Petco Adjustable Mesh Harness for Dogs

I have a poodle named Daisie who has a larger wardrobe than most people. She is very small weighing in at about 6 lbs. Her size has made it difficult to find a harness that fits her well. I found the Petco Adjustable Mesh Harness for Dogs at the Petco store and liked how it had several areas of adjustment. There are slide-and-lock tabs that are located at the shoulder are and a strap slide that adjusts around the chest. I feel like the adjustments are great for her size. I have used harnesses in the past that do not have these adjusting options, which has left a gap in her chest area. There is a padded piece that is sewn in right under the mussel and the rest is constructed out of breathable mesh material. Daisie has worn hers during the hot months and has been fine, but the material is a little thick and so that should be considered if your dog gets overheated easily.

The adjustments allow for us to place the harness under or over her sweaters. The slides-and- lock tabs have been a bit of a challenge because they sometimes get wedged on the fabric making it hard to slide. I have got into the habit of setting them where I want them and slipping it over her head. This is not ideal but I like the way it fits her so I live with it. I also think that someone with limited hand dexterity may find the slide-and –lock difficult because they are small especially on the smaller sizes.  There are quite a few color options available with patterns and without, which makes it fun when buying new ones. It is important to me that Daisie wears a secure harness while maintaining a high level of comfort and I believe this harness accomplishes that. She has several in different colors and wears one of them on a daily basis.

 

Waring Pro WPM25 Professional Popcorn Maker

I purchased the Waring Pro WPM25 Professional Popcorn Maker and I am pleased with my decision. I decided to bag the bagged microwave popcorn for a more natural option and the search began. Waring Pro attracted my attention with its fun design concept and the fact that that it used a kettle to pop the popcorn allowing me to control the type of oil that is used.

The machine has a very attractive fun design that works well in a game or theater room. It replicates an old time popcorn popper but in a small usable form. It operates off of a 300-watt system, which brings the kettle to a high heat and the built in stirring mechanism helps the kernels to pop evenly. The pivoting kettle allows me to put the oil and popcorn in without too much effort. The entire unit is small enough to fit in a variety of areas measuring 11x11 1/2x17 inches and is heavy enough to be stable but light enough to move around if necessary. The clear Plexiglas material allows people to view the popping action as it is happening.  The popped corn spills over the sides and into the plastic serving tray at the bottom. The tray is removable and can be used as a serving bowl, which really appealed to me. Anything that saves an extra dish to wash is a win, win in my book.

There are a few things to consider before buying the Waring Pro WPM25 such as the Plexiglas. It is lighter than glass but a bit harder to clean and it can scratch easily. I wipe it down right after each use with a soft cloth using warm soapy water to help discourage oil build up. The small kettle unplugs from the unit and is removable, but it is hard to get my hand in there to wipe it out. It pops enough popcorn in one setting for two people, which means for a large group several sessions would be needed. There is often some un-popped kernels after the batch is complete but really not that many.

I really enjoy the Waring Pro WPM25 and use it nearly once a week. It is fast convenient and fun, which makes popcorn the go to snack at our house. I love the fun design of the machine and how the popcorn comes out fluffy and full of flavor each and every time. I would recommend this product to anyone looking for a good way to pop popcorn.

Preserve Cutlery Reuse Forever Utensils

There are many people out there who do not like the feel of metal in their mouth when they eat, and I am one of them. This is what took me on a search for utensils that I could use without cringing each time I ate. They needed to be reusable, durable, and BPA–free because I wanted to use them on a daily basis. I began trying a few different kinds but they were either shaped funny or had a rough feel to them. I saw the Preserve Cutlery Reuse Forever pack of utensils on a website and was intrigued by the description.  They are made of 100% recycled BPA-free materials and manufactured in the United States. This sounded like something I would be willing to try so I ordered them right away. They were green, which I thought was a little strange, but I could live with that if I liked the product.

They arrived and I was pleasantly surprised at how they felt in my hand. They weighed less than ordinary metal ones but they still had a good feel. The utensils were the appropriate size and they had a smooth texture, which would also make them easy to wash. The fact that they are dishwasher safe was a point in their favor. The true test came when I used them and found out that they were quite durable and, happy day, no awkward metal feel in my mouth. The fork tines were long and worked well on different kinds of food. I was even able to cut through softer food items with the sides of the fork. There was a little give but it still got the job done. I have since used a sharp knife while using one of the forks to stabilize and cut into the fork. Luckily, I do not do that very often and so I can overlook it. I have been very pleased with this product and use them on a daily basis. The green color worked out great because it matches my set of dishes and glassware. These utensils are very affordable and are worth trying even if metal in your mouth is not a problem.

Review of Kindle Paperwhite

I received the kindle paperwhite as a gift a few months ago and I LOVE it. I am a very avid reader who was very picky about what I was looking for in an e-reader. Some things that I was looking for included a light, a low glare screen, and an easy interface. There are not very many e-readers on the market that offer a built in light, so that was the biggest hurdle. It came down to a few choices. Mainly it was between the Barnes & Noble NOOK Simple Touch with GlowLight and the Kindle Paperwhite . The only other options were tablets such as the Apple iPad Mini or Kindle Fire HD . I eliminated the tablets due to the fact that I wanted a device that was solely for reading and that would serve me best in that capacity. The tablets are hard to read in sunlight due to a reflective screen and their back lights are not as customizable as I would have liked. This leads to eye fatigue while reading in the dark. That left me with the NOOK Touch with GlowLight and the Kindle Paperwhite . After doing extensive research on both devices, I opted for the Kindle . It was supposed to have more advanced features than the NOOK . Once I had decided on the Kindle , I told people that it was what I wanted and lo and behold I received it as a gift for my birthday.

The first thing I noticed when I received it is how small and lightweight it is. It weighs hardly anything and is very easy to hold. I could probably use a slightly larger screen but the small size makes it very portable. The next thing I noticed is its sleek black exterior which is very pleasing to the eye. In the box is the Kindle and a micro usb cable. It does not come with a charging cord. I can see this being a negative because you have to charge it somehow and a wall charger is much more convenient than charging it on the computer all the time. I happened to have a device that used the same micro usb, so I am able to charge it with that but it would be nice to have a designated charging cable just for it. The device I got is an ad-free device. This cost a little bit more (about $50) but I think it is definitely worth it. I would hate to have ads on it every time I use it, so for me this is a must. However, the ads don’t affect the performance, they are just irritating.

Turning on the device, I found the interface to be easy to use. It opens up to a screen that houses all your book titles. It also has some recommendations at the bottom from Amazon. It seemed clear and concise but the recommendations irritated me a little. I turned them off in the settings, which was really easy to do. The next thing I played with was the light. It tells you to use a higher light setting in bright light and a lower light setting in dark rooms. This seemed a little anti-intuitive to me because I thought you would want more light in a dark room. However, after using it I have found that there recommendations are accurate. In a well it room, I use a light setting of 10-15. In a dark room, I use a light setting of around 3. Now, at first 3 seems really dim but as your eyes adjust, it is plenty of light and doesn’t cause your eyes to fatigue as quickly as a bright light would. When reading the reviews, I found where people said that there are some faint black shadows on the bottom of the screen caused by the way it is lit. This is true. There are some black shadows on the bottom of the screen. They are fairly noticeable if you are looking for them but do not bother me at all. When reading, I do not even notice them and they do not bother me in the slightest.

I got the Kindle with wifi but no 3G. I went this route because I heard the 3G was very slow and unreliable. Plus, I wasn’t too worried about accessing the internet away from a wifi area. The Kindle Paperwhite does have an “experimental browser” for searching the web. I have used this a few times and found it to be a nice bonus feature. I can get on to websites like manybooks.net and download free e-books directly onto the Kindle . I can also check my email, which is handy. Obviously, this web browser is not capable of a lot. It will not search the web like a tablet pc but it can be a nice feature.

The battery life on the Kindle Paperwhite is said to be 8 weeks. In my experience, it doesn’t quite reach that. I think the 8 weeks is based on a half hour of reading per day with wireless off and the light setting at 10. I read more than a half hour per day (more like 1 to 2 hours) and vary my light settings depending on where I am. I also am not very good about turning my wireless off. I find that I have to charge it about every 2 weeks. This does not bother me at all and I am sure I could make the battery last longer if I took precautions but charging it every 2 weeks does not seem like a big deal to me. Also, it fully charges very quickly. I would say it can go from nearly empty to charged in 2 hours (this is just a guesstimate), which doesn’t seem bad. All in all, I love my Kindle and am very happy with it.