Product review: Wells Street by Lang 2017 Cats Wall Calendar

Lang calendars are my favorite because of the paper they use as well as the nice looking artwork.  The paper is very thick and textured.  I like textured finish because I can stick notes attached by scotch tape and remove them without damaging the finish (which happens with every other calendar using regular non-textured paper).  I read a lot of library books and stick receipts with due dates to the calendar calendar not to miss the due dates. Despite the textured finish the paper also takes the pen ink well as well. I also a lot of notes on the calendars the paper is easy to write on and the writing is not visible on the other side because the paper is quite thick.

This calendar is 12" wide and 12" tall (when closed). Each day square is 1.5" x 1.5".

The art is very nice - bright, colorful, and cheerful.


You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Oittm USB-C Charger with Type-C Port & 2 USB Ports

This wall charger has 3 ports: one type-C port and two USB ports. I am using this wall charger with Nexus 6p (type-C USB connection) and Nexus 5 (mini USB connection).

To judge how well this wall charger works I compared its performance with the type-C charger provided by Google that came in the package with Nexus 6p.  You see the resuls in attached photos, they show that Google charger charged the phone faster.

For Nexus 5 both mini USB ports worked in line with other wall chargers.

This wall charger is 3.75" x 275" x 1" thick. It has a long cord with a regular size plug which takes up only one slot on the power strip.  Even though it gives up some charging speed to Google charger it is convenient that it has both mini USB and Type-C ports especially when I travel.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★★☆

Product review: WORX TRIVAC 12 Amp Yard-in-One Blower/Mulcher/Vacuum

I purchased Worx two years ago.  Overall, I  think the trivac works okay.  The capacity of the bag is not large so you need to empty it often.  It can get jammed with grassy weeds.   I sucked in some dry grass and it got twisted around the blade and it was fairly time consuming to free the blades.  The blown leaves are a bit hard to control (not Worx fault).  The mulcher and vac work well when not jammed.  Slight jamming slows down the flow of air, serious jamming stops the air completely.  The unit weights 9.7 pounds (assembled but empty).

Another weak point is the weak point of this product. The diagrams could have been more clear.  The pictures and the text are on different pages and one had to keep flipping the pages back and forth while reading the instructions.

The unit arrived in 3 parts.  I messed up putting it together:  I put the exhaust bag in the wrong orientation  (with the bag pointing forward, rather than pointing back).   Unfortunately it got wedged in that position, and taking it off  felt like it would break the unit so I left it this way.  Which means I cannot put the strap on my shoulder and it is a harder to empty. I hope my mistake will be an alert to other folks.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★☆☆

Product review: TF Publishing 2017 Cat Dreams Wall Calendar

This calendar is 12" wide and 12" tall (when closed).  Each day square is 1.5" x 1.75". I make a lot of notes on calendars so it is important to me that the calendar paper takes the ink well and does not bleed through to the other side.  The paper in the calendar is shiny but the ball point pen and pencil had no problems writing on it.

The sleeping cats and kittens are very cute and it the paper is not too thin.


You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★★☆

Food review: Ground Turkish Coffee 100% Arabica, Imported from Istanbul

I got this coffee for my husband who like bold testing coffee.  He drinks is black.  I prefer medium roast coffee so I add milk to the coffee to mellow it.  This coffee has a very finaly ground, It comes vaccum packed inside of an attractive tin.

I make turkish coffee in a cezve, which is a small metal pot.  The coffee has to be simmers (not boiled). When it starts to foam remove the pot from the heat, then I repeat the process one more time. The foaming happens before the boiling point.  After simmering for the second time I give it a few minutes for coffee grinds to settle at the bottom of the pot and the pour.

My husband likes strong coffee so this has become a favorite of his.  I like the tin, once we are done with the coffee I plan to re-use the tin because it closes well and it looks nice.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★

Product review: Famous Impressionists Artistic Paintings 2017 Monthly Wall Calendar, 12" x 12" by The Gifted Stationary

This calendar is 11.75" wide and 12" tall (when closed). Each day square is 1.5" x 1.5". I make a lot of notes on calendars so it is important to me that the calendar paper takes the ink well and does not bleed through to the other side. The paper in the calendar takes the ball point pen and pencil well.

The art is nice and it the paper is not too thin.


You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: OTUS LED Desk Lamp with Gesture Control

The best feature of this lamp is how flexible it is in position the light.  Its wing span is 38" with three pivot points. One near the base, one in the middle, and one for lamp head itself.  The lamp has a ball joint - the best flexibility of the lamp had I have ever seen - 360 degrees of freedom.

How bright? Brighter than a 60 watt CFL bulb. I measured its brightness with a lux meter at 19" (1150 lux) and compared it with a reading I got from a CFL bulb at the same distance (527 lux). This lamp was significantly brighter. The spotlight it generates is somewhat smaller than a CFL bulb. It is sufficient to light the entire large format book, but not enough to light my entire desk surface with the same amount of light - the edges of the desk are darker.  In the video you can see it lighting a large book, the book is fully in the light, but you can see the edges of the desk that are not well lighted.  This is a nature of LED lights and to be expected.

The lamp has touch-less controls (on/off). The lamp uses an infrared sensor switch and I just need to wave my hand in front of it to turn it on.


This lamp has several modes of brightness. In general, I do not like lamps that require me to cycle through many options. This lamp has many options, but I can pre-set your favorite settings so I don't need to cycle through all the options. When I turn it off it remembers my choices.

Assembly tip: the base has a screen which needs to be loosened and then tightened after the arm is inserted into the base.  This holds the arm securily attached to the base.

To summarize: I like its brightness, I like the long neck and that I can re-position it in many way.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★★★