I had purchased a Huffy: Rock Creek at walmart for my boyfriend for his birthday - not realizing he and I would want to go biking as much as we did or I would have bought him a nicer one because the Huffy fell apart and he went and purchased his Hyper Havok
First off keep in mind what I am reviewing - I am reviewing a walmart bike. This isn't something that is really meant for hardcore trail abuse. But we have taken it on the trail a few times with good results.
This bike isn't particularly light weight but its not particularly heavy either. As far as durability goes the thing seems solid. I know a lot of people complain about stuff that is really a result of the guys at the store putting it together wrong - its not really the bike's fault - but even if there was really nothing wrong as far as assembly goes - We are still impressed with the general bike parts themselves. I have a "Next" and I can tell an immediate difference just rolling the 2 across the floor. Also - the fork on my Next is shot after a few rides and the Hyper still seems fine. All in all this is a really nice walmart bike for about $130. You get what you pay for of course, this is just a regular old spring frame shock with no adjustments on the fork but for a first bike its pretty nice.
Saturday, August 11, 2012
The No Shampoo Diaries
I decided to go "no-poo" for a few reasons.
1) The Zombie Apocalypse. (or backpacking) I thought that maybe if I went no-poo I'd have an easier time when I went backpacking with that dirty feeling in the morning.
2) Damage - I am naturally a medium ash blonde with golden highlights. I dyed my hair red a few months back & red does not come out of blond hair regardless of the supposed "28 day, semi-permanent" label. I had to strip the color and dye over it which has left me in a ruthless cycle of re-dying a darker blonde to match my roots ever few months because my roots come in to match a color that later fades. So, less washing, less dying, less damage.
3) I saw a commercial for "Wen" cleansing conditioner one morning and I looked it up. It seemed that going "no poo" was cheaper and healthier than WEN.
4) Ok - the real reason - I am low maintenance. If it takes less time then I'm all for it.
So here is my experience so far. Week 1:
My first week I washed twice with baking soda and vinegar, with 4 days in between the 2 washes and a few more "washes" with just water so that it still looks good after a blow dry.
Week 2:
Same thing again, only no water rinse this week, I opted for a pony tail most of the week.
Week 3:
I have had Psoriasis for years and I have noticed a great increase in how comfortable my scalp psoriasis feels. I went off my greasy heavy medication about a year ago due to the cost and its been an uncomfortable year but I have noticed a mild improvement in severity but a great improvement in my comfort. Its not 'tight' on my scalp like it usually is (especially after a shampoo & blow dry), my scalp can breathe.
Week 4: On average I am washing once a week with baking soda and vinegar and once or twice with plain water. So its getting better but I'm getting discouraged because I don't seem to be adjusting as much as I would like. I want this semi greasy feeling to stop. It's to the point that I don't think anyone else can tell so I don't have to wear a pony tail - but I can tell and its annoying.
Week 6: Things are starting to get a lot better. I have found a little trick. On the days I feel a little greasy I put some plain old baking soda on my fingertips and run it over the roots of my hair. That has allowed me to go longer between washer and therefore helped my adjustment period.
Beginning of Month 2: I have done one baking soda and vinegar wash all month purely because of dirt. My hair seems to be totally adjusted. The only thing I miss is the nice smell of shampoo but the cons list ends there.
End of month 2: I dyed my hair last week to match my roots coming in (which I had never done before and worked out well - I'm naturally a blond but went red and then dyed it back blond again and it usually fades on the tips before my roots come in so I just dyed everything else to match my roots) and I got a taste of how my hair felt after a shampoo again - and I hate it. Before when I dyed my hair it almost felt thicker than normal (not sure why) but this time my hair felt weak and brittle after a dye. Thankfully this didn't mess up my adjustment period but I had forgotten how my hair felt after washing (or in this case - dying) with something that lathered.
1) The Zombie Apocalypse. (or backpacking) I thought that maybe if I went no-poo I'd have an easier time when I went backpacking with that dirty feeling in the morning.
2) Damage - I am naturally a medium ash blonde with golden highlights. I dyed my hair red a few months back & red does not come out of blond hair regardless of the supposed "28 day, semi-permanent" label. I had to strip the color and dye over it which has left me in a ruthless cycle of re-dying a darker blonde to match my roots ever few months because my roots come in to match a color that later fades. So, less washing, less dying, less damage.
3) I saw a commercial for "Wen" cleansing conditioner one morning and I looked it up. It seemed that going "no poo" was cheaper and healthier than WEN.
4) Ok - the real reason - I am low maintenance. If it takes less time then I'm all for it.
So here is my experience so far. Week 1:
My first week I washed twice with baking soda and vinegar, with 4 days in between the 2 washes and a few more "washes" with just water so that it still looks good after a blow dry.
Week 2:
Same thing again, only no water rinse this week, I opted for a pony tail most of the week.
Week 3:
I have had Psoriasis for years and I have noticed a great increase in how comfortable my scalp psoriasis feels. I went off my greasy heavy medication about a year ago due to the cost and its been an uncomfortable year but I have noticed a mild improvement in severity but a great improvement in my comfort. Its not 'tight' on my scalp like it usually is (especially after a shampoo & blow dry), my scalp can breathe.
Week 4: On average I am washing once a week with baking soda and vinegar and once or twice with plain water. So its getting better but I'm getting discouraged because I don't seem to be adjusting as much as I would like. I want this semi greasy feeling to stop. It's to the point that I don't think anyone else can tell so I don't have to wear a pony tail - but I can tell and its annoying.
Week 6: Things are starting to get a lot better. I have found a little trick. On the days I feel a little greasy I put some plain old baking soda on my fingertips and run it over the roots of my hair. That has allowed me to go longer between washer and therefore helped my adjustment period.
Beginning of Month 2: I have done one baking soda and vinegar wash all month purely because of dirt. My hair seems to be totally adjusted. The only thing I miss is the nice smell of shampoo but the cons list ends there.
End of month 2: I dyed my hair last week to match my roots coming in (which I had never done before and worked out well - I'm naturally a blond but went red and then dyed it back blond again and it usually fades on the tips before my roots come in so I just dyed everything else to match my roots) and I got a taste of how my hair felt after a shampoo again - and I hate it. Before when I dyed my hair it almost felt thicker than normal (not sure why) but this time my hair felt weak and brittle after a dye. Thankfully this didn't mess up my adjustment period but I had forgotten how my hair felt after washing (or in this case - dying) with something that lathered.
Monday, July 2, 2012
My experience with Vonage & why Skype wins.
I had Vonage a few years ago (in 2009). I have seen a lot of their advertising lately and frankly I think some of it's BS. My experience (on what was the fastest comcast connection at the time) was terrible. I definitely noticed a difference in call quality and & I eventually switched to skype and got better call quality and reliability. (yeah you can do that - they have some pretty cool home phones too)
But here is my real problem with Vonage: They are dishonest and I am highly unsatisfied with their customer service. I decided, after about 6 months of getting little to no help as to why (on a pretty speedy connection) I was getting dropped calls along with miscellaneous other problems, to terminate service. Incase you're wondering I did speed check my connection. And I was getting within 3 megabits of what I was paying for with comcast at any given time. My boyfriend at the time (who was a gamer) was extremely touchy about internet speed so trust me, that wasn't my problem.
Here's the real kicker though, if you don't cancel within the first 30 days (assuming their policy is still like this) you automatically 'agree' to a year contract with them, but even after a year you still have to pay a small termination fee. Should I have read the fine print? Yes, for sure. But I never thought the service would be that crappy either.
To add insult to injury, when I initially purchased Vonage I signed up for the cheap cheap cheap package with a cheap receiver. Well they were "out of stock" for the cheap reciever ($30) so they sent me a "free" upgrade. Which upon termination I also got billed for to the tune of $125.
Would I ever give Vonage a try again? Honestly - even if they changed their terms of service and customer service, NO. I don't want to completely smear their reputation because perhaps they have changed but I would recommend you check out skype home phones. The phone apparatus is initially more costly for the unit ($60 ish vs $30ish- compared to vonage's CHEAPEST unit and only if they don't give you a "free" upgrade they make you pay for later).
Skype does bill a bit oddly tho, I believe you can pay 3 months at a time for your own phone number for incoming calls($18) or a year ($60) then you have a choice on top of that to make for outgoing calls. Skype premium is $5/month right now and according to the website its usually $10. So you figure about $10-$15/month which beats out vonage by $10/month after their 3 month introductory rate ends and you're locked in to $25/month for a year.
But here is my real problem with Vonage: They are dishonest and I am highly unsatisfied with their customer service. I decided, after about 6 months of getting little to no help as to why (on a pretty speedy connection) I was getting dropped calls along with miscellaneous other problems, to terminate service. Incase you're wondering I did speed check my connection. And I was getting within 3 megabits of what I was paying for with comcast at any given time. My boyfriend at the time (who was a gamer) was extremely touchy about internet speed so trust me, that wasn't my problem.
Here's the real kicker though, if you don't cancel within the first 30 days (assuming their policy is still like this) you automatically 'agree' to a year contract with them, but even after a year you still have to pay a small termination fee. Should I have read the fine print? Yes, for sure. But I never thought the service would be that crappy either.
To add insult to injury, when I initially purchased Vonage I signed up for the cheap cheap cheap package with a cheap receiver. Well they were "out of stock" for the cheap reciever ($30) so they sent me a "free" upgrade. Which upon termination I also got billed for to the tune of $125.
Would I ever give Vonage a try again? Honestly - even if they changed their terms of service and customer service, NO. I don't want to completely smear their reputation because perhaps they have changed but I would recommend you check out skype home phones. The phone apparatus is initially more costly for the unit ($60 ish vs $30ish- compared to vonage's CHEAPEST unit and only if they don't give you a "free" upgrade they make you pay for later).
Skype does bill a bit oddly tho, I believe you can pay 3 months at a time for your own phone number for incoming calls($18) or a year ($60) then you have a choice on top of that to make for outgoing calls. Skype premium is $5/month right now and according to the website its usually $10. So you figure about $10-$15/month which beats out vonage by $10/month after their 3 month introductory rate ends and you're locked in to $25/month for a year.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Centrifugal Dryer from The Laundry Alternative
I got a Centrifugal Spin Dryer from The Laundry Alternative a week or so ago and so far I am extremely satisfied with it.
You can watch the video here.
or you can read on for my pros and cons:
Pro: Extremely effective, quiet considering my expectations (no louder than a vacuum cleaner), easy on clothing, great for portable washers with no spin cycle, great drying time even if you line dry this speeds it up SO much, removes more water than a regular washing machine's spin cycle
Cons: Hard to load at first with more than a few items - balancing your load takes a little practice but its hardly a "con", the dryer has a thermal switch that shuts itself off if it gets too hot - which is actually a pro, but I put it in cons only because I thought for about 20 minutes that I broke the thing, I with the spout was a little higher off the ground for some larger container like a bucket. This removes a TON of water and sometimes I have to restart it because my pan gets full before it is finished.
You can watch the video here.
or you can read on for my pros and cons:
Pro: Extremely effective, quiet considering my expectations (no louder than a vacuum cleaner), easy on clothing, great for portable washers with no spin cycle, great drying time even if you line dry this speeds it up SO much, removes more water than a regular washing machine's spin cycle
Cons: Hard to load at first with more than a few items - balancing your load takes a little practice but its hardly a "con", the dryer has a thermal switch that shuts itself off if it gets too hot - which is actually a pro, but I put it in cons only because I thought for about 20 minutes that I broke the thing, I with the spout was a little higher off the ground for some larger container like a bucket. This removes a TON of water and sometimes I have to restart it because my pan gets full before it is finished.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
How if fixed my 3GS/Gophone Data access problem - no jailbreak
I had been having the hardest time getting anything to work on my iPhone 3Gs once I put it on a prepaid gophone plan. Nothing that was written online seemed to be up to date at all and it really started ticking me off when people started saying it wasn't possible. FIRST let me tell you what I did and what I shouldn't have done, please read the whole thing before completing any of the steps:
1) I bought a cheap phone from att's "gophone" section.
2) I activated the sim card via the gophone. bad idea but fixable , once you activate a sim its "locked" to that phone so I should have activated it after I inserted it in my iPhone.
If you did it the way I did and need to fix it:
Call 611 from the gophone, tell them you meant to put the new sim in your old gphone and you need to have the sim reset so that you can have that phone number on your previous phone. (i told them I had an old samsung phone I wanted to continue to use - idk how they would feel about me putting it in my iphone) they did this in a matter of 5 (or less) minutes for me with no trouble.
3) I added minutes, I initially had chosen the $50 unlimited plan. wrong choice again
Any smart phone cannot be on an unlimited plan (so says att - haven't found a way around that yet unless you buy a "smartphone" like the at&t fusion which I don't know if that falls under the category of "smartphone" anyway), it has to have a "data package"
What you need to do is choose a plan that suits your talk and text needs and add a data package after that. I chose the $25/month plan for 250 minutes and unlimited text. I think their biggest data package is $25/month for 1 gig of data. You can add more if you want to if you use that up before the month is over. For me I actually have just been using the $5/month for 50megabits and refilling as I need simply because its cheaper since I'm around a wifi connection 90% of the time.
4) And finally to make all this work, go to www.unlockit.co.nz from your iPhone on a wifi connection, press continue from the welcome screen, click custom APN, your carrier is going to be toward the bottom I spent countless time, all wasted, selecting other At&t options, the one you want is AT&T (PAYG) . Install the new APN, turn your iPhone off or put it in airplane mode for a few seconds and bring it back. Turn off your wifi and after that you should have a working data plan assuming you purchased one. If this doesnt work go under your settings, go under general, go under reset and "reset network settings".
Hope this helped anyone having the same problem I was
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Shakeology - first impressions
I just got a sample of "Shakeology" with my Beachbody package (I ordered Brazilian Butt Lift -*giggling slightly* on a side note, my lower body is some kind of hardcore sore due to the first day of that DVD) Anyhow - I drank my first Shakeology drink this morning (chocolate flavor), my second for lunch (half a serving with a granola bar, I also had a taco a bit earlier) and I gotta say the stuff was surprisingly tasty. I'm not really overweight, my BMI is 22.5 but I want to stay at a flat 22 so I'm exercising and trying to eat right - and much to my surprise I get to try this sample of Shakeology. So here are my pros and cons thus far.
Pro:
Pretty darn tasty - I like to put it in my Ninja single serving blender thing with one serving of milk and a few ice cubes, I think I will try it next time with frozen coffee ice cubes. Sounds like a winning recipe to me.
Pro:
It definitely curbs hunger, I have seen a few reviews that say otherwise and honestly it wasn't my expectation that it would curb my hunger. I am a VERY hungry girl. But by the time I was almost finished with my first full serving I was honestly having trouble finishing the whole thing. The thought of snacking wasn't really appealing (THIS IS HUGE FOR ME I LOVE SNACKING)and I didn't eat until after noon - and even then it was just a single taco.
Con:
The cost. OMG. Its $120 plus shipping, plus tax. So about $140 for a "30 day supply". I am keeping in mind my boyfriend uses whey protein and last time I checked that stuff was between $40 and $60 for 15 to 30 servings depending on what you get and what brand. On the low end of things - if you get a $60 jug with only 15 servings I guess the price is comparable - before you tack on tax and shipping. But still. This stuff i crazy expensive. On the plus side as far as expense tho - this is DEFINITELY more than just a protein shake. Its a super supplement and meal replacement. And, today when I drank that half serving, I felt pretty good. I could probably cut the cost in half with similar results. If I could I think it would be worth it.
Anyway - Once I get thru my trial package, I will update and let you know if I still think it may be worth it.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Goodbye Mortar and Pestle, Hello Ninja Kitchen!
My sweetheart got me a Ninja food chopper for my birthday Like this one this year and after about 3 months of using it I have no idea how I lived without it.
I used to crush garlic by hand -not that crushing garlic is that hard- but it leaves a mess to clean up out of your Mortar and Pestle plus if you're using a wooden one like I was, it leaves it smelling like garlic. I don't have that problem with my ninja and it only takes about 1 1/2 seconds for it to annihilate a few cloves of garlic. It has a nice lid that makes it double as a storage container and protects the part of the unit that contains the motor from food, therefore making it a fast and easy clean up.
I also received a Ninja system Like this one that I have a deep love for. This comes with a dough paddle - which to be honest I don't use too much because I have the bread machine and that requires less attention, but it also comes with a cookie dough paddle for the FASTEST batch of cookies you have ever seen. The 2 smaller containers are so quick and simple with whip up shakes in, everything about this thing is LOVE LOVE LOVE.
ok ok there's this one thing that does get on my nerves a bit - washing the main canister on the "Kitchen System Pulse" (Not the chopper) can be a pain. Its actually fine until you get to the lid - dough sticks in there so badly. But if that's all I have to worry about I'm doing good. I absolutely love the 4 blades though. I had a black and decker food processor before this and I liked it very much, the only reason I still keep it around though is because it will slice and grate. I can't really do that with my Ninja but it is still, hands down the BEST food processor/food chopper/ cookie dough mixer/shake maker I have ever had.
The Panda Washer
I recently bought a panda washer, I have done about 7 (maybe 10) loads in it. I'm loving it so far, I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a quick way to do laundry without having to fill up an entire washing machine, or those like myself who live in apartments, or even for vacation. This is an extremely lightweight and flexible little machine.
I did an experiment with my work clothes that have miscellaneous stains and dirt on them anywhere from motor oil to limestone and the clothes came out fantastic. The only bad thing I really have to say about it is that it has trouble with heavy fabrics in medium quantities. I'm a size 3 to 5 girl and I can only put 2 to 3 pairs of my jeans in there. Given along with 2 to 3 pairs of pants I can also put a lot of other lightweight items, say for example 2 pairs of jeans 4 lightweight polyester shirts and a few pairs of underwear. That works fine. And the best part is that is gets them as clean as a regular washer.
Here's my list of pro's and cons, you can also view my youtube video (link below) and see the washer in action.
Pros: Lightweight, easy to use, does a lot of smaller items at once, cleans surprisingly well, great for apartments or vacations (insanely lightweight when empty), has a handle on the back for great portability, works on any standard outlet (U.S.)
Cons: No automatic rinse cycle, filler hose is hard to use on some sinks (that's the only part of the whole unit that deserves the word "sucks" - that hose really does blow), has trouble with medium quantities of heavy fabrics as i stated above, long drying time due to no spin cycle. Towel capacity is very low, maybe 2 medium to large towels (extremely large towels I'd only put one) and maybe 3 small towels - they suck up all the water and then twist together making the machine jam.
Panda Washer Video
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Saving Money on Those Double Febreze refills
I purchased one of those double scent Febreze air fresheners a few months ago on clearance at target and I loved it because (as the commercial stated) I didn't get used to the one scent because it alternated between scents. But today I found out as I went to purchase a refill that the refills are between $7(walmart) and $10 (target) which made me pick up an air wick instead which was $5 for 2 different scented refills @ target. (and I also picked up some knock-off dollar tree scents to see if they would fit in my air wick)
I got home, threw the old Febreze canister in the trash and put the warmer under the sink for the next time refills went on clearance, then something struck me, I dug through the trash which I thankfully had just changed, and pulled out the old double scent Febreze canister and this is what I did: (keep in mind if you are in love with the Febreze scents & no other scent will do this isn't going to work for you)
I pulled the top off of both sides of the old Febreze canister (which is surprisingly easy) and pulled the wick out. (that's not a cigarette behind the Febreze canister, thats the old wick, which is why I don't reuse my wicks. They look like a fire hazard)
I then pulled the wick out of the Airwick refill (preferably have 2 so you can fill both sides of the febreze canister), its a bit contemptible but it will come out just pull fairly hard & be careful not to spill it.
Then the rest is simple, pour both your Airwick scents into both sides of the Febreze canister sides, and insert the new wicks from the Airwick into the Febreze canister and put the caps on. The wicks from Airwick are slightly longer but it doesn't seem to matter in my Febreze warmer. And you now have a new refill at half the cost. (or less if you get off-brand scents or make your own)
I got home, threw the old Febreze canister in the trash and put the warmer under the sink for the next time refills went on clearance, then something struck me, I dug through the trash which I thankfully had just changed, and pulled out the old double scent Febreze canister and this is what I did: (keep in mind if you are in love with the Febreze scents & no other scent will do this isn't going to work for you)
I pulled the top off of both sides of the old Febreze canister (which is surprisingly easy) and pulled the wick out. (that's not a cigarette behind the Febreze canister, thats the old wick, which is why I don't reuse my wicks. They look like a fire hazard)
I then pulled the wick out of the Airwick refill (preferably have 2 so you can fill both sides of the febreze canister), its a bit contemptible but it will come out just pull fairly hard & be careful not to spill it.
Then the rest is simple, pour both your Airwick scents into both sides of the Febreze canister sides, and insert the new wicks from the Airwick into the Febreze canister and put the caps on. The wicks from Airwick are slightly longer but it doesn't seem to matter in my Febreze warmer. And you now have a new refill at half the cost. (or less if you get off-brand scents or make your own)
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