Singing in the Rain

I frequently shower two times a day. Once when I get up in the morning and once in the evening after I get home from the gym. I'm told that this isn't the best thing for my skin, but smelling like my little sister wouldn't be the best thing for my social life, so it's the lesser of two evils.

Since I spend a decent amount of the time in the shower, I find it nice to have a good shower head. I would love it were I able to afford a steam room shower with all the fixings, but that's sometime off in the future. In the meantime, there are some smaller modifications that you can make to your shower to really improve the whole experience.

If you haven't tried one of the nicer rain shower heads, then you probably think it is foolish to spend money on an improved shower head. The one you have installed right now throws water at you, which is really all you need. The problem is, once you have tried one of the better shower heads, you'll know how good it is and you'll want one for yourself. When you do get to that point, you can go one of two routes. You can head over to your local Home Depot and buy a $40-$80 shower head, or you can pick up a more expensive brand at a speciality plumbing dealer like Taps in Toronto.

Among the higher end brands three stand out as offering the best rain shower heads. Those three are Aquabrass, Grohe and Hansgrohe. Each sell showerheads at $80 but the nice rain shower heads are going to run you quite a bit more. The Grohe Rainshower Shower head, for example, retails at around $275 US from a couple of online retailers.

If you can justify the expense, do it. You'll notice the difference and you'll be the talk of all your friends. They will no longer congregate in your kitchen at parties but will be drawn to the bathroom. From there, who knows what might happen.

Let's Go Streaming!

I watch a significant amount of TV including almost every Raptor game of the season. When I was living in Calgary I had to follow the live boxscores on ESPN.com because most of the games were not broadcast nationally (fortunately that is no longer the case). Had the Slingbox been around when I was in Calgary, I could have set it up at my parents' house in Toronto and watched the Raptors games right on my desktop in my dorm room.

The Slingbox is something like the TV equivalent of the Squeezebox that I posted about earlier. You attach the Slingbox to your cable or satellite TV connection and also to a high speed internet connection at home and the device streams your cable content. What that means is that you can watch and control TV from any computer with an internet connection. I could have watched all of the Raptors games from my Toronto cable subscription while I was in Calgary.

The device comes in three versions: Tuner, AV and Pro. The Tuner ($179) can plug right into the cable without having to interface with the digital tuner from your cable or satelite company, but it can only access basic cable. If you have a digital cable subscription then you want to go with the AV ($199) which can access digital content as well as your DVR. The Pro ($299) adds HD functionality to the AV and allows you to connect multiple devices.

Power at your fingertips

I don't think very highly of home gyms for several reasons. Firstly, I think you get a better workout if it's something that you're entirely committed to, so going to the gym helps you get into that state of mind. Secondly, I'm far more into resistance (i.e. weight) training and it's rather obvious that when you buy space saving home gym equipment, such as a Bowflex, you're making sacrifices. A system like the Bowflex will never stress your muscles the same way that iron does.

Now, with those considerations in mind, I do think there is a place for a small home gym in your basement or even your TV room. Sometimes it is just impossible to get to the gym but you still want to get in a quick workout so that you don't drift out of your routine. Two problems with home gyms are 1) cost and 2) space. Most of the work I do at the gym is on a Bosu ball or Swiss ball using dumbbells, which means that my space requirements are reduced with no need for benches. By using Powerblocks in conjunction with the exercise ball I can set up a pretty effective home gym in the corner of a room. The cost, I can't really help you with.

Powerblocks are adjustable dumbbells. They take up very little space but give you access to the equivalent of dumbbells ranging from 5-60 lbs or higher. There are a few different versions of the Powerblock and I recommend the Elite (~$450) because the Personal Set, while less expensive (~$300), can only be expanded to 60 lbs. By purchasing additional weight the Elite can get up to 130 lbs, should you ever find yourself getting as ripped as me/Arnold.

If you've been thinking about getting something for a home gym, look up an authorized dealer near you and head in to see if you like the feel of the Powerblocks. If you do, don't hesitate to drop the $450 on them.

Power in the hands of many

Power tools are pretty awesome. I think I have in common with most people that my first power tool was a cordless drill. It's the perfect power tool for university. We're all putting together cheap furniture while we're away at school and the drill makes that process a little less frustrating. It also has the advantage that as long as you hide the drill bits, it can only cause minimal damage when wielded by immature drunks. The cordless drill has its limitations in the power department.

Recently I was looking to make a shot-ski. The etymology of the word shot-ski is thus - a ski which has in it five holes for the placement of shot glasses so that five people can awkwardly take a shot at the same time. Shot-ski. When you are using a cordless drill, it can be somewhat difficult to penetrate the sandwiched layers of a modern ski. A ski is not the only case where you may find that a cordless drill does not have enough juice. Which brings me to my long winded point, that each tool collection should contain a corded hammer drill.

A corded drill comes in different motor powers. When looking to buy a corded drill, it makes sense to look the half inch drills with motors around 7/8 amps. At this motor power, the drill is capable of doing a lot of things that the 14.4V cordless cannot approach. The "hammer" part of the drill is important if you ever plan on doing masonry (brick, stone, concrete) drilling. It kicks the drill bit in and out which is necessary if you're drilling into harder material.

Two products I looked at closely are the Dewalt and the Milwaukee. Though the Dewalt is listed at $179 at Home Depot and the Milwaukee $219, they were both $179 in store. If you want to look at the tools, then head into Home Depot or Rona. However, if you know what you want I would shop at House of Tools. They're usually less expensive (for example the 6.7 amp hammer drill is $99 at HOT and $139 at HD) and if not they have a price guarantee. Not all of their products are listed on their website, so give them a call if you don't see what you want. They also don't charge PST in Ontario, which is nice.

Give Her the Boot

Last Wednesday, Valentine's day, I wrote about women's propensity for noticing the watch on your wrist and the shoes on your feet. I also gave you my opinion on some watches to consider. Now I'm back to let you know what kind of shoes you should sport.

There is a footwear company out of Australia called Blundstone and they make boots that not only make you look good, but also feel pretty good on your feet. They make several different models of boot, including some for kids. The only models I have eyes for are the Original and the Chisel Toe. If you are looking for a more dressy boot, go with the chisel toe (my choice and pictured above) or the original for more casual. You can get either in black or brown.

These are great boots in my opinion but they're not as dressy as they might have you believe. My only beef with them is the stamped Blundstone logo on the rubber heel. This takes away from the boot a bit and makes it less passable as a dress shoe. Whatever, the boot is still versatile which is a big reason why I'm recommending it. Thought they seem expensive at around $170, that's actually really good value. These things are well made and worth the cash.

In Toronto or Vancouver you can try them on in store at the Australian Boot Company (ABC) or any of the other authorized dealers. ABC also sells a few models online.

Wear protection

I warned you earlier that I have a weakness for Cloudveil products. I went and bought one despite my negative cash flow. I found myself visiting the Toronto Mountain Equipment Co-op and it's like I went in a trance. I remember walking in the doors and the next thing I knew I was standing outside with a new jacket that I didn't need.

The jacket I bought is the Cloudveil Circuit jacket. It's a nice jacket but it's use is reasonably limited. It's essentially a spring jacket and I already have two of those. MEC has several items on clearance though that are not only nice, but make a boatload of sense from a practical standpoint. At the top of the lost is a Cloudveil (shocking) soft shell jacket with a hood. It's called the Black Ice.

In store, the Black Ice has been reduced to $205 which is a great deal if you need one. Now need is a relative term and what I mean by need is if you don't already have one. They're really versatile jackets and they're a great layer to have when you're skiing. Depending on whether you're a radiator like me, or an icicle, like every woman, you're going to want a different number of layers. The soft shell should be universal though since it provides great protection from the elements but lets you stay flexible and breathes incredibly. That's key since it won't make you sweat which can be really uncomfortable/dangerous in the back country. The fact that the black ice has a hood just makes it that much better.

Head down to MEC now while they're clearing a lot of winter gear to make way for the spandex laden bicycling community.

Game Time

Valentine's day is a great night for single men. The bars are rife with women who are looking to get drunk and forget about the fact that they're lonely. So when someone tells you that the holiday was created by women, tell them they're wrong, and that it was in fact created by shallow, single men with few morals.

I'm sure you all have a game plan for this evening, but what about the other 364 days of the year when you aren't getting any? Yesterday I gave out shaving tips for those men already close to women, but what about you guys on the outside looking in. Let me do what I can to help you out.

Women are crazy but they display patterned behaviour. For whatever reason, women seem to take notice of two accessories on a man. Women always notice the shoes you're wearing (even if you never see them cast their eyes downward - it's freaky) and the watch on your wrist. So do yourself a favour, leave the Timex Ironman at the gym and go buy yourself a nice watch.

Nice does not mean expensive, nice just means that it suits your personality and that it's not digital (or if it is, it's a crazy kind of digital). My favourite watch company right now is Nixon. They make a lot of nice men's and women's watches (ranging from $75 to $1,700) and you should be able to find one that suits you. If you have a smaller wrist, you're probably going to want to avoid a square face since they tend to look way too big on dainty wrists.

If you're feeling adventurous, and I think you should, look at the Saishin (about $115 CDN) and other Japanese watches on TokyoFlash.com

Happy hunting.

Be Smooth on Valentine's Day

Women, generally speaking, don't like facial hair. They like smooth skin so that they can cuddle up and annoy the hell out of you by breathing hot air on to your neck. I am not advocating that you let them get away with this on a regular basis, but it may be something you might want to consider on Wednesday.

I'm not overly hairy but I think I have developed a very good shaving routine that can help anyone. It sounds like a long, painstaking process but I promise you, it's really not that difficult. I'll lay it out here in order.

1) Get in the shower. Hot water softens the hairs and makes the shave friendlier.
2) Wash your face with something that exfolitates. This helps by removing dead skin cells and exposes the hair. I use St. Ives but I'm not particularly product loyal on this step. To be honest, I don't always use it before shaving.
3) Apply a shaving oil. I use Cromwell & Cruthers oil that you can buy at Shoppers Drug Mart. It comes in 15 ml bottles, which look small but last a long time since you only need a few drops per shave. Since it's such a small bottle it's also wicked for travel. Since it's clear you can see what you're shaving.
4) Shave. I use a Gillette Fusion but I think the Mach 3 is just as good.
4) Wash your face. Something like Spectro Gel.
5) Apply rubbing alcohol after you get out of the shower. This kills any bacteria that may get in the small abrasions.
6) Cake on some facial moisturiser. I have a Neutrogena Face Lotion and a Nivea for Men Rehydrating Moisturiser (somewhat redundant name). I use the Nivea more because I like the smell better.

So that's it. Easy eh? It makes a difference but it is a bit of a process. When I travel the number of steps gets drastically reduced. Give it a shot at home though and see if it makes a difference. Even if it's for someone else. Even if it's only once a year.

Blogger is messing with me

For some reason a lot of my recent posts have gone up as posted on January 31st. I don't know why and I'm looking into it, but in the meantime, if you're wondering where all my posts have been, click on the January archive on the right side of this page.

Sorry for the screw up.

Update - Logitech Harmony Remotes

Update:

On Friday I posted about the Logitech Harmony remotes. It just so happens that Dell is having a "Scratch & Save" promotion right now so you have the chance to save a little bit of cash. Unfortunately, they have ended the sale on their remotes. The 880 is now up to $199. The 520 is no longer on their website and the 550 is still much cheaper at Futureshop.

You can enter for a coupon at www.winwithdell.com. I did and I got a code for $10 off. I'm not going to use it so...8?MWC89L897DVV

Valid for one time use only until March 2nd. You might have better luck if you go try and get your own coupon. It only takes a couple of seconds.

Family bliss

"If you want your entire family to be able to use the entertainment system to its fullest, the simple layout and one-touch activity buttons make this remote the ideal choice."

The quoted text above is taken from the Logitech Harmony Remote website and it speaks the truth. Back when I was slightly more foolish than I am today, I set up my parents with a nice entertainment system in their bedroom. I thought they would enjoy watching movies with surround sound and all the rest of it. What I did not take into account was the fact that they have difficulty with electronics. What is so intuitive to me, can be totally alien and difficult to them.

As a consequence I would get phone calls from my parents everytime they wanted to watch a DVD in their fancy new set up. This lasted a couple of months before I dropped $100 on the solution. I bought them a Harmony 659 remote control. Although this particular remote is now outdated, it still performs. The brilliance of the Harmony remotes is that they are all programmed through a webpage which makes it really simple. You don't have to enter number codes to get it to control different devices, you just plug the remote into a mini-usb jack and tell it what equipment you have. Then you tell it how you want the equipment to run.

For example, for my parents, I asked the remote to turn on their receiver, set it to CD/DVD input, turn on the DVD, eject the DVD disk drawer, turn on the TV, set the TV to Video 1 and mute the TV speakers. So now, my parents press "Watch a Movie" and all of the above happens. They put the DVD in, close the tray and they're in business. It has made my life a lot easier.

These are expensive remote controls, so don't expect to pay $20 like you did for that RCA universal remote. But I bet you only ever got that RCA to control your TV anyway. These remotes will control anything that has an IR receiver even your fan or your light dimmer. The Harmony 520 is the least expensive at $79 then there is the 550 at $99 but the difference between the two is minor. The next step up would be the 880 at $169. The 880, pictured above, has a different design, colour screen and docking station for battery recharge.

If you want to see the difference between the remotes, I recommend this thread.

This is the second time that I've posted about a Logitech product, but I bought both products before Logitech owned the original manufacturer (Harmony and Slim Devices). Interesting. I don't own any shares of Logitech in case you're wondering. But I'm thinking I like their acquisition strategy.