Product Reviews

iRobot Looj 120 Gutter Cleaning Robot

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I love my iRobot vacuum cleaner. It saves me lots of work cleaning the house. I just have to press a button and it will get the job done. It’s fall season, leaves is falling and rain starts to pour. It is time to clean the gutter. I see iRobot also makes a gutter cleaning robot, base on my good experience with their vacuum cleaner, I decided to give it a try.

I did not get the latest model, Looj 125, which is in yellow color. I spot a previous generation Looj 120, which is in green color selling cheap on Craigslist. The only difference is the newer model and the older model is an internal antenna instead of an external one the motor, the brush and everything else is the same. The Looj works amazingly in youtube, but unfortunate it does not work on my gutter at all. My gutter is not standard size, it is too wide for Looj. Instead of throwing the dirt out of the gutter onto the ground, it just flipping the dirt from the left half of the gutter to the right half and vice versa.

I have a few minor complains about the Looj. It uses Ni-Cd battery instead of Li-ion battery, so I have drain the battery completely before recharging to avoid memory effect and make sure I do not overcharge the battery. The external antenna is inconvenient. Once awhile, the Looj will flip up side down. I have to reverse the brush rotation to flip it back otherwise the antenna is on the way. Without the antenna, the Looj can move on either side. Other than that, the brush motor is pretty powerful, dirt and leaves is flying high. It should work well if mine is a standard 4″-5″ gutter instead 8″.

Since the Looj does not fit my gutter, anyone interests in buying it from me?

Daily Scribble

Learning how to ride a unicycle – day 1

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I always wanted to learn how to ride a unicycle. I have been procrastinating for many years, then I just made up my mind and bought an unicycle. In order to encourage Pat to do more exercise, I promise I will jog with her every week. Since I don’t like jogging myself, I was riding a bicycle while following Pat. However, riding bicycle is too fast, I think maybe I should ride a unicycle instead, so that I can keep with the pace of Pat.

I ordered a 24″ beginner’s unicycle online. It is recommend to learn from a 20″ or 24″. Both size are good for indoor free style tricks or outdoor normal riding. It took me half a hour to put the parts together. I read unicycle tutorials on the web and watched tutorials in youtube to prepare myself. The principle of riding a unicycle is pretty simple. Balance yourself on the seat and don’t fall. The difficult part is building the muscle memory that let you stay in balance.

I tried my first ride today in company’s parking lot today. I picked a wall with fence to lean on. I can mount the unicycle when one of my hand is holding the fence. I tried balance stretching my leg leg and then my right leg. I can rock back and forth a little bit whiling holding the fence and stay on the unicycle for 2-3 minutes before falling off. I am wobbling left and right as well. I am still trying to pick up the feeling of putting all my weight on the seat instead of my foot. That is the key of balancing on unicycle according to the tutorials.

Riding a unicycle is a bit harder than I expected but it should still be well within my reach. It took me 30 minutes to learn how to ride a bicycle when I was eight. I just need to practice every day and I will be jog with Pat on unicycle in a few weeks.

電影

Hangover 醉爆伴郎團

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「醉爆伴郎團」沒有明星沒有特技﹐刀仔鋸大樹竟然成為美國票房冠軍﹐可見正真好笑的電影仍然有市場。故事很簡單但很聰明﹐四個傻佬到拉斯維加斯搞婚前單身派對﹐一覺醒來發現新郎不見了﹐完全記不起昨晚幹了何事﹐房中多了一個BB一頭老虎﹐還有其中一個傻佬少了一顆牙。電影用倒敘方法﹐三個傻佬沿著線索﹐重組昨晚的事發經過﹐從而找出失蹤了的新郎﹐趕在明天如期舉行婚禮。

三個傻佬尋找新郎的過程瘋狂搞笑﹐情發展出乎意料﹐謊謬得讓觀眾笑破肚皮。到酒店取車竟然取了架警車﹐一個傻佬無端端和脫衣舞孃結了婚。他們拿回自的車子後有個祼男從車尾箱跑出來﹐還要給黑幫追殺。最神奇是不知道該如何收科時﹐竟然又可以自完其說找到新郎。當然正所謂講故莫駁故﹐情節未免有太多巧合。不過如此多樣化的搞笑橋段堆在一起﹐完全沒有雜亂無章的感覺﹐故事從頭到尾大至通順﹐編劇可謂功不可抹。

外國文化流行婚前單身派對﹐結婚前要盡興狂歡﹐婚後便要收拾心情當個好丈夫。去賭城搞個瘋狂的婚前派對是每個男人的夢想﹐這齣電影能夠引起所有男性觀眾的共鳴。劇中四個傻佬性格各異﹐加起來產生爆笑的化學作用﹐一起共渡患難一起撞板﹐也很有男人的浪漫。新郎正正經經﹐加上大半時間失了蹤﹐所以戲份不多﹐不過是四個人的舔著劑﹐把另外三個傻佬聚集一起。人生失敗者的肥仔是典型丑角﹐大半笑料也是圍繞著他。教書傻佬心急兼咸濕﹐想不到竟然是好個爸爸。牙醫弱男當慣女朋友奴隸﹐連去婚前派對也要左暪右暪﹐最後他大發神威反抗女友﹐倒為天下男人爭回一口氣。

很久看過沒有這樣令人開懷大笑的電影了﹐沒有夾硬堆切笑位來引人發笑﹐只是四個正常的傻佬﹐剛巧遇到脫軌跳線的處境﹐很自然便會產生生活化的喜劇感。九十分鐘的純萃娛樂讓人輕鬆腦袋﹐看完後還嘴角還會掛著一絲微笑呢。

Product Reviews

Euroflex Monster SC60 steam cleaner

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I and Pat went to the Vancouver Home and Interior Design show at BC Place tonight. The show is a rip off. The show charge us $12 per ticket but it is really a flea market. Most of the booths sell home product or renovation service, but some sell totally unrelated stuff like ear rings, hand bags, artistic cards, etc.

There is a demonstration booth of vapor steam cleaner. I have read about it in magazines and seen it in TV shopping channel. The idea of vapor steam cleaner is really simple. It use pressurized steam to clean dirt and disinfect surface instead of chemical cleaner. The demonstration is pretty amazing. Dirt just come loose under the steam and you can easily wipe it clean with a cloth. Pat is so hooked onto idea of the vapor steam cleaner. She keep thinking about it during the show. At the end, we bought it before we leave.

The Euroflex Monster SC60 steam cleaner output 130C steam at 55psi. It takes about 5 minutes to boil and a full tank last an hour. It is essentially a pressured steel boiler with a hose. It is a mid-range consumer model that does not come with more user friendly features you may find in professional models. It does not have water level indicator nor allow continuous water refill. When the steam runs out, I have to turn off the steam cleaner, wait 10 minutes for it to cool down before I can refill the tank. It does not even have a hook for the power cord. I tried it on the kitchen sink, oven, toilet bowl, bath tub, washroom faucet and mirror. It works as advertised, saves me lots of scrubbing. Just run the steam over the dirt to blow them away. My only complain is the handle gets a bit too warm after a while.

I rarely buy things without first read reviews on internet. After I went home, I search for its online reviews at once. The review for this steam cleaner is mixed. Someone loves it but someone think it is a piece of crap, probably due to the usual made in China QC problem. I also find out we could have save $20-30 if order it online. But we got a box of extra accessories in the show, so we are pretty much even.

兩週一聚

兩週一聚﹕香港二十

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前言﹕這是一個叫「兩周一聚」的活動。是網友米雪兒發起。每月十五日﹑三十日﹐一班住在世界不同角落的香港人都會一起寫同一個題目。今天是第二十四次相聚，由Mad dog出題﹐主題定為「香港二十」。

喜愛十大

  1. 買玩具 – 雖然可以上網訂購玩具﹐但始終還是逛玩具舖開心﹐價錢差不多平一半。
  2. 逛書局 – 每次回香港﹐必定到書局打書釘看中文書﹐看看有什麼新書好書。除非很出名的書﹐買書還是要翻開過才買才安心。
  3. 鴨寮街 – 買電子零件或古靈精怪的東西﹐去鴨寮街一定可以找到
  4. 大家樂 – 中式快餐始終比西式快餐好吃。
  5. 黃金 – 以前讀書時﹐試過每天都去朝聖一趟。
  6. 信和 – 不是去買四仔﹐是去看日本碟。
  7. 天星小輪 – 香港寫意的交通工具﹐每次回香港必搭。
  8. 打風 – 橫風橫雨在海邊看浪最過癮。
  9. 港產片 – 不是所有港產片都是垃圾﹐還有很多好看的港產片。
  10. 會考 – 我那個年代的會考是世界最好的教育制度。讀會考那段日子最開心﹐只需要讀好書考好個試﹐其他事什麼也不用想。一生人讀了這麼多書﹐大部份課文已還給老師﹐唯獨會考教的那些東西﹐因曾下過苦功到現在還記得大半。

討厭十大

  1. 熱 – 最憎出汗。
  2. 人多 – 怕迫﹐怕什麼也要同人爭。
  3. 污染 – 次次返香港都咳。
  4. 無記劇集 – 師奶都嫌老土婆媽。
  5. 只收現金 – 香港又不流行用信用卡﹐找錢太麻煩了。政府應該立法強制所有店舖收八達通。
  6. 八卦 – 香港人特別八卦﹐係又問唔係又問﹐關你叉事呀。
  7. 膚淺 – 除了名牌﹐名星﹐賭波﹐賭股﹐香港人還懂什麼﹖
  8. 亞洲電視 – 為什麼有一間公司可以蝕足二十年錢還未執笠。我懷疑間電視台其實是用來洗黑錢。
  9. 塞車 – 搭地鐵最快﹐不過完全沒有私人空間可言。
  10. Roadshow – 聲音污染。我要發動Roadshow反擊戰﹐號召香港市民齊齊用duct tape把巴士上的喇叭封口。
  11. 共產黨 – 香港當英國殖民地好端端的﹐為什麼要無啦啦回歸。當年鴉片戰爭﹐英國佬要求割地應該不設限期﹐順便割多些地割埋深圳澳門。

其他香港人﹕ mad dog, 微豆 Harico, maggiejoella, Bungy-Zoe, 5pointsorless, Maple, Mugen C, lomichee, 凡鳥雛, chilli mon, readandeat, nankin, 周游, 火羽, Vince…