A $100,000 Shower ?

I'm back from my week long vacation in Tahoe (so amazing but it made me sick again, yuck) and ready to write about my latest annoyance: a post for a $100,000 shower.

For that much money, it has to be an amazing mix of design, technology, and function, right? In my opinion, wrong. I think it must have been designed with the sole purpose of getting a person in, soaped up, rinsed, and out in 2 minutes flat. Usually there's nothing wrong with that when you're in a hurry or just need a wake-me-up, since it saves water and you don't need to do any of the extras. But as you can see below, there will be absolutely no water saved by using this shower.


With 18 shower heads, including the rather intimidating, up-ward shooting one at the bottom, this money-sucker raises some interesting questions like:
~Where am I supposed to shave?
~Will I be able to see what I'm doing?
~How am I going to sing when there's water being shot into my throat?
~Why on earth would I pay $100,000 for this thing?

Of course, I have to admit, there is one thing about it that I love. It is entirely computer controlled, so you can control the temperature with the push of a button. There is nothing worse than standing in an unfamiliar shower trying to figure out the alien nozzle while freezing and/or scalding water is coming down on you. So kudos for that!

But while I'm on the subject, here are the specs for my ideal 100 grand shower:

• A keypad that allows me to set the temperature and then choose either bath or shower

• Color changing water that notifies you when the water is hot enough, like this KZLIDEA product:

• A control option that allows me to control the pressure so that it can be turned up while I'm rinsing out conditioner and turned way down while I'm shaving

• A clock with alarm capabilities for those morning showers

• A real soundsystem with waterproof speakers and an LCD panel at the back of the shower so that I can get my daily dose of the Today show on NBC

• An automatic shower cleaner so I don't have to do any dirty work once I'm all clean

That would be a shower I'd be willing to buy (you know, once I come up with $100,000)

Got an ideas that you'd like to see? Leave them here so they might one day be real!

I'll leave you with with the latest design idea that made me giggle regarding bathing:
Bathing with the Fishes

I wanna know where the Gold at!

Happy St. Patty's Day All!

In today's blog I am going to tackle a chore that I have always despised: Laundry. Just to give you an idea of my aversion to washing clothes, in high school my parents used laundry as a form of punishment; if I misbehaved or talked back, then I would have to do it myself. Needless to say, I strove to stay squeaky clean for those years.

There are many reasons for my hatred of this task:

• The looming fear of shrinking, dyeing, or otherwise ruining some of my favorite clothes
• The sorting ritual; whites, colors, hand-wash, dry-clean only, cold water, lay flat to dry...
• Moving clothes from the washer to the dryer and dropping them on the floor in-between
• Deciding which cleaning product to use and remembering to put it in: detergent for colors or whites, bleach, liquid softener, dryer sheets
• The fact that you can't wash a small amount of clothes without wasting a ton of water and energy
• And lastly, the amount of time that goes into all this

Although it's true that I could just have my laundry sent to a cleaner's and that would take care of all but the first of my reasons, the cost of doing so on a regular basis is just too high. Plus there's the added fear of clothes being lost or finding someone else's laundry with your own (eew).

I realize that it's not something I'll ever be able to avoid completely (unless I finally become a millionaire), but I believe that there is a machine that could aide in my suffering: a Smart, High Efficiency All-in-One Washer/Dryer. The high efficiency in order to keep bills to a minimum and my 'help the environment' cause going strong, and the All-in-One aspect to eliminate the waiting around to switch clothes from one to the other (and the agony of dropping things in between). This way I can leave to do something useful and not worry about leaving wet clothes in the washing machine too long (I hate that damp smell they can get). These two aspects are easier to understand, but...

What makes a Washer/Dryer "Smart"?

• Built-in detergent and dryer sheet dispensers to ensure they never forgotten again
  

• The ability to sense how full the load is and change the amount of water, detergent, and time accordingly
• Traditional Washing options (water temperature, spin speed) alongside traditional drying options (level of heat, etc.) so that an entire cycle can be chosen at the beginning of a wash and not thought about until the clothes are dry, while still giving you the ability to still do one without the other
  
• Additional "Microwave-esque" quick cycle options such as a Bulky Items button for jeans, sweats, and bedding; or a Hand Wash button that gently soaks your delicates in cold water and uses room temperature to tumble dry. For these loads it is possible to push one button and know that they will be cleaned and dryed correctly, just like the 'popcorn' button on your microwave.
• A steam option to quickly freshen up and clear any wrinkles from clothes you need now

I am saving up the money to buy this machine as soon as someone (LG, Whirlpool, anybody??) decides to create it.

Until then, here are some of the current useful products on the market:

High efficiency washers:
General Information and Selected Products

At Home Dry Cleaning:
DryCleaner's Secret

Washing machine with steaming options:
LG SteamWasher

Laundry Sorter for your whites, darks, and dry clean-only's:
Seagrass Triple Laundry Sorter

And although there are all-in-one machines available, I wouldn't suggest them just yet since they take up to 5 hours to complete a cycle and have less capacity.


Enjoy a green beer today, take taxis, and have a LUCKY St. Patrick's Day!!!

And for your enjoyment, a funny rap video based on an Alabama town that claimed there was a Leprechaun in their midst:
Gimme da Gold

Also, the original news story that it was taken from (this is real)

Yes, this is where my blog title is from =-)

Tales from a Kitchen Rookie

I will begin with a quote from the Today show (my guilty pleasure in the morning):

“Good morning, good morning, everyone in the news this morning, good morning”

~No one has such finesse for words as Ann Curry.

This week I am switching gears a little and talking about something that I would love to be invented, rather than looking into solutions that are, or will soon be, available.

A little background:

I love cooking because it makes me feel like a domestic goddess when I’m all finished; unfortunately, the scene while I’m actually doing the cooking is far from holy. I am incredibly clumsy and am a minor dyslexic; so I tend to spill boiling water, drop pans, cut my fingers, and read most measurements incorrectly. Sounds like it may be a lost cause, but I am not one to give up. I believe that much of my clumsiness arises from the rushed feeling I tend to get while cooking. There are always a few pots on the stove and something in the oven while I’m still at the cutting board furiously chopping and slicing other ingredients. This often causes sauces to burn, pasta to stick to the bottom of the pan, and vegetables turn into mushy messes. So last time I was cooking I came up with an idea that I thought I’d share today.

I think it would be extremely helpful if there was a pot that stirred itself. At the bottom of the pot would be a rotating device that would keep food from sticking to the bottom of the pot and to itself. This way all those trips from the preparation area to the stove would be cut down and less food will be spoiled and/or spilled. They would also be useful in blending the sauce together with the pasta at the end of all the cooking. Since the pots will already need to have a little power in them, I think that there should also be a timer embedded in the handle. That way each item has its own timer and nothing will be over cooked.

Below is a rough picture so you can get an idea of what I'm imagining: (the pink pots are optional)

Some specifications:

• Must be like a normal pot that can be placed on the stove (not a separate device)
• Dishwasher safe
• Either comes with small recharging station or rechargeable batteries
• Stirrers can be turned on or off while the timer is still functional
  

And just for fun, here are some links to cooking tools/ sites that I like:

Good Chopping Knife with Bowl

Food Network Recipes

How-to guide to a ton of Recipes

Cool Kitchen Gadgets

Have a wonderful day and thanks for reading!

Interesting Article...

Hi All -

I found this article today and thought if you liked the last post you might be interested...

It describes 10 ways to help with the tons of wires that build up behind your computer and/ or home theatre set-up.

Enjoy!

http://lifehacker.com/364054/top-10-ways-to-get-cables-under-control

I just can't do it captain, I don't have the power!

Hi everyone!

This week I decided to tackle a question that my mom has been bugging me about for years now:

Since my dad started installing home theatres 5 years ago, we’ve had quite a few components going in and out of our living room. My mom has always complained that none of them ever actually turn off; making the room have a constant hum and sucking up energy 24 hours a day. While these are advertised as low-power standby modes, the vast majority of users would not care about whether the component turned on 3 seconds faster by using this much more energy. Until now the only solution would be to individually unplug the components that could be unplugged, such as the TV, DVD player, and receiver. (The DVR and surge protector need to be plugged in so that your favorite shows can still be recorded. Who could miss The Office??) However, the task of getting behind all the components each time you’d like to watch TV or turn it off is frankly far too annoying and bothersome to actually do it on a regular basis.

But there is finally a solution: Belkin recently announced a new surge protector which would allow you to wirelessly turn off 6 of the 8 available outlets with the press of a button. Not only will you save power, but the annoying lights and humming noises that come along with stand by mode will be a thing of the past.

Don't go searching for it just yet though - it's not scheduled for release until this coming summer.

Now if we could only find a way to wirelessly power most of the components and get rid of the sea of cables, my life would be complete.

Hope this helps mom!!