Dear Sears, thank you for the housekeeping tip I received in your latest e-newsletter, Manage My Life, suggesting I spend time lubricating my treadmill’s running deck. That’s very important. Not.

If I wanted to lubricate something, I’d probably opt to lubricate something more pressing than my treadmill’s unused running deck.

Sears’ Manage Your Life newsletter is full of not so relevant tips for busy working moms.

Another recent e-mail reminded me to clean the tracks on sliding doors and windows:

“Clean and lubricate the tracks on your sliding doors and windows to keep water out and to make them slide like new. Time: 15 mins. Expertise: None. How often? Twice a year.”

I really wish my sliders were clean. I really wish I knew what they were. Because these sliders make such a huge difference to the quality of my life as a busy working woman.

And before I clean the sliders, I need to do the windows, the floor, the car and …

Sears’ email is out of touch with the life of most women I know. Or maybe I am hanging out with slobs … you know who you are.

The quaint advice reminds me of the first recipe for stew in my husband’s grandmother’s old cooking book.

Step one: Take an ox.

Give me advice I can use, Sears! Manage Your Life’s tips sound like some antiquated idea of housekeeping, harking back to 1950s of Mad Men days when dusting was an art form.

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