In order for the sod to establish, it's best to start with freshly watered soil. It doesn't need to be soaking wet; just use a sprinkler to lightly moisten everything before you get started. Unroll the first piece of sod next to a driveway or a street. Line it up so that the edge of the sod is exactly aligned with the edge of the yard, with no extra dirt exposed. Carefully unroll the entire piece of sod so that the first long edge is covered. This provides a strong edge against which you'll lay the rest of the sod.  Starting from the middle instead will make it tricky to lay the sod in a logical matter without leaving any gaps or short ends. Make sure to roll each piece of sod in the same direction. If you roll a piece in reverse it will look very different from its neighbor, although they will eventually grow to an even appearance. Cut the second strip of sod in half lengthwise, and lay it directly adjacent to the first. Keep laying sod in a staggered, brick-like pattern. Laying sod in this fashion will make the seams less apparent later. Make sure that the edges of the sod butt up against each other without overlapping. Don't leave gaps at the seams; these exposed edges will be prone to drying out and leaving brown spots in the yard. Continue laying sod in this manner until the entire yard is covered and no seams are visible.  Use a box cutter to cut shorter pieces of sod where you need to fill in gaps or lay sod around corners. However, leave the sod pieces as large as possible. Don't cut them into smaller pieces unless you need to, since the smaller pieces are more prone to drying out before they get established. Seam all the edges by firmly rolling them together. Avoid walking or kneeling on the sod as you lay it, since this can cause air pockets and indentations to form. Laying the sod horizontally across the hills, rather than vertically along the hills, will prevent the hill from eroding. When the grass roots establish themselves they'll hold the dirt underneath in place. If you lay them vertically, especially on steep hills, you might encounter problems with the strips of sod bunching toward the bottom instead of staying in place on the hill. If needed, purchase sod or landscape "fabric staples" to pin the sod in place. Be sure to mark them clearly or paint them a visible color for removal once the sod has rooted. Since the key is to keep the sod in large pieces whenever possible, you can lay around curves by reshaping it instead of cutting it apart. Drape a large piece of sod next to the curve and pinch it together in a few spots so that the shape of the piece wraps neatly around the curve. Use your cutter to chop off the the raised areas that you pinched, and set aside the two smaller triangular pieces. Now you've essentially created two darts in the sod, allowing it to take on a semi-circular shape. Pull the cut edges of the darts together so that they lay right next to each other, with no gap remaining. If you encounter a tree or another obstacle you need to lay the sod around, drape it over the object and carefully cut the sod so that it fits around the object's base. Save the cutouts so you can use them if you have any small gaps to fill in later.  If you're laying sod around a tree, don't lay it right up against the tree's base. Laying it over the roots could damage the tree. Instead, cut out a circle so that the edge of the sod is a few feet from the tree.  If you have a lot of trees or other obstacles to work around, you might want to get a sod cutter to make the job a little easier. Cutting shapes out of the sod using just a box cutter can get time consuming.

Summary: Water the soil. Start by laying sod along a long edge. Lay it in a brick-like pattern. Lay sod around hills instead of from top to bottom. Shape the sod around curves. Cut the sod to lay it around trees and other obstacles.


There are no great answers to the problem of how to retire without savings, but one possible solution is a partial retirement. After a lifetime of work, many retirees have considerable skills they can parlay into an income stream, and many employers like employing retirees because they're more dependable and loyal.  If you're close to retirement now, you might want to take some steps to develop a consulting business, particularly if you have a white collar skill set, such as engineering, law, or business. If your skillset is more blue collar, like carpentry or welding, consider how you might turn some of your skills into high quality craft products you can sell on the side. By delaying Social Security payments until you're seventy, your monthly benefit increases to 132% of the original payment. After age seventy, however, there are no further increases.  Another common strategy is to delay until age 67—that would get you 108% of your monthly benefit. Delaying Medicare doesn't increase your benefit. If you elect to keep working after 65, taking your monthly Social Security benefit and investing it can be a smart strategy to maximize your payouts. There's not a blanket rule; investing your monthly checks will only make good sense for a minority of retirees.It's not for everyone. To see where you fall, you just have to do the math. For example, assume John, at 65, draws a very average benefit of around $1000 per month and makes $50,000 per year in salary. His employer matches contributions to a 401(k) dollar for dollar up to 20% of his salary, which is a great plan.  If he only contributes the $12000 he gets in Social Security to his 401(k), he would actually have $24,000 in the 401(k) at the end of the year. If he retires at seventy and lives till he's eighty, he'd have an extra $120,000, and that doesn't even count whatever accrues in the account through investments. If he had waited till seventy to retire and taken the 132% benefit instead, he would have only seen an extra  $38,400 over the same 10 years. Another way to increase your income during retirement is to rent out a room in your home. While it probably won't cover all of your expenses, when combined with other strategies, it can really help defray some of your costs. For example, if you rented a bedroom for $500 per month, drew a $1000 per month Social Security payment, and made another $1000 through a part time job, your yearly income would be $30,000. You won't be rich, but if you had little to no mortgage debt, you would be able to maintain a comfortable standard of living.

Summary: Keep a part time job. Delay Social Security benefits. Invest your benefits check. Rent out rooms in your home.


Rapid-rise yeast comes in smaller granules, which makes it activate faster. Quicker yeast activation makes bread rise faster. Find rapid-rise yeast packets at your local grocery store. They might be labeled "instant yeast" or "quick-rise yeast." Rapid-rise yeast doesn't need to be dissolved in water like regular yeast. Just mix it in with the flour and other ingredients you're using to make the dough. Check the recipe you're using to see how many yeast packets it calls for. If the recipe you're using calls for two rises, only do the second one. Dough only needs to rise once when it's made with rapid-rise yeast. Skipping the first rise will cut your total rise time in half. Place the dough in a warm, humid place to help it rise faster. Keep in mind that lean doughs that consist of mostly water and flour will rise faster than doughs that contain dairy, eggs, salts, and fat.

Summary: Get rapid-rise yeast packets. Mix a packet of rapid-rise yeast in with the dry dough ingredients. Skip the first rise and shape the dough after kneading. Let the dough rise once before baking.


The file manager lets you access files that are saved on the portable device. You should see the JAR files saved within the folder. Your mobile instrument should start to run the Java game so you can begin playing.
Summary: Turn on your mobile device and wait for the main screen to appear. Go to the file manager (the location varies depending on which device you are using). Open the folder titled "Java" that you had created earlier. Install Java games by selecting the JAR file for the game that you want to play.