Double Bubble

So you want some 2-part adhesive with a quick set time, good for various jobs and in a small enough quantity that it makes sense to bring it on the job without it being too visible or too much nuisance? Double Bubble is your answer.

Manufactured by Hardman and distributed by Ellsworth, Double/Bubble 2-part adhesives are quite useful for quick, on the job or just on the go, repairs, coatings, and general implementations.

A full product listing can be found at their website, for convenience click here or the photos immediately after this.

Hardman’s Double/Bubble options

These products can also be found on Amazon.com

3-5 Minute Fast-Setting Epoxy
   10 Pack
100 Pack

3-5 Minute Fast-Setting Non-Sag Epoxy
100 Pack

More to come...

CutCo Cutlery

So once upon a time I sold CutCo cutlery while I was between jobs and I can honestly say they are the most overlooked asset.  I know the price per knife seems a little extreme but they’re selling you lifelong knives/cutlery without any need to ever come out of pocket for their maintenance or replacement beyond a phone call or email.

Now that sounds kind of useful but not entirely, so let me get to the next useful reason to get some of their knives.  Free sharpening, cleaning, maintenance, and replacement when required.  So, first the knives are difficult to dull, then once dulled they’ll do required maintenance for you and replacement when it is no longer feasible to fix them.  So there is an upfront cost and it’s followed with a built-in protection program for the life of the company.

So let’s get down to the part that really matters, finding those precious tools and making sure people know where they can find them for the best value. 

19-piece knife set with cherry wood stand

CutCo Model 77 Super Shears 2.0

CutCo Model 1501 Vegetable Peeler

4 set of dinner knives with case

CutCo continues to keep these and other products on the market. If interested look around but few last as long or provide as enjoyable an experience.

On the fly card payments

So, recently I had to assist my mom in setting up a quick way to process credit cards and debit cards. I don’t think we necessarily did it the cheapest way, but in a way that is highly efficient for the time involved. It took us about 15 minutes to verify what was available online and locally procurable, 10 minutes to drive to the local Walmart and about another 15 minutes to walk out the door. For the sake of ease, the products we bought were the following:

TracFone Blu View 2

TracFone Extended Data Plan (8GB)

Square Reader

Now with these you get a fairly cheap android phone, 8gb of data in case you actually need to process a lot of transactions, and a contactless reader for chip and tap reading along with a magstripe reader so that no matter what you are presented you can process payment. From there, the next part is setting up an account with Square rather through their app (available for Android and iOS) or their website.

The Goldbergs Cookbook

So on a midday drive to get everyone out of the house for a bit, we happened upon a bookstore and the first thing we saw as soon as we settled far enough to go out separate directions was The Goldbergs Cookbook.

Upon opening the book and flipping through a few pages it was clear to see that it is a very straight forward, well written book about cooking that happens to have a few anecdotes along the way. Just like the Beverly Goldberg that the show is set after, the cookbook plays great homage to her and what it was like to cook in the 1980s and some of the wonderful flavors that were popular then.

If you find yourself hankering for a good memory of those days, pick it up, give it a try and sit down to watch a good episode of The Goldbergs. Currently available in hardcover for, $11.29.

Photo taken by me while at a physical bookstore

Day 1

So there I was, helping my wife clean up after a meal and wondering what would be the right tool/s for the job.  Between a shop vac, traditional vacuum cleaner and a battery operated vacuum cleaner, I decided on the Ryobi One+ stick vacuum (P7181, which can be found at the following: Amazon, The Home Depot, at Ryobi, or at Direct Tools Factory Outlet).  It cost me about $160, after offers, discounts, and tax.  And while while that is a bit expensive, it works out for ease of getting into crevices, being constantly useful with ease of removal of it’s collected refuse, having a wall-mountable base (essentially designed for wall mounting but could easily be repurposed to a relative position so long as it allows the unit to charge) and provides fairly good suction for being battery operated.