Flowers beat the wind

Have you seen vases with flowers on tables in street cafés? Heavy vases? Sure, you have. Lots of people believe that a vase with flowers is a good way to decorate a café. In fact, it is also a great way to press the table cloth to the table so that it did not fly away. Such café owners definitely know which way the wind blows.

Tell a story

Stories are the best way to deliver a message, and the best way for people to remember things. In short, we are story-guided animals. It is still unclear if we were created this way or acquired the feature in the course of evolution. But it does not matter. What matters is that if you want someone to remember what you’ve just said – tell a story. For example, the Little Red Riding Hood is still the best way to convince a child he or she should never talk to strangers.

Loose tea in a filter bag

In Russia there is almost no doubt that the taste of loose tea beats the tea in filter bags. But! Who has the time to go to all this trouble of preparing the tea pot: heating, brewing, washing it afterwards, plus the cups? In Latvia we’ve seen a really nice way out: an open filter bag, where one can put loose tea, a toothpick to keep it from drowning in the cup. And the cup. And that’s it – loose tea in a tea bag.

Rice and salt

Every Mediterranean restaurant puts a few grains of rice in the bottoms of the salt shakers. It’s a great idea because rice absorbs the moisture, and the salt runs free.

Lazy Fridays foster relationships

It’s a new Australian official advice not to call an office worker after 3 pm on a Friday. This relatively new trend is called Lazy Fridays and means that all staff moves from offices to the nearest entertainment point such as a pub, bar, garden umbrella, etc. Now people have a golden opportunity to gossip, chat, and share happy stories in a more relaxed atmosphere. Of course, on Thursday they are glad to stay and work a little bit later.

The movement to treat staff with a bit of respect is sure to be smart. Apparently, if you want to be smarter please don’t call your Aussie colleague at work after 3 pm on a Friday.

Mirror ceilings in pools

Thanks a lot to the first person who decided to install a mirror ceiling in the pool. It is so nice to swim on the back and still know what happens around you. It is a really great idea!

Eating sushi with hands

Moscow eats sushi with chopsticks, which is kind of difficult, because the rice part tends to fall apart the second you dip it into soy sauce, even if you do it right – the fish side down. The Japanese, by the way, prefer eating sushi with hands and strongly believe this is the best way to do it. We agree with them. Let’s eat sushi with hands!