Liking the Look of the Speck FitFolio
I’m liking the look of this Speck FitFolio case for the full-sized iPad. Good enough reviews at Amazon
Passion
A LEGO Must Have
This is definitely a LEGO must have! From the Lord of the Rings, LEGO’s reproduced the Tower of Orthanc. What’s that you ask? That’s the dark tower Saruman ruled where he held Gandalf captive on the roof. Yeah, that tower. Check out the magnificence of this tower along with all its details. It’s over two feet tall!
And the movable Ent is a bonus along with the various minifigures! Save up $200 for July 2013.
Belkin Dot Cover No More?
My experiences with Belkin cases have been good thus far, so I went with another one. This time, I got a Belkin Dot cover with stand for my Dwellable iPad Mini. But now, looking on Belkin’s web site, I don’t see this case offered. I guess it’s no more. Still though, it’s more than a decent case.
The Dot cover is not too heavy but provides sufficient protection to the front and back of your iPad Mini. For awhile, I doubted the magnetic auto-wake trigger of this case, but it is there. Open the cover, and the Mini awakens. The magnetic clasp not only keeps the cover securely closed but strengthens the cover’s structure when open for viewing. I like the overall feel of the cover’s material, providing enough grippy texture.
There are two minuses with this case though small. The stand only works in landscape orientation. If you want to stand up the Mini in portait orientation, you’re going to have to lean it on something. I’ve seen other cases where the iPad can swivel in the stand, but with the low profile of this case, this feature isn’t offered. Secondly, I can’t easily adjust the volume buttons or mute switch. There’s just not enough space for my finger to fit in the recess of the case. No biggie, just humbug.
For the overall cost of the Belkin Dot case, I can’t complain with what I got.
Once You Go Black
Was it Wesley Snipes that uttered that phrase on Passenger 57? In any case, I’ll see if that mantra holds true for beds, specifically the Simmons Beautyrest Black series.
A Tribute to Ron Bright
After the last performance of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, the cast (along with special guests) sang a tribute to Ron Bright. This was probably my first play watched at the Ron Bright Theatre at Castle High School, and I could definitely feel the love, respect, and admiration for Mr. Bright from patrons and performers alike.
Sorry, the video is from my iPhone since I didn’t have any other gear with me.
What Does Peanut Butter Crunch Pancakes Look Like?
Looking at the specials menu for Sunday, April 21, what does peanut butter crunch pancakes with a marmalade topping look like?
A short stack looks like this!
The taste was interesting, not my favorite though. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the marmalade topping, instead wanted more peanut butter flavor.
One Team Hat in Grey
At the Iolani Fair, I picked up the last One Team hat in grey. Still had the hat in red or black, but I thought the grey provided the most contrast.
Vote Dwellable for Geekwire’s App of the Year
Dwellable’s mobile app that helps find vacation rentals throughout America has been nominated for Geekwire’s App of the Year. If you’re not familiar with Dwellable or its revamped app, take a minute to read my app review. 🙂
Okay, so I did win an iPad Mini for my winning review but hey, I still endorse Dwellable as App of the Year amongst its competition of Glympse, Haiku Deck, Walk Score, and Zillow Digs. Voting goes on through April, and the winners will be announced on May 9 at GeekWire’s Awards Bash.
As a company, you gotta love Dwellable’s engagement with its fans and users. They’ve sponsored contests, featured their fans, and published interesting perspectives on DwellableTrends.
Good luck to Dwellable and please vote for them!
Sorry, I wish I could embed the voting poll here. You’ll have to head on over to GeekWire to vote.
Lego Jabba’s Palace
Fortunately (for my wallet), this set was out of stock at Walmart. Although on sale locally, you can still find this popular set online (maybe cheaper).
Shopping for a Washing Machine Again
And here we go again. Almost four years ago to the day, we purchased a washing machine, the LG WM2487HWMA front loader. Sadly, this washer won’t make it much longer.
It’s progressively been making louder and louder noises while in operation so we had a tech inspect it. The Direct Drive motor is fine, and the drum is fine, and these are the two parts with long term warranties. It’s the parts that hold the drum and motor together that’s busted. Estimate for the repair came out to roughly $800!!
So buying a new washing machine is a better answer. Disappointed at the longevity of this LG, we looked at Consumer Reports for other options. However, LG and Samsung still lead the way in CR reviews along with the least amount of repair issues. Hmmmm. We started looking at Samsung washers only to discover that these washers are deep. They are all 27 inches wide, but between 32-34 inches deep. The typical LG 4.0 cu ft washer is right under 30 inches deep. Because of its current (immovable) location, an extra four inches wouldn’t work out. Seems like LG has the market on “small” 27-in washing machines. Other brands (GE, Maytag, Whirlpool) we looked at were all 30 inches or more. Oh, and this is for front loaders with at least 4.0 cu ft of interior space.
The new LG behemoth, the WM8000HVA, with 5.1 cu ft of space was intriguing. It’s still deeper at 32 3/10 inches compared to 29 3/4 inches, and also it’s 29 inches wide compared to the standard 27 inches. We could actually accommodate the extra two inches of width, but those few inches of depth are still a problem so we couldn’t match our other behemoth LG appliance.
So where does this leave us? Here’s a rundown of what we wanted:
- Low maintenance
- Extended warranty
- 4.0 cu ft or more of interior space
- Front loader. Every sales rep and tech still recommended front loaders for cleaner clothes.
- Similar depth of current washer
- No extra fancy wash cycles (but they all pretty much have them like it or not)
- Available NOW. Our current washer just ain’t going to make it so we can’t wait 30-60 days for delivery.
After checking out Sears, Costco, Lowes, and Home Depot, we ended up at Pacific Sales inside of Best Buy. Not finding a Samsung that met our requirements, we went with another LG, the WM4070HWA, with its 4.3 cu ft of space. It’s the same footprint of our current LG, and there is was one in stock. It seems this model is relatively new with very few reviews available unlike the popular LG WM3470. So although Pacific Sales did not have a floor model to see (neither did other stores), we bought the LG WM4070HWAD with delivery this week.
We also purchased the extended warranty due to our bad luck with our former LG washer. At $129 for 5 years (I have to check on that), it’s a reasonable addition.
Let’s hope for better luck with this LG.
Kicks Analysis 2013 #8: The Champ
It’s all wins for Adidas, and the victory for Adidas was already determined before the actual game as both Louisville and Michigan were decked out in Adidas gear.
Even with its NBA pedigree and support from Kate Upton, the Wolverines couldn’t hold off the talented and relentless Cardinal squad. Props to Louisville and their Adidas camo uniforms.
Going back to 1999, the championship kicksology looks like:
- 1999 Connecticut (Nike)
- 2000 Michigan State (Reebok Answers)
- 2001 Duke (Nike)
- 2002 Maryland (Nike Shox Stunners)
- 2003 Syracuse (Nike Shox)
- 2004 Connecticut (Nike Lebron Zoom Generation and Air Force Operates)
- 2005 North Carolina (Nike Retro Jordan X)
- 2006 Florida (Nike)
- 2007 Florida (Nike)
- 2008 Kansas (Adidas)
- 2009 North Carolina (Nike)
- 2010 Duke (Nike)
- 2011 Connecticut (Nike)
- 2012 Kentucky (Nike)
- 2013 Louisville (Adidas)
From these 15 years, the championship score is 1 for Reebok, 2 for Adidas, and 12 for Nike.
And of course, the obligatory One Shining Moment.