There is nothing worse that finally making it to your apartment after a long trek to get home, and when you reach for your keychain inside your purse/pocket/wallet, finding that there are no keys there. I have locked myself out of my apartment after wading through rain and snow, to feel the relief of dry pants and my couch only a few stairs away only to have to turn around and go back out into the elements again, and retrieve a set of keys from my roommate. It’s a devastating feeling, and one that we all take great precautions to avoid.

There are doormats that read: Phone, Keys, Wallet to remind us. We give keys to close friends, or hide them somewhere around the neighborhood. Because the only thing worse than locking yourself out, and having to go retrieve the spare? Not having access to a spare and having to call a very expensive locksmith to let you into your own home. Not only are you defeated, now you’re a couple hundred in the hole- until now (at least if you live in Manhattan).

KeyMe has come to the rescue (I read about it in today’s Daily Candy). Its an automated kiosk that will make you a fresh copy of your lost, misplaced, or locked inside keys for a small fee of $20. While it’s more than the $1 it takes to copy your own, it’s a heck of a lot less than having new locks installed. You can go to a kiosk or download the app then scan your key. The machine stores it in the key inventory until you need it. Then, when you find yourself locked out while your roommate is away on vacation, your super is MIA, and it’s pouring rain, all you have to do is scan your fingerprint at a kiosk, pay the little fee, and you’re off. If you’re feeling like splurging while you’re at it, you can pick out a snazzier option like a key that is also a bottle opener, has the logo of your favorite sports team, or is the shape of a character or tool. Now that is a wonder of technology.

Sometimes I have trouble sleeping. So, when I moved last fall, I decided to start fresh with my new bedroom, and eliminate any possible sleep disruptions. I hung blackout shades, installed a while noise maker, and bought some new pillows. I even got rid of my alarm clock, because it shed extra light in the room, and hey, that’s what cell phone alarms are for, right? I had an alarm clock that played cd’s, and after growing to hate every single song I tried to wake up to, I had converted back to the simple beep beep. It seemed silly to keep the whole clock around just because it had the potential to play music that I never used. I still get a jolt when I hear Otis Redding’s Dock of the Bay come on the loudspeaker in public after waking up to it for so many years.

Now I wake up to the aptly named “Alarm” alert of my iPhone, and while I have had a few snafus when I accidentally turned the ringer off, overall it has been a much more pleasant way to wake up, without the glow of the time shining annoyingly in my face if I wake up at 2am can’t fall back to sleep or ruining any more of my favorite songs. But now, I have another problem to contend with. In the same way my CD alarm made me hate every song that shook me awake in the morning, my iPhone has trained me to hate the sound of any tone I use as an alarm.

Because so many people have iPhones with the same set of sounds, and so many people like me have give up on old fashioned alarm clocks, there’s a new first-world-problem in town. It’s called phone alarm stress disorder (PASD), and it refers to the intense annoyance, and stress you feel whenever you hear someone using your alarm tone as their ring tone. With only just under 30 choices for every sound your phone makes, and millions of people using the iPhone as their cell, mp3 player, and mini-computer, you are bound to encounter someone who has decides that Alarm is a good sound to notify them when they receive a text, or a phone call from the parents. The sound that jolts you from sleep in the morning, popping up unexpectedly throughout your day can be extremely offensive, and cause you to tense up, much like how you feel when your alarm hauls you out of that lovely dream you were having in the morning. It’s unavoidable.

So, if you own an iPhone, do us all a favor. ONLY use the alarm tone for your alarm (duh, that’s why they conveniently named it that). And, if you want to be a less annoying person in general, stay away from any of the really grating tones in general –bark, duck, and old car horn, I am looking at you. Your friends, and acquaintances will thank you.

Recently, I was suckered into purchasing an 18 pound watermelon by the drastically low,   in  season prices for what is arguably one of the most refreshing and in my opinion delicious summer fruits. While I began to regret my decision halfway through my walk home from the market hauling the giant thing along with my other purchases, it wasn’t until I sliced it up that I began to realize just how much melon I had on my hands. And there was no barbecue or summer party in sight to unload some of the stuff. Imagine my relief when I read on The Scoop that watermelon juice can reduce muscle soreness (an added boon after how I typically feel after butt and gut class at the gym).

I had heard previously that tart cherry juice can treat muscle aches from working out almost as well as NSAID pain relievers. Now the liquid you get from blending the pink fruit can have the same result. A study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry found that participants who consumed watermelon juice an hour before working out were less sore. They say it is because its high L-citruline content, an amino acid that may boost blood flow and, in turn oxygen levels ferried to your muscles so they can repair the little tears caused by exercise more quickly. All I know is that I will be tossing some of this melon in my blender before my next morning run, and hopefully cutting down on my major melon stockpile fast.

Most of us (or at least those of us with parents into organic gardening) already  know that used coffee grounds are great fertilizer for plants, especially roses. Now scientists have found an admittedly less wholesome way to recycle the by product of one of the world’s favorite beverages. What’s that you ask? They are turning it into alcohol. Coffee grounds, when left to dry and then treated with a process similar to that used for distilling whiskey from wheat create an alcoholic beverage that has a 40% ethanol content. That’s a level on par with other hard liquor, and tasters, while rating it bitter and noticing a coffee aroma said that it was fit to drink. But if you’re feeling tired, the researchers warn that you should still rely on your morning joe. The caffeine side effect of the coffee alcohol is burned off during processing.

If you are trying to figure out your plans for Labor Day weekend, now here’s another reason to book that camping getaway. 22% of people in the United States have trouble sleeping every night. While this may be attributed to stress, noise, and a host of other factors, some research suggests that exposure to a huge amount of artificial light throughout the day is confusing our bodies. All of the electricity in our modern worlds is messing with the hormones and melatonin levels that help sleep come easily. But don’t worry, there is a simple fix. A study has found that sleeping under the stars can help to reset your circadian rhythm, and get your biological clock back in sync with your sleep schedule. Falling asleep with dark after basking in the light of only a campfire (no phones or flashlights allowed), then rising when the sun starts to come through the walls of your tent can help your body synchronize with the time you need to rise for work.

If you can’t run away to the countryside, or if you just hate being in the woods? You can try to maximize your time in the sunshine by going for a walk in the morning and on your lunch our. Then when it gets closer to time to sleep, avoid using electronics and light exposure for a few hours before you’re ready to turn in.