I finally bought my boys a box of Suretrack, after thinking about it for a mere two years. Wait. Make that a long two years. A long two years of the most destructive forces known to humanity (two young boys) ravaging their wooden track. Here’s the drill: I spend 45 minutes building an intricate layout [...]
All posts tagged costco
If you have wooden trains, you need Suretrack
Posted by Dave Farquhar on November 26, 2012
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2012/11/if-you-have-wooden-trains-you-need-suretrack/
The lightbulb reinvented
Timothy Hunt asked me (via Twitter) if I’ve seen the lightbulb reinvented, an LED bulb that screws into a standard socket but has wi-fi capability so you can tune its light temperature and otherwise control it with a smartphone. I hadn’t. But I found it interesting, and appreciate the mention.
Posted by Dave Farquhar on September 19, 2012
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2012/09/the-lightbulb-reinvented/
My household’s energy usage dropped 19% in 2011
I got a letter from my utility company Saturday morning. Inside was a chart, comparing our household’s energy usage from 2010 and 2011. It dropped 19 percent. Considering our total bill for 2011 was over $900, that’s hardly chump change.
Posted by Dave Farquhar on March 18, 2012
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2012/03/my-households-energy-usage-dropped-19-in-2011/
The LG 593260 LED bulb from Costco
I bought a 2-pack of LG LED bulbs from Costco for $16. They aren’t as good as the bulbs I bought at Home Depot in 2010 or the ones I bought at Lowe’s last year, but for the price difference, they’re probably worth it at least in some cases. The Home Depot bulb sells for [...]
Posted by Dave Farquhar on January 4, 2012
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2012/01/the-lg-593260-led-bulb-from-costco/
There goes the neighborhood
“Dave, you need to look at this.” Those aren’t my favorite words to hear first thing Monday morning. I went outside to see, and there, I found a lot of debris scattered on the ground. At first, it looked like some animal had torn open a garbage bag. But then I got closer and saw [...]
Posted by Dave Farquhar on December 20, 2011
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2011/12/there-goes-the-neighborhood/
Cheap laptops and tablets: September 2011
My brother in law told me he saw an 8-inch Vizio wifi-only tablet running Android at Costco for $285. Its reviews aren’t exactly stellar, but if you just want a basic tablet, it seems to be OK. I’d wait a few months and see what Amazon’s tablet plans are, though. He also asked about laptops. [...]
Posted by Dave Farquhar on September 4, 2011
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2011/09/cheap-laptops-and-tablets-september-2011/
Four ways to save a little money on $4 gas
So gas prices jumped to about $4 per gallon this week. I have a pretty long commute, so that hurts. It also means I stay on top of ways to keep my fuel prices as low as I can.
Posted by Dave Farquhar on April 13, 2011
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2011/04/four-ways-to-save-a-little-money-on-4-gas/
I wanna blow bubbles!
My oldest son’s obsession is blowing bubbles. If he’s awake, it’s what he wants to do. If he doesn’t want to do something, offering to let him blow bubbles if he does that something often works.
The trouble is that an 8 ounce bottle lasts him about an hour and costs between 75 cents and a dollar. That can make for an expensive 3-day weekend, unless you make it yourself.
Posted by Dave Farquhar on September 6, 2010
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2010/09/i-wanna-blow-bubbles/
Coming soon: Affordable LED lighting
Affordable is relative, of course. LED lights are a long way from costing less than CFLs, and of course, the old-fashioned incandescents are still cheaper. But the Ecosmart LED bulb that Home Depot is about to start selling for $20 costs half as much as competing offerings from GE and Philips.
They use 8-9 watts to provide equivalent light to a 40w incandescent, work in dimmers, are made in the USA, and have an estimated life expectancy of 17 years. So I think I could be persuaded to buy a couple.
Posted by Dave Farquhar on May 16, 2010
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2010/05/comign-soon-affordable-led-lighting/
I think I found my next major purchase
At Costco today, I found a solar-powered attic fan for $319. I’ve been thinking about an attic fan for a while. Solar power solves at least one problem very neatly: no need to run wiring to the thing.
The idea is that your attic can reach 150 degrees, and blowing that hot air out removes that heat blanket, so your living space stays cooler and your air conditioner doesn’t have to work as hard.
Posted by Dave Farquhar on May 3, 2009
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2009/05/i-think-i-found-my-next-major-purchase/