Have any of you ever used any induction cooking stuffs? Or, better yet, do you have any?
I’m contemplating acquiring an induction cooktop for more efficient cooking and whatnot, but I’ve never actually used one. It seems to me like it would be just as responsive as gas, as the moment the current is cut the cookware will begin cooling. It is far more efficient than either electric coil or gas. It would also likely be much easier to clean.
My On Christmas Eve of 1994 my parents gave me a HP LaserJet 5L. At the time it cost somewhere around $400 – $500, but was one of the most affordable laser printers for home use. Over the years it’s been particularly helpful to have a laser printer around home. With the wonders of toner (over ink) it’s been a great, reliable printer, except for back in 2001-2002 when I had to replace the rollers because they were no longer picking up paper. Tonight the pickup rollers stopped picking up paper again. I haven’t investigated if it is possibly something more than the rubber on the rollers, but I hope not.
I’ll probably first try to clean the rollers with alcohol, but I may just have to buy a kit like this one and replace them. I’m tempted to give the printer up to the gods, but that’d be a bit wasteful, so even if I give it away I’ll probably get it into a working state first.
It’s a great PCL printer and works great with Windows, but as OS X uses Gimp-Print / Gutenprint for its generic drivers, dithered images tend to look like poo. That all makes me want a PostScript printer, but one of those won’t be very cheap. It would be really nice to have one with a built in print server so that I could finally stop using the (as old as the printer) 10baseT / 10base2 JetDirect EX Plus. Although that thing works great too, and any OS which can do any sort of network printing at all can find a way to send data to it…
So, I’m not sure what I want to do yet, but I do know that I can’t quite afford a new printer. Ah well, at least it’s had a good run.
Hrm…
I’m very tempted to buy a USA Spec PA11-HON2y and an iPod touch.
The PA11-HON2y would be put in the car, replacing the custom interface I’d made, but using the same iPod holder. The iPod touch would then replace my iPod.
I could then sell the Honda Music Link(s) which I now have and my old iPod on eBay.
This would do a couple of things:
· Get a project off my back (REing the HML’s firmware) and I could abandon it without feeling wasteful.
· Get back some (most?) of the money spent on these projects.
· Put a better quality iPod interface in my car, with next/previous track support. My current setup is also somewhat susceptible to engine noise when the iPod is disconnected.
· Get me a portable data device for checking maps and such while traveling.
On the downside, it’d move me from a 30GB (which is plenty sufficient) iPod to a 16GB, which might be a little tight. Then again, I can wait until MacWorld to see if a 24GB or 32GB is announced.
It’d also be something new to do. Yay!
UPDATE: Hmm… I can get the PA11-HON2y for $119.95 with free shipping via eBay. It’d be best to tear the dash open only once, and that would give me time to remove the remaining cable(s) from the Honda Music Link while cabling this one in. Hmm…
After talking to some friends, reading a bunch online, and asking this quite useful AskMeFi question, I ended up ordering the following bike stuff(s):
· Two Forté Fast City ST/K MTB Tires for times when I’ll only be riding on smooth pavement.
· One spare tube for my current tires, and a total of three tubes for the new tires. Unfortunately the three for the new tires were accidentally ordered with Presta valves. Whoops.
· Crank Brothers multi-17 Tool and Speed Lever
· Tube Patching Kit
· Zinn and the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance
· Blackburn Shorty Mountain Bike Pump
· Mirrycle Incredibell Original Bicycle Bell (Black)
· Cateye CC-RD300W Strada Wireless Bicycle Computer
· SKS Airworx Floor Pump
I still need some gloves and a bag and lights. After all this stuff is here, then I can see what size bag I actually need, maybe fit a light to the bag, and possibly get some Scotchlite tape to make the bike a bit more visible as it gets near dusk.
I’ll probably also grab a second bottle and cage, just in case. After all, I really like water.
The forecast for this weekend is in the 40s – 50s, so hopefully I’ll be able to go ride around a bit.
Oh, and the problem with the order? The Amazon stuff is coming via USPS and DHL. The Performance Bike stuff is coming via UPS (I think). Some other stuff is coming via FedEx and FedEx ground. It’s a bit much to track, especially with the four Amazon items being delivered via three shipments. Guh.
Not a handlebar mount.Arraugh. Right after getting my bike I hit Buy-It-Now on this eBay auction; a bike handlebar mount for my Garmin eTrex Legend GPS.
I figured it wouldn’t take very long to get the package and it didn’t, but it contains the wrong thing: a carrying case instead of a handlebar mount.
I was hoping to use this soon, too. Bah. Hopefully it won’t take too long to sort out.
Time for NYE celebrating. :D
 |
Specialized 2008 Rockhopper Disc
(Click for bigger…)
After seven years of not having a bike, and about half that of wanting one, I now have a new bike.
This afternoon Brian () and I ended up heading over to Fraser Bicycle and Fitness, which seems to be one of the better bike shops in this area. I saw the bike I’d previously looked at online (and liked), found the price to be as expected (MSRP), and was really comfortable on the test ride I took it for.
After we went over to Noble Fish for some amazing sushi, then to Costco so I could buy some toilet paper, we headed back to the shop. I ended up getting the bike, a water bottle, a water bottle holder, and a helmet. The helmet is a Specialized Air Force 3, in black, size ADULT XXL, to fit my big head.
The total, after tax, was just under $800, which seems pretty reasonable to me.
Brian also got a new bike at the same time. His is the exact same thing, but in a matte black finish, with different shifters / brakes, and with V brakes instead of discs.
(I’d provide links to each product at Specialized‘s site, but the site wants to set your country first. In case you’ve done so, here is the bike and here is the helmet. Also, sorry the photo is crap. I just took it in the basement under some really cheap daylight-ish CFs.)
Special Edition Alzheimer’s Memory CardsI came across this the other day in Best Buy.
750mL Bottle of Caol Ila 12 YearOut of a desire to try something new, on suggestion of
Thankfully the price was the state minimum of $47.92, which made it reasonably affordable. It’s still not cheap, but it’s right around what my other choice, Laphroaig 10 Year would have cost.
I tried a few sips of it straight, before cutting it with about 40% bottled water. (Just Aquafina, PepsiCo‘s finest highly filtered tapwater product. I find it good for mixing things because it has a nice, neutral taste.) I’m thinking that I rather like it. It’s plenty peaty and smokey, but it’s also got a little bit of sweetness to it. There is not enough sweetness to make it something I dislike, though, more like just enough to nicely round it out.
I’m wishing that I had one of the Millett Hybrid Maxed headphone amps to use (my two are disassembled currently) so I could sit back on the couch and listen to some music while sipping this in the dark. It’s quite nice.
I have a strong, sudden urge to go pick up a bunch of cheap bamboo flooring from Costco and install it in my office.
This would then be followed by the purchase of a new chair, possibly a Haworth Improve HE, the same sort of chair I’ve sat in (and felt comfortable in) at work for the last few years.
[Cross posted to
Today’s beer purchases were:
· Baltika 9 Extra Lager
· Arbor Brewing Company’s Espresso Love
· Wells’ Banana Bread Beer
· Southern Tier’s Pumking (x6)
· JW Lees Manchester Star Ale
· New Holland’s Dragon’s Milk (x2)
· Lindemans’ Framboise Lambic
· Bells’ Special Double Cream Ale
· O’Fallon’s Goat’s Breath Bock Ale
