Fellowes Quiet Air Purifier with True HEPA Filter (AP-300PH) - PlasmaTRUE Ionizer Noise

Fellowes Quiet Air Purifier with True HEPA Filter ( model AP-300PH) is a rebranded Winix 9500 made by a Korean manufacturer and is generally highly rated.  Some features (remote) was removed when this product was ported over to the American market and priced around an average of $190.  If you have the patience and wait for a "hot deal", then you can strive to get it at around $130 before tax and probably need to use an online coupon.

Here is the historical data of the price on CamelCamelCamel

I highly recommend this purifier. It works noticeably well in both performance and sound.  The filters are reasonably priced (not cheap for how long they last but i deem it acceptable especially if you periodically clean it before replacing it).  If someone farts in the same room, the auto sensor will detect it and ramp up the speed to clean out the impurity. Seriously.

Fellowes customer service and warranty is pretty solid.

There is only one fault with this product and it's the PlasmaTRUE ionizer that's built in without a way to disable it.  The topic of whether an ionizer is dangerous to your health is debatable, but the reason that it is such a fault in this product is that it emits a high pitch rapid chirping sound that is highly irritating and makes this product least desirable.

The good news is that while this model doesn't provide the option to turn off the ionizer like the Winix model, with a 5 inch Philips head driver, you can simply unplug it like this:


1) Remove the peripherals

2) Unscrew the top 2 screws to open the console

3) Be mindful of the wire thats still attached and just rest it like this:

3) That black wire in the right side of the below picture is what you will unplug.  Unscrew the 2 screws on the side of the black casing to loosen it

4) Maneuver the wires and gently undo the tape so you can open it

5) Squeeze out the red/black power wire

6) Voila.  Quiet purifier without the optional ionizer.  Just secure it and put the tape over the wire when you reverse your steps to secure and close the unit up.

Toilet tablets will destroy your inner toilets

Little did i know that if you use those toilet tablets with bleach (2000 Flushes/Corox etc), that unless you flush often (have big active family), the water will accumulate and eat away at your flapper mechanism and parts.

After 1 day of having the bleach tablet in my toilet, my brand new flapper already lost most of its color and is well on it's way to needing to be replaced.

Damn.

Finding that long term cookware

So when i first moved to my own place with my spouse, we were given a set (pots and pans) of nonstick cookware that I still have to this day.  Needless to say, i abused the hell out of them, using them all incorrectly for nonstick (I calphalon which is supposedly healthier than Teflon).  I was scouring it hard to clean stubborn gunk, blasting it with high heat, scraping with metal utensils and this went on for years.  I should probably have cancer now.

I recently started becoming more health conscious because i have an expanding family. So after much online searching, I boiled down my choices to cast iron, glassware, ceramic and stainless steel.  All 4 are fine and have pro's and cons but here are just the cons because now we need process of elimination.

• Cast Iron - It's for the avid cook.  You have to season the cookware and if there are multiple chefs in kitchen everyone has to get on board with the extra special maintenance of how to clean cast iron.  It's a niche market for a reason and will continue to be, since im also looking for a quick fix of something that can take abuse/mistreatment, gets thrown in the dish washer if im in a pinch, etc
• Glassware - expensive.  Hard to fine.  More fragile than metal.
• Ceramic - it's impossible to tell what company uses a lead/chemical/crap free glaze.  Even if you stick to a corporate brand you trust, a report just came out that in India, there may be a scandal where all the colored ceramic knives might be leeching into the food.  If I didnt go for stainless steel this would be my next choice.

I chose stainless steel.  It's priced okay and hits all the checkmarks of being usable, durable and will kill me the slowest.  Speaking of which, there are different grades of stainless steel (build quality and composition).

The recommended is the surgical steel grade stainless steel.  In reality the best you will find with little difficulty is 18/10 stainless steel cookware. (18% chromium, 10% nickel)  It's durable, will withstand beyond the "perfect condition" that all cookware wants you to be in and is the way to go.  If you are allergic to nickel, then buy the less durable 18/0 stainless steel cookware.  

This article really hits the nail on the head because you want a set that well built in addition to using the right grade metal.  http://www.allcookwarefind.com/Stainless-Steel/

My favorite was the 7 Piece because I'm only partially replacing my existing cookware Cuisinart 77-7 Chef's Classic Stainless 7-Piece Cookware Set

Free Electric Double Breast Pump kit via Health Insurance

Thanks to the new healthcare law starting this year, many people with health insurance are eligible for free breast pumps.  It varies among insurance companies, and also within the same company due to the policy that you are in and those that are grandfathered in from a previous policy with specific clauses will not qualify.  However, it's easy to find out and you dont need to call your insurance company. All you need is:

• Your health insurance info
• Your doctor (OB) info

Most people use the wildly popular medela electric double pump kit that comes in some fancy tote or bag.  Some use other brands.  Everyone wants to avoid using manual pumps unless you are on a real budget crunch.

The pump you get really boils down to where you apply for your pump.  You want a place that has a limited and desirable inventory so that you get what you want or close to it.

Now, you can uselessly search through medela's out of date website to try to find a store that participates (willing to do the actual footwork and jump through hoops to squeeze money from the insurance company) or you can just keep reading.  Byram Health is pretty much the best possible store to buy from:

website: www.byramhealthcare.com
Breast Pump Customer Service Team
Phone  1-877-773-1972
Fax       1-800-521-6291
Email: breast-pumps@byramhealthcare.com

They only sell Medela (MY57038) which is a model that is only offered through DMEs working with insurance companies that has the Pump In Style motor but not the one touch let down button that you find on some of their other models as well as the Ameda Purely Yours (No Tote) incase for some reason you dont like Medela.   

This MY57038 is almost exactly the same as the Pump in Style portable tote but without the fancy tote and extras.  Go to your nearest Target if you want to see it in person but this (and the backpack version) is a very popular model.

Reach out to the company, get the form, fill it out and submit it.  They will contact your doctor on your behalf from no earlier than 30 days prior to your baby’s due date and not after 365 days from the actual date.

If your insurance provider quotes less than 100% coverage they would contact you via email to let you know.  Also provide time for shipping, processing and restocking.   They say it takes weeks or months, but they are fast.  Especially for a company that acts after the insurance company pays out.

Gmail's new mandatory categories is extremely annoying and needs to be disabled

Some make changes for improvements. 
" " " for bug fixes.
" " " for new features.
and some makes changes for the sake of change itself.  Just to make things different.

That's what Gmail did. They took an existing feature that everyone has grown accustomed to and forced additional categories in their effort to place ads ("promotions" was the primary label that Google wanted to throw in along with bundling it with "Social", "Updates" and "Forums") into the inbox.

Even if you configure the inbox to disable/hide and undo this intrusion, you are still stuck with the minor annoyance of scrolling a bit on the dropdowns that appear in the "Move To" and "Labels" buttons

You can't disable (yet) these drop-downs that appear but if you use Firefox with Adblock you can hide them thanks to the fine people at Google Groups who made the effort complain and a user (Mario Krušelj) to post a custom solution.

In Firefox, edit (or create if you dont have) the category "Element Hiding Helper" in your filter preferences and add the following filters:

mail.google.com##.J-N[title="Social"]
mail.google.com##.J-N[title="Promotions"]
mail.google.com##.J-N[title="Updates"]
mail.google.com##.J-N[title="Forums"]
mail.google.com##.J-LC[title="Social"]
mail.google.com##.J-LC[title="Promotions"]
mail.google.com##.J-LC[title="Updates"]
mail.google.com##.J-LC[title="Forums"]

Screenshot below:

Internet Web Browser of choice

I use and recommend two internet browsers to use.  Firefox as the primary and Internet Explorer as the back up.

Internet explorer is self explanatory. Sometimes there are sites that just simply doesnt display properly on other browsers.  So when i know i need to view a certain site that I trust is secure, I load up internet explorer to view it.  It's also the browser i integrate JAVA with because again, i trust the site is secure and I dont want java loaded on a daily basis for my usual browsing on my primary browser (Java is notoriously bad for security).

Otherwise my primary browser is Firefox.  There are many browsers out there, all of them fine.  Infact one can say there are just too many damn browsers out there, both on the desktop and the mobile.

To make a long story short, the reason firefox is my preference is due to the way they implement extensions.  Speed is not an issue for me to go to Chrome, and the adblock plus extension works best (most customizable/powerful) on Firefox.

My balance of an uncluttered browsing experience with the right amount of extensions has led me to be a Firefox user with the following 6 extensions (and with Java disabled):

• Adblock Plus - Blocks ads by URL (unsurpassed customization compared to any other browser)
•  NoScript - blocks scripts except those i explicitly approve
• ForecastFox - Weather forecasts for the next 2 days unobtrusively in the bottom right of my browser
• InFormEnter - Right click populate common info like name and address (especially in filling out address info when shopping)
• WebSlingPlayer - I have a slingbox
• X-Notifier - single point of access for all my various email accounts

While the default layout isn't bad, I also move around the the bookmark bar, url bar, tabs and stuff to customize the look of the browser. 

Whirlpool LTG5243DQB washer/dryer on the second floor

So, I live on the second floor of a old building where I am actually fortunate to have a washer and dryer.

It's whirlpool combo "Thin Twin" washer/gas dryer model LTG5243DQB.  Which is part of the LTG5243DQ line of whirlpool combo units. I'm not sure what the "B" at the end of the model is for.

Whirlpool LTG5243DQ

You may come across a problem with having a washer on the second floor. Going with the theme of this blog, you are probably searching for ways to solve some issues that arise from having a washer in the second floor of your crappy home with wood floors.  Having neighbors below you probably makes it a problem you can't ignore.

The problem I had was that because I have a neighbor downstairs, he has complained about

•     Loud noise no matter how much you level it (the heavier the clothing, the louder)
•     Vibrations that reverberate throughout the home and especially to your neighbors

Normally when it's general noise from just living in the unit, i can tell the neighbor "tough luck" because he chose to buy a 1st floor unit. It's never going to be as good as living in your own detached house and until we are rich enough one day to do so, this is the sacrifices we make that impacts our quality of life (i hate my home, i should have stayed as a renter in some modern apartment building).

There is an unspoken acceptable/unacceptable amount of noise between our units.   In this particular case, i believe the complaint was valid.  So what to do besides using the washer during normal daytime hours when they tend not to be home?

Researching into this, I have discovered that aside from the exceptions (everything has an exception) of a few unique models, the choice of having a top loading washer was correct (instead of front loading).  Has to do with the amount of force that flows out of the machine during the spin cycle and that it's better to direct it sideways (as long as the machine is not against the wall) rather than downwards into the floor.

Now if you are like me, you are not going to rip up the wooden floors and install concrete slabs and basically redo your floors.  Get the hell out of here.  I also have shelves above the washer that I would have to redo so really get the hell outta here.  What a pain in the ass. After some research, i stumbled across vibration pads.  It was some article that mentioned the manufacturers are starting to silently recommend them or integrate them because they reached the limit of how quiet they can make their machines but they dont want to state it's any kind of "problem".

Naturally my first indication was to go to Home Depot/Lowes.  Unless I'm buying something with high probability that I will keep, i generally buy from brick and mortar stores so that it's easy to make returns when needed. At Home Depot, they had the GE Anti-Vibration Pads (4-Piece).  These were basically very hard pieces of tire-like rubber that you put under the legs of the washer to prevent it from walking (moving on it's own during spin cycles on generally smooth tile floors) as well as absorb vibrations/reduce sounds.

It's the same claim that every brand of the 20 different variations out there made. I was wary of them.  I felt like, i could just get 4 pieces of "soft" blocks of wood and put those under the washer at this point.  After much deliberation and google searches at home depot itself, i decided to walk away. There just wasnt enough positive reviews to go on that made it definitive one way or the other. I think there's no doubt that it works because anything that creates a disconnect between the level washer and the floor has to buffer a limited amount of the energy, but i wanted a product that works well. 

Eventually i bought the Anti-walk Silent Feet - Anti-vibration Pads for Washing Machines and Dryers from Amazon. Made by The Vibration Solution company.  It had good enough reviews both on amazon and other blogs.

I bought the red package one.  You can research what the difference is with the green and red or you can just Quickly Get the bottom  line here.  Basically in the green package, 2 of the pads "slide" so that you can pull out and push in your washer.  I had enough to space to tilt the washer one way or the other so i opted for the red one.

The difference between this and the GE set from Home Depot was that this one, instead of being all hard rubber, was half hard and half soft rubber.  The bottom part that goes on the floor was soft rubber, that vibrated with the vibrations of the washer so that it appears to buffer the floor from the washer.  The top part of the pads was hard rubber and this is where the washer legs stand on.

I recommend it. That's the bottom line.  It works enough as intended. The washer still makes loud banging noises especially with heavy loads like towels, but that's a separate issue.  In terms of finding something to buffer the vibrations from the washer to the floor, mission accomplished.

Link:
Anti-walk Silent Feet - Anti-vibration Pads for Washing Machines and Dryers

Living in a two story "garden" style home - DON'T

I live on the second floor of a old building built back in the 50's.  I am actually fortunate to have a washer and dryer because for the most part, multiple dwelling units of this age/type doesnt allow or support washers.  The pipes cant take it, the connections (drain pipe, water, vents) are not present and so on.  So i actually found a diamond in the rough here because when i moved in, someone spent a great deal of money to upgrade the unit to include a proper gas dryer (not electric!) that vents out and a washer.  No more laundromat or going to the laundry room of the building for me!

A lot of coop and condo communities is like this. When you see a cluttered bunch attached 2-story homes with separate entrances that are next to each other, know that for the most part there is absolutely no sound proofing between the units. 

You see, these type of buildings generally has no sound proofing or insulation between units.  Basically some cheapass built a 2 story building back in the day, then chopped it in half to make it a 2 family home and double the profit.  Multiply that by 200 and you have a coop/condo development with "garden style" homes.  While you share a common wall and floor/ceiling, thankfully there may be sufficient brick and concrete between the adjacent units that the only noise issue is between the first and second floor.

If you ever look into moving into a multiple dwelling unit (condo/coops/rentals), i strongly recommend the tall modern buildings that has concrete in  the floors/ceilings.  The regular two story ones where everyone gets their own separate front door entrance looks nice from the outside, but everything is paper thin and cheap on the inside.  If you must move in to these garden style homes, then get the ones where the units are side by side and not on top of each other. Else even the smallest noise seeps through and you are basically living with your neighbors downstairs/upstairs.  In addition to the lack of noise barriers, the bones of these homes are usually all wood and the pipes will make thump/hammer noises, the floors will squeak and overall, it's a real crappy way to live.  You end up feeling like a prisoner in your own home if you have bad neighbors.

Intro...

Life is too busy and there's too much things to do, to get done, to read up on, to look up.  So here's where I'll enter things that I've filtered in my life which was not a waste of my time or braincells.

So I've come to the conclusion as Im sure much of you:

• There are too many alternatives and choices for everything.

It doesnt matter in what context you view that statement.  Whether it's shopping, or doing laundry, or picking an app or a route, there's too many options.  This is not the same as saying there's a lot, there's plenty, there's a wide variety... etc.   No, there's just too many.  There's more than needed or desired.

There's two ways to approach this.  One is to simply pick the easiest, closest, quickest choice and be content.  This is the way I wish I did things because there's truth to the statement that "ignorance is bliss".  Life is easier, straightforward, you may or may not pick the cheapest/best way to do something but you will never know, you will save time in the short run because you dont waste time researching upfront and making comprehensive comparisons.

The other way is far more irritating, but it's for those of us that keeps our mental muscles finely tuned. It's to find every possible option, weigh the pro's and con's and do a moderate amount of comparison before a sticking with a decision and then possibly revisiting this decision every few months or years.
 
I assure you, countless hours are wasted with the latter method.  Minutes turns into hours, quite often one can go off in tangents and overall it can feel like one is trying to absorb the internet.

To hell with it all.  To add to the general pool of millions of blogs, review sites, forums and such, here's my one single simple take.  There may be better options.  There most definitely will be worse options. Often, we must all settle for "good enough".  We dont have all damn day to deal with each and every thing.