Reviews by NCjohn

NCjohn says "You really shouldn't be able to count them just by looking!" about Keebler - Town House Bistro Corn Bread Crackers

NCjohn — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 06:31:33 GMT

Town House Bistro Corn Bread Crackers are... well, they're crackers! What can you say about crackers? They taste good, they're crisp, they're fine! With a little dollop of chili on them, like it shows on the package, they'd probably be great. They're a good cracker. But, they do NOT have "Fresh Baked Bread Taste" like the package says. "Bread"? They don't even taste like stale bread, much less fresh! They're not bread, they're crackers! They're just plain crackers. Good crackers, but just crackers.

Okay, so what inspired me to tell you folks about these good but not great crackers? The packaging is amazing! The box is about the size of any cracker box, so you'd expect it to have about as many crackers as any other cracker box. But... inside, there are 2 fancy little plastic trays, and each little tray is divided into two little compartments, and each little compartment holds... 9 crackers. So, count 'em up, and this box holds a grand total of 36 crackers!

I'd like to think the Keebler...

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NCjohn says "They absolutely don't work in my printer!" about Avery 28877 Clean Edge Business Cards

NCjohn — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 00:51:25 GMT

A few weeks ago, rather than buy business cards from a local printer, I thought it would be easier to make my own on my computer. That way, I could make as many or as few as I wanted, and I could change the design whenever I wanted to. But I hate the ones that have the little perforations along the edges, because they look like they're home-made! I wanted a professional look.

Then I heard about these: Avery "two-side printable" Clean Edge Business Cards (Product #28877) for ink jet printers. These are large sheets of 10 cards each that you print on your printer and then break apart. The edges are so clean you can't tell them from the cards you get from an office supply. I bought some and tried them, and they were a complete disaster! But rather than tell the story all over again, here is the text of the letter I just sent to Avery.

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Several weeks ago, I bought a package of Clean Edge business cards, Avery item #28877. I was very disappointed to find them...

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NCjohn says "Seems to do what it's supposed to." about Whirlpool Model #WTW5200VQ

NCjohn — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 03:48:47 GMT

Whirlpool WTW5200VQ washer.

Well, I don't know exactly what to say about this washer, exact that it seems to work fine. It's pretty close to the bottom of the line, so there aren't many bells and whistles. We knew that when we bought it, but we just wanted one that had a couple specific features and would work like it's supposed to. (These days, that's getting harder and harder to find!)

It has 3 load levels and we wish it had a smaller setting than it does, because the lowest setting fills the tub about half-way with water, and sometimes that's a lot more than you need. On the other hand it does allow you to use plain cold-out-of-the-tap water, as well as "cool" "warm" and "hot" settings, all of which require, obviously, hot water. And the second rinse is nice to be able to use sometimes when I've been working with things like fiberglass insulation, which gives me the willies and I always like to rinse a second time, just to be sure all the "cooties" are out of the clothes and the...

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NCjohn says "Natural Jif does require stirring" about Jif Natural Jif creamy peanut butter spread

NCjohn — Tue, 05 May 2009 16:04:02 GMT

There are many natural nut spreads on the market. As a rule, they have to be refrigerated and, as a rule, they all have to be stirred before you can eat them. They separate, with a layer of oil on top that has to be stirred into the rest. I've always avoided them because of this.

We recently saw this new "Natural Jif" with a blurb on the front that says, "No Need To Stir." We looked on the back and saw there are no preservatives and also no need to refrigerate. Great! So we bought it. Unfortunately, we did not see the little blurb that said, "Minimal oil separation is natural." Frankly, we were caught by the "no need to stir."

Well... There's no need to stir if you don't mind the puddle of oil on top when you open it. At first, there was quite a lot of oil on top, and down below it was very stiff (because all the oil had risen). That first time stirring it up, it was quite a mess. After that, it's not as bad, simply because it gets used every day, and it doesn't have time to separate...

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NCjohn says "Pimsleur Quick & Simple French is basic beginner French." about Pimsleur Quick & Simple French

NCjohn — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 04:44:49 GMT

Pimsleur Quick & Simple French is just that! I've worked with, and played with, 8 or 10 French language books/courses/packages. Most of them involve a book of greater or lesser complexity along with audio recordings. (A French book for beginners that has no audio component is worthless; there's no point in knowing what foreign words look like if you don't know what they're supposed to sound like.) The most comprehensive one I've used has multiple books and also includes videos, and provides for a pretty decent knowledge of French. This package from Pimsleur is interesting because it contains no book of any kind; only 4 CDs of audio recordings. It teaches basic words and phrases, from "hello/goodbye" to "What would you like to do?" or "Where would you like to eat?"

Now, I have seen a couple of other language packages that had just a little pamphlet with the recordings, and I felt like they were useless. Totally uninteresting. So what makes these audio recordings from Pimsleur different?...

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NCjohn says "So-so pizza; misleading label" about Home Run Inn Classic Sausage & Uncured Pepperoni pizza

NCjohn — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 06:10:19 GMT

I bought this pizza mostly because of the photo on the label: the pizza is virtually covered in meat. So I was really shocked when I took it out of the package and I could count the little pieces of sausage! It's mostly cheese on top.

But, I had it, it was open, so I popped it into the microwave. (I could have put it in the oven, which would probably make a better pizza, but it said to put it directly on the oven rack, which probably would have meant a cheesy mess on the rack and the bottom of the oven, so I opted to nuke it.) I've had similar products from different companies and, frankly, I was expecting something that was barely worth eating. I was so surprised. I have to admit, it's a good pizza. I'll buy it again. Even with microwaving it, it's a good pizza. The pepperonis are so thin they'd blow away in a good breeze! You can count the sausages! But it tastes good!

At 8.75 ounces, it's about right for lunch, or a starter for dinner for one. At $4, it seems a little expensive.

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NCjohn says "A minute or longer is not "instant."" about Oxo Good Grips Digital Instant Read Thermometer

NCjohn — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 07:46:00 GMT

My wife and I often use a cooking thermometer, especially for meat. We really get tired of waiting and waiting for the dial to crreeeeep up to the magic 160 degree mark for most meats, and we've often said we'd really like to get one of those "instant-read" thermometers. So we did. We got an Oxo Good Grips Digital Instant Read Thermometer. It cost more than the "non-instant" ones, but whattheheck, right?

So, that night, I tried it at dinner. But first, we wanted to compare it with our old dial type to see if they agreed on the temperatures of things. We put both of them in a cup of hot water, and they were within a degree of each other, so I felt like that was okay. And while the new thermometer didn't give a reading instantly, it was fast enough. But then it was time for a real-life test: cooking some sausage. Not only was the "instant" thermometer not instant, it took every bit as long as the dial one, and maybe even longer. It took well over a MINUTE to settle on a reading. This is instant?......

NCjohn says "Nights in Rodanthe is a disappointment" about Nights in Rodanthe

NCjohn — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 20:04:13 GMT

Richard Gere and Diane Lane couldn't save Nights in Rodanthe.
I'll tell you right here, at the end of this review I'm going to tell you the worst thing that happens in the movie, so don't read all the way to the end if you don't want to know how it ends. I'm going to do that because my wife and I read a reviewer who said it has a happy ending. It does not have a happy ending!
The movie seems to be very disjointed, with several basic sub-plots, all of which kind of fizzle out rather than being developed. And since none of the sub-plots gets developed, the whole movie seems kind of unfinished. It's like watching the beginning of several different movies. It's also kind of like looking at a delicious-looking chocolate cake, and when you take a bite you realize they forgot to put sugar in! One big disappointment! And a waste of time.
Spoiler: If your idea of a happy ending is one where the main characters wait months to be together, writing love letters and longing for the magic day, only to have......

NCjohn says "A Maytag electric dryer should last more than 2 years!" about Maytag Dryer - Electric Dryer

NCjohn — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 05:02:47 GMT

We bought this dryer (specifically, the Maytag MDE4658AYW) in November 2006. We spent more than we wanted to because we wanted one with a lot of versatility and that would last a long time. It had lots of cycles and temperature choices and, of course, lots of lights! (The lights didn't matter at all to us, but it seems that when you buy lots of features, you get lots of lights!) It worked great for 2 years and 2 months. Then the motor died.

When we originally bought the machine, we paid $400, which was a good amount of money for a dryer at that time.The repairman quoted us $320 to fix it. He also recommended that we not fix it, but rather spend our money on a new machine of a different brand.

Maytag has always had a good reputation, which was part of the reason we bought it. Was our problem just a fluke? Should we fix it, and stay with good ol' Maytag? I was researching the problem on the internet and I found a fix-it forum where a man was talking about having the exact same problem with......

NCjohn says "Home Depot must be having lots of unhappy customers!" about Home Depot Stores

NCjohn — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 20:29:40 GMT

For the last few years, Home Depot has been going downhill. When we first moved to this area about 4 years ago, I had a hard time getting them to honor the promise of a gift card with a lawn mower purchase. High employee turnover, with long-time employees leaving, started a couple years ago. They have a tendency to stop carrying items they've carried a long time, to reduce the number of different items, I guess. I have to keep going to Lowe's to get something I used to get at Home Depot, and today they made a strong effort to keep me from coming back.

I wrote a review yesterday on the GE Smartwater GX1S50F water filter system: It broke after 10 months with a 1-year warranty, a warranty that says my only option is to take it back to the store. ALL OF IT: filter, faucet, connectors, tubing, all of it hooked up under my sink. I said that I was going to see if Home Depot would let me bring back just the part that was causing the problem.

So I called Home Depot today, and they didn't want me to......

NCjohn says "If I only knew then what I know now! Don't buy the GE GX1S50F!" about GE GX1S50F Smartwater Water Filtration System

NCjohn — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 21:12:38 GMT

The GE GX1S50F water filter system is kind of a pain to install: tap into the cold water line under the sink, install a sinktop faucet, install the filter manifold (what the filter canister attaches to) under the sink, install all the tubing. But the end result is, you have a filter atop your sink that you just put your glass under, turn the handle, and voila! Filtered water! The filter is good for about 6 months, depending on a lot of factors, then a light tells you it's probably time to change the filter. Sounds pretty good. Dream on!

Now, before I get to the really bad part, there's something you need to know before you ever buy a GE water filter. When it comes time to replace the filter, if you read the instructions for the new filter, it will say, lubricate the O-rings with "food-grade silicone grease." After cussing them out for that, because there was nothing in the packaging of the original filter system, or of the replacement filter to give you a clue that you need this stuff, you'll......

NCjohn says "Probably the best AND the cheapest!" about Glacier Bay 2 Handle bathroom faucet Series 300

NCjohn — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 21:13:21 GMT

I've live in 3 houses, and when I move into a house, I put this faucet in each of the bathrooms. They work great! The handles are easy to turn, they never leak, and they require no attention whatsoever. I've never seen a kitchen or bathroom fixture that I can say that about. It seems that every kitchen faucet, shower, toilet, bathtub-- everything!! -- requires maintenance, EXCEPT this faucet.
I first bought one of these over 10 years ago, and paid $35 for it. The last time I bought them (3 years ago), I paid about $40. Such a deal!
They are available with wooden handles, if you don't like the white ceramic look....

NCjohn says "It's great until it stops working" about RKS MightyFax

NCjohn — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 02:36:21 GMT

I used MightyFax for several years. It's easy to send a fax: Create the document you want to fax in Word or any application you want to use, then click Print>Mightyfax and it opens the MightyFax application, where you can create a cover sheet, then hit Send. To receive a fax, you just open the app, hit Receive, and wait for it. It keeps records of everything you send or receive. I really found it to be a great tool.
Then one day, it failed to send a fax. Just refused. I tried all their troubleshooting suggestions, then emailed the company with the problem, sending them all the info they suggested sending with a trouble report. They wrote back immediately with a suggestion. I wrote back immediately and told them I had already tried that and the results I got when I did it. No response from them. After 8 days, I wrote again and asked them if they got the response I sent them 8 days ago. No response. It's been almost 4 weeks now, no response to my 2 emails.
I guess it's a case of, "The easy......

NCjohn says "The head is splitting after only a couple months of light use" about Ludell Premium Log Splitter

NCjohn — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 22:29:54 GMT

Actually, I have to agree with everything the previous reviewer said, except the head splitting after very little use is, of course, absolutely unacceptable.
I've had the splitter only a couple months, and haven't used it that much for the simple reason that I'm not really used to hard work! So it's really surprising to me that the head is already on its way out, and of course, since I noticed the splits I won't use it again.
I'm going to contact the company and see what they have to say about it, but I really wouldn't recommend this log splitter to anyone.

I called them and left a message (the only option; no email available) and never heard back from them. Luckily, I was able to return it to Home Depot as defective. Anything made by Ludell is definitely a "don't buy" for me....