smartino's Profile

I've read dozens of books with the Kindle and Nook apps on my Android phone, happily, switching to my iPad 1 when convenient. I've never had what I would call eyestrain, despite being of an age to use reading glasses -- but I do wonder if this reading is contributing to my chronic dry eyes. I also work in IT -- so I'm in front of some kind of computer screen for over eight hours a day. On weekends, when I get a computer break, for the most part, my eyes are less dry. I'm thinking of getting an e-ink reader to alternate, to see if it helps my dry eyes, when I don't feel like lugging around one of the many paper books I plan to read then release into the wild.

I love e-reading, on whatever device is handy; it's freeing up some of my overcrowded shelves. Still, I'd never by design-oriented books on anything but paper. And I can't imagine an ereader replacing a nice stack of coffee table books.

If you are stashing laptops in pile of laundry or other cloths... be sure to turn them off, first..Overheating would not be fun.

I did buy something listed on Scavenger, once. I'd like to see more entries for SF / Bay area; I liked the old format, better. This is still a great service, though.

I also was thrilled when I saw one of my Craigs-listed items on Scavenger, awhile back. I felt that I had "arrived." :-)

For the past few years I have trained myself to be more ruthless about getting rid of things I don't need or use, yet I think I still have too much stuff -- especially books. I try to get rid of something I don't need, everyday... sometimes that's a whole box, sometimes just a pair of socks. We are in the process of trying to empty out a work area / storage area that we rent for $300 a month (ack), and that has meant even being even stricter about getting rid of stuff -- and I'm enjoying it.

hmmm... while I wouldn't call it ugly (just ubiquitous), I did drag around an Ikea Poang chair, with footstool, through four apartments over ten years. The screws tended to get a bit loose, though were easily tightened, and it was mighty comfortable. It was the only furniture I could sleep in (beds included), before and immediately after rotator cuff surgery. I guess it kept my shoulder at just the right angle for comfort. Still, it was pretty darned big in our small space, and my 6'3" husband couldn't sit in in comfortably, so I replaced it with a used Siesta chair -- of which I think the Poang is a knock-off, anyway.

I'll never use a heated electric pad for the bed again, since the time my cats "made muffins" on one (or so I suspect) and caused just enough damage to make it start to smolder and slowly burn. (It probably would have flamed outright, if it hadn't been fireproof). I awoke to the acrid smell of smoke in my nose, and the furry miscreants way on the other side of my rooms, trying to get my roommate to let *them* out to safety. Did they even bother to wake me-- of COURSE not. And I was living on Maui at the time, on slopes of Haleakala...so it was probably a frosty 60 degrees or so.. (ha). Now that I am in San Francisco (and occasionally doubting the wisdom of moving here from Hawaii..brrrrr) -- our recipe for warmth is night caps (of the liquid variety), wool socks, and sparing use of the heater. We have insulating blinds, but I don't think they do much. If I could just find a toilet seat that stays warm (yes, I said it), I'd be alright..

I used to have a sensor trash can, but got rid of it; I kept it next to the sink in our small kitchen, and found that when I worked at the sink and turned, my rear end frequently opened the trash can.

There is something strange, too, about having to put batteries in a trash can. Welcome to the 21st century.

Ah, just the thing to hide the "computer/office/server room we've just set up under our staircase, which sadly is only about 12 feet from the front door. I've got a boring curtain disguising it badly, now,-- but I'd much rather do this. And maybe I'll tell visitors it's our TARDIS..

One word: SPLINTERS. That's *one* way to keep your dinner guests from outstaying their welcome.

They are awfully eye-catching though. And as I always suspected, cats can be comfortable anywhere!

Today is the first year my husband and I will actually put up a tree -- so thanks for the reminder to be cautious of our kitties. When I was a kid, we had a cat who every year would manage to move the figures around in our large manger set so she could lay in the hay. Somewhere, I have a photo of her best holiday performance; she somehow batted the baby Jesus aside to make room for her, and we awoke Xmas morning to a cat laying surrounded by adoring manger figures, with Jesus hidden behind a tree.

This same cat liked to eat tree tinsel, which we quit using after the time I had to gently (and at great length) pull a strand to get it back -- I won't tell you from where.