Allergic reactions

That's it I'm emailing them!

Looked on the ingredients, all it said was: apples

For Sale - Name your price?

Esmeral Queen Bed review for Overstock.com

Whenever reading furniture reviews, I personally would disregard any review that isn't at least 3 months old.  Would I buy this bed again? No. Reason being, the slat system is truly crap.  You may be saying, "I'll just buy a new and different slat system," and that's okay, but what you should be asking yourself is, "how come it doesn't already come with a slat system that works?" The bed gets passing marks for looks, easy set up, cost, and design.  The instructions are easy to read and pictures are clear, which always helps.  In regard to the slats, well, they must've been designed by a talking monkey.  I don't see how anyone would be supported on the mid-beam.  The mid beam screws into the footboard only, and is  supported with four cylindrical legs about 1" in diameter, and 8" in height.  There is no attachment at the headboard which in my opinion is the primary flaw with the slat system.  I am not an engineer but it seems this lack of headboard attachment is what allows the unsteadiness of the slats.  The double-side anchoring design would fix this problem.  I read some customers used a box spring, then complained that it didn't fit snug.  Well, the Product Q & A states it is a platform bed and does not need a box spring.  I purchased a memory foam mattress and it fits, and looks perfect.  The problem began with the slats would fall individually out of their plastic brackets.  I tried switching the positions of the slats, thinking maybe there were stronger plastic brackets in other sleep pressure points of the bed, but that didn't work.  I then tried Gorilla Glue and that worked for a while, but eventually the slats fell again.  Usually when the slats fell, the support legs for the beam would break a little.  Ultimately, the legs broke and the screws were completely bent.  This happened over a period of 3 weeks.  After waking up in the middle of the night trying to fix the slats, and laying stiff in bed in order to prevent the slats from falling, I reached the breaking point, and came up with a solution that has worked ever since.  I simply cut a 4x4 into four 9" pieces, and screwed them into the place of the original legs.  Problem solved.

Original unboxing.  The frame is already assembled, and pictured above is the pieces from the slat system.  There are 13 beams on each side, with the metal mid support beam.  The slats are secured to the both the frame, and the mid beam via plastic brackets.  In the picture below, you will see the wooden beams do not fit snugly into their brackets.

View of the assembled bed frame with the first few sets of slats in place.  The slats are bowed correctly, with the crown facing upward.  

Picture of the plastic brackets.  The two pointed nodes are fitted into the bed frame.  

Here is a shot of the slats inside of the plastic brackets.  There is some space that allows for some movement, and subsequent instability of the slats. 

In this picture, the slats fit much more snugly.  Some of the plastic brackets were like this one, while others were like the one above. 

This shot is to show the adjustment of the legs.

Here is one of the support legs not doing what they were designed to do - support.  The one is bent and the screw is bent even more by about 10 degrees.

These two pictures were taken about 2 weeks before the legs just completely collapsed.  

And finally, this is the solution I came up with.  I am not the most mechanically inclined person, but I do have some creativity and some tools.  I actually came up with three ideas to fix the slats, and this just happened to be the quickest.  Turns out, it works like a charm!  Simply, I just took a 4x4 and cut them into 9" piece blocks.  Then they were screwed into the mid beam with the a set of stronger screws.  All in all, this updated modification cost $6.43.  Since I don't own a circular saw, I had the guys at Bayside Lumber Yard in San Mateo cut them, and then bought the screws from Hassett Ace Hardware.  Problem solved. 

 

Gotdamn nails in my tire. Take it out or leave it in?

WTF?

Chilling at the local park here in San Jose.  When suddenly, this bird emerges from the water.  Sorry, I'm no bird enthusiast, so I have no idea what it is.  It didn't appear to fly, although it swam very fast.  Much faster than the ducks in the pond.  It also ran literally on top of the water!  It was on shore, then it was chased by another unidentified species of bird, and this thing just took off (not flying) into the water, and ran on the surface for about 5 seconds, almost 10 meters.  

I just sat and watched, hoping it didn't attack me. 

Clearly I have no idea how to I.D. birds.  I recently called a vulture a hawk, only to be schooled on how to tell a hawk from a vulture.  Apparently, the translucency of the wings has something to do with it.  Oh yeah, also the red head of the vulture gives it away

GoPro Wrist Mount Review

Sorry, no review because I never used it.  I bought it at Best Buy across the street from Six Flags Discovery Kingdom; turns out, GoPro's aren't allowed on roller coasters. Who'd thunk?  I tried sneaking it on, but was busted.  It has since been sold on Craigslist

Name That Condition

Bony, hard, projection over lower leg.  Medial tibia, inferior to joint line. Examination reveals no tender sensation, no soreness, and no temperature change. Size is approximately 3cm x 5cm

Motorcycle Gear Review

 Pictures here and below taken on Feb. 2, 2010.  Icon Team Merc jacket, made of textile, and armored shoulders and elbows.  Colors are white/grey/camouflage.  I bought the 2XL because at the time I was kinda fat.  I was about 230 lbs. and 5'11", but pretty much a muscular build.  Not beer-guttin' it

 Fast forward two years later, May 18, 2012, and after one low-speed lowside the jacket still holds up!  Minus the usual wear of sweat spots, musky man smell, and bug blood, the jacket is fantastic.  

 Here is a hole from said lowside.  That's it.  This is on the left elbow.

  Icon Victory Riding Pants on 2/6/2010.  Brand spanking new.  Sz. 38 because like I mentioned above, I was a bit overweight when I bought these.  

  Fast forward 2 years on May 18, 2012 after a low-speed lowside through an intersection.  That's it.  A small hole on the lower left leg.  The pants are as advertised, and held up very well.  

  Freeze-Out Brand from Cycle Gear...plainly stinks.  Good thing I bought them on sale for $14.99 because now they are listed at $29.99 which is a rip off

  Not only do they NOT work by keeping the cold out, but they ripped to shreds. 

  I bought these in December 2011 when it get's the coldest in the Bay Area.  I couldn't bare the cold commutes any longer.  It was becoming no fun while riding in the morning.  Funny thing was, only my hands were cold.  Other parts of my body were cold, too, but they would be fine.  I need my hands, obviously, for shifting and breaking, and controls. I took these pictures on 5/18/2012, but they've been breaking at the seams since January.  It started with a litter tear and eventually spread. 

 Shift Racing Stealth Gloves are no longer available but that doesn't matter because Shift is a good brand.  At least, by me they are.  I bought these the same day I got the rest of the above gear and it's all held up during the crash.  Only thing that remains is a small hole under the fifth digit on the left, and a small hole in between the 4th & 5th on the right hand.  

Time to go test out some new bikes

Just like last year, when Kawi hosted a similar event.  I walked away with a new Ninja.  Not gonna buy this year, but it will be fun to test out the new Honda's

Update*** Terrible! Seriously thinking about never shopping at East Bay Motorsports ever again.  Not only did I show up early and on time, it appeared as if no one who worked there had any idea today was the event.  When I managed to find Marty, he told me there was only two motorcycles there...and some scooters. WHat???! Is this a demo-day or what?  Absolutely terrible

Ummm...WTF?

Sooo... I just moved into a new apartment. And before I have my new bed sent, I am using the provided bed the room was originally furnished with. No biggie; I've slept in places before where I probably shouldn't have, and came out fine. But I pulled up my sheet to fix it, and saw this.  Can anyone confirm what species of alien this is? Hope it's not what I think it is.

This is a 6x zoomed in photo.  The bug is less than 1cm in length, dark brown color, doesn't appear to be translucent, six legs, "pinchers" on its front end, moves slow, no wings; and I was unable to determine if it was hard or soft but when I smashed it with a napkin, it didn't immediately die. So what's your guess?