Reviews by dionaea

dionaea says "Increased energy and enthusiasm!" about Spring Valley C & E Vitamin C and Vitamin E combo

dionaea — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 14:42:13 GMT

After several years of lethargy and sometimes moodiness, I was finally accurately diagnosed with low thyroid and placed on Synthroid. Despite several more years of maintenance on Synthroid, I was still suffering from bouts of tiredness and occasional irritability. I'd read a great deal over the years about various vitamins and had even tried a multi-vitamin from time to time, but I didn't get serious about trying to use specific vitamins to treat symptoms until last year. After reading yet another in-depth article about various vitamins, I concentrated on C and E first, which were recommended for heart and immune system improvement.

Looking for an economical yet adequate source, I found Spring Valley C & E at Wal-Mart. This vitamin contains 500 mg of Vitamin C and 400 IU of Vitamin E, well above the recommended daily value, but not nearly as high as other brands. The combination meant just one pill to take for both vitamins and also meant buying one bottle rather than two, an...

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dionaea says "Ol' Reliable fits this printer well" about Hewlett Packard Laserjet 1300 Printer

dionaea — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 00:36:56 GMT

You won't find this new since it is outdated by several years now, but if you are lucky enough to find one at a reasonable (less than $100) cost either new or refurbished, and if you are looking for a simple dependable black-and-white laser printer, you can't go wrong with this one. Since it's an old discontinued model, you may well find one at a much lower cost.

As a Mobile Notary, I have a SOHO (Small Office Home Office) and run two computers plus a laptop. The main computer is hooked up to a fairly new inkjet, an HP OfficeJet 7780, but the secondary computer has an ol' reliable HP LaserJet 1300. As a Mobile Notary, I receive loan documents by email and must print them on a laser printer, 2 copies of between 80 to 150 pages each, one set to be signed at the closing and one set to leave with the borrowers. That's a lot of printing, and since I receive a flat fee to conduct the closing and an additional flat fee for the emailed documents, it is critical to keep printing costs...

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dionaea says "Fun, friendly, in development, listens to membership" about twinskies

dionaea — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 06:56:08 GMT

In the site's own words, twinskies is an MMO/Virtual World/Casual Game site currently under development and getting closer to initial release. Currently you can choose your first character and name him/her/it, play several flash games, earn Meteorites and Achievements, download backgrounds and music, and chat with the uber-friendly staff and players on the forum. Yes, that's right, various members of the staff show up and post on the forum every day, listening to the players, asking for feedback, and implementing suggestions from the players as well. When I add that twinskies is the brainchild of Adam Powell and Donna Williams of Neopets fame, and that several staff members are some of the best that once worked for Neopets (including the awesomely talented game creator Ollie), you know the delightfully "Douglas Adams" sense of warped and tilted humor is in full bloom everywhere on twinskies. There are now over 3,500 members, including a huge number of the best formerly-dedicated...

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dionaea says "Great site if you don't mind being frozen for no good reason" about Neopets

dionaea — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 05:57:45 GMT

Ah, yes, Neopest...oh, that's right, it's Neopets, isn't it? I was an early adopter of Neopets, having joined on April 20, 2002. The site was launched online on November 15, 1999, by two college students, Adam Powell and Donna Williams, and was originally intended for college-age players, not children. About six months after Neopets was established, it was bought by a group of investors led by Doug Dohring and turned into the first example of "immersive advertising", which is the placing of brand-name products as an essential and more or less unobtrusive part of the playing/viewing experience. Viacom purchased Neopets in June of 2005 and promptly turned up the advertising considerably, concentrating on banner ads as well as product placement within the site's games and virtual-purchase items to use when feeding and playing with your virtual pets. Until this time, Neopets had a reasonably friendly feel, with Adam still on staff and making occasional visits to the chat boards,...

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dionaea says "Pergo custom order laminate flooring is worth the cost" about Pergo American Cottage Laminated Flooring

dionaea — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 05:01:28 GMT

After completely redoing a back room to turn it into a small 12 x 12 foot library den, the final step was adding the floor over the plywood base. We wanted something attractive and easy care since we have a German Shepherd, a Cockapoo, 2 cats, and 2 heavy recliners along with other furniture that is slid across the floor from time to time. After browsing online and off, reading many reviews, and talking with a multitude of friends and acquaintances about their experiences, we finally ended up at the Pergo Custom Order samples rack in our local Lowe's, where we selected item 95091, Pergo American Cottage laminated flooring in Williamsburg Oak, Lowe's Stock No. 119781, which comes 7 planks per box covering 17.59 SF per box.

Upon arrival two weeks later, we set the boxes inside to adjust to ambient room temperature for a couple of days before installation. The floor in the library den is not perfectly even or square, but it took only a minor amount of adjusting and trimming to fit...

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dionaea says "One flush water saving convenience and comfort" about American Standard Cadet 3 Toilet

dionaea — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 20:29:55 GMT

Our old toilet was a nightmare of inefficiency, double and triple flushes, used a lot of water for each flush, developed frequent slow leaks between tank and bowl, difficult to repair, and finally so outdated that parts were no longer available. Stopping by our local Lowe's, I browsed the selections carefully, looking at both cost and flush ratings. Neither my husband nor I like the extended seat styles, and it is difficult to find inexpensive seats for those styles. We settled on the highly-rated American Standard Cadet 3 Toilet which features what they call a "Flush Right" system at a total cost of less than $150 for tank and bowl in a pale cream color. I liked the fact that you can buy the tank and bowl separately in the event one becomes damaged and not the other. Installation was smooth and easy, and it has a smaller footprint than older style toilets, a good feature if you are working with a small bathroom or powder room. The toilet uses very little water and yet flushes...

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dionaea says "Quality and value in an attractive curtain rod" about Style Selections Drapery Rod from Lowe's

dionaea — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 20:06:46 GMT

Looking for quality and attractiveness at a reasonable mid-range cost, I looked at many curtain rods in several different stores before settling on the Style Selections Drapery Rod Set Item 274265 sold at Lowe's. This particular rod comes in several sizes, and I purchased the one that extends from 48 inches to 84 inches, which comes with mounting hardware, including a center support. It is simple yet dramatic in a 3/4 inch sturdy black metal rod with opposing curls at each end, one curl small and one curl large. The design would fit into almost any decor. Mounting the rod over side-by-side windows was quick and easy, with just a Phillips head screwdriver. The rod of course separates into two pieces in order to slide curtains and drapes smoothly yet snugly onto the rod so that they can be shirred into any configuration you wish, and the cut edges were finished and smooth with no tiny rough protrusions that would catch and snag delicate draperies.

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dionaea says "Easy to install, easy to clean, weathertight, saves energy" about Pella Pella Vinyl Replacement Window from Lowe's

dionaea — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 15:54:48 GMT

Our home is a combination of an early 1980s single-wide trailer and 3 16'x28' site-built rooms and deep porches on the front, side and upper back, with a roof over all that does not touch the trailer. The original owner's intent was to eventually pull out the trailer and build site-built rooms in it's place, which we also had hoped to do. After paying off the initial mortgage, we did not want to take out another and decided to scrap Plan A and instead go to Plan B, which was to make the trailer part as attractive and livable as the site-built part, working from room to room to room on a pay-as-you-go basis. A critical step was replacing all of the windows and the front door in the trailer. Our handyman said there would be no problem replacing the ugly odd-shaped and odd-sized trailer windows with any size windows we want as he could just cut and frame the opening to fit our choices, so we finally settled on the Pella single-hung vinyl windows available at Lowe's. The cost was...

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dionaea says "thick, cozy, but sheds way too much" about Linden Street Reversible Bath Rug

dionaea — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 14:49:55 GMT

Having tired of bath rugs with rubber backing, which tends to dry out and crumble after several washings, I found the Linden Street Reversible Bath Rugs at my local JC Penney store. The sticker cost of a 24"x40" 100% cotton rug was $44.99, but they were on sale for $24.99, and I had a couple of $10 off $25 coupons, so the cost to try them seemed reasonable. I bought two in Kenya Brown. The rugs are thick, soft, two-sided, and of a rather shaggy fabric. We loved them, our two dogs promptly left their cozy beds in preference of the rugs, and all was well until I washed them. First, they must be washed in cold water on a gentle cycle, and they become very heavy when wet, necessitating that you keep the load well balanced. We have a toploading washer. Upon pulling them from the washer, I discovered the fabric had shed, and there were loose bits of it everywhere on the rug surface and on the washer drum. The major concern came with drying them. Again, they must be dried on a......

dionaea says "Vulgar, crude, gross, not funny" about Tropic Thunder

dionaea — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 14:06:17 GMT

Remembering that I'd read good reviews of Tropic Thunder as a comedy film, I chose this as a rental DVD. My husband watched 5 minutes and left the room in disgust. I managed to reluctantly watch nearly all of it, trying to figure out why it had received good reviews, but finally could not force myself to stay with it to the end. The vulgarity was crude to the max and way way beyond what was necessary or desirable. The plot idea was excellent, but the dialogue was not. Thankfully, much of the time the actors were not enunciating clearly, although the swearing and vulgar bits unfortunately were discernable too often. The acting was generally too far over the top. In a few places, the actors seemed to turn down the acting to a more normal, believable and fun level so that one could hope the movie would level out and become enjoyable, but it didn't happen. Someone should try this plot line again, same actors, different dialogue.

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dionaea says "We bought the basic-cab no-frills Ranger & love it" about Ford Ranger - 2003

dionaea — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 13:35:19 GMT

Our 2003 Ford Ranger Edge was purchased new from a local dealer. My husband is the main driver, and we both love this truck for it's practicality and reasonable cost. We started by visiting all the local dealerships to narrow down his choices, and he preferred the Ranger Edge because of the compact size and ease of use as well as basic no-frills cost. After listing his wants and needs for features, I started shopping both online and off, checking the various reviews and and price guides. It took a couple of months of negotiation, but we got the vehicle he wanted at the price we could live with - we came up a little and the dealer came down a lot. Every time we visited the dealer for more negotiation, I brought a file folder full of printouts of reports and pricing, which ended up about an inch thick by the time we settled on the final cost. My husband did not want power windows or doors or any other extras, and we decided on the basic cab since the extended cab was about $2,000...

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