REI Flip-Top Vacuum Tumbler - 15 fl. oz

Just like many of you, I frequently travel to coffee houses to purchase my daily cup of coffee, some days one cup, some days two.  I order my drink, enjoy it while surfing the net and throw away the cup and the heat sleeve.  Day after day, week after week more of the same, order, drink, throw away.  On most days, I have to push the empty coffee cup into the full garbage can because the workers can't keep up with the emptying of them.  In an effort to reduce my impact on the our landfills and to help out the coffee house workers, I decided to look into buying a reusable travel mug.

I researched the different types of travel mugs that are available and there are basically 2 types, spill proof and splash proof.  Spill proof will not spill because they has some type of stopper to prevent the liquid from spilling. These are great for putting them into your computer bag or backpack because you know that they won't spill and ruin the gear in your bag. The splash proof are designed to be carried in the upright position because their main function is to keep the liquid from splashing when jostled around.  Both the splash proof and the spill proof are insulated to help to keep the contents hot or cold. Which type that you choose, boils down to how you are going to use them, carried around in your hand or stowed in your bag.

After determining which type of travel mug that I wanted to use, which was spill proof, I checked online at one of my favorite gear shops, REI.  I decide to get the flip top version of the spill proof mug instead of the screw on top version because of the convenience of the flip top always being connected to the mug, nothing to loose or keep track of. The top flip opens and locks back to prevent it from smacking you in the face while drinking, a really nice feature.  The gray button is the stopper, up for closed and down for open, simple!  The beverage flows slowly and smoothly into the food grade sipping collar, no spilling on your shirt and tie here. My coffee stays warm for hours thanks to the double walled design and thermal seal on the stopper. Clean up is a breeze, unscrew the top, unscrew the stopper and rinse with hot water.  I chose to get two, one for cold and one for coffee.  They are available in natural stainless, navy blue, forest green and steel gray.  Pick up one of these travel mugs and you won't be sorry!

Chas

Everyone is Broken...

Hope that you enjoy "Broken"

Lyrics | Evanescence lyrics - Broken lyrics

Everyone is broken...I heard someone on TV say that and I thought, how true.  We have all suffered from a broken heart which for most of us first happened in grade school. We have all broken our promises from time to time and we have all broken the law by using our mobile phones while driving. So being broken is as much a part of our lives as being honest. But, like being honest, being broken can be a positive thing.  Broken eggs are required for making a delicious omelet or a birthday cake for a great celebration. "Break in case of an Emergency" signs require us to break the glass in order to sound an alarm that can save lives.  Breaking bad habits can help us to achieve our goals which is always a positive thing. So destruction can be a good thing!

So the next time that you have a yummy chocolate bar, break off a piece and share it with a friend...

Chas

Headphone Review, Koss PortaPro Folding Headphones

The other day, I decided to buy some new headphones to use with my iTouch, iPhone and laptop.  I wanted to buy some high end headphones that either go over the ear or on the ear because my "new bionic ear" is very sensitive in both sound and touch so in the ear type won't work for me.  I researched online  on CNET.com and the one that jumped out at me was the Koss PortaPro folding headphones.  I went to Bestbuy and purchased the Koss headphones for $49 plus tax.  These headphones are very retro '80s style, as a matter of fact the design is 23 years old.  They are super comfortable and don't make your ears overheat like the over the ear type do.  The open air type is also great for using in urban environments because you can hear what is going on around you.  The cord is wrapped in cloth for durability and they come with the plug adaptor for the old style large plugs.  All of that doesn't mean much if the headphones don't perform and these perform flawlessly!  The sound quality is phenomenal! Great treble and super bass.  I heard things in my music library that I have never heard before.  Granted, some of that has to do with my bionic ear, but most of it has to do with the range that these headphones cover.  Give them a try and let me know what you think.

Chas

Best Buy's Trade In Program (Dealtree.com) ***BEWARE*** ***UPDATE***

*UPDATE*
As a result of this blog post, Best Buy, the parent company of Dealtree.com , contacted me to apologize for the experience that I had with their trade-in program and refunded the shipping charges.  I greatly appreciate the integrity that was shown when they admitted that they had made a mistake and did their best to rectify it.

*ORIGINAL POST*
Back in January I decided that it was time to recycle some of my portable electronics, a couple of Nintendo DS Lite's, a Nintendo GBA SP and an iPod 30Gb Video.  I figured that now would be a good time before their value drops to nothing.  So I contacted Best Buy's Trade-in program online and input the information to determine what the value of each item would be.  The NDS Lite value was $64 each, the iPod Video was $49 and the NGBA SP was $12.  So the grand total would be $190 dollars for items that I was no longer using.  The deal is that if I ask for a Best Buy gift card I would get more money than if I asked for a check, so I figured that $190 dollars at Best Buy is better than $120 dollars cash (the amount that the check would be).

I decided to move forward with the trade in and accepted the amount that Best Buy would give me. Best Buy emailed me a shipping label for each item.  I packed up each item, attached the label and sent them off to BB in SoCal (Irvine) on January 18th. Within a couple of days, the UPS tracking said that they received the packages and Dealtree.com (who contracts with Best Buy) would inspect the items within 7 days and send me an email confirming their value.

On January 26th, I received emails from Dealtree.com verifying the values of each item.  The iPod was verified at $49, the NGBA SP was verified at $13 (they added a dollar for more than 3 games) and one of the NDS Lite verified at $57 ($7 less because of a missing cover, okay).  Now comes the shady part, the other NDS Lite was verified at $0 because it was not working, "would not read games".  I know for a fact that it was working as my 6 and 10 year old niece played with them as we were packing them up to ship out. I get an email stating that the trade in value is $0 and if I don't respond within 72 hours then the amount would be accepted and the item would be recycled.  If I wanted the item returned to me, it would cost me shipping both ways ($19.30).  I asked them to test it again and I got a canned response of "we test the units several times before we make a determination".

I decided to pay the ransom and have the NDS sent back to me.  I got the NDS back on February 2nd.  I happened to be going over to see my 10 year old nephew that evening,  so I took the NDS over, handed it to him and asked him to play a game in it.  He grabbed one of his games, put it in and started to play.  I said, does it work, he said yeah why? I told him that this is one of the NDS's that we sent in to get money for it and they said that it didn't work.  He said, what a bunch of liar's, I said "exactly".

On February 8th I receive the Best Buy gift card in the mail for $119.  The name on the mail was not mine but the address was correct along with the gift card value so I figured no big deal.  Gift cards don't have names associated with them, right? I mean if I give someone a Best Buy gift card they don't have to show ID to spend it, right?

Today, I get an email stating,
"Do to an unknown error with the original issuance of your gift card you may have received, or will possibly be receiving a gift card with an incorrect name associated with your address. We have voided this card and you will be receiving a replacement that shipped February 9, 2010. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.
Thank you, Best Buy / Dealtree Trade-in Department"


Man oh man, they lie to me, hold my NDS hostage, and then mess up on the gift card addressing!!! Do yourself a favor and don't use the Best Buy Trade-In program.  BTW they also take in Notebooks, TV's, Cameras, more complicated items to test...


I will be reporting them to the BBB.


Chas

Surewest Email Down...2-2-10 ***UPDATE***

*UPDATE*

As of 9pm on 2-2, my email was back up and running.  The outage was approximately 16 hours for me...your mileage may vary...


This entire morning Surewest's email has been down.  Granted, this is the first time that I have experienced the outage with Surewest, but it is a major inconvenience non the less.  I have a second email account which is actually my primary inbox, but I have some items that only go to the Surewest inbox and not knowing what I am missing is a bugger!

Chas

Facebook Here I Come...

I have been on Twitter for over a year now and I like the quick and simple communication and information that can be found there.  I didn't want to get into facebook because I didn't want to maintain another webpage.  I keep this blog going the best that I can without it being a drudge.  Well I have finally decided to get on facebook.  So if you want to find out more about me and my views, friend me on facebook (hope that I said that right) or follow me on Twitter.

Chas

My Review of Adidas Elite Team Duffel - Large

Originally submitted at The Sports Authority

The Adidas® Elite team duffle bag lets you carry your gear in style and comfort with a dual-adjustable, no-twist shoulder strap that has an extra-padded strap pad. The bag features a zippered main compartment, a FreshPAK™ lined wet/dry shoe tunnel, an end cap with a valuables pocket, spac...

Adidas Elite Team Duffel - Large

Very Large Bag, Great to Carry All

By Chas from Sacramento, CA on 1/21/2010

 

5out of 5

Pros: Durable, Large Capacity, Good Zippers

Describe Yourself: Outdoor Professional

What Is Your Gear Style: Comfort Driven

Great quality bag. I upgraded from the medium to the large and believe me, this is a LARGE bag. It's nice to have so much capacity, just be careful not to overload it or your shoulder will suffer. For most people I would suggest the medium, the large works for me because I travel frequently to out of town soccer tournaments and it is nice to have everything in one bag.

(legalese)

iPhone Gloves Coming Soon...

I got a hold of these prototype iPhone gloves this past week and absolutely love them!  These gloves have 3 layers of material, fleece, Thinsulate and spandex.  Despite the 3 layers, they are incredibly thin and comfortable.  The palms have a grippy material which works great in wet weather. The piece de resistance is the exposed thumbs which makes operating the iPhone a snap.  Look for them at a retail location near you soon!

Chas

Change is in the Wind

Change...it can be good...it can be bad...but the fact is that it is inevitable.  Change happens everyday in every way whether we are ready or not. In the past year, my life has changed in more ways than I thought were possible. In my business and personal life equally. Keeping up with the change has been a full time job and with any job, some days are better than others. On Wednesday, change once again is coming.  I have known about this big change for a couple of months now, but preparing for the unknown result doesn't make it any easier or less stressful. As a matter of fact, the anticipation makes the change worse than if it were to hit you out of the blue.  Some changes can be prepared for while others are of the "wait and see" variety. For better or worse, change happens...

Chas

Tim Burton's Movie 9

I rented and watched the movie 9 yesterday.  It was directed by Shane Acker and produced by Tim Burton. It is an animated movie about a group of mechanical beings created by a scientist who had also created machines for a military group.  This world dominating military group resembled the third reich. This is a classic story about how the machines try to take over and destroy their creators.  Unfortunately, this movie has a terrible ending and made too many assumptions to make it worth seeing.  I am a fan of all things Tim Burton, but this movie doesn't deserve to have his name associated with it.  Leave it on the shelf.

Chas

Rock Band on The iPhone

Rock Band on the iPhone is a very fun app. Whether playing solo or playing via Bluetooth/WiFi with three other iPhone or iTouch users it is truely a blast. There are a couple of short comings. One being the number of songs and the second being no singing vocals. There should be twice as many song to start (it comes with 20). Pairs of songs can be purchased for .99 cents but the selection is sparse. The no singing vocals is a true let down. You get a scrolling vocal track that you have to push the corresponding button for each song chorus, sideways?? Not sure what EA was thinking, the built in mic would make singing the vocals a snap. Oh well, it is still worth the $4.99 that I paid for it. Give it a try.

Chas

Schwarzenegger's State of the State Address

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger gave his state of the state address yesterday. He thanked many people from both sides of the isle for working with him to pass legislation for a better California, better?!?! He spoke of putting more money into education and less money into corrections. His plan to reduce the amount of money spent on corrections is to privatize it's operation. If he really wanted to make a difference for the future generations of Californian's, then he should have proposed the privatization plan 7 years ago. At this point in his tenure, it is too little and way too late. It was a well written speech and it's an obvious attempt was to gain approval points by showing humility and compassion because his next gig in politics depends upon it. I urge all Californian's to contemplate this, are we better off now than we were when he became the Governor?? His election platform was "no politics", let see which way his career takes him.

Chas