Category: This and That

A Question About Your Windows

exterior shutters

We have two sets of windows on the front of our house – one in the bedroom and one in the living room. The bedroom windows used to have exterior shutters. They were the only shutters on the house. I never understood why the builder didn’t put them on the living room window. My best guess is that because the living room window is under the little roof that our front porch has maybe he thought they wouldn’t look good. To me it jus looked unbalanced. Do you have shutters on all of your windows or just some?

Mar 03, 2010 | 0 comments | View Post

Orlando, Global Travel Hotspot

map orlando florida

Orlando is a fun place to vacation. I went there earlier this month and had a blast. Upon the arrival of our plane at the Orlando International Airport the pilot welcomed us, claiming the airport as one of the largest and one of the busiest airports in the world. I know Orlando is popular but I never actually thought about it on a global scale. There is so much to do there. If you’re considering traveling to Orlando start planning ahead of time because you’ll have a lot to decide. There are Orlando vacation packages, amusements, activities and so much more to think about. Basically, there’s something for everyone.

Feb 28, 2010 | 0 comments | View Post

Getting Back On The Bike

I decided I needed to get back on my exercise bike again. It’s been a while. Between that and EA Sports Active I’m hoping to get myself into better shape. Exercise is the best fat burner there is. I figured that since I’d walked all over the place for several days in Disney that it was the best time for me to start on the exercise bike again. I figured with all that walking my body wouldn’t complain about the new exercise as much. Wrong! I made it seven minutes on the bike the first day. I’m just going to take it slow and go a little farther each day.

Feb 23, 2010 | 0 comments | View Post

AntiVirus Deal Alert

trend micro antivirus box

Recently the anti-virus trial on TJ’s computer expired. At the same time my anti-virus started behaving strangely. He is 14 and I am all over the internet, so we cannot risk the chance of going without anti-virus protection. I ran ean errand in a local store for baby wipes and vitamins. While dashing through the store I noticed Trend Micro AntiVirus Plus AntiSpyware 2010 for $29.99, what I thought was a good price at the time. I made a mental note to return and pick it up over the weekend, when I had more time and more money on me.

That evening, I happened to be on the Buy.com sale page. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the exact same software for much less - only $11.99! It usually sells for up to $39.99, and it also comes with free shipping so that makes it a great deal.

Trend Micro AntiVirus Plus AntiSpyware is compatible with Windows XP, Vista and 7. It can help protect you from viruses, worms, Trojan horse programs and spyware in your email, webmail, instant messages and files. It will also help manage and clean cookies and temporary file. Your computer can be scanned on demand or you can schedule a scan. Automatic updates are available for the software.

This is a great option for anyone on a tight budget who needs to protect their computer.

Feb 21, 2010 | 0 comments | View Post

Printing Here And Now

hp deskjet portable printer

I remember when printers were huge and expensive. It seems like as printers become more affordable they’re also becoming smaller. Last year my brother (LB2) bought my Dad a portable printer for his laptop. It’s something like that a receipt printer but bigger – it prints on regular size paper. It saved both my Mom and I some trouble on our recent trip to Florida. I needed some information from an email that would have been too tedious to write out. Mom needed specific information she’d printed at home and forgotten to bring. Fortunately for us Dad was able to access all of the information we needed and print it out. It was very helpful. If you travel a lot it’s definitely something you ought to look into. I think it’s amazing how much technology has changed. We’ve come so far that you no longer have to be in a specific location to print, you can do it anywhere.

Feb 16, 2010 | 0 comments | View Post

To The Tune Leavin On A Jet Plane, The Armageddon Movie Version - All My Bags Are Packed

carryon luggage

We’re packed! I packed the bags last night. We don’t own luggage so I had to borrow some bags from my parents. They travel all of the time so they have a lot. I’m only bringing two carryons, because they’re actually big enough for the length of time we’ll be away. I just have three things I have to throw in right before we leave and we’re all set. I feel like I’m bringing a small electronics store – cell phone, ipod, Nintendo DS, Vsmile, digital camera and video camera. I have to decide if I’m bringing the laptop or not. I tucked a spare flash drive into my bag so I can move pictures off of the storage card as it fills up. I hope they don’t ask me to take it all out of the case or turn it all on at the airport, we could be there for a while.

Feb 09, 2010 | 0 comments | View Post

A Question About Skate Shoes

vans white skate shoe

I hate shoe shopping. I decided that I wanted to get a pair of sneakers before leaving for Florida. I went to one sporting store and couldn’t find anything that I liked. I then went to a larger sporting store, which in turn had a larger selection. There seemed to be at least ten different types of sneakers and shoes including casual, skate, basketball, soccer, track, cross training, golf, hiking, walking and running. There was even a whole section of skechers shape ups, which I’d not seen before. The pair of shoes that I liked most, surprisingly, was a pair of skate shoes. I didn’t buy them though, because I’ve never worn shoes like those and didn’t know how I’d feel walking around Disney in them all day. I may go back and get them after I get back from the trip because they were cute. So I’m curious. Who among you wears skate shoes, and how are they for just plain walking?

Feb 09, 2010 | 0 comments | View Post

Winterizing - Learning From The Past

our trailer

I reminded my Dad yesterday that we still need to winterize our campers, particularly considering the fact that winter is here. I have a travel trailer that we got at a great deal, we pull it behind my truck. Two of the things I like best about this type of camper over a motor home is that it doesn’t require motorhome insurance and I always have a vehicle to drive when we go camping. Anyway. Our last travel trailer wasn’t winterized one year and we had a line break, as well as a tank. As it turned out that repair came with quite a price tag. I’d like to avoid that happening again. Dad????

Jan 09, 2010 | 1 comment | View Post

Deal Alert - USB Graphics Tablet

buycom penpower tooya usb graphics tablet

TJ’s been getting into drawing again lately. He used to draw all the time as a young child and stopped for a while. He’s given me several beautifully done freehand drawings. In order to keep them I told him I was going to scan them into the computer. He seemed pleased and left the room with about another twenty sheets of plain paper. That got me to wondering if he continued to draw if he might enjoy a graphics tablet. I haven’t priced those in a while so did a little looking around and found one on sale on Buy.com today.

The Penpower Tooya Pro USB Graphics Tablet has some terrific features that make it a really great value. It is cross platform (works on Windows 2000/XP/Vista or Mac 10.4 above). It’s generously sized, with an active area of 10″ x 6.25″. While having a large active area, it’s also thin enough at 5mm high that it would fit into a laptop bag very well. The tablet can be used for drawing, tracing and writing, as well as as a mousepad. The tablet comes with Adobe Photoshop Elements photo editing software.

A tablet like this might allow him to take his drawing to another level if he chooses. I think it’d even let him have some more fun and get even more creative, as well as enable the drawings to easily be kept in electronic format.

The Penpower Tooya Pro USB Graphics Tablet regularly retails for $149.95. It’s currently on sale for $89.99 and has a $30.00 rebate offer through the end of this year. It also qualifies for free shipping.

Dec 28, 2009 | 4 comments | View Post

DEAL ALERT - Rock Band Wireless Guitar for Xbox 360 with BONUS 2 Games - AC/DC Live Rock Band and Rock Revolution

buycom rock band wireless guitar acdc live rock revolution

My son is a video game nut. He love video games. His favorites are the Rock Band and Guitar Hero games. I’m not exaggerating when I say that he’s really good at them. He’s been known to draw a crowd when he plays in the store. He even won a local contest, beating out kids much older than him. Anyway. Because of his love for these games I’m always on the lookout for great deals and new things. I found a sale that immediately caught my eye.

The deal I found is for a Rock Band Wireless Guitar for Xbox 360 with two bonus games - AC/DC Live Rock Band and Rock Revolution. The whole package usually sells for $59.99. Right now it is currently the best selling item on the site and is priced at $24.99! It qualifies for free shipping or free second day express shipping if you’re paying with Paypal. The package includes a wireless guitar for use with the Rock Band game on Xbox 360, the AC/DC Live Song Pack for Rock Band on Xbox 360 and another game called Rock Revolution.The Rock Revolution is another music game.

I just ordered this for TJ. I’m pretty sure TJ doesn’t have the Rock Revolution game. (I can’t ask him because this is going under the tree.) I know that he doesn’t have the AC/DC Live Song Pack and has been wanting it.

If you’re interested I suggest you hurry! This deal is while supplies last only!

Dec 20, 2009 | 2 comments | View Post

Looking For Yoga Equipment?

yoga mats

Two of the ladies I work with are into yoga. One does it every morning, the other a couple of times a week. In my travels for Secret Santa shopping I noticed that none of the stores had a large selection of yoga equipment. What to do?

Looking online I found a company with what seemed like every yoga product known to man - from yoga balls to yoga wedges. One thing that I noticed when I was in physical therapy for my knee is how colorful this type of product is. It’s also very versatile. I didn’t know until then that the stretchy bands I used in PT are also used for yoga. Same thing with the balls and yoga mats.

Some yoga mats look like they’d work as nap mats, like kids use in school. They’d come in useful at work - we old people get a little tired sometimes. Hmmm.

Dec 20, 2009 | 1 comment | View Post

Deal Alert On Infrared Wireless Headphones

buy.com able planet sound clarity wireless headphones

My husband loves music. Actually, we all love music in my house. Many nights he can be found sitting tethered to a piece of the stereo listening to music. I found some wireless headphones on sale at Buy.com and wondered how well they’d work and if he’d like them. I wear headphones on the computer all of the time and can only imagine how nice it would be to go cordless. I’m hoping to find a good deal on Bluetooth computer headphones for myself, since the cord for my headphones now keeps getting tangled and in my way. Anyway. The wireless headphones I found are infrared, check them out.

The Able Planet IR200T Sound Clarity IR Wireless Headphones use a patented LINX Audio technology that is designed to increase clarity without increasing volume. I like that the ear pieces cover the whole ear. I don’t know how the battery life is but did see that the headphones turn themselves off if they don’t get an audio signal for 3.5 minutes. What sounds great is that ability for the headphones to fold into a flat package for easy storage. Ever notice how awkward headphones are? The ability to be folded flat would be awesome for when you’re not using them.

The Able Planet IR200T Sound Clarity IR Wireless Headphones come with a lifetime warranty. The box includes the AblePlanet IR200T Sound Clarity™ Wireless Headphones, a transmitter, an AC adapter and a 1/8″ to stereo RCA cable. Two AA batteries are required for operation. They have a list price of $129.99 and are currently on sale for $49.99. They’re also eligible for free shipping, making it an even bigger savings! If you’re looking for wireless stereo headphones it might be beneficial to check these out.

Dec 07, 2009 | 1 comment | View Post

A House With Two And A Half What?

bedroom windows

My house is 40 years old. We’ve live here for about 15 years now. The house originally belonged to my grandparents. My grandma had some strange thoughts in her head when they had this house built. As much as I love this house, it is a little odd. Take the bedrooms, for instance.

I have two and a half bedrooms. Yes that’s bedrooms, not bathrooms. Grandma only wanted two bedrooms but my Mom somehow managed to get her to add a third. Problem is, Grandma chopped a huge laundry room in half to do it. My bedroom is about 12×15. CJ’s bedroom is about 12×12. TJ’s room is about 10×8 - only big enough to fit his bed and entertainment center. (Check out my Walmart Your Zone Teen Bedroom Makeover video and you’ll see how small it is, which is why I call it a half bedroom.) The boy can’t even keep his clothes in his bedroom, they’re on shelves in the hall.

When the builder built this house he used odd sized windows. Guess who has to deal with that now? That’s right, we do. When we had to replace a wall in my bedroom due to termite damage we learned that we needed custom replacement windows - the standard size replacement windows didn’t fit in the hole. Thankfully I had a very capable person doing the work that was able to take care of that problem.

Indoor work is unavoidable at times but I don’t like it - it’s noisy and dusty. Thankfully, our next project, hopefully in the spring if RB finds work by then, won’t be an indoor one. We’ll be getting some home remodeling estimates because we desperately need gutters. Why do we desperately need them? Because we don’t have any. (That’s another story.)

Dec 04, 2009 | 1 comment | View Post

Why I Need To Move My Photos To CD

Where are your pictures? My pictures, the ones taken before digital camera that is, are in the bottom of a cabinet that’s in my dining room. They are thousands. So many in fact, that the cabinet is stuffed and we rarely open it. Why, you ask? Because we’re afraid. Here’s why.

dining room picture cabinet

There’s a reason it’s got a child lock on it. It’s not to keep any children out. It’s to keep what’s in there in. It’s packed in there and impossible to find anything and every time you open the doors everything falls out. Think I’m kidding? Take a look.

dining room picture cabinet inside

There are probably 20 or more albums full of photos in there, as well as a couple of boxes of photos, a couple hundred photo processing envelopes and hundreds of loose pictures. Do you think I’m in need of photo scanning services?

It would be so nice to transfer all of those photos to cd. There are companies out there that do this for you, like ScanDigital. You ship them your photos and they do all of the work, even cropping and correcting images if you like. They then send you your photos back, along with CDs containing all of the photos. They also do video transfers, moving old VHS to DVD, if you’re in the need.

Dec 04, 2009 | 2 comments | View Post

Visual Voicemail, A Possible Answer To Mom’s Problem

I’ve seen the term visual voicemail mentioned a few times lately and wondered what in the world it was. Smith Micro, a company specializing in computer security and technology, has come up with programming that allows you to get your voicemail messages without dialing your voicemail. From what I read they appear in a list on your phone, showing the number of the caller. That part doesn’t sound new, it sounds kind of like the received and missed calls list to me. What did sound neat is that you can see if you’ve replied or not, as well as forward messages from your contacts. Those mobile connection management features would be great for folks that use their cell phones exclusively or heavily. The feature it has that would be helpful to both customers and mobile phone companies is that is removes the need for voicemail passwords, omitting all of those calls to tech support for forgotten passwords.

We’re forbidden to leave my Mom voicemail messages on her cell phone - she can’t get them out. I don’t understand why not but anyway. It seems to me that a mobile connection manager might help her address that problem. Maybe I should see if I can buy her a year of it as a Christmas gift…