Monthly Archives: May 2012

Stamina 15-0120 InStride Cycle XL

  By Ani Fardreamer | May 31, 2012 - 10:03 am |
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Stamina 15-0120 InStride Cycle XL

I ordered this Stamina 15-0120 InStride Cycle XL by mistake; but once I got it, I decided to keep it. I could use the exercise.

The InStride came to me in three main pieces, a bunch of screws, and a hex wrench. It only took a few minutes to put together. I didn’t have any problems.  Included is a nifty little timer that attaches to the cycle facing the rider. It counts up, not down. There’s no setting for it to beep or anything. It’s just a way to keep track of how long we’ve been pedaling.

What I thought would be handy with this contraption is I could put it under my desk and pedal as I’m surfing the web. That didn’t happen, because my legs would hit the bottom of the desk. So, I can use the InStride Cycle while mindlessly reading or taking advantage of the wireless capabilities of my keyboard and mouse to surf at a distance, but not right at my desk.

How good is the workout? Well, it’s not like going to the gym, by my legs do tire after going at it for half an hour. If I want to work harder, I just tighten the tension by way of a knob on top of the cycle.

Does it slip around? When I use it on carpet, the ridged feet keep it from moving. On tile, it does tend to crawl.

Am I glad I kept it? Yes. Burning some calories is better than no calories. Calories are calories. As long as I’m sitting around, I might as well get a little exercise in. If you’re training for a marathon, this isn’t the way to do it. If you just want to add a little more movement to your day, this will work.

 

Night Clock App for Kindle Fire

  By admin | May 31, 2012 - 9:15 am |
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Night Clock

This Night Clock App is wonderful. I downloaded it onto my Kindle Fire and it just works. I place it on my nightstand and it’s like a regular clock. In landscape mode, the font fills the screen, so it’s extra large. Touch the screen and it goes into night mode, much dimmer. The clock will stay on until I turn it off.

There are three fonts to choose from: normal, computer and seven segment. The color selection is everything on the color wheel.

Alarm ringtones are as follows: beep-beep-beep, buzzer, piezo, ringing and rooster. We can set multiple alarms with a different ringtone for each one, and have those alarms repeat on whatever day of the week we desire. There is a snooze. The best thing? The alarm will ring even when the Fire is turned off. One thing, make sure to TURN UP THE VOLUME, else you’ll miss the alarm.

This is a great app. I’m glad I downloaded it.

Vitamin Squeeze Energy Drink, Fruit Punch

  By Ani Fardreamer | May 30, 2012 - 7:15 pm | ,
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Vitamin Squeeze Energy Drink, Fruit Punch

I’m not so sure about Vitamin Squeeze Energy Drink.  It works a lot like MiO, just squeeze a bit into a glass or bottle of water and drink.  We do need to refrigerate it after opening, which makes it less portable, and the bottle is pretty big.  Mio is at least small and can be carried in a purse.

The “energy” comes from a variety of vitamins and minerals and caffeine.  The labeling says it’s not for children, but I let my children try it.  Let’s just say they didn’t care for it.  Personally, I like the taste of MiO better.  Vitamin Squeeze is a little too sweet without much flavor.  I was underwhelmed.

This product was provided for review by the Amazon Vine program.

Marina Easy Clean Gravel Cleaner

  By Ani Fardreamer | May 30, 2012 - 6:21 pm | ,
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Marina Easy Clean Gravel Cleaner, Small

I bought this Marina Easy Clean Gravel Cleaner to replace an old, moldy gravel cleaner. This Marina model is so much better.

The small size Marina is certainly bigger than my last one. The hose is also fatter and more flexible. The shape of the head is oval instead of round. That is important, because it helps get into the corners and around the obstacles in the tank. It has a bucket clip to keep the hose in place. I didn’t think of how important that is until I had water spilling all over the floor with the other gravel cleaner.

I couldn’t believe how fast it sucked out water. My fish tank was cleaned in seconds. I mean that literally. I only take out about 2 liters from my five gallon tank, but the old gravel cleaner was slow.

Just about the only problem was the Marina gravel filter did let a few pieces of gravel through, but I can live with that. The speed and convenience of this product is second to none.

Ziploc Storage Bag

  By admin | May 30, 2012 - 12:30 am |
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Ziploc Storage Bag, Quart Value Pack, Double Zipper

These Ziploc Storage Bags are money well-spent. They’re so easy to zip, no need to feel and press. The zipper holds tight, they don’t accidentally open up. The bags are leak-proof. I tested them by filling them with water and they don’t leak from the seams, the zipper edge, from anywhere. They’re thicker than cheap generic bags but thinner than freezer bags and they have an opaque area for writing and labeling. Very nice.

KRE-O BATTLESHIP ALIEN STRIKE

  By Ani Fardreamer | May 29, 2012 - 9:24 am | ,
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KRE-O BATTLESHIP ALIEN STRIKE

My ten year-old son is a Star Wars Lego devotee, but he jumped at the chance at trying out this KRE-O BATTLESHIP ALIEN STRIKE. We took out the pieces and spent the afternoon on it. They were all packed neatly in bags — not at all overwhelming.

I started out building the little boat, but my son quickly determined I was hogging the ship building. He relegated me to the task of handing him the pieces. Instructions were very easy for him to follow. They’re just like the ones printed by Lego. Everything fitted together well. We had exactly as many pieces as we needed and no more. It took us about an 1&1/2 hours to build.

Finished, the ship is beautiful. Black, gray and red is an attractive color scheme. It looks fabulous. There are lots, I exaggerate not, lots of moving parts. However, the ship should not be played with, because the pieces do come apart too easily. It was at times frustrating when we were assembling it. This is a ship to be built for display only. The moving parts are the better to pose it.

The set comes with four little characters whose bodies and limbs have a greater range of motion than Lego people. My son liked that. If not for the fact that the pieces don’t stick together as well as Lego, he’d have been converted to Kre-O.

This product was provided for review by the Amazon Vine program.

Wonder Bread Sandwich Container

  By Ani Fardreamer | May 28, 2012 - 7:48 pm | ,
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Wonder Bread Sandwich Container

This Wonder Bread Sandwich Container is good for children’s sandwiches, so they don’t squish flat in the backpack. I say children’s sandwiches, like basic ham and cheese or peanut butter and jelly — something simple and small. If you make adult style sandwiches with thick bread slices piled high, this container is too small for that. My children have used these for years and we like them.

Icon Calendar App

  By admin | May 28, 2012 - 10:09 am |
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Icon Calendar Free

I downloaded this Icon Calendar Free onto my Kindle Fire. It works and it’s adorable. Each day can hold five icons and there are lots of icons to choose from. We can add notes and those notes come up as reminders when I turn the Fire on. The biggest problem for me is we can’t program repeating events. There is no weekly view or yearly view, just monthly view. If they could fix those things, I would definitely rate this higher. For now, it’s just three stars.  Very cute.

basyx by HON HVL151 Executive High-Back Chair

  By admin | May 27, 2012 - 6:29 pm |
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basyx by HON HVL151 Executive High-Back Chair

This basyx by HON HVL151 Executive High-Back Chair was very easy to assemble. It came with an instruction sheet and six easy steps. All that’s required are the screws and a hex wrench that come in the box. It didn’t take me more than ten minutes to put it all together.

The finished product is impressive. The chair is made of the softest, supple leather. It feels so good to the touch. The seat is plush, nicely cushioned. The wheels rolls smoothly. The chair’s height adjusts up and down through a pneumatic lift. There is a lock on the pneumatic lift lever. Pull it to allow the chair to tilt. Push it to lock the chair upright.

The tilt tension can be adjusted via a large knob underneath the seat. At its loosest setting, there is still a lot of tension. In fact, my husband won’t use the chair because he likes to lean way back, and this chair just won’t do it.

The chair’s armrests and seatback are not adjustable, but I feel comfortable with the position they’re set at. There’s not a lot of lumbar support. The seatback is high, I can lean my head back on it. The chair feels big, like an executive chair would. It’s comfortable, but it doesn’t recline well. If you want to recline a lot, this would not be the chair to get. Otherwise, it’s a very nice chair.

This product was provided for review by the Amazon Vine program.

basyx by HON HVL151 Executive High-Back Chair

  By Ani Fardreamer | May 27, 2012 - 6:29 pm |
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basyx by HON HVL151 Executive High-Back Chair

This basyx by HON HVL151 Executive High-Back Chair was very easy to assemble. It came with an instruction sheet and six easy steps. All that’s required are the screws and a hex wrench that come in the box. It didn’t take me more than ten minutes to put it all together.

The finished product is impressive. The chair is made of the softest, supple leather. It feels so good to the touch. The seat is plush, nicely cushioned. The wheels rolls smoothly. The chair’s height adjusts up and down through a pneumatic lift. There is a lock on the pneumatic lift lever. Pull it to allow the chair to tilt. Push it to lock the chair upright.

The tilt tension can be adjusted via a large knob underneath the seat. At its loosest setting, there is still a lot of tension. In fact, my husband won’t use the chair because he likes to lean way back, and this chair just won’t do it.

The chair’s armrests and seatback are not adjustable, but I feel comfortable with the position they’re set at. There’s not a lot of lumbar support. The seatback is high, I can lean my head back on it. The chair feels big, like an executive chair would. It’s comfortable, but it doesn’t recline well. If you want to recline a lot, this would not be the chair to get. Otherwise, it’s a very nice chair.

This product was provided for review by the Amazon Vine program.