Product review: Star Brite Premium Golden Teak Oil - Sealer, Preserver, & Finish for Outdoor Teak & Other Fine Woods

I purchased Star Brite teak oil to treat teak furniture, which somehow developed stains.  In the attached photos, you can see "before" and "after."  Definitely, a good improvement even though it is not perfect (i.e., not totally back to how it was when it was new).

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★★☆

Book review: The Rooster Bar by John Grisham

Imagine being a law student with a huge debt, dropping out of law school, and pretending to be a lawyer hustling clients in hospitals and police stations... How much trouble can you get yourself in? A lot!

I thought this book was okay. Maybe if it was not written by Grisham, one of my favorite authors, I would have felt better about the book. However, it was not as interesting and gripping of some of their other Grisham novels. Maybe part of the problem for me was the characters were unlikable and most of the time chose to do the wrong things and got away with it.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★☆☆☆

Other books for Grisham
Jake Brigance series
1. A Time to Kill (1989)
2. Sycamore Row (2013)

Theodore Boone series
1. Kid Lawyer (2010)
2. The Abduction (2010)
3. The Accused (2012)
4. The Activist (2013)
5. The Fugitive (2015)
6. The Scandal (2015)
7. The Accomplice (2019)

Novels
The Firm (1991)
The Pelican Brief (1992)
The Client (1993)
The Chamber (1994)
The Rainmaker (1995)
The Runaway Jury (1996)
The Partner (1997)
The Street Lawyer (1998)
The Testament (1999)
The Brethren (2000)
A Painted House (2000)
Skipping Christmas (2001)
The Summons (2002)
The King of Torts (2002)
The Last Juror (2003)
Bleachers (2003)
The Broker (2004)
Playing for Pizza (2007)
The Appeal (2007)
The Associate (2009)
The Confession (2010)
The Litigators (2011)
Calico Joe (2012)
The Racketeer (2012)
Gray Mountain (2014)
Rogue Lawyer (2015)
The Whistler (2016)
Camino Island (2017)
The Rooster Bar (2017)
The Reckoning (2018)
The Guardians (2019)

Product review: Travel size Pepto-Bismol To-Go Chewable Tablets Cherr Flavor

I was looking for a travel size Pepto Bismol with a better flavor.  This cherry flavor is not too strong but definitely more pleasant the mouth-washy taste of the original.
The packaging is excellent.  Small and compact, closes well and stays closed in my purse. Each container is 2 5/8".  It does not get crushed like a blister pack I used to carry before this purchase.


You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: New England Coffee Blueberry Cobbler, Medium Roast Ground Coffee

I really enjoy flavored coffees and blueberry in particular. New England Blueberry Cobbler Coffee is one of my favorites. It is smooth, and the blueberry flavor is there but not over-powering. It smells terrific while brewing, and when you drink it. If you like flavored coffees, I would definitely recommend that you try it.  My local grocery sells it for $5 to 6 dollars and Amazon price is often in line with that.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Prodcut review: MOSFiATA Mini Portable Air Cooler Conditioner

This air cooler is a fan that blows water through a wet filter, so the air that comes out of it is slightly cooler than the room temperature air.  I put a regular fan next to it to compare, and the air from the air cooler makes me feel cooler on a hot day.  This unit is not an air conditioner. It does not make the room temperature cooler. You need to be sitting directly in the airflow of the unit (3 feet to 5 feet works well for me) to get the benefit of the cooler air.

The unit is surprisingly light - it is only 1 pound 8.8 oz (before water is added). The cooler fan works best if you soak the filter before using it.  I found that I need to add water every couple of hours. If you don't add water, the unit becomes a regular fan.

The airflow can be directed by adjusting the movable levers on the front of the unit.  The cooler has three speeds; I usually run it on the lowest fan speed.  At that speed, it is very quiet and gives me the right amount of airflow at 3-5 feet distance.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: First Alert CO605 Plug-In Battery Backup CO Alarm

My old FirstAlert plug-in alarm died 7 years after the initial installation. It was supposed to last 5 years, so I got my money worth.  I read some reviews that folks got an alarm which was manufactured many months before the purchase.  This is significant because the expiration date is based on a manufactured date, not the date when the alarm is deployed.  I purchased this alarm mid-May, and the manufactured date on the back was March 2019.  I thought two months old alarm was fairly reasonable.

What I did not realize is that this unit has no display of any kind (not even a light), you can't easily tell that the unit is plugged in. Only in the darkness, I can see a red glow on the front of the unit. The unit communicates everything via beeps -  ok, alarm, end of life. This is not as good as my previous alarm, which had an LED display.

This is a plug-in unit with a backup 9V battery (one battery is included). To activate the backup battery, one has to press the test button after installing the battery.  The unit has to be plugged in low, i.e., close the floor  (unlike the smoke alarm) and a regular wall outlet is at a good height.  The unit is large, but most of the bulk is below, so in a double outlet you can still use the top outlet when the alarm is plugged in the bottom outlet.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★☆☆

Product review: IZO Home Goods Upholstery High Density Foam 2 inch X 20 X 20 Foam Replacement Seat Cushion Foam, Set of 4

I purchased this foam to make my own car seat cushion as I was dissatisfied with the two cushioned I bought (they were too short for a car seat).  This foam was perfect, I only needed to trim it a little bit to get it to be the right shape for the car seat.  I used 3M spray glue to glue two foam pieces together to get the shape I wanted. 

The foam came shrimped wrapped but sprung to 2" height instantly.  The photos of foam in the bag were taken a few minutes after the package was open - no creases, fluffed up to the expected height.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★