I have seen incredible changes in both well aged Cavaliers, and my middle-aged Great Pyrenees, just by feeding them fish oil and glucosamine supplements. My dogs love these Salmon Bites. Read the rest

I am proud of me. My heart rate tracker, and my cadence sensor, both need their CR2032 batteries replaced from actual USE! Read the rest

I remember 1985's Return to Oz as pretty creepy, having re-watched it I love the Wheelers.

I was looking for puppet-y movies of my youth, from before the time of massive CGI. Return to Oz fits the bill!

Tik Tok the robot is pretty wonderful. The Wheelers are terribly cool, and Jack Pumpkinhead is certainly worth getting reacquainted with. Read the rest

I can not express the joy that a Trapper Keeper for tablets brings me. Read the rest

One of the biggest problems surrounding my use of expensive electronics is that my lifestyle isn't kind to fragile things. While we're in transit between campsites, our RV rocks, bumps and heaves. Sometimes, no matter how securely I've stowed my gear, shit happens. Shit happening cost me $600 for a new MacBook display last summer. When I'm not in the RV, the gear I use for work gets chucked in a backpack. One of my laptops was destroyed falling off the back of a motorcycle. Another got fried in Costa Rica by the heat. These experiences have driven me to become a little bit more paranoid about protecting my gear over the years. Sometimes, protecting my kit means making compromises. Slapping on a $70 UAG Metropolis case for the Microsoft Surface Go feels like one of those.

Don't get me wrong, there's absolutely nothing wrong with the Metropolis. UAG makes rock solid cases and their beefy-looking design aesthetic agrees with my sense of style. The case, available in three different colors, is primarily made from rubberized plastic. Without the Surface Go in it, the case is semi-rigid, which makes it easy to slip on to the tablet. Once it's sheathing your Surface, however, the Metropolis is pretty difficult to remove. That's gotta be worth some bonus points: I've used cases, in the past that came off all too easily when the object they were meant to be protecting got dropped.

The corners of the case boast extra padding that'll hopefully help to protect against a cracked display if I ever suffer a case of the butterfingers. Read the rest

Not only did Barry rule my parents radio/tape deck on long road trips, back in the 80s, but Mr. Manilow is also a master of writing commercial jingles. Read the rest

This is my 58mm espresso tamper of choice! Read the rest

I played Wasteland 2 when it made its debut, four years ago. Despite my Love for Brian Fargo's work on Fallout 1 and 2, I never did manage to finish it. There's something about working in front of a computer, seven days a week, that keeps me from wanting to sit in front of my laptop during my downtime.

However, in the weeks since I was given a review copy of it for the Nintendo Switch, I've been enjoying the holy hell out of it.

If you're not familiar with the franchise, its premise is pretty simple. You and your squad mates are new recruits to the Desert Rangers: the only real peacekeeping force in post-apocalyptic Arizona. It's your job to range out and aid the folks under your protection. You'll kill bandits, attempt to negotiate peace between warring factions and uncover insidious threats. The game lets you choose whether you want to start with a squad of four pre-made rangers, each with different skills and strengths, or role your own. This time around, I chose the latter. As I accidentally created a pretty strong team, it's worked out pretty well so far. That's all I'll say about the game, plot-wise. Wasteland 2 might not be new to many of us, but there are some first-timers that might be reading this. I don't want to blow the story for them.

I will however, talk about game play.

All of the interactions you'll have with NPCs are text-based. Given the small size of the Switch's display, the game's development team could have blown it by making the text too small for older eyes, like mine, to read. Read the rest

One of the nice things about owning a MacBook is that, more often than not, you don't have to give too much thought about what's going on behind the scenes. Mac OS is stable as all get out. Most users will never need to fart around with terminal commands or futz with file structures. As much of a cliché as it may be to say it, it just works.

Most of the time.

I discovered, over the years, that as stable as Apple's software experience typically is, there are a few ways to improve on things by tweaking and cleaning my SSD up. These are not tasks that I am good at. Admittedly, this is likely due to the fact that I've been too lazy to learn the ins and outs of making my computer do tricks outside of what my work requires. As such, I let apps do the behind-the-scenes heavy lifting for me. I've relied on MacPaws' CleanMyMac for years to clean junk files from my computer and maintain my drive's health. I can't remember how much I paid for it, back in the day, but I've very likely gotten my money's worth out of it.

The only thing that I likely know less about than what goes on behind the scenes of Mac OS is what in the name of Hell makes Windows 10 run. While I find the OS and the software I run on my Surface Go to be adequate for churning out words and a bit of photo editing, I haven't got the slightest idea of what to do in order to keep my new Windows 10 PC healthy. Read the rest

LEGO Han in Carbonite is reason enough for me to buy the LEGO Star Wars Carbon-Freezing Chamber.

While LEGO Lando isn't to be seen, he's clearly still a traitorous jerk! LEGO Han is getting frozen in carbonite! LEGO Boba and an Ugnaught are included to run the operation.

LEGO Star Wars Carbon-Freezing Chamber 75137 via Amazon Read the rest

I've been using these silicone dish scrubbers for about a year. They are far less gross than sponges.

All the tales of sponge-nastiness got to me last year. I decided that some silicone scrubbers were worth trying out, and a small expense if they did not work out.

These silicone scrubbers work fantastically!

Pictured are the two that currently live in my sink. The blue one gets more use, but both have been aggressively used for scrubbing over the last 12 months. They have not worn out, they have not become so fouled or toxic that I've had to toss one. There are still 3 others in my kitchen drawer waiting to be employed.

The only trick I find to cleaning with these, is that silicone scrubbers don't hold soap like a sponge does, so I'm either applying soap several times during a big wash-up, or I capture a bowl of soapy water at the beginning of cleaning.

You can just rise these off in the sink with water, but every few dishwasher loads I throw one or the other of the scrubbers into the machine. They come out almost as-new. I have heard tales of folks boiling these, but the dishwasher seems to handle it.

I still use a sponge sometimes, but these are where the cleaning starts.

INNERNEED Food-Grade Silicone Non Stick Dishwashing Brush Kitchen Dish Cleaning (5 mix color) via Amazon Read the rest

Nothing lets guests know what you expect from a party like a giant inflatable Fortnite Battle Bus.

My brother has bought his own bounce house, and his kids love him for it. I am not sure that buying this huge replica of the Battle Bus will work in the same way.

You can't bounce on it, you probably shouldn't jump on it, and you'll likely have more fun with a Llama Piñata, but...

Thats one huge inflatable Battle Bus.

Interestingly, the bus is cheaper via Amazon than Spirit direct.

Spirit Halloween Fortnite 17.5 Ft Battle Bus Inflatable via Amazon Read the rest

This is the iPad cable I was looking for.

In the world of ever changing Apple device cables, I had finally run out of functional old-style cables for my iPad 2. I use the iPad 2 for streaming on my exercise bike, and was in a panic this am, when I found the last surviving cable had passed on.

My giant box of varied cables has no more of these. Once they out populated even regular USB.

This two-pack of the old 30 pin style cable should keep me going for a few more years.

iPhone 4s Cable,iPad 2 Cable,TechRise 2-Pack APPLE MFI CERTIFIED Sync and Charging Cable (Length 1 Meter) via Amazon Read the rest

If you were wondering what you've missed in Destiny, hardcore game fan and apparent self-appointed historian of all things Destiny, Byf, offers this gargantuan update.

Destiny was a fantastic game from Bungie, the folks who originally brought us Halo. After a few years of some really engrossing game play in a hybrid FPS/RPG type universe, they released Destiny 2. Everyone stopped playing. Now, Bungie is trying to resurrect their once amazingly popular franchise with Destiny 2: Forsaken, aptly named.

I have tried. I can not yet re-engage. They maybe fixed a lot of the early on complaints with game mechanics, physics and what not -- but Destiny is still chock-full confusing, poorly told story telling.

Read the rest

Every year, I wait for Apple to announce mouse support for the iPad. Every year, I am left unfulfilled. Apple's nailed the apps that I need to do my job on the go, but the lack of a mouse for interacting with text slows my workflow way the hell down. Tapping on my tablet's display and dragging words around is a poor substitute. As such, I'm constantly searching for a tablet that can give me what I need. Read the rest

At $62.80 this is the best price I've seen for a SanDisk 256GB microSD card. Read the rest

A few months back we bought a Nintendo Switch. The portable console gets shared between a 46 year-old dad and an 11 year-old daughter. The Switch sees a lot of playtime. Read the rest