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len_mullen

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Everything posted by len_mullen

  1. Target has been a great retailer for me. The store is beautiful and stocks great toys. Some of their promotions are outstanding. I bought one of my 55" TCL Roku TVs there. I can buy online and pickup on my way home from work, so they are convenient for me. The staff is terrific. Polite, prompt, and helpful. Walmart is a dump with awful help, but they crush it on television sales. I got two of my 55" TCL Roku TVs there. They are on my way home as well. No one mentioned Best Buy, but they have had some awesome television sales already this year. Their Echo Show bundles were not even matched by Amazon. They have been steeply discounting air fryers. They are already in full BF mode. On top of that, they have excellent staff and will help you recycle your old electronics whether you shop there or not.
  2. When I was 19 a woman ran a stop sign and drove through my motorcycle. A woman driving through the intersection legally from the other direction also hit me. They never found the helmet, but I have a nice scar where the strap broke (don't worry girls, it's under my chin -- avatar is completely unaltered). I was momentarily dead but they fixed that right up. They told my mother they did not amputate my left arm for ornamental purposes (put it through a sleeve and tuck it in a pocket). The clavicle was in three pieces and the scapula was broken in half. You can tell if you look at the seams of my shirt, but I was throwing a ball with my left arm before they took the pins out. Real bad idea, btw -- the pins are screws and if you rotate the parts that they are holding together, they unscrew. My freckled shoulder is actually scars from the pins poking out. The guy that did the work removed the pins. He said I was really lucky. I have 96% function of the arm last time they measured. I broke my left tibia from the top of the work boots I was lucky enough to be wearing to just below my knee. Broke a bunch of ribs and even more teeth. I started a drafting program just a couple weeks out of the hospital. Showed up first night with my arm in a sling and a my leg in a cast up to my bum. I bought a new bike the next spring. Drove home through the same intersection and someone ran the same stop sign right in front of me. Memories, am I right? Anyway, I had that bike from 1981 until 1993 when my first kid was born. Gave it away.
  3. That's a good question. Probably not from the manufacturer/importer, but maybe via Amazon or ebay.
  4. Silly Sand starts out wet. Then it dries. Cats do not appreciate art. When your cat finds a pile of sand in the house, they do what they do when they find sand outside. Then they scatter it with their back legs. I was a little kid when Santa brought Silly Sand, but I remember how quickly it disappeared. (I don't remember what happened to that cat.)
  5. I never wash my car. EVERY SINGLE TIME I wash my car, I get in an accident. The day I was killed in a motorcycle accident, I found my younger sister washing my motorcycle. I have had an inexpensive damn-near-perfect Hamilton Beach toaster oven. Lately, I have been thinking about replacing it. Last weekend, I spent four hours cleaning this beast. I cleaned the racks, the removable crumb tray, the walls, and the top. It was something to behold. This morning, I toasted a slice of banana bread in the oven. When I opened the door to remove the bread, it shattered -- violently. Chards of glass stuck to my skin. I immediately thought of that motorcycle...and those cars. As amazing as that story is, I wanted to share a link to my new toaster oven... https://www.walmart.com/ip/Smart-Air-Fryer-Oven-1800-W-Stainless-Steel-26-4-QT-Super-Big-Capacity-Toaster-Oven-10-In-1-Presets-Electric-Digital-Screen-Practical-Accessories/654466122 https://www.ebay.com/itm/Air-Fryer-Oven-1800W-Stainless-Steel-26-4QT-Capacity-and-Practical-Accessories/154035563067 It's a discontinued item with suspect reviews, but, if the reviews and specs are accurate, I think I may have purchased the perfect toaster oven. Walmart is clearing out the toasters at $129. With 5% cash back for paying with Discover via PayPal, OOP is $122.55. Power: 1800 WMax Temperature: 450℉ Capacity: 26.4 QTUnit Size: 17.7x15.5x14.7 inchCooking Presets: French Fries, Chicken Wings, Steak, Pizza, Vegetables, Toast, DehydrateAccessories: Oven Rack, Basket, Baking Pan While there is no mention of it in the description or reviews, the pictures clearly show an interior light (the first picture shows a Light button)... One of the reviews says the oven includes a rotisserie. Again, not otherwise supported.
  6. People wearing masks At doors that never open For deals they're hoping
  7. Thank you.
  8. Silly Sand is probably worse...
  9. Great in the kitchen, but I'd get a Show 8 or 5 with the mechanical shutter for the boudoir.
  10. Probably not. We are family, afterall.
  11. I had our DNA tested. We are definitely family. And, of course, BFFs.
  12. https://www.theverge.com/2020/9/24/21454117/amazon-new-echo-show-10-alexa-smart-display-moving-screen-price-specs-features I missed this in the release notes. Great for the kitchen.
  13. I'm keeping my eyes open for you.
  14. Pretty meh, huh? No regrets about not waiting. The Recast is steeply discounted (again) at $179.99 for the four tuner 1TB version (which I recommend) and $129.99 for the two tuner 500GB version right now. Amazon Devices: Starting today, get two Echo Dot devices for $39.98 and Fire TV Recast for $129.99 to store up to 75 hours of HD programming. Plus, save up to $100 on Fire TV Edition Smart TVs and get the all-new Toshiba 43-inch Smart HD Fire TV Edition TV for $179.99. Starting October 6, get the Toshiba 32-inch Smart HD Fire TV Edition TV for $119.99 and the Insignia 43-inch Smart 4K UHD Fire TV Edition TV for $199.99; save $40 on Echo Show 5; get Echo Auto and enjoy hands free access to Alexa in your car plus six months of Amazon Music Unlimited for $19.99; and save on smart home security with Blink Mini indoor cameras—one for $24.99, two for $49.98, or get Echo Show 5 and Blink Mini for $54.99.And some free money... Spend $10, Get $10: Amazon will offer a $10 credit to use on Prime Day to members who spend $10 on items sold by select small businesses in Amazon’s store today through October 12. This promotion is fully funded by Amazon to connect customers with local small businesses selling in its store. Small business promotions kicked off today in the U.S., U.K., Spain, Germany, Italy, France, and Japan.Prime Day Deals: Once Prime Day begins, members can use their $10 credit to purchase almost any product in Amazon’s store, including from small businesses. More than half of the items sold in Amazon’s store worldwide are from third-party sellers – mostly small and medium-sized businesses. This year, Prime members around the globe can shop hundreds of thousands of Prime Day deals from these businesses.
  15. The Recast is on sale right now. $179.99 for the four tuner 1TB version (which I recommend) and $129.99 for the two tuner 500GB version.
  16. Not that there's anything wrong with that...
  17. I have been looking at big televisions again, but I am losing interest. I think I'm full.
  18. Should sell some Echo Show 10s. Not sure why Netflix client would not be rolled out to all devices.
  19. I always get loved ones the one single thing that will make their day. I pricematch, return/rebuy, and whatever else is necessary, but I have that one thing in hand almost as soon as I know what it is.
  20. Today, the outer box was in excellent condition and the packages were well packed. Unfortunately two of the items were open inside the well packed box. You get what you pay for.
  21. Interesting way to describe inventory no one wanted.
  22. Never agreed with this sentiment. If people want to work and other people want to shop, why should I care. When I was a kid, Sundays, holidays, and holidays that fell on Sunday were awesome. If you could figure out how to get paid for more than eight hours on a holiday that fell on a Sunday, you could take the rest of the month off.
  23. Spend some $ in there last year. I needed all their doorbusters. About ten years ago I bought a generator and a switch at Home Depot on BF. About ten years after we bought our house, we had a winter storm that left us powerless for ten seven days. The next time we lost power, my street was buzzing from all the generators running. I mocked my neighbors, "If we lose power for a week every ten years, I can deal with that." Well, we did and I couldn't. The following BF I cut through Home Depot on my way to Walmart to get out of the rain. They had generators piled to the rafters. Transfer switches too. Both steeply discounted for BF. I started talking to one of the employees about the generator. As I was preparing to head out, I said, "I'd buy both of these if you used this Lowes coupon to drop the price 10%." He did and I have been using that generator for a decade. 6000 watts for about $70 per year. I power my well (2), my boiler, the kitchen, my bedroom, and this circuit that feeds lights on every floor of my house. When we lose power, we are warm, drink cold beer, take hot showers, eat hot meals, watch television, and sleep is a warm waterbed (all of us). That is why I stop in to Home Depot every Black Friday.
  24. Right. Walmart announced that they [will] have a plan... I received three orders this week. Yesterday, I got a package from Amazon. Box was savaged but well packed and there was no damage to the contents. I reluctantly ordered two gallons of soy sauce and a half gallon of honey from Walmart.com. The items shipped as two orders. Both arrived at the same time on the same truck. Boxes were somewhat damaged and the packing was ineffective, but the durable plastic product containers held up. I got my Sling TV Anywhere DVR two days ago. The box arrived undamaged (UPS), the DVR and antenna were carefully and securely packed in the box. The individual packaging of the products was outstanding. So, it can be done. Just not by Amazon or Walmart these days.
  25. Here's a deal for those who have an antenna or are considering installing one. This, BTW, is a great time to install an antenna. Conditions are favorable to climbing on ladders and roofs but horrible for antenna reception. Leaves full of moisture, always a little wet, and in constant motion make reception difficult. If you can get things working in the fall, you will be good the rest of the year. This deal is for a whole house DVR. The $189 price includes a 1TB/four stream Sling TV Anywhere DVR, an indoor antenna, and three months of Sling TV (which will see you cord cutters through the election). Pay using a Discover card via PayPal before the end of the month to get 5% cash back ($9.45). https://www.sling.com/deals This DVR competes with the TabloTV DVRs and the Amazon Recast. I own and like all three of these DVRs. This group competes with set top DVRs and, to a lesser extent, TCL Roku televisions which can pause, rewind, and fast forward broadcast TV. A whole house DVR connects to an antenna and your network. They have tuners and local storage. Key features include the number of tuners, the quality of the tuners, how many streams can run simultaneously, internal storage, external storage, what devices can receive the stream, and whether the device can stream outside your local network. The Sling TV Anywhere has four tuners and can stream or record four shows simultaneously. It has a 1TB internal disk that can store 150 hours of HD content. Sling has promised the USB port will soon support external storage as well. Broadcast television can be accessed using Roku, Amazon Fire TV and iOS and Android devices. You can watch one stream outside your home. Sling TV Anywhere launched September 10th. The list price of $199.99 includes 1TB of internal storage and guide service. That compares favorably to the 1TB four tuner Tablo TV DVR which costs $239.99 and requires a subscription guide service. Lifetime guide service is $149.99. Sling TV Anywhere also compares favorably to the Amazon Recast which costs $279.99 for the 1TB four tuner configuration (which includes a free guide service). Right now, the 1TB four tuner Sling TV Anywhere is $99 when you prepay for three months of any Sling package at $30.00 per month -- or $189 -- and includes an indoor antenna. A good deal if you do not want an antenna or three months of Sling and a great deal if you have use for one or both of the bundled items. The quality of tuner on these devices is comparable. In my experience, the whole house DVRs tend to be softer than set top boxes due to compression required to get the stream to work over wireless. The Recast makes things a bit worse by saving files in 720p. Your content may be scaled to 720p by the Recast then sent to a television that re-scales to 1080i. the Recast looks great on my Echo Shows and 720p sets but a bit soft on the 4k sets. The Tablo TV lets you select the saved resolution. You can bump the saved resolution to 1024 for better quality or 480p to save space. It's not clear how the Sling TV Anywhere DVR saves files. I called their tech support. After a long wait on hold, the CSR said they 'think' their DVR saves at the incoming resolution. All of these DVRs have four tuners. The Tablo TV DVR and the Sling TV Anywhere DVR can record or stream four programs simultaneously. The Recast can record four programs simultaneously but can only stream two concurrently. Also, while the Tablo TV DVR and the Sling TV Anywhere DVR can stream to just about any streamer, tv, or phone, the Recast can only stream to Fire TV devices (including the Echo Show devices) and IOS and Android phones. And, while the Tablo TV DVR and the Sling TV Anywhere DVR can stream to devices which are not phones outside your home, the Recast can not stream to external devices other than phones. I should also talk about OTT. OTT or streaming includes apps like Netflix, Prime, Sling TV, Pluto, Philo, YouTube TV, and all the rest. The devices these DVRs run on support many streaming services. The Recast and Sling TV Anywhere DVR integrate some of these services into the DVR's electronic program guide. I love this integration. The Sling TV Anywhere DVR integrates Sling, of course. The Recast integrates Philo, Pluto, Sling TV, and Prime Channels into the Recast's program guide. This only works for FireTV apps. Echo Shows only list OTA channels in the guide. Still slick. All include 1TB of internal storage. The Recast and Tablo TV DVRs support additional storage via USB. Sling promises to add this feature via a software update (as Amazon did with the Recast). In my home, most of the televisions I watch regularly have a TiVo Roamio/OTA on top. I prefer a set top box for picture quality and responsiveness. I have a Recast for my Echo Shows and a few TVs not close to coax or ethernet. I bought the Sling Air TV DVR for use outside my home. Primarily for use of others. In fact, I will be looking for someone who would 'swap' external streams with me so we can add to our OTA programming. I did want to be able to follow the election, so the Sling TV Blue three month subscription represents value to me. I know people who could use the antenna, too. I got 5% cashback ($9.45) by using Discover via PayPal, so the cost of the DVR and antenna bundle was technically $88.55. I've just installed this DVR, but I'm impressed. Setup is simple, but requires a smart phone. Picture quality on my 55" 4K TCL Roku TV rivals my TiVo and is much better than the Recast. On my 32" 720p set, the picture is as good as the Recast. Tuner performance is on par with the TiVo and Recast. When one of my marginal channels became unwatchable on the Sling TV DVR Anywhere, it was also unwatchable on the TiVo and the Recast. I brought a 4K Fire TV Stick to work today. Plugged it into a television and AC power, signed onto the wifi network, ran the Sling app, and was watching television -- my antenna, Sling Blue, and Pluto. Very nice. I'm hoping to find someone to share antennas with. I did this with the Simple TV DVR. It was awesome. They planned to launch in Europe and I was going to swap antennas with someone in the UK. Happy Shopping!
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