My Excellent Choices

UPDATE:

This is still working after four years. I just changed the battery, and I can’t remember the last time I did that. This Radon monitor just works for months at a time!

August 31, 2020

We ordered a couple of “sample and mail” radon kits for Radon surveillance from a highly recommended company with an excellent reputation. . This battery powered Radon detector was placed in the same general area at the same time as samples were collected for lab processing.

When the commercial lab results came back, we were pleased to see that the results from this electronic Radon detector were comparable, and provided a continuous 24×7 monitoring solution.

It is small, and is placed on a wall at eye level in an area that is not exposed to drafts. The batteries last for months and the light weight allows it to be placed almost anywhere with only a small picture frame tack.

Carry the cloud in your pocket! These palm-sized external storage devices plug into the USB connector and are made by Samsung in 1TB, 2TB and 4TB capacities. I bought the 2TB to keep a backup of photos, videos, documents, everything on my laptops and in my personal cloud!

It very fast compared to the USB “sticks” and memory cards that I have used in the past. I used to back up everything from my local machine to the cloud. Now, I do the opposite. Everything in the cloud gets backed up to this external USB.

Choose two or more and select different colors to quickly recognize “yours and theirs” in your family.

UPDATE:

After eye surgery both of my eyes were corrected and perfect for distance vision; but I had worn glasses for several years and I am always reading and working at the computer. While I can still recommend the clip-on readers as a good solution for folks who wear corrective lenses, my personal needs have changed.

I found these glasses with NO prescription for distance vision, and a progressive lens that transitions to computer and reading distance. I chose a pair with no visible line, blue blocking and high-quality non-reflective lenses. Visit their store with the link above and browse their latest styles.

June 19, 2020

My two eyes just aren’t the same. One is 20/20 and the other is very near-sighted.

If I read without glasses, the near-sighted eye can see the computer screen, but the 20/20 eye is blurred. (It’s needs a reading glass lens.) If I put on inepensive reading glasses the situation is revered. My best eye can read, but the near-sighted eye is even worse!

Thankfully, I have good prescription lenses that balance my eyes for distance vision, but computer screens are still a problem. It occurred to me that clip-on reading glasses (like inexpensive sunglass clip-ons) might be just the solution, and it was!

These clip-on reading glasses are available in different powers (I ordered a “1.5 and a “2”) and they are a perfect solution to my eye-strain problem.

If you like quick, high-quality meals – a Food Vacuum Sealer is an essential. Fresh fruit and vegetables keep longer in the refrigerator if they are sealed and re-sealed.

We prepare 2-3 weeks of meals (pre-cooked salmon, burgers, streaks, turkey, chicken, quiche) in vacuum-sealed freezer bags. Each bag contains a meal portion for one or two people. Thanks to the handy microwave. the main entry of any meal is ready in minutes.

Now for the bad news. Not all vacuum sealers are created equal. Since an airtight seal and a healthy vacuum pump is required for a really good seal – these handy kitchen tools will eventually need to be replaced.

But wait, for the really good news! After we tried three other models, our personal experience with this particular product has been stellar. It is still running now – already two, three, four times longer than lesser models. This one is worth the price!

Perfect for hard surface floors, every chair at our house has one on each chair leg. These snack tables needed floor protectors too. Try the square-leg version for the snack tables. This 32-piece package has enough for 8 chairs.

The felt tips are firmly bonded to the plastic cups, and you will want to match the size and shape of these little “boots” to the items. Check out the shape and size information on the linked page above.

You can install these in just a couple of minutes. Just gently stretch open and slide over the end of the chair leg.

This is a huge improvement over those “stick-on” adhesive felt protectors from the hardware store.