The tried and true Maclaren Techno has been a mainstay for many parents both in the US and abroad for over a decade. It had been about four years since I did my last review of the Techno and even though the stroller looks the same, there are numerous upgrades and improvements which make it easier to use and more functional. I am a big fan of umbrella strollers and find that many parents who purchase fancy heavy strollers at the outset usually end up relegating those strollers to the basement or attic in favor of a lighter more compact stroller by the time their child is one to 18 months. My advice is to just go with it from the beginning.

Thanks to the folks at Maclaren and Strollers.com for sending us the latest Techno to test and review!

See the updated Maclaren Techno Review.

a

Tweet This Post

a

Tweet This Post

Spray-foam insulation, such as Icynene, is becoming increasingly popular in green building projects, replacing fiberglass in renovations and new construction. Safe and nontoxic, spray foam meets LEED specifications because it expands to fill cracks—even in hard-to-insulate areas around electrical outlets and pipe conduits. Unlike such traditional materials as fiberglass or cellulose, spray-foam insulation virtually eliminates energy-wasting air leaks, erecting a barrier to noise, pollution, allergens and drafts. By reducing air leakage, Icynene also helps to minimize condensation within the walls and ceilings, retarding the growth of mold.

Although spray foam is slightly more expensive to install, Icynene is typically more economical than fiberglass over the long term—homeowners can cut energy bills by 30 percent. Homes insulated with spray foam are quieter, more comfortable and healthier places to live.

There are two types of spray-foam insulation. Polyicynene is an open-cell polyurethane product that sprays on like paint, then expands to 100 times its volume, filling the cavities between studs to make your home airtight. Polyicynene remains spongy and flexible, adjusting to any settling of the building, and delivers an R-value of 3.6 per inch. (R-value is a measure of insulation efficiency. The “R” stands for resistance to heat flow, so the higher the number the more effective the insulation.) Closed-cell foam insulation is a similar product that expands to 30 times its volume and dries hard. Because it is rigid, it can actually strengthen the walls of your house (no more creaking!). It delivers an R-value of about 6 per inch. In general, polyurethane delivers higher R-values than any other kind of insulation.

Manufacturers
The leading producer of light-density foam insulation is Icynene, a company dedicated to the production of green insulation products for the construction industry. Icynene makes both an open-cell spray formula and a liquid fill formula, both under the Icynene brand name. LaPolla Industries, a company well-known for its acrylic roof coating, also produces Foam-Lok spray-foam wall insulation. Foam-Lok is available in both open-cell and closed-cell formulations. Another maker of spray-foam insulation is NCFI Polyurethanes, which is a major manufacturer of rigid and flexible polyurethanes for a wide range of applications, from taxidermy to bedding. NCFI manufactures spray-foam insulation for residential use under the brand names Sealite (open-cell) and InsulStar (closed-cell).

Applications
Like other forms of insulation, Icynene and other spray foams are best applied to new construction and renovations after plumbing and electrical work has been completed. Spray foam is difficult to add once buildings are complete and walls are sealed. However, attics and basements can be retrofitted with spray-foam insulation.

How To
This is not a do-it-yourself project, no matter how often you watch “This Old House.” Applying spray-foam is a messy and complicated business, so be sure to hire a skilled installer (get two or three bids before you commit). In major cities—New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Houston, Phoenix, Philadelphia, Jacksonville, Indianapolis—more and more contractors are familiar with this safe, energy-efficient insulation alternative. Consult a local contractor for specific recommendations.

Massachusetts Spray Foam Insulation Providers
If you are looking for a Massachusetts spray foam insulation installer, please visit our new Bobby’s Best Contractor Concierge Service and submit a request.

Please Note: Our spray foam insulation reviews and Icynene insulation reviews are not to be copied or republished with express permission.

a

Tweet This Post

My disappointment with this watch and Tissot’s customer service lead me to search out other reviews, and I found lots of cases where people had similar issues with the T-Touch functions not working properly. In my own case, the T-Touch features have failed on multiple occasions.

See Other Review Below:
http://www.amazon.com/review/product/B000FBTXV6/ref=cm_cr_pr_viewpnt_sr_1?%5Fencoding=UTF8&filterBy=addOneStar
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/tissot-t-touch-watch-c10462.html

The watch has died on me twice and has also done weird things such as change the date out of nowhere. I just received my watch back from Tissot Repair after sending it in for a fifth time in two years, meaning I have not had that watch for about a six-month period in total. Each time I mail it in, I send a letter asking them to PLEASE replace the watch as I don’t think it’s fair for this kind of money to have to keep having to sending it back for the same issue over and over; there had to be a lemon law in here somewhere. However, after promising to look into this each time, they just send back the watch saying that they fixed it and it passed their test only to have it fail again after a few months. This last time, they pretty much admitted that they don’t replace watches as a policy, but they also told me this was the first time they actually replaced the movement (on the fifth repair). This is not the level of service I would expect from a company such as Tissot. I also had issues this last time with water getting under the crystal, and I was told that it’s only waterproof to 30m so I shouldn’t take it in the shower. Huh? How can a watch that is designed to go underwater not be taken in the shower? I would never have purchased a T-Touch in the first place if I thought I couldn’t shower with it. As for the crazy resetting of the date, I was told the watch can be affected by magnets and needs to be reset from time to time. I don’t think I spend an abnormal amount of time near magnets. This is not what I was looking for at all in a day-to day watch.

Bottom line is DO NOT BUY a T-TOUCH WATCH if you don’t want aggravation. I agree with many of the other comments about the Tissot T-Touch such as that it looks great and the promise of the functionality is great, but the reality is that the watch does not perform well. Its classic form over function. More importantly, the customer service is horrible; and Tissot refuses to address or deal with the performance issue of this watch head on and instead blames the consumer who is just using it as they believed it was intended. I mean really, a watch with a timer, divers’ features, altimeter, stop watch and meteorological pressure is not targeted towards someone with a non-active lifestyle. That’s a little disingenuous to me.

a

Tweet This Post

Two great options are the TravelPro Crew 6 22 and the Eagle Creek Tarmac 22, both of which are the maximum size that you are allowed to carry on and place in the overhead bin. I have tested each bag and prefer the TravelPro for business travel because of the well designed suitor compartment, built in toiletry kit and the expandability. The Eagle Creek is a better choice for personal travel because it’s very lightweight and has clever pockets for all of your belongings and for separating your dirty clothes. Both bags are well priced and have excellent warranties.

Read the full reviews of the TravelPro Crew 6 and Eagle Creek Tarmac bags.

a

Tweet This Post

Yapta is a very cool new website tracks fluctuations in airline ticket prices, similar to a stock ticker and notifies you when a ticket you have already purchased or are interested in buying drops in price, so you can get the best deal. If you have already purchased a ticket, Yapta will tell you how to contact the airline to for a refund or will make the request automatically. I saved $80 the first time I tried it. It couldn’t have been easier, I got an e-mail telling me the price had dropped and they also sent me Jet Blue’s phone number and told me what to say. The price went back up the next day.

See More Travel Tips & Deals

a

Tweet This Post

You can see more tips like this at the Bobby’s Best Tips and Tricks Page

a

Tweet This Post

Ski Helmets have also gone very high tech. The latest models are super lightweight, feature packed and have integrated headphones for iPods. Some models even have a wireless Bluetooth connection for an iPods, cell phone or walkie talkie. I am a big fan of Giro’s ski helmets and have reviewed two of their most popular models, the Giro Fuse and the Giro G9 (formally know as the Nine.9 and the 9). Both are well priced and come with either optional Tune-Ups accessory or the integrated audio. Can’t wait for ski season to start!

a

Tweet This Post

At the end of the night Julie and her friend, Anna, set off for home. Usually they would call for a car service but the weather was so nice that the two decided to save their money and walk. The pair didn’t get very far before a man with nervous look about him approached Julie and made a sudden move for Julie’s purse. However, Julie wasn’t about to give up her purse so easily. She knew very well that without the contents of her purse, she could not possibly make it to Brazil for the photo shoot. In her purse she kept her Passport (despite being warned not to), her cell phone which contained all of her business contacts, her wallet with her photo ID, Credit cards, and 200 dollars in cash, and a mug with a picture of Julie and her friends on it, which has Anna had given her that night as congratulatory gift. The mug had certainly made Julie’s night when she received it, but it was the other items that were on her mind as she pleaded with crazed man who tried violently to tear her purse away from her. “Please! I can’t let you take my purse right now! I’ll give you my cash, just leave me with my stuff,” she frantically reasoned, but it was no use, and the man eventually won the tug of war match and ran off into the dark with Julie’s purse.

In a state of shock, Julie began thinking of what she could do. Anna used her phone to call the police, who arrived and took down a report, but there was very little that could be done. Julie knew that she would not be able to make her flight to Brazil and that even worse; she would be letting down a very influential figure in her industry. It would be hard to bounce back from this one.

The next day she gathered up the will to walk to her bank to begin to put things back to normal. As she rounded a corner and approached her bank, something on the dashboard of a parked car caught her eye. It was the mug! She peered in closer and could clearly see the picture of her and her friends staring back at her from the messy beat-up car parked before her. On the passenger seat she noticed her cell phone, and on the floor her purse! Her heart raced as she thought of the best action to take. Many things crossed her mind before she decided to run into the bank and alert the security guards to watch the car and call the police. Moments later, Julie was holding her purse and all the things she needed to take this important step in her career. The first thing she did was call Anna to thank her again for the great mug.
These days, Julie brings the mug with her on all photo shoots and movie sets – it’s her lucky mug.

To get your own personalized ‘lucky mug’ go to www.shutterfly.com where you can choose from dozens of great gift ideas personalized with your digital photos. With Shutterfly you can host your digital albums online free of charge where you can share and download as you please. You can have prints made and sent to your door, or have them sent to a nearby Target and go there to pick them up yourself. At shutterfly.com you can create and save multiple creative gift projects that you are working on which is can be extremely helpful in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Check out Shutterfly.com next time you need a personalized gift to save the day.

a

Tweet This Post

I have to say that I have been less than impressed with ADT’s business practices. I have been a customer for about five years now, but as with many companies, the rubber hits the road when things go wrong or you need to make a change. Two years ago, we moved and ADT installed a new wireless based system in our house, giving us an installation discount for having been an existing customer. A wireless system means that they don’t have to hardwire anything except for the main control panel. All of the sensors, door and window contacts report back to the main system from small wireless battery operated modules.

As a result of some recent renovations, we have a new exterior door which I wanted to add to the system. Thinking it would be a simple process, I first called ADT and asked if they could send me a new door contact (which can’t cost more than about $10, it’s mostly just a magnet and a battery) and tell me how to enroll it into the system. Two reps told me that this was not possible and they would have to send out a technician for this who would cost a minimum of $150 for the first hour, plus some ridiculous hourly fee thereafter, not including the cost of the product itself. This essentially made the cost of the additional door contact more than the cost to install the entire system in the first place.

Feeling that this was blackmail and frustrated after talking to several managers, I told ADT to cancel my service. However, only then did I learn that I was under a three year contract, even though I paid for my system and pay ADT about $30 per month for monitoring. I was told that I would be subject to a termination fee and a notice period. So much for the fine print.

My advice is to do your homework before you sign-up with an alarm company, even if they are the biggest and most well known. Because of intense competition, ADT can’t raise prices on their systems or fees, so they are instead sticking it to you with all the extras and for service. At the same time, they are refusing to adapt to new technologies such as Internet telephony (VOIP), because their systems still only work with traditional phone lines, which most customers are moving away from. ADT’s answer to this? An expensive cellular based addition to your base system that costs much more to install and an extra $10 per month. There goes all of your savings by switching your phone line in the first place.

a

Tweet This Post