Acouple years ago, we were having lots of trouble with ants climbing our front yard birch trees, so i went to the local garden center, and OSH recommended "Tanglefoot" super-sticky tube goop as a barrier to keep the ants out of the birch trees with annual apids. We applied per directions and watched as the ants just walked over stuck bodies of ants until they had re-established a path up all the trees ! Then we had to get this sticky "Tanglefoot" off the birch trees,,,!!! What a mess and pain in the neck !!! Beware, and do not buy this product for this problem and nuisance of ineffective result !!!
Now we have gone 2 years spraying twice with a mild pesticide like malathion and have had little problem with aphids and ants turning our birch tree's leaves black. Cheers,,,also, try alfalfa pellets from your local feed store at $8 for about 50 pound sack on all your roses and flower beds and fruit trees, to add organic matter cheaply to the soil and make lots of worms and their beneficial castings ! Works great !
Saturday, November 26, 2005
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
The best Southwest Alaska charter boat company:"Yakutat Charter Boat Co.",,,a consumer's opinion
After years and years of trying different guides and different charter boat companies, i would like to recommend the hardest working and most honest (and sober) Mark Sappington and his "Yakutat Charter Boat Company". Alaska is the hideout of so many drunks and incompetents , that it is a shock to find someone who does not just want to Alaska-overcharge you for wetting your line with the common saying," let just stay and make it (you, Sucker!!) pay". If anyone can find and get rank amateurs,year after year, to hook and land legal and large halibut,in the 75#-200# range...not 30# "chickens" that so many try to pawn off as a worthwhile ,long distance ,expensive once in a lifetime or per year vacation experience. And usually in less than 120 feet of water ,maybe 80ft, not the 200-300 ft of distant-cranking-up of Kenai. Plus, you can fly the awful--expect your luggage in Alaska airspace to be misdelivered,or stolen,no shit-- Alaska Airlines into Yakutat directly without a floatplane, from the south or north and Copper River and Anchorage. And if you are lucky enough to hit the silver salmon, you will have a blast, just outside the harbor, light longrod topwater fishing these fighters--forget the kings at only 2 per year for non-residents--or go for the reds/sockeye that taste so good and can be caught in the near Situk River with chartreuse yarn on a red or plain legal hookup on the lip,not side. If you have never been, or have been a dozen times, try Mark Sappington in small quiet but still outrageously expensive Alaska and Yakutat. We liked Leonard's Landing at the harbor for accomodations, but there are some better and some worse if you care to look.
"Video Only" electronics,tvs,store review,,,a consumer's opinion
I went into "Video Only" in San Mateo County to buy my last tv, after checking GoodGuys and Circuit City,,,beware,,,they sold me a big screen tv ,telling me it was "HDTV ready", when i got it home and read all the paper to discover it was NOT ,,,"HDTV ready",,,also ,the set i got was defective with constant bars across the screen,,,and they gave me a hard time returning it right away,,,so beware,,,caveat emptor,,,and shop somewhere else maybe,,,
Saturday, November 19, 2005
"BEST BUYS",,, a consumer's opinion,Nov.2005
Now that we have lost GoodGuys ,bought by CompUSA,,,and there is still mediocre Curcuit City,,,where does one go for electronics? Certainly not Fry's,with disinterested salesmen who will not give you any info without an easy commission,,,so what about "Best Buys"?
I went into one of their stores yesterday,looking for a new medium size refrigerator. It is a very busy store, usually with a near full parking lot. And i noticed they had over 20 different refrigerators, which i was surprised but glad to see. Had done my homework,and read the Consumer Reports article for 2005 on refrigerators,and since i am an adult and not a midget, i fully agreed that my old top freezer model had been a real pain in the back, bending over every time i wanted to get into the more often used lower ,refrigerator part. OK, so look for a bottom freezer model,like my friends just got in san jose at Western. And it was also recommended i look for lower cost of operation in an "energy star" certificate. And i wanted a 16-20 cu.ft. size model, preferrably by the "best brand for reliability, Whirlpool".
The salesman had massive acne. Don't they have medical for Clearacil or Oxy10 or Proactiv ??? I asked to see some bottom freezer models with "energy star", Whirlpool, and 16-20 cu.ft. size,,,and he could only find one midprice bottom-freezer model, and not a Whirlpool! Only one ?? He kept showing me larger sizes and more expensive models without "energy star". Then he asked why i would want a bottom freezer versus a top freezer, and i told him i was not interested in stooping over every time i opened the refrigerator door as an average-to-tall height adult. He kept on showing me all their side-by-sides, that i was not interested in in the least. Finally after looking on the web , as he suggested ,for more models in their inventory that would fit my desired criteria,,, and finding none,,,i left.
OK. What did we learn? He told me they do not carry Whirlpool. OK, so they do not have the "Best" brand. And most of the floor display was side-by-sides, then lots of painintheback top-freezer model refrigerators, then just a couple or one bottom-freezer type refrigerator, the configuration that Consumer Reports says is best for most of us. And the prices were much higher than Costco or IKEA, where i had seen Whirlpool models under $500 for a 17.5 cu.ft. with installation and under $400 at IDEA in East Palo Alto,,,but they are both top-freezer models, unfortunately.
And "Best Buys" did not have the best model, the bottom-freezer style,but lots of top-freezer refrigerators, to choose from. And they did not care much about annual energy cost ,since they did not have most or all their refrigerators with the "energy star" rating. I was in Best Buys when they first opened and was very disappointed with their toaster selection and prices, certainly not the "best". And i had been i once looking at CD prices, but was not impressed.
Avoid "Best Buys" if you are looking for the best brands and best versions at the best prices. I'm going to checkout Sears today. Good shopping!
I went into one of their stores yesterday,looking for a new medium size refrigerator. It is a very busy store, usually with a near full parking lot. And i noticed they had over 20 different refrigerators, which i was surprised but glad to see. Had done my homework,and read the Consumer Reports article for 2005 on refrigerators,and since i am an adult and not a midget, i fully agreed that my old top freezer model had been a real pain in the back, bending over every time i wanted to get into the more often used lower ,refrigerator part. OK, so look for a bottom freezer model,like my friends just got in san jose at Western. And it was also recommended i look for lower cost of operation in an "energy star" certificate. And i wanted a 16-20 cu.ft. size model, preferrably by the "best brand for reliability, Whirlpool".
The salesman had massive acne. Don't they have medical for Clearacil or Oxy10 or Proactiv ??? I asked to see some bottom freezer models with "energy star", Whirlpool, and 16-20 cu.ft. size,,,and he could only find one midprice bottom-freezer model, and not a Whirlpool! Only one ?? He kept showing me larger sizes and more expensive models without "energy star". Then he asked why i would want a bottom freezer versus a top freezer, and i told him i was not interested in stooping over every time i opened the refrigerator door as an average-to-tall height adult. He kept on showing me all their side-by-sides, that i was not interested in in the least. Finally after looking on the web , as he suggested ,for more models in their inventory that would fit my desired criteria,,, and finding none,,,i left.
OK. What did we learn? He told me they do not carry Whirlpool. OK, so they do not have the "Best" brand. And most of the floor display was side-by-sides, then lots of painintheback top-freezer model refrigerators, then just a couple or one bottom-freezer type refrigerator, the configuration that Consumer Reports says is best for most of us. And the prices were much higher than Costco or IKEA, where i had seen Whirlpool models under $500 for a 17.5 cu.ft. with installation and under $400 at IDEA in East Palo Alto,,,but they are both top-freezer models, unfortunately.
And "Best Buys" did not have the best model, the bottom-freezer style,but lots of top-freezer refrigerators, to choose from. And they did not care much about annual energy cost ,since they did not have most or all their refrigerators with the "energy star" rating. I was in Best Buys when they first opened and was very disappointed with their toaster selection and prices, certainly not the "best". And i had been i once looking at CD prices, but was not impressed.
Avoid "Best Buys" if you are looking for the best brands and best versions at the best prices. I'm going to checkout Sears today. Good shopping!
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