http://www.viewpoints.com/aboutme/MotherChaos Tue, 19 Feb 2008 23:59:14 GMT Reviews by MotherChaos http://www.viewpoints.com/iRobot-Roomba-570-Vacuum-Cleaner-review-9fa94 Our Roomba is a great addition to our chaotic house! We have four children and the floors rapidly drown in dirt, sand, buttons, etc. etc. etc. While I do need to pick up before I turn it loose, it is no more work than I have before using a standard vacuum cleaner - but unlike the standard vac, I just turn the Roomba loose while I go do other things! It gets under our beds and chairs and even couches if they have sufficient clearance, and does a fine job getting everything up. — A tip from the Been There, Done That category: Make sure to give it a good, thorough cleaning every few times. Clean the brushes and blow out the dust that has accumulated around the moving parts. Too much dust can block sensors and cause it to "just stop working for no reason". This is easy to do, and takes me less than ten minutes about once a week - I run it daily, sometimes multiple times daily. It's a small price to pay for the ability to be off to something ELSE while the floors get cleaned!! —... Tue, 19 Feb 2008 23:59:14 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/iRobot-Roomba-570-Vacuum-Cleaner-review-9fa94 MotherChaos 5 http://www.viewpoints.com/Scottrade-review-c501 We switched both our IRAs and our post-tax investments to Scottrade several years ago, and have been very happy with them. We switched for the lower per-trade rate AND because I was unhappy with our former broker's buy methods...I had to pay extra for limit orders and brother I'd better use them, otherwise I paid whatever the highest intraday price was, or was given the lowest price on my sell orders. UGH. — Scottrade goes in real time, and does not charge me extra for limit orders if I'm feeling nervous. Awesome! — I also appreciate that they assume I know what I'm doing. I don't get calls from a broker trying to tell me my portfolio needs rebalancing, or offers for their mutual funds. They call very seldom, and always because there is something I need to know: CDs maturing, deposit checks with holds on them, that kind of thing. Contacts I've had with my local branch have always been pleasant and intelligent - not a dull blade in the drawer over there. —... Fri, 23 Nov 2007 18:22:12 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Scottrade-review-c501 MotherChaos 5