Mostly the same old junk! Very little spell checking... Do-it-yourself laundry soap, and TOM SWIFT BOOKS!!!

This site contains a bunch of stuff about someone you most probably don't know, might never want to know, wouldn't recognize if I crawled up on your shoulders and began yodeling — although that might be a give-away — and don't really give a rat's hindquarters about.

You lookin' at me?

The newest stuff on this site: Tom Swift books. Plus, I write other things as well…

I became enamored with the "fan fiction" world of Tom Swift in late 2009. Of the five different (official) series written, I tend to believe that the originals (100 years old as of 2010) and the "Tom Swift Jr." books of the 1950's to early 1970's are the best. CLICK THIS link to go to my Tom Swift page where you can see what I've been up to, and even find links where you can order copies of the books.

I am not the only Tom Swift Fan Fiction Author out there. Want to know more…check this page out!

Plus, in this site there are some other fairly good links, information and rantings about some of my favorite science fiction / fantasy and mystery authors (that's right... I try to stay clear of meaningful books. I believe that Moby Dick is just about the worst book ever written, and that if Melvill tried to get that drivel published today, his rejection letter would start off with, "Dear Hack; To say that you are undable to write coherently is putting it mildly!"), and info and some mp3 clips from — and about — different full-cast dramatizations (and comedizations) of sci-fi novels.

But... and please forgive me if my retirement has gotten in the way of recent updates, but I am so busy with the writing thing I have failed to do anything with the site other than the book pages in the past couple years.

I am working on overcoming the heavy forces of personal inertia and hope to have updates sprinkling out in the coming weeks and months.

But, again, I am retired and that takes up a lot of my time!

For the past seven plus years I have been making all fo the laundry soap we use in our house. It is not some deep,dark secret formula, in fact I got it off the Internet. It is, however, an incredibly good liquid soap that works great in cold, warm and hot water. In honor of a fun little video game, I call mine Mr. Slime Jr.

The label I made to put on gift bottles of this laundry soap

It has just four ingredients, takes about 15 minutes to make a two-gallon batch, and you only need use 1/2 cup per load. That means one batch will do about 64 loads, and at a per load cost of around 1.5¢. Yeah, that's under two cents!

Here is the stuff you'll need:

- Water
- Fels Naptha bar soap (Irish Spring also works but I don't care for the scent)
- Washing Soda (you might have to check a couple store to find this)
- Borax Powder
- A 2-gallon bucket or large canning kettle

In a large pot put 6 cups tap water. Start heating it over medium. Grate 1/3 of a bar of Fels Naptha soap and add that to the warming water. Heat and stir until all the soap melts. Add 1/2 cup Washing Soda (not baking soda!) plus 1/2 cup Borax Powder. Stir until dissolved. Remove from heat.

If the pot is large enough then do all the following in that. If not, prime your bucket with the 6 cups of tap water substituting cold for warm.

Add 6 cups warm tap water to the pot. Stir thoroughly. Pour in 1 gallon tepid tap water (barely warm to touch) plus an additional 6 cups cold tap water. Stir for one minute.

Pour into 2 one-gallon plastic jugs (like milk jugs with screw tops) or even the last laundry detergent jugs you bought. You may have about one cup left over. That can be for your first two loads. Recycle a water bottle to store this.

Let these sit 24-hours. The liquid will get all goopy and jelly-like and slimy. That's normal! Give the jug a little shake before pouring out some for a laundry load.

ADVANTAGES!

1 - Store-bought detergents contain phosphates and other very nasty things. Some go into the water supply and cause damage to streams and rivers. Some work almost like battery acid on the fibers of your clothing. Mr. Slime Jr. does none of that. It is about the most gentle soap you can use and will make your bright clothing last a lot longer. i have shirts that are three years old that look just like new.

2 - Unlike store bought detergeants, the scent is a natural and clean one. You don't need smelly fabric softeners. In fact, get rid of fabric softeners by making your own.

3 - Mr. Slime Jr. washes out as completely as possible leaving no detergeant residue. This means your clothes don't need scented fabric spfteners. There is nothing left to need hiding behind those chemical scents!

4 - Mr. Slime is CHEAP!

MAKE-YOUR-OWN-SOFTENER

Fabrics get stale-smelling because detergents (and even the fabric softeners themselves) leave stuff behind that gets stale. Remove all of that and your cothes remain fresh in the closet or drawer for months and months. Making your own is easier than making Mr. Slime Jr.

In a 1/2 gallon white vinegar jug (with either a screw top or snap tight lid) MAKING SURE IT IS THE CLEAR WHITE VINEGAR, NOT THE TAN CIDER VINEGAR! Then, add three tablespoons of your favorite rinse-out hair conditioner. Yes. The stuff you use in the shower!

Find a scented oil you really like at a health food or other store. Put in 6-7 drops. No more.

Shake very, very well to break up the conditioner. (It is there to remove static cling).

Shake again before each use. Put in whatever your washing machine normally uses.

In case you are wondering, NO. Your clothes will not smell of vinegar. It washes out and the scented oil you added takes care of any tiny bits of aroma that might want to hang around. YOU WILL NOT SMELL LIKE A PICKLE JAR.

DO NOT ADD ANYTHING TO YOUR DRYER.

There are two big advantages of using this form of softener:

1 - The vinegar removes everything left behind by laundry soap. Even stuff that has been hanging around in your clothes for years. Get rid of that stale stuff and you don't have anything to get stale. You won't need stinky fabric softeners. This also leaves your clothes soft. Again, it's the getting the junk out that does this for you and white vinegar makes that happen.

2 - Not having any chemical stuff in your dryer will extend the life of most machines by not getting stuck in the vent and then grabbing onto lint and then getting hotter than it is supposed to.