Count Selected Items in Outlook

The modern Outlook status bar no longer shows the number of selected items. So some folks suggest that you select items and simply press Enter in order to trick Outlook into thinking you want to open all of them. And if you have more than four items selected, Outlook supposedly will pop up a warning that opening X number of items could take a long time.

But what happens if you accidentally agree to open them, or if the instance of Outlook doesn’t warn you, as in my case? Then you’ve wasted time opening emails and failed to get your answer.

No, it’s never a good idea to rely on an operation’s side effect; it could be eliminated in the next version!

What I do instead is surprisingly simple.  I just call the Count property of Selection.  This returns the number of selected items. I call the property with a message box that’s wrapped in a subroutine, which I link to a button on the Actions Menu.

This is all you need:

Sub CountItems()

MsgBox ActiveExplorer.Selection.Count & " items are selected", vbOKOnly, "CountItems() Message"

End Sub

It would be nice if there were an easy way to add a link to this on my shortcut menu.

Simple Washing Machine Improvement

A medium load of laundry had been taking over an hour to finish.  When I watched the tub fill with cold water, it looked like effluence from a down spout during a gentle summer rain shower.

I knew the machine had filters for the water, and I suspected they needed to be cleaned, but I wasn't sure where they were.  It turns out that the filters were easily accessible; all I had to do was shut off the water and unscrew the hoses at the machine.  Then just pull out the filters with a pair of needle nosed pliers.

When I did this, I saw that the cold water filter was extremely clogged with metal bits.  I get a lot of this kind of debris from my well water; it gets trapped in the faucet aerators, too.

I submerged the filter in a small cup of vinegar, shaking it vigorously, until it looked mostly clear.

The next load of laundry went so much more quickly.  An added benefit was that the solid dark clothes no longer were left mottled with a sludge of gray lint.

Have you ever cleaned your washing machine's water intake filters?  Do an Internet search to see just how easy it is!