Ask Rachel
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- Loan forgiveness, dish duty and mommy issues
- 05/16/2024
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Interesting fact: Dinner guest etiquette guides vary, but there is one universal: Do not unload someone else’s dishwasher. Ever.
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- Unchained, paying it forward and missing link
- 05/09/2024
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Interesting fact: The Selective Service is not, in fact, related to the Secret Service, no matter how many times I google the latter looking for the former to make sure I have my facts straight.
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- Greasy men, distracted listening and germaphobia
- 05/02/2024
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Interesting fact: Henry Cavill, yes, actual Superman, was bullied as a kid and called “Fat Cavill,” because he was so darn chubby. So there’s hope for us all.
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- Pasty whites, last laughs and doggie delicacies
- 04/25/2024
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Interesting fact: Research actually shows that dry brushing (aka without toothpaste) gets people to brush longer and removes more plaque and bacteria. You can follow it up with mint candy before bed for that just-brushed breath.
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- Parental rights, wind blown and breaking for naps
- 04/18/2024
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Interesting fact: Siestas can improve memory and cognition, reduce stress, and regulate emotions. They are the inverse of our mothers.
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- Leftover wood, universal signs and gifts that keep giving
- 04/11/2024
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Interesting fact: The phenomenon where you keep noticing something over and over once you become aware of it is called the “frequency illusion” or the “Baader-Meinhof phenomenon.” Now you’ll start seeing “Baader-Meinhof” wherever you look.
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- Enlightenment, avocado love and IRAs
- 04/04/2024
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Interesting fact: Pearl Jam had an avocado on the cover of its 2006 album. Why? As guitarist Mike McCready said, “I think we were watching the Super Bowl, and we had some guacamole or something.”
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- Drugged out, cameo role and Chex mate
- 03/28/2024
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Interesting fact: General Mills actually removed bagel chips from Chex Mix in 2009. Feels like it never happened.
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- Feeling the pinch, family matters and conspiracy leery
- 03/21/2024
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Interesting fact: Reportedly, before Chicago started dyeing the river green, the mayor considered dyeing Lake Michigan. That is dye hard.
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- Getting scammed on, pillow talk and cat calls
- 03/14/2024
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Interesting fact: We are supposed to replace our pillows every year. As if.
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- Dysfunction junction, dysfunctional junk & junk dysfunction
- 03/07/2024
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Interesting fact: Self-storage is a $40 billion industry annually. I’m in the wrong business.
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- Booked up, arm candy and breaking wind
- 02/29/2024
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Interesting fact: 767 million print books were sold in the U.S. in 2023. That’s enough to build one hell of a fort.
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- Stuck up, federal holidaze and mind on my money
- 02/22/2024
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Interesting fact: Financial experts say that no amount is too small to start investing. After all, if you invest just $5 in the stock market today, in 10 years you could have as much as $15!
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- Sideline entertainment, colorful cops and toxic males
- 02/15/2024
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Interesting fact: In a piece about cop cars as PR vehicles (ha), the WaPo highlighted a 1933 report finding that citizens believed a police force had doubled once they painted the cars white to make them more visible. So just imagine what yellow paint would do.
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- V-Day, laundry lists and fire cocks
- 02/08/2024
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Interesting fact: Fire hydrants, apparently still called “fire plugs” by some people, are also called “fire cocks.” There’s your Valentine’s Day conversation starter.
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- Covering our holes, legalese and shed storm
- 02/01/2024
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Interesting fact: When your dog sheds in the dead of winter, it’s possible they’re actually just now shedding their summer coat to make room for ever-more incoming winter coat. Or, they done messed up without even consulting the groundhog.
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- Little bottles, massages and Joe wears panty hose
- 01/25/2024
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Interesting fact: Taupe originally referred not to a wide range of dark gray-brown shades but to the specific color of the average French mole. Because (French accent) of course.
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- Phone ADHD, kicking back and gotcha day
- 01/11/2024
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Interesting fact: “Gotcha Day” is so established, it has its own Wikipedia page, which states that some adoptees find the term offensive. And this is how Rachel slowly realized people actually use this term for people adoptions, not just for pets.
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- Black sheep, un-decoration day and being like Babs
- 01/04/2024
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Interesting fact: The First Night of Christmas is sundown on Dec. 25, meaning the 26th is actually the First Day of Christmas, and therefore Mariah Carey is technically legal until Twelfth Day, Jan. 6.
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- Rings around the rosie and spelling divorce
- 12/28/2023
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Interesting fact: Auld lang syne is Scots for “old long since,” or basically, “long long ago.” I’m holding out for Scots-language “Star Wars,” in a galaxy far, far awyne.
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