The coldest winter I ever spent
Archive for the ‘Product Reviews’ Category.
Charlotte and I were thinking of going to England on a trip. Instead she’s moving to San Francisco. I was starting to make a to-go list for our trip. Instead of archiving it on my computer, I’ll archive it on my web host… IE: you get to see it
If you have a Kel Tec SU-16, you might love it except for one little detail… The takedown pin in the handle is so tight that you need a tool to insert or remove it. I found a great hack on what to do about this.
You can replace the takedown pin with a 1/4″ hitch pin from a hardware store. It works peachy keen. The pin stays in perfectly and is easy to remove by pulling on the attached ring. (Source)
One of my headlights went out last week. I went to Kragen Auto Parts and got new bulbs. I paid a little extra and got Sylvania XtraVision headlamps. I had bought Silverstar headlamps but I found out that they only have an average life of 1 year in a car. $60 a year on automotive lighting… blah.
The XtraVision are marketed as having “up to 20% more illumination” (source). After pulling out my 8 year old bulbs and installing them, I came to realize that “up to 20%” includes “only barely noticeable”. :-(
Oh well. At least I had fun figuring out how to change the headlamps in a 1998 Chrysler Sebring LX Convertible. The first one took half an hour of fiddling. The second took 3 minutes. :-)
I was unfortunately unable to change the direction they point. I found the controls but I think they had aged and wouldn’t move properly.
Does it bug anyone else that Sylvania is using shortened life span as a sort of “planned obsolescence” money maker? They can easily make them last 3,000 hours for almost no extra cost but they choose to make them last 850 hours. Halogens last that long as a matter of course; that’s what the halogen is for. I think they need some healthy competition in the marketplace. Anyone want to start an automotive lighting company?
I was always enamored of those Leptoprin commercials… I’ve talked about them to friends… talking about the announcer’s piercing blue eyes looking right into my chubby heart. Her intensity driving me to say, “I -am- strong enough to buy such a powerful weight loss compound! I am! When is a diet pill worth $153 a bottle? Now! Dammit! Where’s my check book?” But it’s like other people didn’t stay up as late as I did or something. None of my friends believe Leptoprin Lady exists! Here’s a little proof (and a bit of a homage) that the stuff really exists.
The Federal Trade Commission loves Leptoprin so much, they got someone to make a transcript of the whole commercial.
I was in a Walgreens today in the footcare aisle. I’ve had yucky toes from a nail fungus for a long while so I was checking out the latest products to rid myself of the yuck. I found NonyX Nail Gel. It claims to get rid of built-up nail keratin, which has been a yucky side effect of the yucky fungus. I was interested.
I noticed that NonyX was by far the most expensive product on the shelf at $25. “Hmm, “I thought,” it must be powerful stuff if it costs that much.” I almost walked out with a bottle. But since I’m such a comparison shopper, I decided to do a little homework first…
Ingredients: Water, ethanoic acid, xanthan gum, fragrance.
Hmm.. What is “ethanoic acid”? A google search says it’s just another name for acetic acid… the main active ingredient in vinegar!
They are selling 4 oz bottles of vinegar for $25. What a country!
I’ve started my toes on $2/gallon vinegar treatments. I’ll tell you in a month how it went.
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Update 9-5-12:
Over the years the posts and discussion on my site have grown. Here is a large sampling:
I
saw mention of Rainbow Grocery on Yelp. I thought, “oh that’s nice, another snazzy grocery store.” Boy was I wrong.
Their cheese shop is quite formidable. I think I counted 4 wild-picked mushroom varieties and at least another 5 varieties present! Their spices and bulk food sections are exceptional. It is crunchy-granola heaven. And, they have a huge variety of exciting specialty foods.
But most important of all, they have a tap stuck out of a 55 gallon drum of Vermont Grade B Maple Syrup! And while Charlotte gave me a tremendous gift by finding and bringing Trader Joes Maple Syrup all the way from Boston, this…. THIS is the stuff! I just compared them head to head and all it takes is a glance to tell the difference. The Coomb’s syrup is darker, thicker and has a richer smell. And the taste… now I’ll say that Trader Joe’s makes a fine syrup. It really is. In fact, it’s probably what more people would prefer. But this is maple syrup that tastes like driving past a sugar house in early spring with the billowing steam that you’d say looks dangerous until you roll your window down and then the smell encompasses you like a jet plane diving into a cloudbank. It’s like living in another, infinitely more delicate world for a million years in a second. It brings to mind the colors of the ground during mud season when the melting snow, recently uncovered grass and previously frozen dirt turn into a slippery, boot-sucking menace with deep scars where vehicles foolishly tried to cross from the driveway to the relative safety of black-top.
Good maple syrup makes me so happy. Thank you Charlotte. Thank you Rainbow Grocery. Thank you Coomb’s Family of Brattleboro Vermont!
I went to “TANGO CEVICHE I” at the Red Poppy Art House this past weekend. What great fun!
There’s going to be a “SUSHI-SOUKOUS: A delicacy of fish, and a dance from the heart of Africa” Saturday, April 15th, 1pm-4pm. You should go with me.
And another Tango Ceviche sometime in May
Here’s the blurb from the Tango Ceviche class:
Continue reading ‘Red Poppy Art House is good, Dance with me’ »
The latest Google Desktop has a feature that lets you search the contents of one of your computers from another computer. That sounds peachy except that it does it by putting the contents of both of your computers on the Google servers.
That’s right, they get to look at everything on your hard drive… free access. Google says they’ll only use it for Good. But there is no way for you to know if your data is used for Evil until it’s too late.
Do not use Google Desktop Search Across Computers.
Before removing the feature, find and click the “Clear my files from Google” button in the Search Across Computers Preferences menu. I don’t know if it actually does what it says, but it might.
And if you’re thinking, “Yeah but Google isn’t evil.”… Do you remember when an AOL employee stole 92 million email addresses from AOL? Do you know what a subpoena is? Have you read the PATRIOT act?
In keeping with Laura’s claim that my site is just one big product review, here are some product reviews.
I got the worst haircut of my life at Willie’s barbershop on Saturday. When you see me next, please don’t think I -wanted- a buzz cut with a tuft on top. My review on Yelp.com reads
2 stars of 5. If your a guy and want a buzz cut, this is your place for a fine $12 cut. If you ask for anything else… well, you’re getting fine $12 buzz cut. Don’t be fooled by the men’s classic hair style charts on the wall to the left. Instead look at the photos to the right of the guys that have gotten crew cuts, cue balls, peach fuzz and their favorite sports team logos scrawled onto their heads.
I put a dollar in the dryer at the laundromat. 30 minutes later, I realized that the heat was broken on the machine. :-(
Paid $22 for “The Works” car wash at Auto City Car Wash. I posted to Yelp.com
3 stars out of 5. I got the $22 “Works” package. I wasn’t totally happy with it. They missed a few spots… corners of the mirrors, the bugs on the grill and hood, some spots around the rear bumper. They advertise that they are “brushless”. That’s because they don’t do much besides run a power washer over it, then a few seconds of hand sponging, then mechanically spray soap, then a rinse. After washing and mechanical Works package waxing, all of the body panels feel very slightly rough; a washed and waxed car should feel smooth. That roughness is sure to catch dust and dirt faster than a smooth surface.
After washing, I noticed a couple several scratches that I don’t recall the car having before. Though to be fair, washing may have just uncovered some scratches that had been there for a while.
If you buy 10 washes up front ($220), you get what amounts to about a 15% discount.
My weekend product review:
Marrakesh in Sacramento: Food-excellent. Atmosphere-fantastic. Baklava-so intoxicating I lost my balance. Belly Dancing-the best I’ve ever seen. Her technical belly dancing skills were remarkable with total, very tight control over rapid movements and isolating body parts perfectly.
Gallery Horse Cow, Pink Party in Sacramento- Amazingly fun, Awsome place. They went all out. The cops broke up the party at 12:45 am because uumm because there is no fun allowed of any kind! (I’ll give 5 points to whoever knows where that quote is from. Hint: B. M. M. B.)
Laura in Sacramento: Better than cats. I’ll see her again and again ;-)
The Horse and Goat in Sacramento: (what’s it called again? That’s not the name) Great ambiance, ok omlette.
Holly’s shindig, art and hospitality: wonderful terrific!
My new bed back in SF: great
New shelving in SF: not installed yet but finally in the house
:-)