Invisible Shield

Sticking to my previous disclaimer, nobody at Zagg or anywhere else is paying me or giving me anything for this.

I'm a big fan of the Invisible Shield screen protectors from Zagg.

They originally designed this stuff to strengthen Army helicopter blades. Turns out, the stuff works great for screen protectors on handheld electronic devices.

Zagg makes them pre-cut for every handheld electronic gadget known to man. Over the years I have bought one for just about everything I own with any sort of a display screen. I have one on my old Palm Pilot, on my new BlackBerry, on my GPS Receiver, on my Polar heartrate monitor watch... Even if you have something they haven't already pre-cut the correct size for, you can custom order the size you need.

They're really easy to put on - a lot easier than your typical sticky screen protectors. Other screen protectors I had tried on my Palm Pilot were like messing around with a sheet of scotch tape - getting stuck to your fingers or to itself and being unforgiving about realigning it after you've already stuck it on. With the Invisible Shield, you spray it with a special solution and it won't stick to your fingers or anything else. You put it on your display, slide it back and forth to the right alignment, squeegee off the excess solution and let it dry.

Once it dries, you can't really tell it's there anymore. The website has some videos of them trying to scratch the heck out of screens of iPods with car keys, and it leaves no marks or evidence whatsoever. Like I said, I've been using them for years on my gadgets and I've had no scratches or any other blemishes on any of them, in spite of geocaching and hiking and banging the stuff on rocks.

Anyway, the reason I am writing about them TONIGHT is that when I placed an order on their website tonight, they sent me two one taken, one left - one-time-use coupons for 20% off that I could forward to friends. They expire in 30 days. If you want one of the the last coupons, drop me an email and I'll forward it to you.

I wonder how long this will last...

If you have small children like us, then you're probably always trying to find new ways to inspire or motivate your children to pick up their eighteen bajillion toys scattered all over the floor in the house. Here's a new method that worked for us this morning:

Buy a cool robotic vacuum cleaner and tell the boys we can't play with the robot until they pick all the toys up off the floor.

That worked like a champ this morning. I don't think I've ever seen the boys pick up the toys off the floor so quickly. (Aside: No, I'm not suggesting you run out and buy a Roomba just to get your kids to pick the toys up. It was just a nice unintended consequence of getting the Roomba.)

Now, while LW tries to figure out how to put the batteries in the controls for the robot, YB has decided to perform an interpretive dance for us on the now-clutter-free family room floor. It's pretty funny to watch. Where's the camera when you need it?

Here's a recap of the maiden voyage of the Roomba in our house...

T +1 minute: For the first couple of minutes, the boys aren't sure what their reaction to this creepy-crawly robot should be. They both take up perches on the couch and chair to observe the behavior of this new creature in the house.

T +3 minutes: ES is now chasing the robot around the family room as if it were a small furry creature. The robot doesn't seem to notice or care.

T +4 minutes: Intrigued by the fact the Roomba will go under couches and chairs, ES is now trying to invent a Roomba-Trap that will lure the poor robot in and not allow any avenues for escape.

T +5 minutes: The Roomba is now an "enemy" robot from some far away planet. Both boys are shooting at it with toy laser guns.

T +8 minutes: Now it's a physics experiment. The boys are trying to test how much of a load the robot can carry by stacking toys up on top of it.

T +8 minutes 30 seconds: The Roomba outsmarts the boys attempts to overload it and drives under the couch with barely any overhead clearance, thus sweeping the toys off the top, then it turned around and tried to vacuum up the toys. ES frantically picked up the toys.

T +10 minutes: The boys resume shooting at the enemy robot with their laser guns.

T +12 minutes: Ding Dong! The doorbell rings. See my previous post about the door bell. Sure enough, it's M from across the street asking if the boys can come out to play. Bye boys! The novelty of the Roomba appears to be officially over. My ears pop as the boys race out the front door. Now the Roomba is vacuuming in peace.

YB "shoots" at the "enemy robot" (Roomba)
with his "laser gun" (drumstick).

Note at least he's wearing proper PPE -
sunglasses to protect his eyes from the laser.

No Free Parking... er... Lodging?

Free Hotel Room!

Even though I think she's an snob and an idiot, I feel like I should give a shout-out of thanks to the lady in the Beemer who backed into LW in the preschool parking lot. Thanks to her, we got a hotel room for the night of the sub ball.

Okay, I still don't understand this. LW has tried to explain it to me, but I still just don't get it. I know that LW already wrote about it, but let me try to explain it as I understand it and see if it makes any sense...

This lady backs her Beemer out of her parking spot at YB's preschool parking lot the same time as LW backed out of her parking spot. Their bumpers came in contact. LW's back right corner bumper came in contact with the lady's back left corner bumper.

There's a small scrape on the paint on each of the cars.

At the time, LW and this lady agreed the damage looked superficial and said neither of them intended to submit a claim. The Beemer Lady said she was gonna talk to her hubby about it, but she'd give LW a call if she was gonna submit a claim.

Fast forward some time later when we get the phone call from our insurance agency that the Beemer Lady filed a claim against us and thinks it's all LW's fault. On a subsequent trip to the preschool, LW found the Beemer Lady pointing at the bumper and loudly exclaiming to another lady, "See how BIG the DENT is?!?!" OMG you are so lame!

I've seen the Beemer in the parking lot with my own eyes, and you can hardly see the damage because it's along an edge. Granted, my opinion is biased, but I think it's much more noticeable on LW's car because it's a scuff along a flat surface, but it's still not a big deal - that's what bumpers are for, right? It's very minor cosmetic damage.

We had to fill out all these insurance forms and send them into our insurance company. Plus we had to take LW's car in to have the damage appraised. It came out to something like $584. I was shocked - it really doesn't look like it needs any more than some touch-up paint.

Well, the insurance company called... and all of them in the office discussed it and agreed it was 50/50 blame on LW and Beemer Lady. LW and I couldn't agree more. We're totally cool with that. Apparently Beemer Lady wasn't. She protested and was not happy with the insurance company. The agent on the phone told LW that the only reason he can figure the lady doesn't think it's her fault is because she drives a Beemer. LW and the insurance agent both had a good laugh about that.

Anyway, besides not understanding weirdo Beemer Lady, here's the other part I REALLY don't understand:

Because they determined the blame was 50/50, they paid each of us (I mean LW and Beemer Lady) 50% of the damages. So they sent us a check for $267.

Um... Why??? We've got a $500 deductible. I guess I can understand the only paying us 50% of the damages since it was 50% LW's fault, but even then... if 50% of the damages was less than our $500 deductible, then I would expect them not to give us a single stinking cent. LW pointed this out to the agent on the phone, but he insisted they were sending us a check for 50% of our damages.

So to make a long story short... since the annoying Beemer Lady put this check for $267 in our pocket, we decided to splurge and now have a reservation for after the sub ball. :-)

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Sony TV Repair

So, our new Sony TV all of a sudden got these two vertical lines permanently appearing on the screen, regardless of the video input source. I called Sony and they agreed it needed to be fixed under warranty. We had to wait about a week for the "part" to arrive on island, then a repair guy came out. The "part" was a whole new screen, but it works like a champ.

Funny story though, he said most of his work these days comes from Wii damage. He said he recently had to replace FIVE screens in ONE week from throwing Wii controllers into the TV screen! Can you believe it?!? Even with all those warnings on the Wii screen about fastening the wrist strap.

This warning message goes on the screen for several seconds before you can start a game. What else are these people doing with that time besides NOT fastening their wrist straps and making sure they have adequate room between them and their TV???

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History repeats itself.

So there I was... (isn't that the way all good sea stories start?) I walked into the family room to find this pile of a gajillion little Chex Mix crumbs in the carpet where one of the boys knocked over their snack bowl. I got the vacuum and was in the process of sucking up all the little bits and pieces out of the carpet when I caught something odd out of the corner of my peripheral vision.

When I turned my head to the left, I saw ES's head and shoulders standing outside the family room window. He was standing in a very peculiar manner - very still and looking down. I said to myself, "Self, if I didn't know any better, I would think that's the position ES stands in when he goes PEE." I stopped the vacuum and walked over to the window. Sure enough, ES has his pants down and he's taking a leak into one of LW's flower pots, "watering the flowers" as it were.

I was beside myself. I yelled, "[ES's name]]!!!!!" loud enough that even with the window closed it startled him and pee flew in seven different directions while he cut it off mid stream and quickly pulled his pants back up.

I CANNOT believe he would do such a HORRIBLE thing!!! I mean, I don't know anyone ELSE in this family who has committed such a terrible crime! If there WAS someone ELSE in this family who had done such a horrible thing before when he was six years old, I'm sure it was because we had a HUGE back yard and I he was WAY up in the treehouse and it would have taken a LONG time for me him to climb down the tree and go all the way into the house to use the toilet. I'm sure my his father didn't understand my his reasoning either and I he got a spanking for it, too. Although it was certainly a MUCH shorter distance from the scene of this crime to our toilet (about 25 feet), not to mention the fact he had JUST walked through the house like 30 seconds before this, I didn't give ES a spanking. My booming voice pretty well scared the crap out of him... or rather, maybe it scared the pee out of him.

Monday Night Food and Fitness

Food

Wow, what a difference! I had been getting headaches several days per week and burning through my Imitrex supply like they were Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies. They seemed to come on around lunchtime. Since I read that article in NY Times that Jud emailed me, I went through all the lunch food supplies I had in my office and found a LOT of "autolyzed yeast extract." I took all those things out, and I haven't had a headache since. THANK YOU JUD! (And thank you NY Times for the article!)

Since then, my new favorite lunch item from the commissary is the Progresso Lentil Soup. It says on the side in big bold letters "NO MSG" and doesn't have any of the disguised varieties either. AAAAAND I tastes pretty good, too. Often the stuff that meets all my dietary needs tastes like corrugated cardboard.

I'm not exactly proud of the fact that shiftwork has resulted in me being much too familiar with the nuances between the different McDonalds on the island. If I go to the McD's on base and order a large coffee with two creams, they actually put the cream in the coffee for you. However, their drive-through is frequently closed even though their posted hours say the drive through should be open. So I end up having to get out of my car and walk in (I know, I know, I can feel your sympathy for my plight oozing through my keyboard and into my fingers - not). If I go to the McD's just down the street from our house, the drive-through is always open, 24/7. Unfortunately, when I go there and order a large coffee with two creams, they hand me the large coffee, and then they hand me a little bag with two creamer packets and a stir stick. So which is worse? Having to park and walk in to order your coffee, or having to pull the lid off and put the creamer in yourself? I know, I know, if these are the least of my worries in life, then I've got it pretty good.

Fitness

Fitness? What is that? I vaguely recall something about this place people call a "gym," but it seems like so long ago. Until recently when ES and I started going on bike rides together, the only "exercise" I was getting was climbing the ladders up and down between levels in the Engine Room.

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Talk about "can't teach an old dog new tricks"... Actually, this one might have to go in the file of "Stupid Kevin Tricks." Through years of experience, I have developed this confidence and physical ability to climb up and down the forward and aft escape trunk ladders while carrying things in one hand (coffee... notebook... small children... well, no small children in the AFT escape trunk, but you get the idea). Well, those years of experience were based on the "skirt" being in place. The skirt is this metal shield that is put there to create an area for divers to keep their head in an air pocket while they flood down, equalize, and open the escape trunk. Besides providing that shelter for divers, it also shrinks the size of the opening of the escape trunk and provides a handy smooth surface that you can lean your backside against as you reposition your one free hand on the ladder and continue your descent into the boat. When that skirt isn't there, and you let go with the one hand holding onto the ladder... there's nothing there to hold you up and you end up falling over [insert sound effect: "TIMBERRRRRR!"] until your back and elbow go crashing backwards a couple of feet into valves and pokey things sticking out of the side of the escape trunk. I wonder how many more times it will take me to unlearn the habit of leaning back into the skirt (since the skirt is removed / not there anymore).

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Not directly fitness related, but call it health and accident avoidance, I got a good laugh from this article one of my parental units sent me.

HD vs. Blu-Ray DVD

I went by the NEX on Monday and picked up a high-speed HDMI cable to connect our HD DVD player to the new TV. To test it out, I put in The Italian Job. ...WOW... The Italian Job in 1080p High Def is... wait for it... LEGENDARY. I went right to the chase scene at the end with the three Mini-Coopers, the armored cars, the motor cycles, and the helicopter. It was just simply amazing. I mean, you could see the slightest glimmer or reflection in the windows of the Mini-Coopers. It was stunning.

I can hear a couple of you asking yourselves, "Self, why did he choose an HD DVD player over a Blu-Ray?" Well, that's an excellent question. I actually knew very little about the formats before my mom found a Toshiba HD DVD player for sale and asked if I wanted it. I did some quick checking around, and found that (a) the user reviews for the Toshiba HD DVD player were excellent, and (b) the price my mom found it for was fantastic. So I told my mom we'd take it. (She actually gave us the HD DVD player for Christmas - thanks, Mom!).

VS

Since then, I've been reading up a little more on the differences between the formats. The two formats are actually very similar. I expect that like the battle of VHS versus Beta, one of the two formats will eventually "win," and the winner may defy the conventional wisdom on which format should win.

Quality-wise, the two formats are the same. Watching The Italian Job on a Blu-Ray disk would have been just as fantastic as watching it on an HD DVD - they're both 1080p. The key difference between the two formats (besides which big-name corporate label is supporting it) is how much data one disk can hold - 30 GB for the HD DVD versus 50 GB for the Blu-Ray (there are other minor differences here and there, but they seemed pretty inconsequential to me). According to this CNET article comparing the formats, the Blu-Ray players are more expensive than the HD DVD players. I don't know if the price difference is driven by an actual functional capability difference or if it's just because the name brand "SONY." Given that the quality is the same and one is more expensive than the other, my logical self tells me, "$elf, economics dictate that the HD DVD format will prevail over the Blu-Ray format." I mean, who cares about the extra space on the disk? They both hold an entire movie, and I rarely watch all those "bonus features" they put on DVDs anyway, so why pay more money for more storage space that you don't need?

However (comma), if I had to wager a cash-bet on which format would win the Blu-Ray versus HD DVD battle today, then I would put my money on Blu-Ray. Why am I defying my own logic, you ask? I would put my money on the Blu-Ray just based on the number of Blu-Ray disks I see for sale at Best Buy... at the NEX... on Amazon.com... and the obviously huge amount of money Sony is investing in pushing the Blu-Ray format. In fact, this afternoon we went to Blockbuster to rent a movie for family movie night, and they had an entire row of Blu-Ray DVDs for rent, but not a SINGLE HD DVD. Curious, I just googled it and found out that Blockbuster made the decision in favor of Blu-Ray way back in June 2007 - long before I ever developed any awareness or interest in the battle between the two formats. And for the coup de grace: I wanted to get one of my favorite movies, The Fifth Element, in HD... but it's a Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) movie, so it's only available in Blu-Ray. Thbbbbbt! :-P

I won't get upset either way. I'd just like SOMEONE to declare a "winner" so we can get on with it. Even if we eventually have to buy a Blu-Ray DVD player, I've got a big enough collection of regular DVDs that I can continue to use the HD DVD player we have to play the HD DVDs we've bought so far along with our old standard format DVDs.


P.S. I can't WAIT for The Brazilian Job to come out!

Update 2/15/08: See follow-up post for more news on this topic.