Daily Dad is right. “They call it a dishwasher for a reason”, he says. If you wash the dishes before you put them in, it kind of defeats the purpose.

“Pre-rinsing dishes is a big mistake,” said John Dries, a mechanical engineer and the owner of Dries Engineering, an appliance design consulting company in Louisville, Ky. “People assume that the dishwasher will perform better if you put in cleaner dishes, and that’s not true. Just scrape. Pre-rinsing with hot water is double bad, because you’re pumping water and electricity down the drain.”

The Fix – Why isn’t my dishwasher cleaning my dishes? – NYTimes.com

No more batteries for my MP3 player during those daily five mile walks, although I bet the batteries would be a wee bit cheaper.

Some people exercise by power walking. But what if walking could actually provide electrical power? Researchers have developed an electrical generator mounted on the knee that turns walks into watts.

Taking People Power to a New Level – New York Times

Want to make good inexpensive wine even tastier?  Put an expensive price tag on it, according to researchers. 

The region of the brain associated with subjective perceptions of pleasantness, or orbitofrontal cortex for those in the neurological know, lighted up more strongly in people who thought they were drinking pricier Cabernet Sauvignon, even when they were falsely labeled cheap bottles, according to a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Health Blog : Sticker Shock Upgrades Perception of Plonk

For the members of the DailyDad household who may be considering a New Year’s diet resolution (you know who you are)…

Everything you need in order to lose weight is here. Everything you need in order to never have weight to lose in the first place is here. Everything you need to prevent yourself from failing to lose weight is here. EVERYTHING… is here, fully explained, with absolutely nothing left out. It is quite simply the ultimate guide to all things weight loss. So, let’s begin…

The Ultimate Weight Loss Guide

Bag Borrow or Steal … kinda like Netflix for handbags and jewelry.  Don’t tell K or M, DailyDad says.

J and K took a spin at the Traveler IQ game.  They did pretty well, but were no match for 2 year-old Lily.  Perhaps DailyDad should have sprung for a nice atlas for Christmas.

(photo from Washington Post)

Congratulations to K’s bf Rod for being named as a first team all-metropolitan soccer player by the Washington Post (boy’s team no less).  He was also named to the Montgomery Gazette “All Gazette” team.

From the Post:

A superb defender with a knack for attacking from the back line. A four-year starter on the varsity, he scored five goals and had six assists.

Boys’ Soccer | Fall 2007 All-Met | washingtonpost.com

Looks like young K’s first important vote could take place on February 12 in the Maryland presidential primary, assuming, of course, that she registers to vote (I am guessing K comes in a bit high on the procrastination scale). Now, if Maryland would let unaffiliated (Independent) voters vote in the primary, DailyDad would also be able to exercise his civic duty. According the ever helpful Maryland State Board of Elections web site, unregistered voters (like K) have until January 22 to register to vote in the February 12 primary, but already registered, but unaffiliated voters (like DailyDad), must have changed their affiliation by November 19 in order to vote in the primary. One would have had to be a 0 on the procrastination scale to have made that early date.

WASHINGTON – Seventeen-year-olds will be able to vote in Maryland’s Feb. 12 presidential primary.

An opinion Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler issued will require the Maryland State Board of Elections to continue registering 17-year-olds to vote if they are 18 by the time of the General Election.

“Freedom of association in the federal Constitution trumps any state interest in not allowing 17-year-olds to vote; therefore, anybody who is 17 and will be 18 and eligible to vote in the general election can now vote again,” Gansler tells WTOP.

Gansler: 17-Year-Olds Should Vote in Primary