Struggling with a problem? How to dream up a solution...

If there’s a nagging issue in your life keeping you up at night - you might just be able to turn that around and dream up a solution. 

Dr. Deirdre Barrett, author of “The New Science of Dreaming,” says dreams are capable of breaking down preconceptions that block our abilities to solve problems in our waking lives. Our dreams run a lot of useful data through our brains at warp speed and there are usually some answers in there just waiting to be harnessed.

You’ll need to do a little prep at bedtime. Write down a few words about the problem you’re trying to solve just before you go to sleep. Now relax and calmly consider the factors as you drift off. When you wake up, write down every detail you can remember from your dreams, even if they seem unrelated. It could take more than a few nights to train your brain to dream up solutions. It’s best to start on a weekend, with an easier problem before you try to tackle the big ones.

If you're planting bulbs this fall, these tips will help ensure spring success.

If you're getting ready to plant your fall bulbs, there are lots of critters who can't wait to dig them up. 

After you dig your nice deep holes, sprinkle some baby powder in there to keep them away. 

When buying your bulbs make sure they're, big, fat and firm. Smaller bulbs might not flower in their first year. The holes should be about three times as deep as the bulb itself. If you're not sure which side of the bulb should be up just put it in sideways the stem will find its own way to the surface in the spring.

Some of history’s greatest thinkers had some quirky routines. Their secrets revealed...

How did Ben Franklin start his day? In the buff. 

Mr. “early to bed, early to rise” spent an hour each morning reading and writing, in the nude. Here are some more quirky secrets to success:

• Beethoven started his day by making coffee - and counting. He insisted on using 60 beans per cup.

• French poet Victor Hugo liked eggs for breakfast, raw.

• Sigmund Freud had his barber trim his beard, every morning.

• Ernest Hemingway preferred to write standing up.

• Thomas Wolfe also wrote standing up, using the top of a refrigerator as his desktop. He was 6'6".

• German poet Friedrich Schiller claimed the smell of apples rotting in his desk drawer was the secret to stimulating his creativity.

• After dinner, Mark Twain would read the day's writing aloud to his family and ask for their feedback.

• Author Truman Capote couldn’t think unless he was lying down. He also couldn’t stand more than three cigarette butts in the ashtray.

• Stephen King writes every day of the year and aims for 2,000 words a day. It takes about five hours.

• Woody Allen gets in the shower, sometimes multiple times per day, to get his creative juices flowing. 

Playgrounds aren’t like they used to be. Why all the good stuff is gone...

What was your favorite feature on the playground as a kid? 

Chances are, it's not there anymore. Here are some playground classics now deemed too dangerous:

• See-saws: While you may spot a low-to-the-ground teeter-totter from time to time, the thrilling, splintered catapults of yore are long gone.

• Metal slide: Those towering, shimmering shoots are a thing of the past and have been replaced with lower, softer plastic models with curves or bumps to keep the speed down.

• Swing sets: They’re still there, but not nearly as tall. They’re also a lot harder to jump off of at peak altitude.

• The geometric dome: A favorite hazard for many, this fat lip tooth chipper is a rare relic.

• Merry-go-rounds ain't what they used to be.  Most can reach the necessary RPMs to hurl those with a weak grip onto the gravelly asphalt - which isn't there anymore either.

• Tether-ball: The thrill of jamming a finger or breaking a nose is gone from most modern playgrounds.

How are your conversation skills?

Do you struggle with small talk? 

Gretchen Rubin, author of “The Happiness Project,” has some tips to get your started and enhance your conversation skills:

• Comment on a topic common to both of you at the moment: the food, the room, the occasion or yes, the weather. Just be sure to keep it upbeat. You don’t want your first impression to be a negative one. 

• Google it: Go ahead and see what’s trending before you enter a social situation. You’ll be better prepared to chime in on that hot topic. 

• Ask an easy question: “What’s keeping you busy these days?” opens up the dialog to work, family or fun.

• Ask open questions that can’t be answered with a single word.

• Be SLIGHTLY inappropriate. If you’re good at it, that can ease tension and spark interest and conversation.

For those of you who are a little TOO good at conversation, avoid your favorite topics. Most of us naturally dominate in our areas of expertise and can alienate or bore others with a monologue.

We’re not the only animals with a sense of humor. Wild laughter...

If you have a dog, you can probably tell when it’s laughing. 

Scientists say the excited, unique noise many dogs make when you’re playing or when you come home is actually a form of wild laughter. Dogs aren’t the only animals amused. Rats laugh too. They let out high-pitched squeals when they play with each other. Monkeys make a panting sound, similar to a human laugh, when they’re fooling around. Dolphins and whales have also been recorded yucking it up underwater when they’re having fun.

We’d rather not think about it, but how we react in an active-shooter scenario could save our lives...

Law enforcement strategy has changed for mass-shooting incidents, and so should yours. 

William F. McCarthy, president of Threat Research, an international security-management consulting firm, says the traditional response in the past was to attempt to contain the shooter and possibly negotiate. However, in a mass-shooting scenario, the shooter or terrorist is typically willing to die and negotiation is not an option. He says first responders are now trained to go directly after the shooters, temporarily bypassing injured victims. Your response could save your life:

• Be aware. Distracted people are the most vulnerable. Pay attention to anything out of the ordinary. 

• Take action. If something seems unusual and suspicious, move to a safer area with more people, visible security or exits. If you hear the sound of gunfire, and can safely exit in the opposite direction, do it.

• Take cover. If exiting isn’t an option, look for a nearby "safe room" with a substantial door that locks. Place any large items against the door. If no safe room is accessible, take cover behind a barrier such as a concrete wall, steel elevator, escalator or a large plant container.

• Turn off any noise and silence your cell phone.

• Call for help. Call 911 or another emergency number. If possible, report what’s happening. If not, just leave the line open and let them listen.

• Stay hidden. Any movement may place you in a shooter’s line of fire or crossfire with police. Stay put until police declare an end to the incident.

• Do not open doors until you are sure it is safe. Be suspicious of any requests to open your security perimeter -- these could be coming from the shooter.

• Help others. In today’s environment, the injured typically will not be tended to until the shooter is captured or killed. Do what you can within your zone of safety.

You can download or print a booklet on active-shooter preparedness from Homeland Security at www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/active_shooter_booklet.pdf

Do you use toothpicks? Why your dentist does not approve...

Put down the toothpick - it can ruin your teeth. 

Toothpick use can become habit forming and you could be doing a lot more harm than good with them. Overuse can not only damage tooth enamel, bonding or veneers, they can cause injury to the gums and even wear away the roots of the teeth, especially in elderly pickers. If you’ve just got to groom your teeth on the go, skip the toothpick and pack the floss instead.

Those new pyramid shaped tea bags are pretty neat. Why you shouldn’t use them...

Tea bag technology has been changing lately. 

Those new pyramid-shaped, silky bags are sturdier, attractive, and according to some critics, toxic. Sonya Lunder, of the Environmental Working Group, says those new tea bags are usually made from plastic or food-grade nylon. So what’s the problem? We’re soaking those sachets in hot water, leaching the plastics right into our cup. Those plastics don’t contain BPAs but they do have phthalates which are no good for us.

If you’re ready to switch back to paper tea-bags - not so fast. Sonya says that those aren’t much better and contain other potentially hazardous stuff. Habitual tea drinkers are better off using loose leaf tea in a metal ball or screen tea strainer.

Wear a scarf - for your heart. How it can help prevent heart attack...

As temperatures drop, the risk of heart attack rises. 

That’s because your body works hard to keep you warm and even a chilly fall morning can get it pumping a pose a problem for those with cardiovascular disease. A drop in temperature causes the blood vessels to tighten which increases pressure and risk of heart attack. While you may not be ready to drag out the parka, just wearing a scarf to keep your vulnerable neck warm will help to maintain body heat and blood pressure on chilly days.

There’s an alternative to water purifying filters. The herb that does the trick...

We could be seeing cilantro tea bags on the market soon. 

That’s because scientists have discovered that cilantro has the power to purify water. They’ve been experimenting on water near Mexico City and determined that the compounds in cilantro actually absorb the toxic heavy metals in contaminated water. Just one handful of cilantro is enough to purify a standard pitcher of water. Researchers say tea bags filled with cilantro could be an effective, inexpensive method of purifying drinking water in contaminated regions.

You finally landed that face-to-face interview. What to take with you...

If you’d like to ace that face-to-face job interview, you’d better pack for it. 

Being prepared speaks volumes beyond your job experience and the experts at GlassDoor recommend taking these items to every interview you land:

Directions and contact info: Print out directions to the location of your interview and write down the name and contact information of your interviewer. If something does go wrong on your way to the interview, you can let them know.

• Identification: Some companies ask for ID when you enter the building, better safe than sorry.

• Business card: Everyone should have one, they’re great for networking and interviewing. It’s a great way to open or close an interview.

• Notepad and pen: Not only do you come across as more interested if you take some notes, you won’t look foolish by asking to borrow the supplies.

• Resume: Don’t assume they have a paper copy. Always have a few extra copies on hand and offer one to anyone who may have input towards the decision.

• References: Available on request means now. You’ll look prepared if you have them neatly listed and readily available.

• Portfolio: Depending on the position, it’s a good idea to have examples of your work neatly organized in a folder, binder or to be viewed on a tablet.

• Questions: At the end of every interview, you will be asked if you have any questions. Have a list ready to go. They can be about the rest of the hiring process, company culture, or something else. Just be sure they’re specific and sincere to show you’re really interested.

Which way does your handwriting slant? What that says about your personality...

You can gain a little insight to yourself, or others, simply by looking at some handwriting. 

Handwriting analysis is pretty accurate - and the basics are easy to spot.

• The slant: If your writing slants to the right, you’re open minded and like to socialize. To the left suggests you prefer to work alone and may have a rebellious streak. No slant at all indicates you’re a logical, straight shooter.

• The size: If your letters are little, you’re focused and probably shy. Large letters mirror your big personality. If your letters are average, so are you.

• Your S: The letter s is a favorite of handwriting analysts. If it’s rounded, you’re a people-pleaser who avoids confrontation. A pointy s is a sign of intellect and curiosity. If your cursive s is open at the bottom, you’re not following your heart and would probably be doing something else. A printed s suggests you’re the versatile type.

You NEED to stop snoring. The ugly side effects...

Snoring not only disrupts your sleep, and anyone near you - it makes you look old and ugly. 

That’s according to a recent study of sleep apnea and the effects of snoring. Researchers used face mapping technology and found that middle-aged snorers looked significantly older and generally less attractive before addressing their problem. After the participants used the CPAP mask treatment to reduce snoring and improve sleep, they not only felt better, their faces looked younger, with fewer wrinkles, less puffiness and a healthier glow.

There are some cool features on Facebook you might find handy.

Facebook has several handy tools that a lot of us don’t take advantage of. 

Here’s a list of easy tricks to try:

• Post in the future: Never miss a birthday again with the scheduling tool. Go ahead and post a future comment in the status box. Before you hit “post” click the tiny clock icon below the status bar. That allows you to choose when you’d like it to go live, days, weeks or even years into the future, right down to the minute.

• Identify a phone number: Facebook is one of the few places you can do a reverse lookup of an unfamiliar phone number. Type the number into the search bar and If that number is associated with a Facebook friend, their name will appear.

• Download your life: Facebook gives you the opportunity to download everything you’ve ever posted. You’ll need to go to “account settings.” At the bottom of the menu, you’ll see “download a copy of your Facebook settings.” Click that and your Facebook archives file will be sent to your email.

I tried the archive out of curiosity and it was pretty cool.  The files arrive in your inbox separated by type.  Nice to have all the photos and albums available offline.