Well, we've actually had them for quite a while, but I am just getting around to posting about them.

Because when I work from home I am often participating on teleconferences, and given that my office is right next to the living room, we needed to come up with a way for Jeanie to be able to listen to TV while I am in the office.

Our solution was to purchase a rechargeable stereo wireless headphone model number 33-1197 from Radio Shack.  The headphones plug into the headphone jack on our home theater amplifier.  Pushing one button on the front of the amp mutes the external speakers, making things easy to use.

The specs include: 900MHz - coverage is good throughout the house and evening in the garage and yard, PLL synthesizer eliminates the need for fine tuning - no little dial to have to twiddle with to try to tune into just the right frequency and off/off and volume controls on headset which just make life simpler.

Jeanie and I have both found the headphones to be light weight and comfortable - even after extended use.

The headphones use three AAA batteries.  These can either be alkaline or rechargeable (Ni-Cd or Ni-MH).  We choose to use three of our Eneloop AAA batteries to provide rechargeable functionality, and this is working very well.  The batteries are recharged each time the headphones are placed back on their cradle, and Jeanie has worn the headphones for hours without having the batteries go dead.

My latest addiction is Peet's Coffee.

Since my trips to Europe, I have realized that I really prefer a dark roast coffee.  I have also had to accept that I am very sensitive to caffeine.  This makes things a bit challenging, as there are not that many dark roast decaf coffees out there.  I've tried a few, including Starbucks, Cafe Bustelo and various blends of Maxwell House.  None had the depth and richness of the coffee I had in France or Italy.

Recently, our local Publix started stocking Peet's.  Jamie has been a Peet's fan for a number of years.   One of the selections they stock is Major Dickason's Blend - in decaf!  As Peet's describes it, it is: Our most famous blend. Combines the best coffees from the world's premier coffee-growing regions. Very full-bodied, complex, rich, and smooth.  I wholeheartedly agree.

At the moment, I am drinking 3-4 mugs a day  (6-8 standard 5oz coffee cups).  Usually 2 in the morning, and one or two in the evening.

Normally, Publix sells it for $1.00 per ounce.  At the moment, Publix has Peet's on sale for 80 cents per ounce.  Unfortunately, the Publix doesn't always have the decaf in stock.  They went almost a month without the decaf, so I  signed up to be a Peetnick.  That way, I have an alternate supplier.  It's always good to have an alternative supply, lest you find yourself suddenly "out" and then have to deal with the joneses.    Peet's standard online direct price is $1.12 per ounce (shipped) - 87 cents before shipping -  but, I got my first two pounds with free shipping, plus got a free pound of their Holiday Blend, so the first order was a good deal, even relative to Publix's sale price.

Even though it is quite expensive, I have decided to allow myself this indulgence.  One rationalization I supposed I could use is that my three to four cups a day are still less than one cup purchased at Starbucks - and infinitely better.  Or, I could take a line from the old L'Oreal commercial. "it's expensive, but I'm worth it."

One other negative consequence of my pound a week Peet's habit is that I am also going through a quart of half and half each week - which translates into almost 200 calories a day.  I've started cutting the half and half with some lactose free non-fat milk in an attempt to shave a few calories, but, I guess I am just going to have to increase my exercise or reduce my caloric intake elsewhere, as I think it will be a while before this addiction subsides.

I finally broke down and purchased a new UPS...

I had gotten spoiled by all of the $10 specials I had purchased over the years, but it had been many years since I last encountered a $10 special, and I just couldn't keep waiting.

I had lost two UPS units to failed batteries.

One died a sad and horrible death, wailing its death throws in a pitiful and irritating manner.  I had to unplug it just to stop the noise.  This was the UPS to which I had the DSL modem connected as well as the two phones in my office.  While I had just swapped out the UPS with a power strip, every time the lights would even flicker (which they do on occasion for no apparent reason) we'd lose Internet connectivity and have to wait for the modem to reset itself.  I'd also drop off any call I happened to be in the middle of.  While not life threatening, it was inconvenient.

The other UPS was the one my Linux server was connected to.  Again, each flicker of the lights would cause the server to hard crash - which isn't a pretty sight, even with a journaled file system.

So, when Staples ran a special a few weeks ago offering a CyberPower CP585LCD for only $49.99, I jumped on it.  In fact, I would have purchased two, but they only had one in stock.  I guess the fact that Hurricane Fay was bearing down on us might have added some urgency on my part, and explained why there was only one unit left in stock.

One turned out to be enough, as because the new UPS has better output than the one it replaced, I was able to consolidate two UPS' worth of load onto the new one.  This allowed me to cascade the two old UPS units it replaced to the Linux server and the telephony equipment in the office, so everything is now protected.

One other advantage of the new UPS is that it has much better management features and it came with new workstation management software (CyberPower PowerPanel Personal Edition) that has many more features than the old APC unit/software had.

From a value/price/performance perspective, I am quite impressed with CyberPower.

There are some things in life I just haven't been able to adjust to as the times change.  One of those is cotton swabs with paper or plastic sticks as opposed to the old fashioned wood (or is it wooden) sticks.

Fortunately, after some hunting, I was able to secure a new supply of Q-Tips with wood sticks.

Well, technically, not Q-Tips, since I believe these are no longer manufactured under this brand, but instead, Royal brand cotton swabs I purchased "buy it now" off of eBay.

So far, Jeanie and I are very pleased with them.  They were (relatively) reasonably priced - $15.74 including shipping for 4 boxes of 300 per box - and they appear to be good quality: solid sticks and adequate cotton at both ends.  This differs from the Drugstore.com brand that are more expensive - over $4 per box of 125 - and have spindly sticks with an inadequate amount of cotton, or the Q-Tips brand that are still the "gold standard" in terms of quality which can still be found on eBay but at outrageous prices.

This is a way cool aircraft photo collection.  It includes my all-time favorite plane, the SR-71 Blackbird.  Here's the link: http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/gallery/photo/index.html check it out!

I found the coolest site this afternoon: http://www.guiweather.com/

Among the many way cool features are a number of KML files for Google Earth.  My favorite is the Level II Radar that can display the latest static radar map or a loop automatically updated every five minutes.  To install it, with Google Earth open, all you have to do is click on this link.

Another source of weather data including Nexrad Radar and Airport Weather Observations (METARS) is http://earthnc.com/  They also offer all sorts of boating related overlays if your interests sway more to the nautical.  In order to access the features you need to register, but registration is quick, easy and free.

Another site with some interesting KMLs is http://www.weatherstationmaps.info/weather/radar/googleEarth.jsp, which is also a cool weather site in its own right.

Finally, one more site with interesting KMLs is http://wdssii.nssl.noaa.gov/geotiff_new/index.html.  I particularly like their regional loops, which seem to have better resolution than some of the other sites'.

I could burn lots more time playing with this as Google returned 288,000 hits from a search string of:

Google Earth Weather with online RADAR overlay

but I should go do something more productive.

I generally prefer my ice cream "sans crunchies," but, oh my goodness, eating Ben & Jerry’s Crème Brûlée ice cream is like putting a cool little blob of heaven in your mouth.

I don't quite know how they keep the caramelized sugar swirl crunchy, but between it and the custard ice cream base, they have absolutely captured the essence of Crème Brûlée.

And, if you're not into Crème Brûlée, the new Cinnamon Buns flavor is pretty amazing too.

Just don't bother reading the nutritional information... you don't want to know.

Well, sorta new...

It is new in that we just purchased it, but it isn't really new in that it is an exact replacement of our old kettle.  Technically, it is a replacement of a replacement of a warranty exchange of the kettle we purchased at least six years ago.

I am guessing that this one will last longer than the previous ones have because I think I've finally figured out what was causing the major reason that we would get a new one - slight leaking at the base.  My belief is that we were contributing to the problem by leaving water in the kettle most of the time.

We had looked at kettles costing twice as much as our Wal-Mart G.E. Chrome Electric Kettle 168950, but after reading reviews on many different models on-line, it didn't appear that any of the more expensive kettles functioned any better or lasted any longer, and some had serious design defects.  The way I look at it, we like the features, and even if (although it is unlikely) we had to replace it twice as often as a more expensive model, we'd still be better off after taking time value of money into account.

Speaking of on-line reviews, I added another first to my list today - my very own (other than on Blogdom) first on-line review.  You can read it here.

When you think of online places to buy stuff, do you think of eBayonly when you think of online auctions and collectables?

If so, you are potentially missing a great place to buy everyday items at great prices.

For example, yesterday, I needed a new battery for the remote for my Canon G3 PowerShot camera.  It takes a CR2025 coin cell. 

You can get one of these for a few dollars at your local Walmart or Target.  But, you have to drive there, and you will (most likely) have to pay sales tax, and you'll end up buying a lot of other stuff you really didn't need.

Or, you could, as I did, jump onto eBay, and get 10 - buy it now - for $4 shipped!  What, you may ask, do I need 10 for?  I don't know, but when I can get 10 for about what I'd pay for 1, and never have to leave my house, why not?!

I've found eBay is great for typical things like batteries and cell phone accessories, and well as for more obscure things like a wheel cover for a 1992 Dodge Stealth or wooden Q-Tips (which are no longer available in stores).  Of course it's also great for coins, stamps, or that one last action figure you need to complete your set.

Happy eBaying!

So, you're going to do some online shopping and you know where you want to make the purchase from.  Before just typing in the url, why not go to Dealdom and see if there is a link to your vendor of choice.

It costs you nothing.  It is safe - it's just a link, no personal information is gathered by Dealdom.  And, Blogdom, via its association with Dealdom, gets a (very) little commission.

Everyone wins, right?

Happy Holidays.

I guess I've been living under a rock for a while, or maybe this is an indication that I'm getting old and am no longer "with it..."

I just discovered the phenomena of Social Bookmarking.  I guess this is somehow related to Social Networking, which I also don't understand.

Anyway, there are loads of sites that focus on this including: 

http://www.blinkbits.com

http://www.blinklist.com

http://blogmarks.net

http://co.mments.com

http://www.connotea.org

http://del.icio.us

http://de.lirio.us

http://digg.com

http://cgi.fark.com

http://feedmelinks.com

http://www.furl.net

http://www.linkagogo.com

http://ma.gnolia.com

http://www.newsvine.com

http://www.netvouz.com

http://www.rawsugar.com

http://reddit.com

http://www.scuttle.org

http://www.shadows.com

http://www.simpy.com

http://smarking.com

http://www.spurl.net

http://tailrank.com

http://wists.com

http://myweb2.search.yahoo.com

WLW, in its most recent beta, has added support for tagging, which should help more easily integrate social bookmarking into more blogs.  I think I'll have to spend some more time playing with the feature, as I'd like to be able to automatically insert multiple tags as illustrated by This post on GeekCapital.com, but for a start, here's one: 

I just found another interesting option for performing Internet searches: SearchWeaver.  With SearchWeaver, you can

1. Search Multiple Websites

• You can select multiple websites/search engines to search from each category.
• After selecting the website(s), you have the option to set it as the default selected websites for that category.

2. Search Multiple Keywords

• After selecting the website(s) to search, you have the option to search up to ten (10) keywords at a time.

3. Show Results in Tabs

• Most search results can be shown in tabs for easy and fast access to different websites. It also includes the option to re-search keywords.

Pretty cool... check it out.

PS. The numbered, bulleted list above was copy/pasted directly from the SearchWeaver web site into this entry - yet another way cool feature of Windows Live Writer.

I have continued to play with Windows Live Writer, and I must say, the more I use it, the more impressed I am.

The major new "feature" I discovered?

When you modify an entry which has already been saved and published, and then (re)publish it, WLW updates the entry in Movable Type.  With SharpMT, editing an entry and posting it results in a second entry being added to the blog.

I did also notice that the last entry did not have a Trackback link.  I don't know if that is because I reconfigured the default in MT to turn Trackback off - no one ever used the feature for anything other than spam - or if because it is another MT unique feature and therefore not supported by WLW.  I am going to set the Trackback in the Properties tab to "Allow" to see what happens with this post...

I am not putting SharpMT down - it still has a lot going for it, especially the full support of all of the unique features of Movable Type, but, I am impressed with WLW.  If only it supported Extended Entry...

I had a "to-do" to upgrade my SharpMT to version 3.3, so I went to the site to grab the download.  While I was there, I read a post from Randy on Windows Live Writer, so I decided to download it as well and give it a try.

The WYSIWYG editing mode is pretty cool.  So are some of the formatting features like

Bold Italic Underline Strikethrough Color

Right

Center

and Left alignment

1. Numbered
2. Lists

• Bulleted
• Lists

And Block Quotes

It also appears to have good support for inserting pictures and Windows Live Maps.

What doesn't it have?

Support for tables... wait

I wandered over to the Windows Live Gallery and guess what I found

, or support for the extended entry feature of MT.

That last omission is most likely a deal killer for me, so I'll probably continue to stick with SharpMT.

Well...

I just browsed some more of the plug-ins, and there are some really cool ones including

Display HTML code for example: <a href="http://www.blogdom.org">Blogdom</a>

 Insert symbols like ° or ½

And I don't know when I'd really use it, but insert Live Spaces emoticons like  or

So, maybe I'll play with this a bit more...

Among my fairly eclectic music tastes, I enjoy barbershop quartet music. Unfortunately, it is not the easiest thing to find... unless, that is, you check out Live365, Internet radio, which has thousands of stations to listen to, including a few featuring barbershop.

I was playing with the Google personalized page - as opposed to the classic Google page - and stumbled on this really cool site, Mighty Optical Illusions. Check it out - way cool!

Thanks to my friend Andy for passing this along. As he said, this is funny and all too true.

Thank God for Tivo, or my head would otherwise explode, given the seemly nonestop political commercials. While the commercials are enough to make me scream, this and these are enough to make me laugh out loud.

I stumbled onto this site today, way cool! If I were home, I'd definitely blogroll it.

If you are feeling really optimistic and chipper today, here's a site to help bring you back into balance: http://www.despair.com/

This "Color Test" is a hoot, and harder than it sounds. Took me two tries to get 100% (first try was 88% - I was too slow picking a button). As an fyi, the average tries to get 100% is 5. Give it a try, it's fun, and it takes less than a minute.

I thought for sure I had posted this before, but multiple searches on the site yielded nothing so...

Check this out - it is so cool:

http://www.ntv.co.jp/channel/asx/hkzkt10.asx

My niece sent this link to me - it is very cool - have fun being amazed!

My son sent these to me. They are worth taking a moment to read and reflect on...

I found this via a comment to an old entry that was recently entered. I agree, it is quite addictive.

Here are a bunch of slogans that were on signs in Washington during the peace march January 18th. I post these not as a political statement, but more in the spirit of a sociological reference, and because I thought some of them were quite clever.

This site was created by one of the most intelligent people I have ever known. Before you just dismiss his views as some sissy liberal flake, please know that he is an American, born and raised, a veteran, a father, husband and as big a patriot as you can get.

Just in case you weren't feeling very old today, this may change things.

The first time I ever heard this was many years ago. It was the week of Christmas, it was fairly late in the evening, and I was driving home from a customer site.

It so touched me, that I just sat there driving, tears streaming down my face.

I never heard it again, and could never find the name of the performer.

Today, on a whim, I did a Google search. I'm not sure what inspired me. Maybe it was Jamie and Jeanie trimming the tree. I didn't find it on the first try, or the second, or even the third. But eventually, I did find that it was a poem written by Helen Steiner Rice, performed by Reba McEntire.

I share it here, in the hope that you find joy in it as well.

The Village Blacksmith - Poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I don't know how exactly I ended up looking at this site, kellycaldwell.com, much less this entry, but thank goodness I did!

Could it be true?

I admit it. I am a rebate slut. Show me a product that is free after rebate, and chances are good that I'll be all over it.

I spent this morning filling out, scanning, and mailing rebate forms for my latest purchases which included 100 32X CD-R's, 10 3 1/2" diskettes, a power strip, a PC microphone, and a caller ID unit.

Total cost to me after rebate?

Coffee mug that is.

Promoguy turned me on to this...