Wed 11/18/2009 2:51 PM

gimplements: telestik portable reachers

A couple of years ago I discovered what just might be the most useful "gimplement" (that's a tool, or implement, that makes life easier for gimpy people like me - otherwise known as a daily living aid) I have ever owned. It's actually a pair of tools: two different styles of Telestik portable reachers.

Standard reachers have always been useless to me, as they require the user to squeeze a trigger in order to grip an object, and hand strength is not something I was blessed with. Telestik reachers use alternate methods of grasping objects, and require very little hand strength. Between the two models, there are three different ways to grab onto an object. The MA4000 model features a powerful magnet capable of lifting metal objects up to one pound. It is also hook shaped, allowing one to snag objects which may not be attracted to the magnet. The other model, AD3000, has a strong, yet clean adhesive, also capable of lifting up to one pound. Despite its strength, the adhesive doesn't leave behind any sticky residue and won't tear paper. It can be easily cleaned with soap and water if it begins to lose its stickiness, and the adhesive discs can be replaced. It also has a cap to protect it when not in use. While this model does also have a small hook on the back, I find that most attempts to use it cause the cap to fall off.

I use my MA4000 every single day, for all sorts of things. If I need to pick up a stack of papers from the floor, I'll drop a metal clip, clip it on the pages with my feet and then snag it with the magnet. I can pick up a toilet paper roll from low storage spaces by wedging the hook inside. I even use it to tuck hair behind my ears and to pull my glasses off of my face.

I use the AD3000 less often than the magnetic model, but it is still handy for those times when I need to retrieve an object that is neither magnetic nor able to be caught by the hook on the MA4000. Among other things, I have used it to pick up a piece of paper that fell behind my desk, a TV remote dropped between the couches, and even to lower food packages from the kitchen cupboard.

One of the best things about both Telestik models is that they are telescopic, and collapse down to about seven inches long. This makes them extremely portable compared to those bulky squeeze trigger reachers, as they can easily fit into a purse or backpack to go everywhere with you.

I can no longer imagine life without my Telestik reachers. In fact, I'm going to add a second pair to my Christmas list, so that I can have a pair both at work and at home. (Even though they're super portable, digging around in my purse all the time gets to be a hassle, and often in the haste of leaving either location, something gets left behind.)

Disclosure: The links in this post are affiliate links, and I will be paid a commission for sales generated through them. The opinions, however, are 100% honest and mine alone.

2 comments/trackbacks

Tue 11/17/2009 8:58 PM

sponsored tweets another way to earn

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Sponsored Tweets. All opinions are 100% mine.

As you know, I've given up my mission to make a livable income online, as I found it's just not a reasonably attainable goal for those of us who don't have money to put into it. But I haven't stopped my online earning attempts completely. I still do sponsored blog posts like this one, I dabble, mostly unsuccessfully, in affiliate marketing, and most recently I've been trying out Twitter advertising - that is, accepting payment, either per post or per click, for posting ads to my Twitter account.

One such advertising network is IZEA's Sponsored Tweets, brought to you by the same company behind PayPerPost and SocialSpark, two sponsored blogging networks I've participated in for a while now. I can't honestly say it's been my most successful Twitter ad network, as I tend to get fewer offers through it than I do through some of the other sites I'm a part of. But it hasn't been the least successful either. I've made $5 so far with Sponsored Tweets, and all of the offers I've received through them so far have been paid per post, meaning I get paid simply for posting the ad, whether or not any of my followers click the posted link.

So this is how it works. When you sign up for Sponsored Tweets, they look at how many followers you have on Twitter and suggest a price you should charge advertisers for tweeting their message. You have the option to accept their suggested price, or set your own price, but obviously if you set it too high, you won't get any offers. Once you're all set up, you just sit back and wait for the advertisers to come to you. You'll get either an e-mail or a Twitter direct message each time an advertiser wants to work with you, and you may reject, accept, or sometimes even suggest an edit for the ad to make it better fit your tweeting style (which the advertiser then has the chance to reject or approve). The ad is then automatically tweeted on your behalf - but only after both you and the advertiser are happy with everything. Payment is always quickly deposited to your account on Sponsored Tweets, and you can cash out as soon as your account balance reaches $50. All ads from Sponsored Tweets are clearly marked as paid advertising (you'll choose one of a few different ways to do so), so you don't have to feel like you are deceiving your followers.

While we're being completely honest, the only thing I really don't like about Sponsored Tweets is the minimum cash out amount. I don't believe anyone has the right to hold hostage money that I have earned fair and square, but that's another rant for another day. At the very least, I wish IZEA would allow its members to combine their balances from all IZEA networks to reach that $50.

0 comments/trackbacks

Fri 11/06/2009 3:10 PM

now sporting a 'new' old iphone

Drama of the Week: I woke up Monday morning to find a gray stripe down the left side of my iPhone screen, along with some squiggly gray lines at the top. I rebooted and reset it, but the rogue pixels would not go away. It had been just fine when I had used it before going to bed Sunday night, and now it was not.

A friend who works for Apple told me it was likely my LCD was torn and I just needed the screen replaced. The problem: this was a first generation (2G) iPhone, and they don't do screen replacements for them. I've been avoiding buying a newer model, even though I could get a refurbished 3G for just $49, because I want to be able to buy next year's model at upgrade pricing when it comes out. Buying an upgrade now would lock me out of doing so again for eighteen months (unless I want to pay full price - i.e. my first born).

Big sister Dana to the rescue! It seems my timing could not have been better. She had passed her original 2G along to my brother-in-law when she got her 3G last Christmas, and it just so happens that he just upgraded himself... so now that phone is in the hands of its third owner - me! I found it on my doorstep when I got home last night, and promptly began the activation and data transfer process. Now I'm back in business; everything transferred perfectly and it's like the same phone, except the screen isn't borked. Here's to keeping our fingers crossed that this one holds out until the 2010 iPhone release!

0 comments/trackbacks

Thu 10/29/2009 1:25 PM

rare moment of shopping success

Shopping for clothes is usually an extremely frustrating experience for me. Differences in the shape of my body, and in my ability to get certain items on and off independently, mean that I have to be very particular about the styles I select. People think I'm being overly picky or stubborn, but it's really just that I know my body and I know what works and what doesn't, and it seems that as time goes on, the fashion world moves further and further away from the styles that work for me. I really wish they would stop that.

But sometimes, I manage to be in the right place at the right time, and have a really satisfying shopping excursion, just when I'm about to give up.

Since the weather has cooled off, I have been searching for some new winter pants to wear to work... well, and everywhere else. The several pairs of cotton jersey knit pants I have been wearing for the past few years have definitely seen better days. They've shrunk, thinned and faded from years of washing, and they have holes in them from puppy claws and teeth. So I've been looking for something similar, but it seems the style this year for elastic waist pants is an extra wide waistband, which is usually not stretchy enough for me to pull down, and a low-rise waist which pretty much makes thong underwear mandatory - and I'm sorry, but I don't do thongs. This is all I've been able to find.

Since I had to go to Target anyway the other night, I decided to look there for pants, even though I've never had much luck with clothes shopping there before (though I absolutely love the store for everything else). Well, this was one of those rare occasions, when I was in the right place at the right time.

Before I even got to the pants, I saw a dress I really liked, so stopped to look at it. It was a long halter dress, brown with purple and teal paisley. It had been marked down, and then marked down again, for a final price of six dollars and twenty-four cents! Yeah, that went in the cart. Then I noticed that they were having a clearance sale on summer items, so I started sifting through the racks. I wear a lot of plain, solid color tee shirts - by themselves in the spring and summer, and then under my sweaters and sweatshirts in the fall and winter. I found one of these, in navy blue, for less than two dollars, and a cute shirt with ruffled cap sleeves for seven and change. When I finally got to the pants, I was disappointed to find nothing but more of the same low rise, wide waist uselessness... until I spotted a display of Hanes mix and match sweats for $6.49 each. The pants had boot cut legs, so they didn't really look like sweatpants. They did have the wide waistband, but it was plenty high, so I decided to try them on anyway.

PERFECT! They fit like a dream, are super comfy, and the waistband is stretchy enough in spite of itself. Plus, being sweatpants, they're much warmer than the thinned-out pants I've been wearing. The only thing I was disappointed by was that they only had one black pair in my size. I grabbed a navy blue pair also, but would have gotten another pair or two in black if they'd had them. That's okay, though, because I'm sure I can find more online. Finally, my hunt for pants is over.

To recap, I got two pairs of pants, two shirts and a dress, all for less than $29. Thank you, universe, for giving me a break!

0 comments/trackbacks

Mon 10/26/2009 2:54 PM

a blue ribbon couples' costume

Me and Chris dressed up as party hosts Beth and Mike.

The past few weekends have been pretty uneventful, but we did attend the annual Nelson Halloween Party on Friday night. This is the same party to which we went as Peter & Lois Griffin last year. This year, Chris came up with the brilliant idea to have a little fun with Mike and Beth, the party hosts, by dressing up as them. The focal point of the whole costume was Mike's "crappy yellow Jeep", which Chris replicated using a Dell computer box, some styrofoam discs, and a whole lot of spray paint and duct tape (in spite of which it still did not hold together very well). Despite losing a wheel, the Jeep made the costume and got him the first place ribbon for best costume.

My costume was much easier, and much more comfortable. Beth is an ER nurse at the local children's hospital, so all I had to do was put on a set of scrubs and hang a stethoscope around my neck. To our shock and amazement, two other guests also came dressed as Beth! I guess great minds think alike. However, they both wore generic blue costume scrubs and plastic toy stethoscopes, while my scrubs were purple and my stethoscope real - so as far as I'm concerned, my Beth costume was the best!

0 comments/trackbacks