Tip of the day

This morning I walked to work. As I set out on my two-mile journey, I untangled the various cords of my MP3 player, stuck the earbuds in my ears, and hit play.

Nothing. Dead battery. Or was it?

I recalled a so-so book I read earlier in the year, Smile When You're Lying: Confessions of a Rogue Travel Writer by Chuck Thompson. He wrote that a "dead" battery can often be revived by rubbing it on your clothing -- the static electricity generated will be enough to kick it back to life and keep it running (on borrowed time, of course). I gave it a try, and voila: more than an hour later, my MP3 player is still going strong. I'm not yet ready to revise my opinion of the book, but now I'm glad I read it.