Heard a funny but sad, sad tidbit on NPR this morning. Apparantly, some stores in Great Britain are giving away free "shopping calculators" to shoppers to help expedite their ability to calculate the price of marked down goods. Or could it be that people have forgotten how to do what amounts to simple math???

Anyone- seriously!- can learn to figure out just how much that percent discount will save you. Here's what I do; take the price of the item and scoot that little decimal point one space over to the left. Voila, you've just calculated what 10% of the cost is. Now use that as your basis for the rest of the discounts. If an item is marked down 20%, then double your number. If it is marked down 70%, multiply by 7. Hey, stores make it easy for you by using nice, round numbers.

Oh no, what if it is a 5% discount? No fear, just half your 10% value.

If you really want to be a discounting pro, then figure out what 1% of the price is (hint hint, just scoot the decimal point two places to the left) and you have a base by which to calculate ANY percent-off.

As hard as it is to get going in the mornings, here are some "shortcuts" that help me get out the door more on less on time:

-After my morning run, I always put them back out on the patio, a)cuz they stink b)this reminds me to open some blinds and let in some natural light, which is usually enough to light most of my teeny tiny apartment, and c)on nice days, helps air out the house

-This may sound weird, but as I putter around post-run, I line up the shoes that I'll be wearing near the door. The reason for this is because I own many black and dark brown heels/loafers that look suspiciously alike to my foggy morning brain, and there have been too many instances where I've gone out the door in mismatched shoes. While that was ok to look like a doof in the lab, I can't exactly show up at work anymore with circus-like attire. So, this small act saves me a day of embarssment.

-I also put the keys right next to the door...they tend to get lost when I am in a rush.

-Once a week, before I hop in the shower, I take ye olde Toilet Duck (or your favorite toilet bowl cleaner) and squirt it into the toilet. I figure the length of time it takes me to shower is about long enough for le Duck to work its magic on any stains. Works for me and keeps my toilet decent looking.

-After the shower, I put a pot of water on to boil for my morning tea. The timing just so works out that I'm dressed right when the water is ready.

-I brush my teeth BEFORE I get dressed; oh the agony of toothpaste on nice outfits...

-I actually don't have a very organized closet, but I do tend to hang clothes more or less in the order in which they were worn. So not only do I avoid repeating outfits, but clothes that match are within close proximity of each other.

-I keep makeup at the office and tend to put most of it on when I get to work. Just because many times in the car I'll rub my nose or itch my eye and mess stuff up. I'm not one of those types who apply makeup in the car, that's just plain dangerous.

And, well, that's it. Hope these tips make some sense; and let me know if any of you have simple timesavers to speed up the morning routine.