Fast Inexpensive WiFi Router - Archer C9 Review

It isn't very often that you make a purchase and say "Wow, that was one of the best purchases I've made in a LONG time", but that is exactly what I've said multiple times since purchasing the Archer C9 WiFi router from Amazon.

The main reason I say that is because all other things being equal, I doubled my WiFi connection speed and fixed a long standing problem where I could not reliably stream anything, by doing nothing other than replacing my previous router with the Archer C9.  It has made a huge difference for me.

The main reason I decided to upgrade to the Archer C9 was because I was having to reboot my previous router regularly, several times a week, just to be able to use the internet at all.  Forget about streaming anything.  Even though my Comcast connection is a fast 75Mbps download speed, I could never stream anything even being only 10 feet from my old router.  For comparison, my old router was the high powered Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH.

With the new router, I installed and configured it in less than 5 minutes and when testing my connection speed over WiFi on my laptop, iPhone 6 Plus devices and on the iPad, the speed went from 43Mbps to 90Mbps instantly.  That speed was more than double and quite a bit higher than the promised 75Mbps speed that Comcast advertises, impressive to say the least.

I was also immediately able to stream movies and video from my phone or laptop to my ChromeCast player flawlessly. And on the plus side, I've owned the router for 3 months now and have only rebooted it twice and I don't even think that was necessary.  I was having problems playing online games with Xbox Live and in both cases, it was actually a problem on their side. 

As far as the technical details go, the Archer C9 is made by TPLink and it is a 802.11AC Dual Band WiFi high powered router, that supports the latest in WiFi technology and provides both 2.4GHz (600Mbps) and 5GHz (1300Mbps) bands simultaneously.  

That means that your newer devices like the iPhone 6+ and newer iPads can take full advantage of the increased speed and bandwidth that a 5GHz AC connection provides, while still fully supporting your older devices as well.  That also means that you'll be able to stream the highest quality HD video without any lag.  

Additionally, the router comes with USB 2.0/USB 3.0 ports and 4 - 1GB network ports, so that you can easily share a printer locally and files & media with networked devices.  It also looks really cool too!

These days we just expect WiFi to be available and to work as it should and the Archer C9 does that right out of the box, without any tweaking. 

I heard about the Archer C9 from several folks I work with, 3 of them had recently purchased the router themselves and they all have had good experiences with the new device. 

There are currently 2,800+ reviews on Amazon with an average rating of 4.5+ stars.  My review would definitely be 5 stars.  It is one of those purchases that exceeded my expectations greatly and that I wish I had made much sooner.  Given how well this one just works, I can't believe that I dealt with the connection issues, constant reboots and just overall poor connection issues for so long with the old router.

If you are experiencing any issues with your existing WiFi router, or just looking to upgrade and take advantage of the latest technology, I can wholeheartedly endorse the Archer C9.  I haven't experienced a single problem with the device in the 3 months I've had it and I couldn't be happier with the results.  

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Foscam FI8918W and F18910W Review

In the last several weeks, I've had 2 friends inquire about the webcams that we utilize to keep an eye on our pets while we are away.  That got me thinking that I should do a post in case others might be interested in webcams as well.

We got our first webcam over 5 years ago, it was the Panasonic BL-C131A, which is outdated/discountinued. It has served us well and continues to work just fine.  You can control the camera remotely via web interface and it has tilt/pan/zoom.

Foscam FI8918W

However, we recently added 2 new webcams to the mix.  They are both the
Foscam FI8918W, shown here below. 

We went with these for a number of reasons:

• Offers a much larger range of motion:  Pan/Tilt Angle Horizontal:300°/Vertical: 120°.

• Provides night vision: Infrared Light 11 IR LEDs,Night visibility up to 8 meters.

• 2 way audio capability  

• Inexpensive, currently in the mid $60 range.  Original cam was double that.

• Excellent reviews on Amazon

The cameras have been great.  We purchased the first Foscam about a year ago and recently added the second one.

The reason for 3 cams is that the cats hang out in 3 main spots, our living room, our master bedroom and the spare bedroom.  So we actually use the Panasonic and 2 Foscams at the same time when we're not here.  That pretty much allows us to see most of our 2 story condo.  

After we got our Foscams, my sister Michelle got 1, a friend of mine at work got 1 and then added a 2nd one and another friend just asked me to forward him the details and he is ordering one as well.

They've been a big hit and work really well!

The only issue we run into occasionally is that the camera that is furthest away from the wireless router occasionally goes inaccessible for short periods of time.  It is only intermittent and due to the weak signal in that room.  By the way, you can also use a wired network connection if available.

In regards to the 2 way audio, the camera has a built in microphone so that you can hear what is going on in proximity to the camera.  If you need two way audio, you would have to hook a speaker up to the camera.

Honestly, we have only listened to the audio 1 time and have never had a need to be able to speak back, but if that is important to you, just wanted to make you aware of how that works.

These cameras are a great way to be able to watch pets while you're away, to use as a baby monitor, or even just to keep an eye on your home.

I'm thinking that my sister Jen needs to get one and set it on the bookshelf so that we can watch our nephew Max play all day.  That would make things so much easier, no need for anyone to carry around an iPhone or iPad for FaceTime video chats!

And oh, by the way, the web interface where you can control the webcam is all accessed by login/password.  You can setup custom accounts that have limited or full access.

There are several different free apps for your mobile device that you can use to control your camera(s).  The one we use for the iPhone is called CamViewer.  Below are actual screen shots from my phone utilizing CamViewer that I just took when I got home.  The two kitties upstairs were looking out the window and the other two came to greet me downstairs. 

 

The above pictures were taken with my phone in vertical mode.  If you switch to horizontal mode the picture is bigger and the arrows to control the cam go invisible as shown below.  In horizontal mode, you just click on areas of the screen to move the cam.

If you are on a computer, you just point your browser to the appropriate URL and you're good to go.  The browser screen looks like the image below.
 

The one we all have is the Foscam FI8918W. 

Foscam F18910W

On the product page, they also mention there is a newer version available which is the Foscam F18910W, which has is supposed to have a slightly better picture for about $10 more.

Conclusion

Either webcam is highly recommended and with 4 separate households utilizing them, I can say for sure that if you're looking for a webcam, you can't go wrong with the slightly less expensive Foscam FI8918W or the newer, slightly better quality Foscam F18910W!

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Fiverr Christmas Gigs & Gift Ideas

I received an email from Fiverr that they are in full holiday mode, with lots of Christmas related gigs available now.  I browsed through them myself and found a few that I thought were worth highlighting.

Handmade Christmas Ornaments



10 Custom Made Votive Candles



You get to select the scents: cherry blossom, amber musk, black raspberry vanilla, orange ginger, cotton blossom, apple, strawberry champagne, vanilla, milk chocolate, spiced cider, cinnamon pumpkin, frosty cocoa, pomegranate, gingerbread, sugar cookie, cinnamon, smoked applewood, jack frost (peppermint/vanilla), blueberry, cranberry, frasir fir (Christmas tree), and Christmas Cheer (apple/cinnamon).  They come in color that match the scent.

Custom Story About Your Child



There is also a gig where a writer will create you a custom 800 word story about your child that you can tell as a bedtime story.  Pretty neat.

Personalized, Custom Video From Santa



You can have Santa create a customized video for your child.  Perhaps they have not been behaving and you'd like to get them to do their chores.  Santa to the rescue! 

Christmas Makeover For Your Website Logo



But the one that was the most popular on that page, which was also the gig I ended up purchasing myself, was the one to give a Christmas makeover for your website logo.

And I REALLY like how mine turned out up at the top of the blog.  It was exactly what I was looking for and they actually delivered it in less than 4 hours. What do you think?

There are lots of other cool things, so definitely check out their main page for other fun, unique ideas!

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Converting to MailChimp

As I mentioned to my email subscribers today, I switched over to MailChimp from FeedBurner for my email list.  I did the same over on my NicheSiteTool.com site last week.

The main reason for doing so on that site was to gain a few features I was looking for.

One was to receive email notifications immediately for new subscribers.  The other was to be able to automatically send new subscribers a welcome email with a link to download a free eGuide on keyword brainstorming that I put together for that site.

I was trying to offer the bonus as an incentive for folks to subscribe and I didn't realize that FeedBurner does not notify you when you get new subscribers.  I had a few people subscribe over a period of several weeks and had no idea.  So they never got the eGuide in a timely manner, which bothered me greatly since I like to under promise and over deliver, not the other way around.

I did some research on AWeber and MailChimp, since those were the heavy hitters I was familiar with.  AWeber is the one most online marketers promote and I figured out why.  They offer a 30% recurring affiliate commission on any sales, which is a great payout, but not necessarily the best option for those folks just starting out.  

AWeber charges $1 for the first month and then $19 a month after that.  If you're just getting started and don't yet have regular $ coming in from your online adventures, it doesn't make sense to start recurring monthly fees. 

MailChimp on the other hand has the same features and in many cases reviews I read mention how they're slightly ahead of the curve when it comes to their GUI and feature set and the best part is they're absolutely free for anyone starting out.

As long as you've got fewer than 2,000 subscribers across all lists in your account, you can send up to 12,000 emails per month without paying a dime. They won't even ask for a credit card.

SOLD...that was all I needed to hear.  I did check their pricing in comparison to AWeber for when you do outgrow their free service and it is within a $1 per month for comparable plans.

Another deciding factor was that you can seamlessly import your FeedBurner or any other list of email addresses via comma separated value (CSV) file or manually add them without your subscribers needing to reconfirm their email addresses.

After signing up, one other cool feature I'm about to try out is how MailChimp handles embedded videos.  If you click their checkbox to 'auto-convert video', they'll attempt to scan your content for embedded videos and show an image in place of your video and if you click the image the video will play. 

At least that is how I'm understanding things.  Not sure if will play right in the email or if it will launch a video player.  Typically videos embedded in emails either do not show at all or they don't work.

For a test, I'm going to embed a video of the Buffalo Bills beating the Patriots at the Bills backers bar here in town.  Can't go wrong with that!  Then anyone who has subscribed via email will see if/how it works when we receive the email for this post.  Hope it works!



If you have your own blog or website, you should definitely start building a subscriber list if you haven't already and I would definitely recommend MailChimp.  Check out my post 

Converting Your Email List to MailChimp for full details.

And if you haven't subscribed to my blog here yet, now is the perfect time!  Subscribe here.  

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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!

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Best Smoothie Blender

I've been wanting to do a review of our Magic Bullet Blender for a while, so here goes!

First off, I want to give a point of reference.  We previously had a Black and Decker BL5000 blender and that thing was the absolute worst for smoothies!  I fought with that thing for about a month, thinking that all blenders must work the same way, but all blenders are NOT created equal.

The issue I had with the old one was that the blade would spin forever and none of the frozen fruit would make it down to the blade to get chopped up.  No matter what setting it was on, no matter how much liquid I added, no matter how many times I took the glass container off and shook it, it would take forever to end up with an actual drinkable smoothie.

My sister Jen had turned me on to smoothies several months back and she never seemed to have a problem making hers.  She was using the Magic Bullet and that is what I decided to try out as well.  I read a ton of reviews, some great, some middle of the road, but based on Jen's good experiences I decided to go for it and am so glad I did.

I have probably 3 smoothies a week on average and I think the wifey has one or two as well.  I utilize frozen strawberries and a frozen bag mix of blackberries/blueberries and raspberries, along with a banana, sometimes spinach and flaxseed mix combined with some ice and water.  I occasionally add protein powder for post workout smoothies also.

The Magic Bullet does a great job grinding down all of that into a super tasty smoothie with no lumps.  What I like most is that it is fast and there is hardly any cleanup required.  Since the cup is actually what holds your mixture, you only have to clean the bottom blade part after your smoothie is done which takes 2 seconds.  Here is a quick video showing how quick/easy it is to make a smoothie:


After you're done drinking the smoothie you have to clean your cup, but that's it.  No huge container to cleanup and store each time.

The 26 piece Magic Bullet kit comes with a ton of different cup sizes and tops and mine came with the standard 2 blades and 1 new ice shaver blade as well. 

I have utilized mine exclusively for smoothies, well actually I also made one Strawberry Daiquiri with it also, but if you are looking to do lots of stuff with the Magic Bullet, it comes with a ton of simple recipes as well.  The wifey utilized it to make fresh salsa one time and it turned out great.

Conclusion

Bottom line, if you're looking for a blender for smoothies, look no further.  The Magic Bullet is it! I've utilized it for 4 months now with no issues whatsoever.  It just works.

One suggestion, be sure to get smoothie straws also, they work great.  Enjoy!

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Nook Color vs Nook Tablet vs Nook HD vs Kindle Fire vs Kindle HD vs Kindle

I recently received an email notification from Barnes and Noble that they dropped the price of several of their Nook devices, just in time for the holidays, so I thought it would be useful to do a quick breakdown for anyone wanting to take advantage of the price drop and trying to decide between the Nook and Kindle eReaders and tablets.

From the pictures below, the Nook color has a slightly darker gray bezel.  The Nook Color and Nook Tablet both have the same size screen and resolution, the main differences are that the Tablet has a faster processor, more memory and a microphone.  Other than that, they are pretty much the same.

NOOK Color - Award-Winning NOOK Color™ now just $139 and ships free!
NOOK Tablet- 8GB, Now Only $159. Amazing New Price, Same Powerful Tablet. Ships Free
NOOK Tablet- 16GB, Now Only $179. Amazing New Price, Same Powerful Tablet. Ships Free

 


The price difference used to be about $50 between the two, but now that the difference is only $20 between the Nook Color and Nook Tablet, I'd say go with the 8GB Nook Tablet.  In that way, you have the same amount of internal storage, faster processor, 1GB of memory vs 512MB and the built-in microphone.  Well worth the additional $20.  If you have a spare MicroSD card lying around, you can use that for additional storage on either device.  And one thing to note, all Nook devices are Ad-Free. I think that is definitely worth noting because for many of the Kindle devices, like the Kindle Fire, to get the cheaper price on Amazon they put screen savers on the device that show sponsored ads. 

One other thing to note is that the Nook devices come with a wall charger.  The Kindle Fire and HD charge from $9.99-$20.  Just one more thing to be aware of when comparison shopping. 

The Nook HD (below left) and HD+ (below right) are designed for optimal readability and they are more powerful, have longer battery life and are lighter than most any similarly sized tablet on the market.  The Nook HD comes in both white, as shown below and also the darker gray color as well. 

Introducing NOOK® HD Tablet! Highest Resolution 7" HD Tablet, starting at $199
Introducing NOOK® HD+ 16GB from $269! The Lightest Full HD 9" Tablet

For comparison purposes, I included prices for all of the different Nook and Amazon devices below.  Whatever device you choose, I'm sure you can't go wrong.  Happy Holidays!

	Holiday Pricing
Nook Color	$139 (8GB)
Nook Tablet	$159 (8GB)   $179 (16GB)
Nook HD	$199 (8GB)   $229 (16GB)
Nook HD+	$269 (16GB) $299 (32GB)
Nook Simple Touch w/GlowLight	$119
Nook Simple Touch	$99

	Ad Supported Pricing	No Ad Pricing
Kindle Fire	$159 (8GB)	$174 (8GB)
Kindle Fire HD	$199 (16GB) $249 (32GB)	$214 (16GB) $264 (32GB)
Kindle Fire HD 8.9"	$299 (16GB) $369 (32GB)	$314 (16GB) $384 (32GB)
Kindle Paperwhite	$119
Kindle	$69

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Best Blackened Fish Sandwich in Jacksonville FL

On Friday, a guy at work was heading to Tampa to drop off his dogs at his parents house before going to Vegas for a short vacation.  It was lunch time and that got me thinking about a place he turned me onto when we vacationed at the Tampa beaches area called Frenchy's.  They are famous for their blackened Grouper sandwiches and it was the best we've ever had.  

If you're not familiar with the term blackened, it just means that the fish is grilled and seasoned.  At Frenchy's they have a choice of different seasonings such as Jamaican Jerk seasoning and others, but at most other places you just order it blackened.  It's not usually super spicy or anything, just real flavorful. And Grouper is a mild white fish similar to Tilapia, but better and not quite as thick as Mahi Mahi.   

The point of mentioning Frenchy's, was that we got to asking each other where the best blackened Grouper/fish sandwich is in the Jacksonville area and nothing really came to mind.  I've had good blackened Grouper for dinner at several places, but haven't had an amazing sandwich for lunch.

At that point I was then on a mission to find a good place to try out over the weekend.  I posted on a local forum asking folks their advice and received a few good responses.  One was the Sand Dollar restaurant on the River.  That was good advice because I've eaten there a few times and it was definitely in the top 5.  Unfortunately, they're closed for major renovations due to a recent fire, but it says they will open again in August.  Definitely a great place to try for the food and the view.

Another place that was recommended is Chowder Ted's.   I'd never heard of the place, but we've apparently driven right by it several times.     

On Google maps it looks like Ted's is a very small place on the side of the road on Heckscher Drive on the water, so that probably explains why we didn't notice it.  Based on the 92% on Urban Spoon and the great reviews, it looks like it might be a little local hidden gem.  This one is on the list to try out sometime soon, but note that they are closed Sun/Mon and sometimes they have odd hours on Saturday, so you might want to call ahead.  Check their Facebook page for daily fresh specials. 

A place that the wifey came up with is the Black Molly Grill on rt 312 in St Augustine.  It's a newer place that has great reviews on Yelp and Urban Spoon.  I read reviews that said the blackened fish sandwich is very good, so that was a done deal.  We went on Saturday for lunch and we were glad we did!

I of course had the blackened fish sandwich and the wifey went with the blackened fish tacos and they were both excellent!  The tacos came with a cilantro lime sauce that was yummy!  I used some on my sandwich.  They had a bunch of different sides to choose from, but I went with regular fries and the wifey went with sweet potato fries.   

Black Molly Grill Blackened Fish Sandwich

Black Molly Grill Blackened Fish Tacos

The food was excellent, the atmosphere was nice with a beachy/fishy theme inside and the service was great also.  They even came out to our car with an umbrella when we pulled up to keep the wifey dry.  Impressive.  And be sure to grab a mint on the way out if you go, or several actually.  They are key lime flavored green mints and even though I'm not a big key lime pie fan, they were so good!  Nice little touch.  Definitely a great place to try if you're in the area and it is now on my top 5 list.

One other place worth mentioning is South Beach Grill just south of St Augustine in Crescent Beach close to Marineland.  The blackened Tilapia is excellent and the black beans and rice side is great as well!  This one is definitely in my top 3 locally.  Good stuff, great location on the beach with a slight view and worth the trip. 

When we try out Chowder Ted's I'll be sure to update this post or post a new update!

Do you know of any great places in the greater Jacksonville FL area, or perhaps where you live, that have great blackened fish sandwiches?  I'd love to hear about them!  Drop me a comment below and let me know.  Thanks!

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Highly Recommended Gas Grill

My motivation for this post came from the following picture/post from a friend on Facebook...

"Somebody please steal this charcoal grill off my back deck so I can replace it with a gas grill that cooks more than one burger at a time! Follow the smoke signals!"  

That cracked me up, because I had a very bad experience with a small camping type charcoal grill back in college that resulted in the need for lots of lighter fluid, which resulted in lighter fluid flavored burgers and lighter fluid burps that night and into the next day!  

That is something that to this day I can still taste and I have never cooked with charcoal since.  I just don't see the need for all of that extra time, effort and additional cleanup necessary to get that supposedly authentic experience/taste.  No thanks.  If you want to cook me up a proper charcoal burger that doesn't taste like lighter fluid, great, it's just not a cooking medium I choose to use myself.  So I could relate very well to her post.  

That got me thinking, after 5 years we absolutely love our gas grill!  It is a Weber Spirit E-210 and I highly recommended she check that one out.  I believe it is the cheapest Weber gas grill out there and that was why we went with that one.  It has a 20% off savings and there is free shipping as well.  That is the propane tank version, you can also get the natural gas version if you have a line available at your home.  

We were tired of going through a new Charbroil grill every year due to the thing completely rusting out or having main parts break, but we didn't need a ton of high end features or add-ons and this one fit the bill perfectly.  

It is really an amazing grill that is 100% reliable, very well made and it stands up to the test of time.  After 5 years we haven't replaced a single part, it doesn't have any rust whatsoever and it starts up on the first press of the starter every time with that cool signature Weber flame.  

You could also accessorize with cool items like a Weber Gas Grill Rotiserrie, Weber all-purpose Kabob set, or Weber Spirit Premium Grill Cover.  Accessories are great gift ideas, especially with Fathers Day just around the corner. 

Even though the E-210 is one of their smaller grills, it is plenty big for the 2 of us and it could easily handle meals for a much larger family.  It also has the upper part that you can use to grill vegetables or keep items warm without overcooking them.  

It really has been the perfect grill for us and I couldn't be happier with the purchase.  We were thinking we might want one with a side burner or higher cost features, but I have to say there isn't anything additional we have wanted/needed.

The wifey is the cook around these parts and she has done some creative things with it, such as making pizza on the grill, cooking fish, doing grilled corn on the cob and other vegetables, kabobs and some other fun stuff.  I even managed to marinate and cook up some steak for her and of course we've cooked the regular chicken/burgers/hot dogs and the grill makes it look easy!  Everything cooks nice and even and the temperature of the grill can get very hot if you would like, but it's also very easy to keep track of since there is a thermometer right on the front of the grill. 

If you have a need for things like 3 burners instead of 2, a side burner or a higher surface area, by all means, go with a higher end Weber Genesis E-330 or the step up to the big dog Weber Summit S-670!  You'll definitely be the envy of your entire neighborhood with that last one!

It's funny, just last night Pat Flynn, from the Smart Passive Income blog, posted the below picture on Instagram of his new E-330.  So you will definitely be in good company!

I hope that helps anyone that might be in the market for a gas grill.  I can attest to the fact that you can't go wrong with a Weber!  Enjoy!

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Rochester Plate Sauce

Over the Memorial Day weekend the wifey cooked up a homemade Garbage Plate, complete with the special sauce courtesy of Jim from http://www.platesauce.com.  And I have to say, it was amazing!  The sauce is a great blend of sweetness along with a hint of hotness that really adds so much flavor to your plate!

We always go with the traditional cheeseburger plate with macaroni salad and homefries.  Mmmm, I'm craving another one just thinking about it.  The Garbage/Trash plate was born in Rochester NY and it is one of those things that you truly miss when you move away. 

I have to admit that when it comes to Garbage or Trash plates, I would usually go to Empire or Penfield Hots, because those were the two places that were closest to where we lived at the time.  When it came to the sauce, I'd usually get it on the side.  It was a meat sauce blend that really didn't have a whole lot of flavor/heat.  To me it was more of just an additional meat sauce to add to the overall pile of food.  So I wasn't sure what to expect from the Rochester Plate Sauce.

I have to say, we were really blown away at how flavorful and tasty the Rochester Plate Sauce was.  It was not merely just an additional level of messiness to add to the plate, it was really a huge enhancement to the overall plate experience and we both said several times, "Wow, this is SOOOO good!"  

I'm not just saying that, it really was a great mix of a cinnamon or nutmeg on the sweet side along with a nice kick of tingly hotness.  But it is slight, not at all overpowering.  It's really the perfect mix of sweet and heat and I can see how it could enhance lots of different things in addition to the traditional Garbage/Trash plate.  I know for sure we will not be doing up a plate in the future without adding some Rochester Plate Sauce to the mix.

I really appreciate Jim from http://www.platesauce.com providing some free samples for us to try out.  He put together a really great product and he also has a great site with easy to follow recipes on how to create your own plate from start to finish.  He also recently added recipes for Dos Gustos Tacos, Bark at La Luna Margaritas and Mac and Cheese.

Definitely check out the site and also be sure to like his Facebook Page to keep up with the latest developments.  Jim is very passionate about his plate sauce and it shows in the quality of the product.  If you haven't tried it for yourself yet, I would highly recommend you stock up for when a craving for a plate hits!  So yummy!

And if you'd like some more Garbage Plate visuals, check out my sister Jen's review as well.  She's got lots of pictures and a full breakdown of the plate creation process.

In full disclosure, I received a free sample of the plate sauce to try out.  This review was completely my own and I was not compensated in any way.  This is just really good sauce and I wanted to share my experiences so that others can enjoy as well!  Try it out and let me know what you think.

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Seasonal Affective Disorder Lighting

Back in the middle of Winter, if you can really call it that this year, I noticed a few friends in the Northeastern US on Facebook comment about the lack of sunshine.  When we used to live in Western NY, we knew that all too well.  One very bad winter we decided we had enough and we now live in sunny Florida and we hardly ever go a full day or more without sunshine.  However, I vividly remember how dreary the weather could get and it really does wear on you after a while.

That got me thinking about those Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD lights, which is kind of ironic because the lights are actually supposed to make you happy and not sad.  I would have called them Happy SAD lights.  Since I live in Florida, I really didn't have a need to purchase a SAD light myself, but I really wanted to try one out and thought it could provide a benefit for my readers as well.  And I do worship the sun, so I figured this could take the place of some of my sun time. 

Luckily for me and for your benefit today, I was able to convince one company with one of the highest rated SAD lights on Amazon to send me one.  I am always sure to remain unbiased when doing any product reviews.  This is the first product I've actually received free of charge, but I may try to get additional products to review that I think would benefit others in some way so that I can review them here for you.

So let's get to it...This is the SunTouch Plus by NatureBright and it has a 10,000 LUX light that simulates a bright blue sky and it also has a negative ion generator as well.

Really it's incredibly easy to utilize and operate.  There is an on-off button with a blue LED light, you can set the timer for 15/30/45/60 minutes and you can optionally turn on the negative ion generator as well.  That's all there is to it.  And it came right out of the box ready to plug-in, there is no assembly required. 

I place the SunTouch Plus light next to my keyboard/monitor in my office and use it when I'm on the computer.

Their recommendation is to utilize the light for 30 minutes each day for the first week to get the maximum benefit and then you can use it as you'd like after that.  It's best to utilize it in the morning, as that is when your body's natural rhythms would be accustom to bright light.  However, I found it difficult to utilize every morning, since I barely have 5 free minutes in the morning.  I sometimes utilize it when I get home from work and it does not keep me up at night or anything.

I utilize the light the two days I work from home each week and sometimes on weekends, but I did not end up utilizing it for 7 days in a row for 30 minutes each day.  I'd say I have been using it 4 days a week for 30 minutes at a time for a little over a month.

Initially, I wasn't a fan of the negative ion generator just in general, but I grew to like it and do use it now.  They say it gives off a smell that you experience after a rain storm that most people find pleasant.

My honest overall opinion of the Suntouch Plus is that it makes me happy when the light is on.  It does give me a boost in the mornings when I use it, but it's not the same feeling that I get from being out in the sun for 30 minutes.  But then again, you're also not getting the harmful UV rays from the sun either, so that is a good thing.

I am not a doctor and am not aware of any negative effects from utilizing SAD lighting, but be sure to do your own research there if you have any concerns.  

If I were suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder or just wanted to get a boost of simulated sunshine, I would definitely purchase the SunTouch Plus by NatureBright.  It's a great product and as I like to say, it just works!  It does what it's supposed to, nothing more, nothing less. 

I hope you found this useful and if you have any questions, please let me know and I'd be glad to try and answer them.  If you suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder and decide to try out the product, I truly hope it provides relief and I'd love to hear how it works for you!

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Dr Elsey's Precious Cat Litter Ultra Rocks!

Two nights ago when I was scooping our cat litter, I got a bit annoyed at the cloud of dust that forms every time I scoop it or fill the litter up.  It's like the nuclear bomb type cloud formation each time, with the dust settling everywhere in the general vicinity.  With 4 cats and 3 litter boxes, this frustration happens quite often.

We have 2 litter boxes in a closed laundry room and one in a convenient spot in the master bathroom.  The main issues are the constant dust clouds and smell.  My wife gets up every morning to feed the boys and I take care of the scooping responsibilities, which works for me.  I scoop the 3 boxes at least twice a day, sometimes more as necessary. 

Over my approx 10 years of scooping litter for our kitties, I really didn't keep up on the latest litter news.  I think we heard they had different types of litter, like corn based, recycled material litter, etc, but when I did research a while back they didn't seem to fit our needs.

Last night I did a quick search and came upon Dr Elsey's Precious Cat Litter Ultra page on Amazon.  The reviews are excellent almost across the board.  Be sure to check the reviews out for yourself.  I was very impressed and actually quite excited!  Yes, potentially awesome products that help me or my cats, or in this case both, are exciting to me.  I couldn't wait to try it out!

Here are the key facts:

• 99.9% Dust Free
• Hypo-allergenic, contains no plant proteins
• All Natural
• Hard clumping
• Multi-cat
• Ideal for sifting/mechanical litter boxes
• Superior odor control

The main reason I was buying the litter was for the dust free nature, the bonus features were the fact that it costs roughly the same as our normal litter and all the great reviews about how well it does with odor control.  We have 1 cat that developed occasional Asthma over the last two years and our other cats will sneeze from time to time, so the dust free litter is not only for us, it will also hopefully help out greatly for them as well.

As far as odor control goes, many of the Amazon reviewers live in small apartments and afterwards they could hardly tell they even had a litter box.  After just a few hours my wife and I have both commented how impressive it is so far, both on the dust free and odor control front.

There was literally no noticeable dust given off when I filled the box.  That was the main reason for the purchase and it exceeded my expectations there.  For sure it will be much better than standard litter.  Watch the video to see for yourself. 

Odor wise it's still early on, but results are good so far.  The one box that I filled has been used by three of our cats to pee so far and it really does a great job of neutralizing the odor.  Normally litter has a perfumy smell to cover up the smell of the cat waste, but this doesn't have that. The true test was waiting until the morning to see how things held up overnight and it worked great.  No major smell this AM. 


You can get your first 40lb bag absolutely FREE after rebate.  Here is the Dr. Elsey Cat litter rebate form.

Hope that helps and by the way, Dr. Elsey is a cat only veterinarian that has developed a bunch of other useful products.  For example, they make a litter or additive you can add to your own litter, for cats that have issues going outside the box.  The litter additive attracts the cat and gets them to use the box.  That one comes with a money back guarantee if it doesn't work also.

If you try any of the products, I'd love to hear how they worked out for you.  Please leave a comment and let me know.  Thanks!

2/8/2012 Update:  It's been a week now since we switched over all of our litter boxes to the new litter and we also decided to consolidate down to 2 litter boxes from 3 and so far so good.  All we've done since we filled them up is scoop them so far.  We have not added any more litter.  We're still thrilled with the new litter.

3/7/2012 Update:  I wanted to provide a quick update now that it's been over a month since we've been using the litter.  It still does a great job of keeping down the dust, but it is not 100% dust free.  I do notice a slight amount at times, but it is nothing like our old litter.  Still very happy there.  As far as the smell goes, it still does a better job in that category as well, but it is not a miracle product that miraculously sucks up all cat waste odor unfortunately.  However, in both categories it still works much better than our prior litter and we will definitely be sticking with it.

7/29/2012 Update:  We happened to have some of our old litter in the garage and rather than open up a new bag of the Dr. Elsey litter, I mixed in some of the old litter and holy cow, mushroom cloud of dust.  It's funny how I forgot so quickly just how bad the old stuff is.  It really is night and day different.  It also definitely helped our one cat that would cough occasionally.  He no longer did that after switching litter.

5/26/2013 Update: "Glammy Bee" mentioned in a comment on my YouTube video above that it would be helpful to see how it scoops.  I hesitated to post an actual video of me scooping the litter, cause who wants to see someone scooping cat poop/pee, but we're all cat people here I'd have to assume, so here goes! :o)  As you can see, no dust cloud whatsoever. 

6/29/2014 Update: Amazon now offers the litter for the same price as local stores like PetSmart/Petco and it ships free for orders over $35 or free two day shipping for anyone with Amazon Prime!  That is a complete no-brainer, since the bag weighs 40lbs.  It is their #1 best selling product in the Pet Supplies category and for good reason!  That is a great deal!

While you are here, be sure to check my best pet water fountain post as well.  It is for the Drinkwell 360, which is another excellent product.  The water constantly flows through the fountain, keeping it clean and fresh.  Our cats love it!  I included several videos and pictures on the post, showing the fountain and our kitties in action.

Additionally, I have a post listing some of our favorite must-have cat toys as well.  Be sure to check it out if you're looking for ways to keep your cat(s) happy and entertained.  

Since the litter bag is a bit heavy at 40lbs, I'd definitely recommend picking it up via Amazon and having it delivered right to your front door!  With the free rebate form for your first purchase, you definitely can't go wrong. 

Enjoy!  Your kitties will thank you!

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The Best Cat Toys and a Useful Tip

In case you aren't aware, the wifey and I are cat people!  We're just not quite as over the top as Debbie the viral video eHarmony bio chick, which I really think is fake anyway.  We love cats and have 4 of them to prove it.  All the negative stereotypes of cats being aloof and keeping to themselves, only to want attention when they want it are just not true in our experience.

Our boys greet us at the door, fetch balls, follow us around the house, sit on our laps, etc.  Not all of them at the same time, but they take turns.  We like dogs also, especially our doggy nieces Maddie and Molly, but cats just make it easier for us to travel and leave them at home to be cared for by a pet sitter.  We can't forget our niece kitty Bella as well, Sage used to play with her when she and my sister stayed with us for a while.  They were buddies. 

Usually the simplest things are the best cat toys, like string or paper bags, but we do have a few toys they really love that are definitely worth checking out.

Pawbreaker Original Catnip Ball - We just received two of these from Amazon and they REALLY like them.  They were all batting it around the house like they were having a soccer match.  It's actually a hard ball made of catnip, cool idea.

We call this one the rainbow toy, but it looks like the official name is Cat Dancer 301 Cat Charmer Interactive Cat Toy.  This one is kinda like a long string on a stick, but for some reason they like this even better.  They will chase this for quite a while if you run around the house with it and they will jump quite high as well.  Good toy to wear them out a bit.

Laser Pointer.  A staple in any pet owner's arsenal of toys.  This is the absolute favorite toy of Sage.  All we have to do is say 'where's the dot' and he immediately knows it's time to play with the laser pointer.  We try and use it mostly when he is good to reinforce good habits. 

Little play mice (pictured above).  These are pretty simple and when you shake them they make a small noise like there is rice or something inside them.  They love to fetch these and our cat Monkey will sometimes bring them back so you can throw them again.  As he's gotten older he doesn't bring them back as much, but he still likes to run after them and bring them back partially.  They all like these toys and you'll hear them playing with them occasionally out of the blue.

And here's a useful tip....If you have a cat that, for whatever reason, doesn't seem to want to keep his butt down when he pees, try this homemade litter box idea!  Our cat Stinky is getting up there in age and for some reason over the last 6 months or so, he starts out fine but as he's finishing up his butt gets higher and higher to the point where he was sprinkling all over the place just outside whatever corner of the litter box he was using.  TMI?  Anyhow, here's your potential fix...

As long as he doesn't decide to pee in the area of the opening, this will solve your problem!  I was searching for litter boxes with the highest sides possible, but they really weren't any higher than the big ones we already had.  And we can't use the ones with the tops, because Sage won't use them, so I found a post where someone made their own with a storage container.  I had a bunch of them in the garage and it works perfectly.  Definitely a quick and easy solution.  I only used a small hack saw and it took around 5 minutes.

Be sure to check out two other kitty related articles that I posted:

The Best Pet Water Fountains  
Dr. Elsey's Precious Ultra Cat Litter

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