I'm no plumber but changing my regular shower head to this handheld shower head was very, very easy. All it takes is a shower hose, a shower head mount, plumbers tape and a pair of pliers. This is truly a DIY project. It took me about 20 minutes from start to finish, including get out everything and clean up.
I changed out a traditional shower head that had been up for at least 18 years. There are seven settings with this new head, ranging from sort of a wide hard mist to more of a narrow hard stream. I am sure you will be able to find one that you'll like for everyday use.
This shower head does not include the materials to convert your regular shower to a handheld shower. You need a mount it to the wall with or wall mount or to a piece that goes where your old shower head used to be. You also need a shower hose. I was able to get both of these at the local big box hardware store for about $15. The seller of this shower head offers a deal for these items with the purchase of the shower head on Amazon.com.
I rate this shower head 5 stars out of 5.
Note: I received a sample shower head so that I could test it out and write an honest review. I've been using this shower head for about a month and it is great.
This shower head cost $15.99 on Amazon.com at the time of this review. Click here to check on current pricing: Aprince 4.72 inch Universal Shower Head 7-Settings.
I teach in a large, urban high school. Every day, I see the value of a spacious, durable backpack as my students lag a big pile of books, a laptop, a binder, notebooks and more from classroom to classroom because they never get a chance to go to their lockers during the day.
This backpack is made of heavy duty canvas with a liner on the inside. There are two large pockets on the inside - the main pocket and a spacious padded computer sleeve. You can stuff a lot into this backpack. There are also two small pockets sewn into the lining.
The backpack does not have a zipper, instead it is cinched shut and covered by a flap. Not having a zipper isn't necessarily a bad thing. Every year I see kids ruin a lot of nice backpacks by simply stuffing too many things into the backpack and ruining the zipper.
The flap has faux buckles on leather straps. Rather than actually buckling shut, the straps use magnets to keep it closed There are also three exterior pockets - two on the sides and one in the back. All are closed by the same type of magnets that hold the flap in place. At first i was not impressed by the magnets but they are actually a whole lot stronger than they look.
The straps can be lengthened out quite very far. Usually, I have to let a backpack's straps all of the way and then make minor adjustments to tighten things up. This backpack required a lot of tightening (easy to do - just pull the strap) and would be a great backpack for people with big shoulders.
The straps are very comfortable and there is a loop to hang the backpack on a hook or as an alternative way to carry it.
We've used this backpack at our house all summer because it has been sitting out to be tested. We love it.
The backpack comes in five colors: coffee, black, army green, grey and khaki.
I rate this backpack 5 stars out of 5.
Note: I received a free or heavily discounted backpack in exchange for an honest review. This really is a great backpack.
As of the time of this review, this backpack cost $32.98 on Amazon.com. Check here for current pricing: Aidonger Vintage canvas and leather backpack.
This bank looks like a mason jar with grey lid. This jar is not glass, but a plastic jar. It's not a particularly thick jar, somewhere between a 5 gallon jug that you put on a water cooler and a milk jug.
The lid has a spring-loaded sliding bar across the coin slot. The lid measures how far the sliding bar moves and that measurement tells the lid what coin it is. A LCD screen next to the slot keeps track of the coins and adds up the total. If you want to skip this step but still keep a running total, there is a process to do that. Also, you can remove coins and subtract that amount from the running total.
The jars come in different colors (clear, camo, blue, pink, purple, glow-in-the-dark) and two additional shapes (football and pig).
The counter needs two AAA batteries to work. The batteries are not included.
My review:
I found that the sliding bar was more than a little tough to move and the lid was inconsistent. I put $1.43 cents in the bank and my total ended up being $2.23. I put in 5 quarters and had problems with 2 of them. The bar resisted so much that the coin went in partially - enough to register that it was a quarter - and then came back out again. I don't know how the other coins were measured to come up to $2.23 but clearly this lid had to be used very carefully in order to count correctly. I would not recommend this for younger children.
In short, this is a cute concept but not quite there yet.
I rate this 2 stars out of 5.
At the time of this review, this bank cost $17.99 on Amazon.com. Click here to check for current pricing: Digital Coin Bank.
Note: I received a free sample of a digital coin bank so that I could write an honest review.
This is an LED bulb in as simple a format as it can come. This bulb will fit in any standard light fixture so you can make that move from incandescent bulbs to LED bulbs with no muss and no fuss.
The manufacturer claims that this bulb should work 27,000 hours and includes a 3 year warranty.
This bulb uses just 6 watts to create the light that a traditional 60 watt bulb uses.
The bulb does not shine with that ultra-white glow that most LEDs do. This bulb is tinted to shine with the same glow as a traditional bulb. It is dimmable but I do not have a dimmer switch so I do not know how well it dims.
It comes on instantly with no flicker.
This bulb comes in a single pack or a 3-pack. The average price per bulb is slightly less in the 3-pack.
At the time of this review this bulb cost $11.97 on Amazon.com. Click here for current pricing: LETO A19 6W LED Dimmable Filament Edison Style Light Bulb.
I rate this bulb 5 stars out of 5.
Note: I received this bulb for free or at a substantial discount so that I could try it out in my own home and see how it works and write an honest review. This bulb is at work right now in my kids' bedroom.
In this package you get one light and an instruction page that is mostly pictures. It came with some charge in it. I installed it late in the afternoon and it was working that same evening.
Installation is easy. I picked a wooden fence in my side yard and within a minute of starting to screw in the first screw I was already starting to pack up my stuff. It literally took me more time to gather everything than it took to install it. I had to provide my own screws.
Once it gets dark, 2 LED lights turn on and burn for about 8 hours, assuming that the unit gets a good dose of sunlight.
Now, keep in mind that one of these will not light up your backyard. There are just 2 LED lights here. But, it does provide a bit of light where you might need it. This would be especially good on decks, stairs, along sidewalks and places like that. A whole series of them along a deck or a sidewalk would be attractive.
A bonus feature is that the rechargeable batteries in this unit are designed to be removed and replaced once they fail.
Update: 18 months later and this light is still working as great as the day it was installed.
I rate this solar light 5 stars out of 5.
This product cost $9.59 on Amazon.com at the time of this review. Check here for current pricing: SMADZ SL31 Waterproof Antique Solar Wall Light 2 LEDs
Note: I was sent a free solar light so that I could write an honest review. I am very pleased.
Long Term Review
I teach high school and all day long I see students wad up their ear buds and shove them in their pocket. Later, they reach into their pocket and fish out some part of the earbuds and then yank them out. They also let the ear buds bounce along the ground behind them while they are walking around staring at their text messages. Knowing that this is fairly typical behavior and not good for the long-term well-being of a set of ear buds, these earbuds by Comsoon are an affordable alternative to most name brand sets.
Most importantly, these ear buds produce quality music. No matter how affordable, I would have to count down if the performance was not there. This is not a case of "These headphones produce good music considering how affordable they are." No, they produce good music. Period.
I have been using them off and on for the last two months to listen to a variety of sound such as music, streaming video, and audiobooks. They have a rich sound. The music does not sound tinny and puny like a bad set of earbuds can sound. Entry level personal headsets have gotten so much better in the last few years and this set demonstrates that well.
The phone feature is excellent as well. I have not used the headset's phone features (the buttons on the little box on the wire). When I use a set of headphones to talk on my phone I always use the phone itself rather than the headset features to interact (meaning I answer using the phone and hang up using the phone, etc.) because I just find it easier than blindly pushing buttons on a device hanging around my neck. When I have used the phone feature on this set of headphones I have asked the person I was calling how I sounded. They were surprised that I was speaking through a set of headphones - they sounded that good.
These are extremely light weight and very comfortable. There are two ways to wear these ear buds. One is the traditional way - just stick them in your ear. But, these ear buds also come with an adapter so that you can wear them in an environment where a there something might tug on the cord and they won't pull out of your ear, like if you are cleaning out the garage. The adapters are very easy to add and remove from the cord and they make the wire go up over your ear so that a tug on the cord will pull on the top of your ear and not pull the ear bud out of your ear. The adapters are very comfortable and very flexible.
The set also comes with little clip so that you can clip it to the front of your shirt to prevent a little tug from pulling the whole set out of your ears.
The cord is coated with plastic that has a little grip to it. It serves to make it fairly hard to tangle. It's not impossible to tangle these ear buds, but it rarely happens and when it does, it's not bad.
The package comes with one plug and play set of ear buds and four different sizes of ear tips. The set comes with a hard plastic case that would make a fantastic carry case except for that it is unhinged. I put a rubber band around it and have used it as a carry case.
Three colors are available: black, gold and silver. Only the ear buds themselves are different colors - not the wires or the controller
At the time of this review this headset cost $9.99 on Amazon.com. Check here for current pricing: In-Ear Stereo Headphone with Mic Remote Control (Black) by Comsoon.
Note: I received a free set of these ear buds in order to make a fair and honest review after testing them out. In this case I used them for six weeks and will gladly save them back for one of my own children to use after they destroy a set of ear buds with the behaviors I described above in the first paragraph.
