Is there a right way to vacuum carpeted stairs? I can't figure out any way except dustbuster, and that seems like it would take forever. Also, how often to vacuum the vertical parts?

People vacuum the vertical parts? Huh.

People vacuum the vertical parts? Huh.

I don't know. I've never had carpeted stairs before. It seems like dust would get into the carpet there, so they ought to be vacuumed sometimes, I guess.

Nip that in the bud right now. It's not you, it's them. When you respond to the student, you can say something like "Thanks for your email. In the future, please call me Dr. LastName." and then respond to their issue.

Yeah, no shit, Dr. Hil. Students need to address you as you prefer. I don't have a doctorate, so I tell my college students they can call me Erin, that's fine.

Had I my doctorate, students would DAMN well call me Dr. G----, until and if I invited them to call me otherwise. You EARNED that honorific, baby.

And my high school students call me Miss or Ms G to this day, even though once they graduated, I invited them to call me Erin. Except for one who called me L.G. through her senior year, for "Lady Ms. G----" and that amused me so much, I was fine with it.

I would no more have called a prof who introduced him or herself as "Dr." by their first names without being invited as I would have set myself on fire. Actually, setting myself on fire was far more likely. I was HONORED when they invited me to call them otherwise, and it was still hard to do.

I pretty much have to fight to call my professors and my doctors "Dr. X" or "Prof. Y". Most of them let us and some even tell us we can call them by their first name. We don't use "sir" and "Mr./Ms." in schools either, it's just first names all around.

I mean, they can if they really really want - but there are some rules I obey just because they make fucking sense. You've got a doctorate, I don't, you're a Doctor, I'm not. If we'll meet outside of university, I might consider calling you by your first name, but I'd probably pass it by "hey".

Most of my students were Hispanic, and they called any adult "Miss" or "Mr."

It was adorable. I'm FB friends with many of them, and even though I chat with some about books and TV and movies, they STILL address me as "Miss" or "Ms. G."

My favorite honorific comes from my 5 year old. All the older kids call us Dave & Lisa, a way to set us apart from the other authority figures in their lives. But the littlest one was trained to say Miss. So he wants to call me Miss Sprinkle (we'll leave aside the marital status there.) But Miss Sprinkle is hard to say. So he calls me "Prinkle" all the time. So we are, for whatever reason, Dave and Prinkle.

For my sister's current round of chemo, she's having to be admitted. Her back is objecting to the mattresses in the hospital, and she's wondering if anyone knows of a way to improve lower back support while being in a hospital bed.

Would any of those memory foam pads work? The low end of the spectrum can be found at target, and then all sorts of stuff at the medical-supplies-for-consumers places that sell bandages and wheelchairs and bedpans and such from 1.5X target prices to super-expensive. (Are hospital beds one of the standard size like maybe "single" or "twin"? If not maybe you have to go right to the medical supply places and skip target/linens-and-things and such.)

How about a bolster pillow to put under her knees, to take some of the strain off?

Thanks, Jessica! These recipes sound delicious.