It has been years since I got these speakers to act as rear speakers for the TV and music room.  The Music room is long gone, and the TV is now in the living room.  I knew then that the speakers were far more powerful than were needed for rear speakers, but dang - they sure put out great sound.  Whether in the back or right up front, the timeless black design lets your ears enjoy...

When I was building my kitchen, I installed a water filter.  I've had one for twenty years.  The water out of the tap really doesn't taste good enough to drink without filtering.  Since I had the option, I put in a small bar sink and faucet (the faucet comes with the filter system) and split the line between the sink and refrigerator so the ice cubes wouldn't taste fu...

  I have mostly driven a Toyota 4X4 truck.  From 4-cylinder to 6-cylinder, long bed to short, it was the most reliable, economical and versatile vehicle for the snowy mountain region I call home.  But that doesn't mean I haven't had others.  From Cadillacs to full sized trucks, from TR-7's to Lexus Coupes, I've owned a lot of vehicles.  There were a coup...

Fireplaces are really nice, but I converted the last one I owned to gas because I could not stand the mess.  When burning wood there were ashes and possibly sparks everywhere.  When the fireplace was cold, the ashes had to be carefully cleaned out, and I guess I was just never careful enough.  Besides, no matter what kind of wood you burn, there is a build-up of stuff in the chim...

When it was time to put down a floor in the house I was building, I knew I did not want carpet.  The stuff is just too unfriendly.  Sure, it is soft and all that, but it is home to dust mites and dirt you simply can't get rid of from the moment you put it in.  Not to mention that much of it is loaded with nasty chemicals that leach out into your breathing space. Give me ...

Washer and Dryer model #417 were bought in July of 2005, and I don't think I've ever spent money better.  Included in the price was delivery and set-up, which happened exactly as scheduled and without a bit of frustration.  Durable, maintenance-free and perfect performers, these two appliances have consistently delivered clean, dry washables.  The savings in water, deterg...

Bathrooms are really hard to use if the sink is too darned small.  You also need some space to leave that brush or soap or whatever while you are using it.  The more space you have, though, the smaller the bathroom feels and looks.  A really handy and attractive compromise is a pedestal sink.  While there are no drawers and cabinets to tempt you into squirreling stuff away, ...

I'm getting older but I still enjoy doing lots of physical stuff.  A lot less of those things involve two wheeled vehicles and large four legged animals, but I do like to grab two grocery bags at a time or trot through a busy intersection rather than waddle across.  Simple activities like these were almost impossible when I ruptured a disc in my lower back about twelve years ago.&...

Price Pfister is a very well-known maker of plumbing parts.  I'm not a huge fan of brushed nickel finishes, but when these folks did it, they did it right.  Many of the cheaper versions tarnish or even rust, and mineral deposits ruin the finish quickly.  I don't know (and it's probably a secret) how they did it, but the brushed nickel finish on this faucet is bulletpr...

My natural hair color has become something different.  I admit it.  I once claimed it was "natural brown" and then joked that I had misread it.  The box said "NEUTRAL Brown", not "natural".  The problem is that I won't just go "distinguished grey". I get patches of white in the middle of a dull brown I never saw in the mirror until...

I've got skin that heals supernaturally fast.  At least that's what I'm told.  That's great for cuts and scrapes, but there is one side effect that is not so great.  I grow calluses as fast as fingernails, and need to keep scraping them off.  For years I used a pumice stone in the shower, but honestly, my feet weren't fun to deal with.  That's an...

  I hate having colds and the flu.  Flu shots give me the flu.  No kidding.  I'm sick for two weeks if I get a flu shot.  I have found the answer to the winter's worst curse.  It isn't magic, but until magic comes into (or back to) this world, Cold MD will do the job.I have to do something to survive the winter.  It's not that I'm a sickly ...

It was quite the thing to have about six years ago; so elegant and refined.  Manufactured by Rogar of Richmond, Virginia, it is based on a 19th century patented design by Michael Redlinger.  Its best characteristic is not how hoity-toity it looks, though.  This device is simple, easy to use, and has multiple functions, too.  Since I got mine, they are so popular that they ha...

Bathroom sinks are hard to deal with.  I needed a small sink that was good enough to shave in but small enough to let a woman put her make-up on without getting in the way too much.  I was also limited by the space for the vanity, so I ended up with a tiled area and a small but well-designed sink.  The faucet seemed like it might be a problem, since I hate those "flat" ...

You can feel the size of a room when you walk through the door.  Sometimes the feeling is less than it could be because the room seems full, no matter the size.  Bathrooms are always a real challenge, since making room for all the stuff fights head to head against the actual square feet available. So hanging things on the wall makes perfect sense to me.  Obviously the folks ...

Maybe in your neighborhood there are nice lights on the street, but in the remote mountains where I live there aren't even sidewalks.  You are lucky to find a street sign.  I noticed this small street light at Home Depot and saw that they were having a Christmas sale on them for only $150.00.  I thought that was way better than those nasty bright industrial lights (like the o...

If you have never owned a cast iron frying pan, you are in for a wonderful surprise.  I rarely start a meal without heating up one of mine first.  My favorite is the one given to my mother by her mother.  My second favorite is the huge one I bought new.  My third favorite I picked up at a second hand store and it is very small.  You can see a large selection at http://w...

I've been buying computer accessories since the early 1980's.  My first color printer was a dot-matrix, that's how long ago it was.  I think it cost me $400.00, too.  When I was sick and tired of putting out a third of the cost of a new printer in new ink cartridges with an Epson, I started looking around.  Then I found a sale ( story of my life - I bought it on ...

China is one of those luxury items that always comes with marriage or a lotto win, or some such stroke of fortune.  This purchase was in celebration of a business success ( I paid off the house ) and the dinner party to mark the milestone.  While I felt sort of out of place in the Macy's fine china department, it was a matter of walking down the display of settings and spying this...

To be honest, it wasn't my first choice for a coffeemaker.  I was a huge fan of the kind that mounts under the cabinet and frees up counter space.  But the ivory tower idiots made enough "improvements" that the darned thing wouldn't work. So I shopped around and returned ( after maybe fifteen years ) to the Mr. Coffee brand.  It was on sale, made twelve cup...