just above the bird.

He was thrilled!

Three other pigeon fanciers ordered one for their walls, and I made an easy $300.

Okay… so how is it done. 

Using scraps of carpet, you make a design in a larger piece of carpet by hot gluing pieces of scrap carpet into a larger carpet.  That’s it!  Simple, but oh…so effective!

You will need the following:

                A piece of carpet, color and size of your choice, with finished edge (more on this later). A selection of carpet scraps and pieces, color as desired (more on this later).

A hot glue gun and lots of clear hot glue.

Carpet scissors, known as duck-billed scissors (desired, but not necessary).

Knife with interchangeable razor type blades.  Lots of spare blades.

Pattern (more on this later)

Large (4X8 or so) work area.  A sheet of plywood on a table works well.

Push pins

Vacuum cleaner

If you can’t find a piece of carpet the size and color that you wish, that has edging sewed on, go to your local carpet store and ask where they get their carpet edging done.  If you can get a name and phone number, this person usually will have some large pieces, in the color that you want, that he will cut to size and finish by sewing on a matching edge tape, at a very reasonable price. 

To find scraps, ask the edge-finishing person first.  Then ask the carpet stores if they have scraps.  Ask if you can rummage through their garbage bin.  Look for the pieces wrapped in plastic, because they are new scraps, which is what you want, instead of the old carpet that was ripped up.  Find the colors that you want to make your design.  I don’t get concerned about the nap of the carpet, although a higher or lower nap than the main carpet makes the inserted design stand out.

You will need a pattern.  This can be a name or initials, company logo, design copied from wallpaper, etc.  Assuming you have a computer, use a scanner to digitalize your design, then use Photoshop to make it whatever size you want.  I will assume you are familiar with a scanner and Photoshop, if not, you will have to buy a scanner (they’re cheap) and google Photoshop to get tutorials on how to resize an image.  If it is over 8.5 X 11, use the crop tool to divide the image into a size that will fit on your paper, print, and then scotch-tape them together.

 A tip: to make large text letters, go to file/new and select the canvas size of the finished letter.  Then, using the text tool, select the letter size by highlighting the default size and typing in the new size.  A lot of folks don’t know that you can make letter sizes 200, 300 etc. Then crop, print and scotch-tape to make the letters whatever size you wish.  Cut out the pattern.

Turn the carpet on the table so it is nap side down.  Using push-pins, align the pattern on the carpet REVERSING THE PATTERN so it will be correct when the carpet is nap up.  Using the razor blade knife, and/or carpet scissors, cut out the carpet.  Keep the pattern pieces.

Using the pattern pieces, cut out using the scraps, nap side down.  Make sure the pattern is reversed, as before.

Tuck the scrap pattern pieces into the carpet holes.  Hot glue them into place.  Flip the carpet over, and, using the vacuum, pick up any bits of carpet and fluff the insert into place.  Now step back and admire your work. 

A bit of imagination and you can create absolutely gorgeous works of art.

Then sell them.

BEEF STEW for Heart Attack Patients

I had a heart attack a couple of months ago, which required triple-bypass surgery.  As I am a widower, I do all my own cooking.  This wake-up call caused me to re-assess my eating habits.  So instead of the junk-food that I had been living on, I now want to eat delicious, heart-healthy foods that are simple to prepare.  If they will last more than one meal, that’s a bonus that I like.

Frankly, my beef stew is not only heart-healthy and very delicious, but is very easy to prepare.

And you can freeze it in individual portions to thaw in the microwave and enjoy any time you wish a quick and easy, satisfying meal.  Just add a couple of slices of whole wheat bread and there you go.

While my beef stew is easy to make, it does take some time.  So allow about 3 hours or so of cooking time.  I start my stew at 2:00 to enjoy it for a 5:00 mealtime.

I look over the stewing beef chunks at the local supermarket trying to purchase a package that looks as lean as possible.  Then I use a paring knife and a carving board to cut away any bits of anything that isn’t meat.  This includes fat, gristle, etc.  I cut the chunks into smaller pieces about the size of the last joint of my thumb.

I use a large pot that has a lid and fill it 1/3 with hot water out of the tap.  I put in the beef chunks, put on the lid, and put it on the stove-top at ¾ heat.  Keep an eye on it for the next 15 minutes or so, and if it shows signs of boiling over, reduce the heat until it just simmers with the lid on.  At this time (after 15 minutes of boiling), use a spoon to scoop away any fats that have been boiled off and rose to the surface.  Beef fat is just not heart-healthy, but the beef itself is.

After about 2 1/4 hours of boiling (stirring occasionally), start preparing the vegetables.  Peel 2 to 3 medium sized white potatoes and cut them into bite-size chunks.  Add to the pot.  Peel and slice a medium cooking onion and plunk it in the pot together with a package of brown pre-sliced mushrooms.  Add any other vegetables you like.  I like slicing up 4 celery stems, opening a small can of kidney beans, taking frozen wax beans and slicing up a couple of carrots.  Into the pot they go.

Turn the heat back up until it boils, then turn down to a simmer, as before.  Leave the lid on. 

At this time, I add spices….but NO SALT!

I like to use some minced garlic (bottled … no preparation required), ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, ground vegetable seasoning, dried parsley and rosemary.

Finish cooking until the potatoes are easily pierced with a fork, then remove the stew pot from the heat.

If there is too much liquid left, I don’t want to dump it because it contains all sorts of nutritious ingredients, so I add some flour to thicken it up.

I eat what I want for supper (usually too much), and freeze the rest in individually sized tupperware containers.

That way, all I have to do is put the container in the microwave for 1 minute, to loosen it up so I can easily dump it in a bowl.  I microwave the bowl for a further 4 minutes to thaw and heat the stew.  Then off to the table for more eating enjoyment.

Oh, yeah… while the stew is cooking I prepare some jell-o pudding….the kind that is sugar-free.  I make it with skim milk for a heart-healthy dessert that compliments the stew perfectly.

Enjoy your meal!

About Me

Hello.  My name is Jim.  I have never used a blog before, so bear with me.

I am a widower, and have 3 children and 6 grandchildren.

I like writing, and now that I am retired, I have ample time to write articles about different topics that I am interested in.

I live alone with 2 cats, although I have a lovely girlfriend who visits with me most weekends, although she lives an hour away.  We enjoy playing cards with our friends, and just kicking around together.

I draw a small pension, and also have an on-line business.

I also like to dabble in Forex (foreign currency exchange).