When I first ran across the printer, I was very reluctant to buy it. Being a Mac guy, I sometimes find the print drivers do not work as well as they do on Windows. Or I find I have to jump through some hoops to get it to work right. The reviews I read indicated it was trouble-free, so I decided to give it a try.

The printer will do up to 20 pages per minute, has 600 x 2400 dpi resolution, a 250 sheet paper tray, 16 MB of RAM and had parallel, USB 2.0 and Ethernet ports and has printer drivers for Windows, MacOS, and Linux. It does a fine job on envelopes and other different-sized media.

The toner cartridge (TN-350) is between 40-$65.00 and will print up to 1500 pages which is very reasonable when you compare it to the cost of ink cartridges.

The printer is fairly small and has a dark gray finish which I can't say it looks stylish, but it tends to blend in and not look like an eyesore compared to the usual ivory colored printer.

It's also very quiet. The printer has energy saving features and makes no noise when it's not printing. Even when it prints it is really quiet.

This printer was recently replaced by the Brother HL-2170w. The biggest difference is the 2170w has a built-in wireless card so you can print without a network. I was going to consider this, but I was not sure how the wireless feature would work when I am already on a wireless network? Do I have to switch back and forth? I decided to save a few dollars and buy the 2070 because either printer can be plugged into a USB or Ethernet port on your existing wireless network and allow you to print without switching, so the wireless aspect was not as important to me.

If you are looking for a decent printer for letters, shipping labels, Mapquest directions, this is the perfect printer to consider.

Brother HL-2070N

Another nice feature to look for is whether or not the broom and dustpan have been designed to snap together to keep them from wandering apart. It's also nice to be able to store away in a compact fashion.

This is an accessory that I feel every camp really needs. It's a lot more helpful than you can guess. It's the kind of thing that makes organized camping a simple task.

It is the kind of thing that can help your camp go from Red or Yellow to Green & clean.

OXO Upright Sweeper

When it comes to cats, I get leery about putting out traps, mostly because pet owners freak out and think the cat is going to eat the poison. The owner had previously put the Grants stakes in the house, but the ants were not attracted at all. I figured the Grants were a bit old, so I bought some new ones. I also noticed that the owner had Terro Ant Traps in the house. I have never used them and I figured it couldn't hurt, so I placed a Terro trap along the ant trail, then went to the store to purchase additional Grants stakes and Raid Ant Traps for closer to the food dish.

When I returned, the ants had stopped their march to the cat food and detoured to the Terro, where they were drowning themselves in the liquid trying to get as much poison as they could carry back to the nest. These ants, which were small black Argentinean ants, seemed to love the Terro.

The ants hardly touched the Grants stakes and avoided the Raid Ant Traps like it was a Christian Heavy Metal Rock concert.

The cat expressed no interest in the Terro ant traps, which was nice, but I also had them stashed under the curtains out of side of the cat.

The traps have a weird quirk that took me a while to figure out. They come sealed, so you need to have scissors or a sharp knife to open them before use. If you set them without cutting them open, they will not work. you need to cut open one side, marked with red, so the ants will crawl inside. First you need to tilt them to the other side or liquid might come out. Once you place them on or near the trail, the scout ants will quickly find it, exploit the find to the nest and then the workers take over.

The traps are not as easy to find as the Raid or the Grants, but if you have little black ants that avoid other poisons, they are worth the search.

When it comes to cats, I get leery about putting out traps, mostly because pet owners freak out and think the cat is going to eat the poison. The owner had previously put the Grants stakes in the house, but the ants were not attracted at all. I figured the Grants were a bit old, so I bought some new ones. I also noticed that the owner had Terro Ant Traps in the house. I have never used them and I figured it couldn't hurt, so I placed a Terro trap along the ant trail, then went to the store to purchase additional Grants stakes and Raid Ant Traps for closer to the food dish.

When I returned, the ants had stopped their march to the cat food and detoured to the Terro, where they were drowning themselves in the liquid trying to get as much poison as they could carry back to the nest. These ants, which were small black Argentinean ants, seemed to love the Terro.

The ants hardly touched the Grants stakes and avoided the Raid Ant Traps like it was a Christian Heavy Metal Rock concert.

The cat expressed no interest in the Terro ant traps, which was nice, but I also had them stashed under the curtains out of side of the cat.

The traps have a weird quirk that took me a while to figure out. They come sealed, so you need to have scissors or a sharp knife to open them before use. If you set them without cutting them open, they will not work. you need to cut open one side, marked with red, so the ants will crawl inside. First you need to tilt them to the other side or liquid might come out. Once you place them on or near the trail, the scout ants will quickly find it, exploit the find to the nest and then the workers take over.

The traps are not as easy to find as the Raid or the Grants, but if you have little black ants that avoid other poisons, they are worth the search.

Terro Liquid Ant Baits

As far as "No Hassle" goes, here is how you have to clean the vacuum every time you empty the canister:

1. Remove from canister
2. open the bottom to dump the dirt
3. Open the top to clean out the dirt stuck to the top of the filter
4. Clean the foam filter that is choked with dirt
5. Clean the dirt out of the HEPA filter
6. Pull the dirt ball out of the vacuum that didn't make it to the canister.
7. Reassemble.
8. Wash all the dust off your hands, & clean up the dust you just scattered everywhere banging the dust out of the canister & filters.

This is not in my mind no hassle dirt management.

On the positive side, it's better than a broom. It does clean your carpet and you can see how much dirt it is picking up as it swirls around the clear canister. When the dirt quits swirling around, the canister is full. Unfortunately, the canister fills up rather quickly.

If any of this sounds unappealing, I would strongly suggest a Dyson instead. Even a bag system is less messy than this, however the bag systems will require a bag replacement. However, all of that dust being stopped by the filters should show you that this machine does pick up a lot of dust! Like the Dirt Devil Dynamite, having a can of canned air around is really helpful.

On the plus side of things, this vacuum does have a 30' long cord, it has a height adjustment for the powered brush and it has a little beater brush and I feel it does a good job on floors and furniture. It's a bit too short for use in a car, but otherwise it seems to do fine. The price is under $100 at many retailers, so you do get a decent vacuum for a reasonable price, with a three year warranty.

Dirt Devil Vibe

But wait friends, it gets even worse. Now Apple is backordered on adapters like the 65-watt Adapter for G4 iBooks and PowerBooks (M8943LL/A) is badly backordered to the point they are simply unavailable. I mean come on, this computer was being sold in 2006. How could the power adapter not be available under a year after the model was for sale?

Thankfully, Micro Accessories makes an adapter for all the G3 / G4 PowerBook, iBook models. These adapters are better made than Apple's own adapters. They use a heavier gauge wire that is less likely to fail at the power tip like almost every Apple power adapter I have ever purchased. It's two-prong, it's dual voltage (100-240v), it's smaller and yes, it's significantly cheaper than Apple's own adapter!

It has a built-in LED in the voltage transformer to show if the computer is charging. It's different than the Apple one, but it works. It has a full one year warranty as well.

Since Apple obviously does not want your business.

Compare Adapters:

Micro Accessoroes G4 iBook / PowerBook Adapter

This hammer kit features:

- Electronic variable speed with impact control
- 7.3 ft./lbs. of hard-hitting impact energy
- Bit Lock feature to lock mechanism to free jammed bits
- 1,330-to-2,660 bpm and 140-to-280 rpm
- Side handle, depth rod, bit grease, and kit box

The Hammer has an electronic Variable Speed control, 7.3 FT LB Of Impact Energy, Bit Lock For Unwinding Jammed Bits, Factory Clutch & 360 Degree Side Handle.

On the other side, DeWalt's hammer bits are very expensive. They may run $50 for a bit. But it's very much worth the expense. I have drilled in the past with cheap bits and you might end up going through 4 or 5 bits to complete a job. It seems their bits cut right into the concrete just fine. I expected the job to last 30 minutes or longer. I finished the drilling in under five minutes.

This hammer may seem a bit expensive, but it does the job right and it's worth the cost.

DeWalt Rotary Hammer

The set-up on this system is almost impossible to screw up. If you can RTFM (Read the Fø©#*ñg Manual), you can install this. The manual, which is more of a multi-fold pamphlet, says in big red letters, "START HERE". There are 5 steps. They are clearly illustrated. This is something you can do. If you have a built-in Ethernet port on your computer, your router, you have everything you need to make this stuff work and work well. Anything extra is in the box.

It has four ports for configuring other computers without a wireless card. It is only 4.5" x 5.25" x 1.75" in size. Although with cables plugged in, and the antenna raised, its closer to 4.5" x 6.75 x 4.75", which is fairly compact. It has two mounting slots so you can screw it to a wall and hide it out of the way, it has clearly labeled ports and it's configuration software is really easy to figure out. It works with a Mac (9&10), Windows (98SE to XP) and it can be configured manually by connecting the router to your computer and typing in: 192.168.2.1 into a Web browser. Although you may want to call tech support if you do this. I suggest you do not use a password longer than 8 characters if doing WEP 64-bit. I would also suggest writing any passwords you use on the back of the router. Also, if you have a lot of AC adapter bricks, label the brick because the there is no Belkin name on it and if you ever have to disconnect 5-10 bricks, it's a puzzle trying to figure out which one goes to the router, the speakers, the external HD, the DSL router, you get the idea.

I bought one for under $30. If you need a wireless router, this is one I recommend. There's faster ones, there's more expensive ones, but if you need a nice, small, easy-to-install router, this is one I would recommend.

Belkin 54g Wireless Router

What you are getting is a vacuum without any hose attachments. There is an upscale model beyond this one with a hose. However, the vacuum is light enough that you can pick it up and use it on stairs and other hard to reach areas. The filter is a simple cone design which will require some frequent cleaning. Having a can of canned air handy is an easy way to clean it out. The vacuum only has one setting for height, but works well on rugs and bare floors. It's bagless and fairly easy to empty. However, if you have a large house or a lot of pets, you will find yourself changing the container more frequently.

Long cord, low height, good cleaning power, no bags, low price and a two year warranty. If you're looking for something cheap and easy, this is the perfect vacuum.

Dirt Devil Dynamite Bagless Vacuum

Because if you are not satisfied, Costco will take it back.

Pricing on Costco is hard to beat. They offer very low prices on what amounts to a very limited selection, but a very decent selection of items. You will not find 10,000 drills, but they do offer decent drills like a DeWalt cordless that is priced very reasonably.

One thing I did not realize is that anyone can buy from Costco.com. You do not need to be a member, you'll just end up paying 5% more than you would as a member. You can still walk into any Costco and return items if you are not satisfied or mail it back.

Another fantastic thing about Costco is the cost of shipping. It's free on many items for ground and reasonably priced for expedient delivery.

Their Web site is easy to navigate and well laid out. The only issue I had is that when I paid for expedited shipping, I could not get an estimated shipping date for a few hours after I purchased the item. Other than this little hassle, Costco.com is a great way to shop.

http://costco.com

Wanna sell it on eBay?

Get Auction Listing Creator.

This software, which works with Macintosh and Windows, makes working with eBay a breeze. It allows you to create custom templates, managing multiple auctions, it's the tool you need to do the job.

cycline3.com/calc/

Roomba is not perfect. It can be stopped by loose clothing, floppy bath rugs or towels and objects that are just under the height of the Roomba. If you can manage to keep these objects off the floor before it cleans, Roomba can really help you keep your place much cleaner than it is today.

The suction power of a Roomba is not as good as a vacuum like Dyson, but really, nothing is like a Dyson. Roomba serves a different role. It allows you to assign vacuuming to another entity which can do the work while you are not home. In fact, one model, the Roomba Scheduler, will even allow you to program up to seven different times when it will vacuum your house. We tested the Roomba Discovery which lacked this feature.

One cool feature Roomba will not tell you about is the ability to freak out your dog. All you have to do is activate Roomba and the dog will go nuts. In fact, the Roomba will not actually chase the dog, but dogs have the abilty to get in the path of the Roomba and it looks like it's chasing it around the house.

If you like gadgets and love the idea of a robot doing your dirty work, Roomba is for you. We have found that it forces us to pick up in advance so the Roomba can do it's job which has lead to a far cleaner home.

Roomba Discovery
Roomba Scheduler

The shoes come in a variety of sizes including wide sizes up to 15 regular and 13 wide.

5.11 Tactical Boot

A maximum level of 50 PPM is the highest recommended for healthy adults. The reading in parts of her house were well above 100 PPM and climbing!

Any house, RV or trailer that uses gas or oil appliances can be at risk for exposure to carbon monoxide. Most appliances are designed to operate safely, but how would you know it is operating safely without some way of measuring the CO levels?

I am not much for preaching fear to get people to act, but carbon monoxide detectors are reasonably priced and worth the investment of $20-$50 for a basic unit. A lithium battery powered unit for a camper or RV would run just over $60.00 which is perfect if you happen to have a gas stove, refrigerator, or heater in the unit.

For more information, check out: Carbon Monoxide Detectors

Instead of trashing a perfectly good pair of shoes every year, I like to trash a perfectly cheap pair of shoes. So if you plan to do a lot of walking, doing a job like Rangering, you really should have a decent pair of shoes and what better shoes to trash than ones under $40?

Nevados makes cheap shoes. Well I should say they make a shoe for father cheap. The Edgewood has a durable leather upper-mid cut design which supports your ankles and a padded tongue and collar which makes it comfortable during extended wear. This is a shoe that could last you for a year or for a few weeks. It's strong enough to last through Burning Man and after that, who cares? Donate them to Goodwill and move on to a new pair. I know the idea of $40 each year for footwear will add up after a while, but the environment is so hard on good shoes, it might be knocking years off a more expensive pair anyway.

I have actually found these shoes will last for about six months to a year with hard use. My version of hard use is really hard use. Add to this a pair of Holey Soles and you have two pairs of shoes good for using at Burning Man that should cost you under $60.00.

Nevados Men's Edgewood