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Yesterday, we had a flat tire on the Cat-mobile.  Turned out that there was a screw stuck in the tire.  We don’t know if it was stuck there on purpose from some FFA™ (Future Felons of America) member, or if Mike just accidentally drove over it.  We’ll probably never know.  But since he didn’t feel like changing the tire to the spare, he went to the nearby AutoZone and bought some of this Fix-A-Flat stuff.

We found that this product is only good if you are able to get to a tire repair/replacement place within 24 hours.  We had been hoping that this temporary fix would hold out until Saturday (tomorrow), when Mike would have the time to take care of this.

But this morning, about 24 hours after he first used the stuff, the tire was flat again.  He had to call and cancel his 9AM doctor’s appointment, and then still had to lose a half a day from work, to go immediately to the Ford dealer to get a new tire.  It would have been nice if this product had a little more staying power.

Also, the guy who looked at the tire at the Ford dealership said that once you use this stuff, it is next to difficult to repair the tire.  The Fix-A-Flat website claims that it can easily be cleaned off to make a repair.  But no, they could NOT repair it, because of having used this product.  It may be possible that this was a lie to get Mike to just buy a new tire, but I don’t think that was the case here.

I don’t think we will buy this product again.  We’d be better off taking the time to change the tire and then drive on the donut until it was convenient to get to someplace who can repair or replace the flat tire.  Only use this stuff if you are prepared to drive to a shop IMMEDIATELY for repair or replacement.  Otherwise, don’t waste your money; you might be better off stuffing an apidexin pill in the hole, rather than buying this junk.

This is a review for a product that I bought with my very own money.  I was not compensated in any way, shape or form, by Wahl, Target, or anyone else.  So there!

Mike is losing his hair, big time.  He used to have a long ponytail, but then it started getting scraggly because his hair was thinning.  Rather than looking for hair loss for men products, he decided to just cut it off. So he went to the barber shop across the street and had it done.

However, the barber shop likes to put stinky stuff in his hair, which he does NOT like.  It was getting to be a hassle to have to beg the barber NOT to do this every time, so Mike wasn’t wanting to return to the shop.  I can’t say I blame him…I now cut my own hair, because I can’t get anyone in a salon to cut it the way I want them to.  WTF is up with that?  It’s MY hair, why does it always have to be the way the stupid stylist wants it to be?  If they can’t do it the way I want it, they don’t get my business, I cut my own.  And now, Mike’s too!

So we went to Target and bought this Wahl Chrome Pro Hair Clipper Kit.  Wahl is the well-known brand of hair clippers, they are used in professional barber shops and hair salons everywhere.  For just $25, it’s a bargain, and it paid for itself after two haircuts.

The kit comes with everything you see here, the clippers, a bunch of combs and clips, scissors, a small thing of oil for the blade, a cleaning brush, a plastic cape, and a carrying/storage case.  And a detailed instruction booklet that shows you all you need to know about cutting a man’s hair.

What else can I say?  It gets the job done.  We bought it at a Target store, but it’s also available online.

No, I do not cut my own hair with this thing.

This is a review of a product that I purchased with my own money.  I was not compensated by Cleaner Today or any other seller for writing it.

We recently started to notice these annoying little moths flying around.  I did a little research and learned that they were pantry moths, who like to hang out in open bags of flour and such.  But I keep all of my flour and cornmeal and stuff in air-tight Rubbermaid containers, so that wasn’t what was attracting them.

We think it might be dry cat food.  We did have an old bag of blue-bag Purina Cat Chow sitting around, getting stale, that might have been the problem.  The cats stopped eating this, they now only like Purina Healthful Life food.  So we finally threw the old blue bag food out this week.

In any case, we still needed to get rid of the moths.  After reading some reviews online, I went with these Catchmaster traps, which I ordered from Cleaner Today, who sells a 8-pack for $29.77, Priority mail shipping included in that price.  However, I’ve since seen that they can be had for less at Amazon, this 24-pack goes for $37.99.  No free shipping, though.  It’s always important to read reviews before buying, whether you are looking for the best moth traps or the best wrinkle cream.

I ordered the traps on a Friday, and had them on Monday, a week ago yesterday.  I set them up and waited.

It takes a few days to see any results, but these traps do work.  You probably will have to move them around a bit to find the optimal places for the most successful trapping, sometimes, putting them where the most moths appear doesn’t always work.  Be prepared to be patient and do some experimenting.

They work by using  pheromones to attract male moths.  They will then get caught in the sticky trap and die.  The lady moths have no one to mate with, and they die off on their own.  I’ll spare you a picture of all of the dead moths in the trap, they have plenty on the Cleaner Today site if you really want to see.  These traps are non-toxic and safe to use around food, pets, and children.  Just tell the kids not to touch them, the inside is wicked sticky.

After a week, we’ve noticed many moths caught in the traps, and only one or two at a time still flying around.  It’s recommended that you keep traps out even after you stop seeing the little buggers, just to make sure.  I’ll always be sure to have a stash on hand, just in case they come back.

I chose to order from Cleaner Today because of the free Priority shipping, because I wanted them ASAP.  But I will likely order from Amazon the next time, because there, they are as low as $1.59 per trap, as opposed to the $3.75 per trap that I paid.

Highly recommended!

Our old cordless phone system was dying.   Even though I replaced the battery in one of the handsets, it died within a few months.  So we decided it was time to replace the phone system.

We went to Sears to look at phones, since we had coupons from there to use.  One feature I definitely wanted was Call Blocking, something our phone company does not offer, at least not that I know of.  We were getting a lot of annoying calls from collection agencies, who were looking for someone else.  There is no reasoning with such people, no really good way to tell them to stop calling.  They’ll just accuse us of being the deadbeats and call even more.

We selected the Panasonic KX-TG6433M DECT 6.0 phone, just as seen here…one home base and two additional handsets.  I knew we’d made a good choice as the receipt came out of the store’s receipt printer. This phone system has all of the features we wanted, and more.

One such feature is talking caller ID.  At first, I thought this would be annoying, and was planning to turn it off.  But it actually has been useful…I don’t have to run over to the phone to see who’s calling.

I also like the large display, since I don’t see very well.  I can even see it without my glasses on!

But I am most happy with the call blocking feature.  It is very easy to use.  Just store the caller ID info of whoever is annoying you into the call blocking list.  When the annoying person calls again, the phone will ring once.  the caller will get a busy signal.  I have found that eventually, people get tired of the endless busy signal and give up.  Those collection agencies stopped calling us months ago.  The blocked numbers will still show up in your caller ID log, so you’ll know how often they are trying to annoy you.

The sound quality is excellent, no static or interference.  It also does not interfere with your wireless routers.

Phone batteries eventually die and need replacing.  The good news with this phone is that you don’t have to hunt around for some weird battery for it.  Each handset uses 2 AAA NiMH batteries…rechargeables that are available at most stores.

This phone system retails for $99.95, which is a bit steep, but well worth it for what you get.  If you use a Sears coupon or find a good sale at another store, you can get it for less.

Highly recommended simply for the call-blocking feature!  But it’s good all around!

I’m not a big fan of getting dressed up.  When it’s necessary, it’s black pants, black shoes, and some sort of nice top that isn’t a T-shirt with a baseball or beer logo on it.

For the longest time, my “dress pants” were a pair of Lands End black jeans that I got on sale for $7.00 at Sears.  But I found myself needing another pair…the Lands End ones were a little too tight, and uncomfortable to wear.

These days, I only wear Double L® jeans from L.L. Bean.  They make them in plus sizes, and they are the only decent-fitting, high quality, yet still affordable plus-sized jeans I can find.  I used to buy my jeans from Lane Bryant, but that store has turned into a joke.  I stopped shopping there when they did away with normal jeans, and started offering nothing but “trendy” crap, such as low-rise and/or stretchy, skin-tight jeans.  Also, it didn’t help my opinion of them when they got into having skinny models.  I mean, LB is supposed to be a fat women’s store…how about selling things that actually look good on us.  Just because they make low-rise jeans in a size 22, does not mean that the world wants to see my muffin-top butt hanging out of them.  It’s not that I want “mom jeans”, I just want regular jeans with a normal waistline.  Is that too much to ask for?

L.L. Bean does sell the Double L® jeans in black, but I was disappointed that this does not extend to the plus sizes.  So, on a recent visit to the flagship L.L. Bean store up in Freeport, Maine, I decided to check out other options for plus-sized black pants.  Some of them were rather awful, like these elastic-waist pants…if I wanted pants like that, I could have just gone to Wally World to get them.  I think they look cheap and tacky.  I can’t even find those ugly pants on Bean’s website.  But you don’t want those, anyway.

I tried on the Bayside Twill Pants, and really liked how they fit.  These are designed for a curvy figure, because not all women look like Kate Moss.

They have a full fly-front, none of those “faux flies” that they sometimes put on the tacky elastic waist pants.  The front is a normal waistband, but the back is elasticized for comfort.  The pants also have belt loops, so you can put a belt on and cover up the elasticity.

The fabric is not as heavy as jeans, but not as lightweight as many other slacks I’ve seen.  It’s also a wrinkle-resistant fabric, which is important to me, because I HATE ironing!  If you follow the instructions on the tag for washing (cold water), you will have no problems.

And they have POCKETS.  Damn, but I hate it when they don’t put pockets in non-jeans pants for women.

Although I carry a purse, I refuse to put my keys and cell phone into it.  Think about it for a minute.  If someone snatches your purse, and your keys and phone are in it, you are pretty much screwed.  The thief not only has your money and credit cards, but they also have your drivers’ license AND the keys to your home.  They’d probably go to your house and clean the place out before you even get home.  After all, you’ll have to find some other way to get home if you now have no money or car keys.

And without a cell phone, how are you going to call the cops?  Pay phones have gone the way of 8-track tapes.  Sure, maybe you can go into a store and ask someone there to call the cops.  But if it’s the middle of the night and stores are closed, the only option might be to knock on the door of a stranger’s home.  I don’t know about you, but I sure as hell don’t open my door to strangers, even in broad daylight.

This is why I won’t wear any pants that do not have pockets.

Anyhoo, I’m happy with these pants.  If you are a plus-sized lady who is looking for some decent pants, you might like these.  They come in other colors besides black.  But if the closest L.L. Bean store is one that is in a mall, you probably won’t find them there.  These are small stores which will not stock all of the sizes.  You either have to go to the Freeport store, or order online.  L.L. Bean does have an excellent return policy, so if you order something and it doesn’t fit, or you just don’t like it, they are good about taking it back.

If I hadn’t found anything at Bean’s my next stop probably would have been Sears.  I’m glad I found them at Bean’s, as I much prefer shopping there than in mall stores.  At malls, I always am made to feel like a criminal, with security cameras following my every move. But I never get treated like a criminal at L.L. Bean.

I hate clothes shopping, so I’m glad this is over and done with!