Surprisingly enough I have an auto mechanic that I trust.  When I needed a new battery this winter he said that the best one for my car was the Wal-Mart Ever Start Maxx.I had not ever had any work done at the Wal-Mart Auto Shop, but since the price for the battery was based on turning in your old battery core, and the installation was supposedly free, I decided to let them do it.  Oth...

Liquid Sandpaper is meant to be used as a de-glossing agent if you want to paint over a surface that has had a high-gloss coating.  I can’t tell that it works any better than a piece of sandpaper, or if it does anything at all.I had the chance to try this product by Klean-Strip on some shelves that had high-gloss enamel paint on them.  It is meant to be used on paint, varnish, e...

The Winterforce snow tire performed extremely well throughout a Michigan winter, and should be good for another season.My husband has a 365-day-a-year, 125-mile paper route, in Michigan.  It’s also an early morning route, so he is often out before the snowplows.  He also drives a small car, and this year he decided that he had to have snow tires, not just all-season radials, to ...

Hobby Lobby is so confident of customer approval that they named it “I Love This Yarn.”  It pretty much lives up to that claim, I will admit.This is a 100% acrylic, 4-ply knitting worsted yarn.  That much sounds just the same as the Red Heart Yarn I reviewed earlier.  But this yarn is much, much softer to the feel.It is machine washable and dryable.  The skeins a...

The Diamondback Sorrento is a reasonably priced mountain bike which holds up well to easy off-road or dirt-road riding.  This is not a bike for technical riders, but may be perfect for your needs if you want to do just a bit more than paved-road touring.Our family has a long history of road touring by bike.  Nevertheless, I wanted a bike that I could ride on the dirt roads near our ho...

I like everything about the Behr Ceiling Paint. I have used it on various surfaces with both a brush and a roller, and it performed well in every case.In the apartment that I recently painted there were both plaster ceilings, and three rooms that had been fitted with lowered panel ceilings. Of these three, each had a different kind of surface.  One was smooth, one of medium texture, and on...

Can Shoe Goo rescue my X-Country Ski Boots?  Read how I put it to the test.NovemberMy cross-country ski boots are old and by most people’s standards, worn out.  But they fit me, so I decided to try to repair them.  As you can see in the second photo, one toe had pulled away from the sole of the boot quite badly.  The other toe just needed sealing.I had never used Shoe ...

This is our fifth scanner.  We’ve always bought cheap ones, but this time we paid for a good one and have no regrets.After years of frustration at trying to make cheap scanners do for a small business that deals with lots of images, I decided that this time I’d get something better.  It turned out that there weren’t too many choices for what I wanted.  That made...

Behr latex enamel undercoat goes on nicely but can be brushed too thin too easily, and sometimes even two coats aren’t enough to prime some surfaces well enough.This was my first experience using this brand of paint.  Although I’ve been happy with all the various top coat types I’ve used in the past couple of weeks, I have to say that I expected better things of the prime...

Both the eggshell and semi-gloss finish of Behr Premium Plus Enamel paints are excellent in coverage and durability.I recently had a temporary job painting an apartment.  All of the walls and woodwork were painted with Behr Premium Plus Enamel paints.  The walls were covered with a light color, Swiss Coffee, in an eggshell finish, and the woodwork was done in semi-gloss in Decorator W...

These snowshoes are a low-end, modern-design snowshoe that work well for a casual user or occasional snowshoe hike.The pair of these shoes that I tried are the 8" x 25" size (model 825), suitable for up to about 200 pounds. The company makes larger sizes as well, and also one size smaller.  I believe that they have discontinued the Chinook line, but they make other similar shoes,...

This collar is working fairly well to keep the fleas off the front half of the dog.  I think if we had realized the flea problem before it got so bad that it would be showing much better results.We are having a really bad flea year at our house.  And I admit that I didn’t notice until it was pretty much out of control.  Even so, I am not attacking it with the strongest, mos...

This inverter plugs into a 12V vehicle power source and provides enough 120V power for a laptop computer, battery charger, radio, game consoles, etc. It also has a 5V USB power source.After looking at inverters a number of times and always deciding that I didn’t need one, I finally decided to buy this one.  It proved very useful on my most recent trip, and I’m glad that I have ...

This charger seems to bring Nickel Metal Hydride batteries up to a full charge in the time it claims.  When I bought a new camera this spring, I knew that the batteries were going to be a serious issue because I take a lot of pictures between web site work, blogs, and personal documentation.  This charger seemed pretty expensive, but the feature that won me over in an instant was the ...

Silicone Water Guard by Sno-Seal is one of the best spray-on waterproofing products. I have used it on tents, clothing, and boots.I’m not a fan of spray-on silicone waterproofing, but sometimes it’s the only thing that will do the trick.  For example, if you need to waterproof a nylon tent, it’s really the only sensible option.  If you still have an old canvas tent t...

Frogg Toggs are outerwear that keep you dry in the rain.  They really do this well, but there are other features you might want to consider.I was actually introduced to Frogg Toggs by a friend who saw them at a motorcycle show.  Then another friend was wearing a set in the woods and he liked them a lot.  So I thought that I would have to get a set. I asked for them for my birthda...

For a great place to stay and have outdoor fun in southern Ohio, Happy Trails would be a wonderful choice.  You can save a few bucks and have a great time.On my most recent hike to Ohio I discovered this stable/ campground/ resort. I’ve listed it under campgrounds, because I think people associate the word “resort” with places that are less rustic, but this is much more t...

This external hard drive provides 500 GB of extra or backup storage.  It works best if you don’t need to move it around very much.  I think I wish I had bought the “My Passport.”This is a very reasonably priced way to get additional computer storage. This is the “My Book Essential,” the most basic model.  It is 6.5 inches tall x 5.5 inches deep and 2...

These rechargeable AA batteries have enough power for frequent use of a camera, and seem to last, on average, 5 days without a recharge.Reviewed July 15, 2009I bought a new camera this spring after the sad demise of my Pentax SLR film camera. Three weeks later I headed to the woods on a long hike with it.  I was really apprehensive about having enough battery power, since I had no idea how...

Dobie cleaning pads are superior to many other kitchen scouring pads and have uses beyond washing dishes.I realized today, as I was using my kitchen Dobie pad that I really should review it.  It’s one of the few products to which I am brand name loyal.  You are probably thinking, “Well, heck, a nylon scrubbie is a nylon scrubbie.  Who cares?”That’s what I&...