Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Terrific Tuesday


Here are a few pictures from the past few days.

Hmm, what is this a rattlesnake perhaps?  Curious kitties.
Awesome rainbow this weekend.
Baby sea turtles hatched close to where we are.  Just caught the last guy going in!
Max having fun in a box.
Kinsley and Max FaceTime...they are so attentive when it is just GiGi home.
Max checking out Monkey.  Maddie in the background.

Friday, July 26, 2013

Feline Friday

Here are the top cat related posts on the blog and some pics of our boys for Feline Friday!

Best Cat Toys

Best Pet Water Fountain - Drinkwell 360

Dr Elsey's Precious Cat Litter Ultra Rocks!

Buddy
Doodie/Sage
Monkey
Wookie!

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Covering a Glass Table With Fabric

The wifey got tired of our round glass table and wanted to replace it with a wooden square one.  Problem is, she wanted to cover it up with fabric anyway, so rather than buy a whole new table and cover that up, I figured let's try and cover up the one we have.  Worst that can happen is we screw it up and get rid of it anyway. 

Wifey bought the fabric online at http://premierprintfabric.com  She got 5 yards worth and plans to cover up the chair cushions on our small kitchen table chairs as well. 

The dilema was how to get the fabric to stick to the glass, since a staple gun wouldn't work real well.  The quick easy way I came up with was to buy some small pieces of wood at the hobby store and crazy glue the wood pieces to the glass and then use a staple gun to secure the fabric to the bottom of the table.  Worked pretty good.

We got the foam and batting from Walmart. 

Original table
This was not enough wood, we attached 6 more in between.
To keep the foam attached to the table, wifey used duct tape, why not, won't see it anyway.
Batting wrapped around the foam.
Finished product.  It actually looks like a surf board, completely unplanned, but perfect for the beach!


Friday, July 19, 2013

Great Podcasts

I've been on a Podcast kick lately.  Anytime I'm in the car driving to or from work or doing stuff around the house, I try to find a good Podcast episode to listen.

They are especially good when you're doing mundane stuff around the house, like putting away laundry, doing dishes, etc. as it provides some entertainment and a much needed distraction. 

If you haven't checked out Podcasts before, pull up your favorite device and grab a free Podcast listening app.  If you don't have one in mind, grab Stitcher

Then just go into the app and search for a topic of interest.  You can find Podcasts on just about any subject imaginable and they are free.

If you're at all interested in online business and internet marketing, check out the post on my other site today listing my current favorites.  They're not only really informative, with actionable takeaways, but they are entertaining also. 

Do you have any favorite podcasts?  Drop a quick comment and share.  I'm always looking to add great new ones to my list while I wait for the ones I have to provide new episodes. 

Have a great weekend!

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Wordless Wednesday...On Thursday!


Monday, July 15, 2013

Importance of Mental Well Being - Audio Post










I did my first audio post over at my other site and I'd really appreciate it if you would head over there and check it out.  It is about the importance of mental well being and being aware of the highs and lows that come with starting your own online business. 

I'm interested in getting your feedback on the audio quality and any suggestions you might have on how I could improve.

I'm not a big fan of hearing my own voice, but decided to just get over it and get it posted.  Thanks ahead of time!

Friday, July 12, 2013

Best Pet Water Fountain - Drinkwell 360 Stainless



First off, we are a very demanding household when it comes to pet products. We have 4 cats that will put any product through a full stress test. If you're a pet owner, you probably know that most cats and dogs LOVE drinking water out of a continuous stream. Whether it be a kitchen faucet, bathroom sink, tub, etc. Doesn't matter, as long as the water is flowing the pets want in on the action!

Continuous flow fountains are a great solution for keeping those furry family members entertained and hydrated! As the description says: drinking plenty of water is as essential for your pet’s health as it is for your own. By providing a constant stream of falling water, the fountain makes drinking more attractive and fun for your pet, as well as more convenient for you. No longer will your pet have to slurp stagnant water from a traditional bowl.

We've used pet water fountains for at least the last 6 years and could never go back to a traditional water bowl. They absolutely love the constantly running water and it works out very well in that we typically only have to clean or refill the water once a week.

We have read hundreds of individual reviews, watched numerous YouTube videos of other pet owners demonstrating particular fountains and we recently made a change in our preferred go-to choice when it comes to pet fountains. I thought I'd share the results of our labor in case you are in the market for a pet fountain as well.

For the past 6 years or so we have utilized the Drinkwell Platinum and it has been an excellent product. It is a workhorse and although I did replace the last one after about 3 years because it was starting to show it's age, it was still working fine. Their customer support is excellent as well. I had a water reservoir that was cracked in shipping when I bought the 2nd one and I sent them an email and they immediately sent out a new one with no questions asked.


Drinkwell Platinum


Our existing Drinkwell Platinum is also about 3 years old and the submersible pump was on the fritz after we returned from a recent trip out of town and I think the pet sitter tried to fix it and made matters worse. No biggie, I still had the pump from the first one, put that in and we were off and running, however after 3 years the plastic parts that make up the fountain start to collect more dirt and grime in crevices and it takes considerably more time and effort to get things clean. I was also due for some of the Drinkwell Platinum Filters, so instead of ordering those right away, I decided to shop around and see if there were other newer options out there that I wouldn't have to spend as much effort cleaning.


Catit Original on the left, Large New Design on the right


I came across two popular models that I wasn't familiar with, both with the name Catit. There is the Hagen Catit Original and Catit Large New Design. Those appear to be popular and they are specifically for cats, which is fine for us. They get a lot of good reviews, but after watching this Catit Original video and this one for the Catit Large, quickly realized those would not be for us. Our cats would end up playing with both of those just as the cats in the video and we'd be mopping up water all day. They may be great products for some, but not for us.



The one we ended up deciding on was the Drinkwell 360 Stainless Steel pictured above. Since it's from the same maker as our original fountain, we had no concerns about quality. I was very excited (yes happy cats and less work excite me) to see that there is a stainless steel fountain out there with great reviews. I've had it running for a few weeks now and it has been wonderful! All of the cats warmed right up to it and they even experimented with all the ways they could drink from it. They drank from the stream directly, drank from the cone that the water falls down onto and also drank from the bowl part down below and it was a huge success and no splashing!

On the old fountain, one of the cats would stick his paw in the water and scoop it onto his paw, getting cat hair, litter or whatever else was on his paw into the water. I'd usually have to spot clean the water at least once a week, sometimes more and then do a full cleaning once a week or if I was lucky, I could go a week and a half. So far with the new one I've gone 2 weeks and have not seen him put his paw in the water and I have not had to do any anything other than pour some more water into the fountain. So it is successful on all fronts. And the bottom bowl is very large so you could easily use this fountain for any size dog as well.

The fountain comes with several different flow pieces to suit your needs. You can set it up for between 1 and 5 separate streams. I decided to go with 2 streams, one on each side and so far so good. They don't typically drink at the same time and for the location where we put it in the kitchen, two works out perfectly, but you can go nuts and have 5 streams and turn it into your own personal Zen fountain experience if you'd like!

I read a ton of reviews and many people recommended getting the separate 'forever filter' with 6 month supply of carbon instead of using the factory filters when it comes time to replace them and I ended up ordering that up front as well. It will cost a bit more initially, but it will quickly pay for itself. I used that one instead of the one that came with it the fountain and it works great.

It's been 2 weeks since I got it and although it did not need any cleaning at all so far, I just finished going through and timing myself from start to finish on one full cleaning and without rushing it literally took me 1 minute and 47 seconds! It took about 30 seconds more to fill a pitcher up with water to fill the bowl because I use the filtered water from the fridge door and that is slow. That was really impressive and it requires almost no effort. Unhook the 3 plastic clips holding the center cone down, take the cone off, dump the water, wipe with a paper towel, clip the center cone back on and filler up!

The most important factors for me were ease of cleaning, no splashing messes and of course the approval from our furry family members. Another bonus is that it also looks very cool and is much quieter than our last one as well. I highly recommend the Drinkwell 360 Stainless Steel and 'forever filter' with 6 month supply of carbon. The Drinkwell Platinum is still a close 2nd and a good choice if you you don't mind the extra time to clean it and want to save a few $$. But don't take my word for it, see for yourself how our boys love it! All of them except camera shy Monkey made an appearance.

Update:  I just cleaned it for the second time because I felt weird not cleaning it every week like the Drinkwell Platinum and again it was still SO much quicker and easier.  It's a pleasure to clean it.  One thing to note, if you have hard water like we do in Florida, with no water softener, the stainless steel cone in the middle will get water spots if you have have it setup for 2 spouts like we do.  However, it's not a big deal and I read about that ahead of time.  If you have it setup for 4 or 5 spouts that probably won't be much of an issue because you'll have water constantly flowing down the whole cone. 




Poker drinking from the stream
Sage in mid-slurp
Stinky drinking from the bowl, which is huge
My name is Poker and I approve this fountain!

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Atlanta Movie Tours - Big Zombie Tour Part 1

Here are pictures we took on our Atlanta Movie Tours - Big Zombie Tour Part 1.  Walking Dead is one of our favorite shows, so it was great to see several locations where the show was filmed.

Where possible I tried to find pictures from the show episodes to go along with the pictures we took for reference.  Where applicable, the pictures from the show are directly below the actual photos we took and are kinda obvious, but I also put SHOW PHOTO in the caption.

Mucho thanks to WalkingDeadLocations.com, as that is where I got the show pictures from.  Great site!  I included links to those sites and several other Walking Dead tour/shooting location sites at the bottom of this post as well.  ZOMBIES!!!

Alleyway where Glen saved Rick
SHOW PHOTO  Glen saving Rick
Rooftop where Merle was chained to the pipe
SHOW PHOTO of Merle and the crew on the rooftop
Route Glen took out of the city with the Charger
The escape truck backed up to this loading dock at "Bradbury's Dept Store"
SHOW PHOTO Escape truck backing up to same loading dock
The Bradbury's Dept Store sticker is still on the doors from the show
Hospital where Rick woke up
Me outside the hospital
SHOW PHOTO Hospital all CGI'd up with lots of dead Zombies
Building next to the hospital
SHOW PHOTO all CGI'd up as Rick leaves the hospital
"Vatos" Episode location
"Vatos" Episode location
"Vatos" Episode location
"Vatos" Episode location
"Vatos" Episode location
"Vatos" Episode SHOW PHOTO complete with blood stains!
"Vatos" Episode SHOW PHOTO
"King County Sheriff Dept" Building
SHOW PHOTO  "King County Sheriff Dept" Building
Location where Rick shot the police man Zombie
"CDC Building", which is actually the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center

Both of us at the "CDC"
Me at the "CDC"
SHOW PHOTO "CDC" building
SHOW PHOTO "CDC" building
View of Downtown from overpass
SHOW PHOTO from same location
Us at the same spot
Group photo at the end of the tour

Awesome Walking Dead Links

Our tour guide HIGHLY recommended getting the Walking Dead comic books.  He said they are different enough that they will not be a spoiler for the show.  He recommended grabbing the compendium paperback versions.  That just means that they they combine the comic books into two larger sets rather than buying each individual episode, which is cheaper as well. 

Here they are:

The Walking Dead: Compendium One (#1-48)
The Walking Dead: Compendium Two (#49-96) 

WalkingDeadLocations.com  -  Awesome site listing all the filming locations with pictures for most showing the spots along with photos from the episodes.  It even lists GPS coordinates for most of the main scenes.  GREAT site, also where I grabbed comparison pictures for this post.  Definitely check the site out!

Walking Dead Filming Locations on Google Maps

Atlanta Movie Company Zombie Tours  -  We took the Part 1 tour and hope to do more tours on return visits to the Atlanta.  They have a Part 2 tour that goes to Haralson, GA and there is also an affiliate tour that you can take that is free and located in Grantville, GA.

Senoia, GA is another one of the main shooting locations to research, which is home to the Governor's town of Woodbury.  

Facebook pages for the tour guides for our tour are below.  They were both featured walkers on the show:

Michael Jaegers Officially Undead Fan Site

Michael got a cool head smash death from Michonne












Professor "Woodchuck" Walker

Daryl took out "Professor Woodchuck"

 
Design by Free WordPress Themes | Bloggerized by Lasantha - Premium Blogger Themes