I have this file in my brain filled with handy little tips collected from Martha Stewart or the pages of magazines like Woman’s World and Ladies Home Journal.  Things like…. using a hammer and nail to make a few holes in the rim of a paint can before pouring the paint so it drips back down into the can instead of down the sides.  Or using a tissue to handle new light-bulbs to avoid getting oil from your skin on them.  (The oil will shorten their lifespan.)  Or… cleaning windows and mirrors with newspaper will leave lintless, streakless perfection.  The list goes on and on, but I can’t really take credit for it.  Most of my brilliance is borrowed from other people.

Several years ago I came up with my own little nugget of genius.  As I put it into practice this week, I thought I’d share….

I shred documents and pick up dog poop on the same day and toss the poop on top of the shredded paper.  That’s it.  My one ounce of brilliance.  If someone wants to steal our identity off of the shredded paper in our trash, they’ll have to dig through a lot of dog poop first.