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You are here: Home / Archives for Home and Lifestyle

Fantastic guide to Green Cars

July 12, 2007 by Chris

It’s nice to see that car manufactures are beginning to design more and more green cars. My wife and I try to live a fairly green lifestyle. In fact she’s been writing about it on her gardening blog recently. Over the last few years we’ve been changing slowing and living a greener lifestyle.

One major change that we’d like to make, probably with our next car purchase would be to get a green car. Probably a hybrid or if possible a pure electric car.

With this in mind, I was happy to find an article about the Greenest cars on earth over at the Vcars website.

Vcars specializes in the sale of Used cars and I suppose it won’t be long before they’ll be selling a few used green cars since there are more and more types of green cars on the market each year.

The article that I read discusses the many types of green cars that are presently being sold, as well as prototypes and manufactures plans for green cars of the future.

Probably the most well known green car is the hybrid Toyota Prius. This vehicle and it’s specifications are discussed in the article, as are a number of electric cars such as the G-Wiz, and the Sakura Maranello4. It seems that both of these cars can be found on the streets of London. As far as I know we don’t have anything quite like that available to us here in North America, but I hope that we will soon.

Then there are cars by a variety of well known manufacturers that produce a very low C02 footprint compared to many other vehicles on the road today. Cars such as the Honda Civic, Lexus RX-400h, and Lexus GS-450h are all considered green cars.

If you have an interest in cars I’m sure you’ll enjoy the article, and if you are interested in living green you’ll find some very useful information that will help you decide on your next car.

You must go to the site and see the prototypes of future green cars. Did you know that there’s plans for a Tesla Roadster Electric Vehicle? It looks amazing! Scroll to the last third of the article to see a photo of this cool looking car.

Overall I found this article quite informative and I’m sure I’ll go back to it when we are about to buy a new car.




Filed Under: Home and Lifestyle, Technology Tagged With: car makers, electric, electric car, future green cars, Green cars, greenest cars, hybrid, hybrid car, London, low c02 footprint, major manufactures, protoypes, UK, used cars, Vcar

My new SONY HDR-SR5 Video Camera

July 3, 2007 by Chris

So we finally got ourselves a more then capable HD Video camera. Our SONY HDR-SR5 was bought this past Sunday. I have been going over the manual for some time now and I must admit it seems easy enough to use but to get the desired effect maybe another story.

hdr-sr5.jpg My first video attempt was just random shots here and there around the house. I also had the opportunity to video some fireworks down at our local park. It was Canada Day on Sunday so perfect timing! The focus was so fluid and the simple effects were just plain simple to execute! The touch screen was very user friendly not to mention very cool as well! It is set up in such a simple format that even my parents, I think, could figure it out. Sorry mom & dad!

hdrsr5.jpg

The HDR-SR5 has a CD for running the camera for idiots and another for the recording software as well as an in dept PDF manual that is very straight forward.

If you are looking for a HD Video camera I think you should check this one out! The only problem that I have with this so far is that we need a S-Video cable to plug it into our SAMSUNG HDTV. Otherwise full steam ahead.

Today I will install the software in my laptop and try out a few of the basic functions. I hope the software allows me to import the audio from an POD to the final video. If I am having problems the old boys at G-Force Media Productions in Toronto, can certainly help me out!

So wish me luck! Finally after all the hype about my starting to set up lessons on line it really will be coming soon to you my good readership!!!

Keep on Jammin’

Filed Under: Electronics, Entertainment, Home and Lifestyle, Shopping, Technology, Video Tagged With: 1080i, functions, G Force Media Productions, HD video, HDTV, smallest HD Video camera, software, SONY, SONY HDR SR5, Toronto, Video, Video camera

It’s wonderful to be a home owner

May 15, 2007 by Chris

I can’t believe that we’ve owned our house for almost 7 years. For a time we didn’t think we’d ever be able to own a house. In fact it was my wife that finally convinced me that we could do it and you know what she was right. We are doing better in our own home than when we rented an apartment.

I think it was the whole idea of applying formortgages that scared me. Well applying for one, getting it and having to pay it off. We were really lucky though when we got our mortgage. The interest was unbelievably low at the time and for the first six months we didn’t even pay any interest, then we paid 0.5% for another 6 months or so … and then it slowly crept up to about 3.75% by the end of the first 5 years that we owned our home. Obviously we had a variable mortgage. Even though our interest rates increased over the years that we had the first mortgage ours was still lower than many of our friends who purchased their homes just before we did, or even a few months later. Our timing was fantastic!

Last year we applied for a mortgage renewal. Since it was our first renewal that was a bit scary. We actually toyed with the idea of either getting one of those secured loans or perhaps even to Remortgage when we were renewing because we are in the middle of renovating and we’d slowed down for a bit. I wanted to just borrow some money and hire someone to finish the work, but we decided not to do that.

When we did get our first mortgage we found it nerve wracking. The banks look into your credit history and want to know all the nitty gritty details of your finances before they’ll approve your mortgage request. Plus you never know how much of a mortgage you’ll qualify for until they tell you. Now that we’ve been through all of that I’m glad the bank did their homework on us and checked us out thoroughly. I mean, they approved a mortgage that we’d be able to pay. Wouldn’t it have been awful if they let us decide how much of a mortgage we wanted for a home and it ended up that we’d purchased a home that we couldn’t really manage the payments for? That’d be awful.

The mortgage that we were approved for was a little less than we’d been hoping for, but as you can see, we managed to get a house that we’re very happy with, in a great neighborhood, close to work and we’re happy with what we ended up having. We can afford it. The payments are more than manageable, even with my wife off work due to illness, and we’ve even managed to pay a bit extra on our mortgage so if we’re lucky we might have it all payed off in less than 15 years.

How have things turned out for you with your home mortgages? Or Do you even have a home? If you don’t – are you a bit nervous about going through the whole buying and mortgage approval process?

Filed Under: Finance, Home and Lifestyle Tagged With: expenses, Finance, finances, getting a mortgage, Home, home owner, interest, loan, loans, low interest, money, mortgage approval, mortgage interest rates, mortgages, owning a home, purchasing a home, remortgage, secured loans, UK

HitFlip UK – Swap media products with others

April 18, 2007 by Chris

I just visited a great site called Hitflip Uk where residents of the UK can swap media related products with other members of the HitFlip site.

Want to exchange games, music CDs, DVDs, books and audiobooks that you don’t use anymore for similar items that you can use? Just sign up for a Hitflip account and start listing the items you’d like to swap.

Of course if I set up an account on HitFlip I’d be busy looking for great music cds and music related DVDs. We have a great collection already, but hey, we could always use more.

Check out the HitFlip UK Blog to learn a bit more about this company that recently changed it’s name from Swopex. There’s also a great demo of how the site works and plenty of FAQ’s to get you started and answer any questions you might have on the main site.

Filed Under: Home and Lifestyle, Music, Recreation, Shopping Tagged With: barter, CD, DVD, exchange, games, hitflip UK, media products, Music, swap, swap audiobooks, swap books, swap cds, swap dvds, UK, UK residents

BlackScene.com – Black dating site

March 29, 2007 by Chris

A new dating site has recently opened up. It’s called Blackscene.com and it was created specifically for those interested in the Black Dating scene.

Memberships is free, and there’s even a new forum where you can talk with other site members. As I look through the site it appears that it’s mainly for people in North America as the sign up form asks for a zip or postal code. I’m presuming that’s so that members can be matched up with those in their general area.

The site appears to be very easy to use, and the design and layout of the site are appealing. You can search for someone interesting right from the front page of the site if you’d like, or sign in and get a little more specific.

The site is unique I believe in that it’s designed specifically for black people. I like that when you reload the main page you can see fresh new people that have just put their profile on the site. It keeps things interesting.

Apparently there are a few 100 new members each day. So if you’re looking for a date, or perhaps even the love of your life sign up. You’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Filed Under: Dating and Relationships, Home and Lifestyle, Recreation Tagged With: black dating site, Blackscene, dating, online dating

The Canadian Guitar Festival

March 25, 2007 by Chris

The Canadian Guitar Festival is something that I have wanted to go to for a while now. Below are some musicians who have been there in the past and hopefully they might nudge you into going this year if you can. I realize that having these many videos in a row looks odd but I am just trying to showcase a great show.

Keep on Jammin’

If you are really interested in going, this is an excerpt form an e-mail that was sent to me this morning about the camping arrangement. It really sounds like it is going to be a blast! Hope to see you there.

“The festival takes place on a 24 acre spread known as the Odessa Fairgrounds and the camping is on site. The camping is considered ‘dry’ with no running water or AC but is on the grass as it were..
We have showers on site, indoor washrooms and portable toilets placed in closer proximity to folks throughout the property.

A camping spot is guaranteed if you want one (given the space we have) but your site is what you choose when you choose it. There really are no bad spots. So when the tickets go on sale, all you need do is purchase a camping pass ticket for yourself and any other in your party over the age of twelve and you’re set for the weekend.

Del Vezeau

Vezco Productions Inc.
163 Main St
Odessa Ontario
Canada K0H 2H0
613-386-8878
1-888-506-1418
613-386-8879 fax
vezco@cogeco.ca
www.vezco.com
www.canadianguitarfestival.com

Filed Under: Entertainment, Home and Lifestyle, Music, Musicians, Recreation, Video Tagged With: Entertainment, Home and Lifestyle, Music, Musicians, Recreation, Video

Compare and learn more about loans at SelectLoans.co.uk

March 23, 2007 by Chris

I hate having to apply for loans. Don’t you? It’s like the bank has all the power and you stress while you wait to hear whether they’ll say yes or no to your request.

The only loans I’ve really had to deal with have been student loans from when I went to college, and the loan for our car. Our credit rating wasn’t so hot when I applied for our car loan and I ended up having to accept a loan offer from my bank that was at a higher interest rate than I thought I should have had to pay.

It’s too bad that I didn’t know about places like SelectLoans.co.uk when I was searching for either unsecured loans or secured loans. I could have just used the site to compare loans and perhaps to get quotes from different loan and banking institutions in order to get the best rates.

If you think that you’re going to need to take out a loan sometime in the near future you should check out the SelectLoans.co.uk site as there are a lot of great resources there that discuss mortgage rates, financing and interest rates amongst many other topics.

I do think that loans are a necessary evil that pretty much everyone will experience at some point in their life. Unless you have a great job and earn lots of cash you’ll have to take out a loan one day for a car or a house or some other type of expense. The best thing to do when you get a loan is to make sure that the required payments are reasonable and to pay the minimum or greater each month so that you can get that loan payed off on time.

I know some people that take out loans to pay off their credit cards, and then end up getting more credit cards and take out more loans to pay off those bills. I don’t believe in that kind of behavior. It’s a bad cycle to get into and eventually those kind of people will fail to make their payments on time or over extend themselves and end up with bad credit ratings.

How do you feel about loans? Do you know people who’ve gotten themselves in trouble by taking out too many loans?

Filed Under: Finance, Home and Lifestyle Tagged With: Finance

Well it had to happen sometime

February 23, 2007 by Chris

Today was like any day, at work in the O.R. recovery room. People coming in to be taken care of and then leaving when they are ready to go to either their in-patient room or to go to the final recovery room, then home.

Last weekend we were at my mother’s birthday dinner treating her to her favorite Chinese restaurant. During the meal I had developed a crack on the fingernail on my middle finger on my left hand. As you know I use my finger nails to play with most of the time and this is a big thing to have happen to a guitarist like myself.

I tried to repair it with a product called Ecrinal. This product is partially made of horse hair resins. This product is suppose to be one of the best on the market but doesn’t work well on my plain finger nails. I could have used crazy glue to repair it but I didn’t have any at the time. Note: medical crazy glue is used on some cuts to close them up in hospitals all over the world.

In my case if I had some crazy glue on me at the time, the glue more then likely would have traveled onto the top portion of the fingernail where the nail meets the skin, at the cuticle. If this happened, the nail will still grow out and the glue would hold the skin and nail together at that point, ahhhhh! It would not allow the nail to grow freely away for the skin, I’ve done it before without knowing what was going on!

So today, while transporting a patient to his room, he was very aggressive and we tried to get him to settle down so he would not rip out any of his I.V. lines. During this, I bent back my nail and it cracked to the point where I had to gingerly remove it from my finger.

I started to do so very carefully, only after the transport had been complete. I wasn’t sure if the nail was completely broken off from the rest of the healthy nail, which is still strong and attached to the other part of my finger.

As I was removing the damaged part at the end of my finger, I thought that it would be quite painful but to my surprise and relief, it came off rather nicely.

So now for the big question, do I get new nails or take the rest off and give the old nails underneath (the fake ones), time to breath? If you are not aware, if you keep fake acrylic nails on your fingers all the time, you run the risk of having very unhealthy looking nails later on in life? Bet you did not know that. Well there you go, you learned something new today!

Keep on Jammin’

Filed Under: Guitar Equipment, Health and Fitness, Home and Lifestyle Tagged With: Acrylic nails, cracked fake nail, fake nails for picking, General, guitar, Health and Fitness, repair fake nail

Handmade carpet sale at Tufenkian

February 15, 2007 by Chris

When I first moved to Toronto from my hometown of Brantford it was to go to college in order to become a jeweler. Yes, I did graduate and was a jeweler for several years before changing careers.

I lived in “co-op” with several other students. In other words I rented a room in a boarding house set up by the college for it’s students. Man that was a party house. But I digress.

I won’t go into the details of how I ended up having a beautiful Persian carpet since it’s a long story, but I did, and it was one of the only real design features of my room while I lived in the boarding house. Later when I moved in with my girlfriend, who soon became my wife, the carpet came with me.

Unfortunately the carpet went through a lot of wear and tear over the years – mostly in that old boarding house I lived in, and when my wife and I moved to the house we now own we got rid of the carpet.

Now I’m looking at the handmade Tibetan and Armenian carpets at Tufenkian. I see that there is a Los Angeles, New York City and Scottsdale Arizona Carpet Sales. It’s Tufenkian’s semi-annual rug sale.

The quality of their hand made carpets is superb, and I’m seriously considering ordering a new rug online. I really miss our old carpet and my wife liked it too. I also found out that if we register online at the site we can get an additional 10% off. That sounds like a pretty good deal – a sale and a discount on top of that just for registering.

Hmmm I think I’d better start to seriously look at these carpet designs.

Filed Under: Home and Lifestyle, Shopping Tagged With: 10 percent discount, Arizona, Home and Lifestyle, Los Angeles, New York, register, semi annual rug sale, Shopping, tufenkain

This past Saturday

February 12, 2007 by Chris

Well this past Saturday was my mother’s birthday and my wife and I were going to take her out to dinner with my younger sister and family. While in Brantford, I thought that I could hook up with my old buddy Steve B., the ex-bass player (turned guitar solo artist) and get some tracks down for a song that he is currently recording. As luck would have it, both my wife and Steve were sick.

So I went down the street of my parents home to the scene of the crime for New Years 2007 at the May’s! I had to go out and pick up my Mom’s cake at a local bakery and when returning home I decided to just drive down the old street for fun. That’s when I saw Mr. M. walking into his house. So I went in and had a couple of beers and then my favorite brother-in-law Stevie H. had to come and rescue me from certain inebriation.

So after that we all went out for dinner and had a great time.

While driving home to Toronto I started to get a headache. I’m not prone to these things so I thought it would just pass, boy was I wrong.

I felt like someone was drilling into my head at the temples. I thought about pulling over and getting a hotel room and get better. When I got home I just lay on the couch and placed a heating pad on my head. Finally after 1/2 an hour I went to bed. I got up the next day and it was still there. The afternoon and evening was a bit better but wow, what a headache. Today, Monday, is better but I feel it coming and going again!

Trish, my angel of mercy, told me that it could be a virus, sinus problem or maybe there was some MSG in the food we ate at the Chinese restaurant. Don’t know what it is, but I wish that I could tag someone and it would be their turn to be it! I really don’t mean that, I wouldn’t wish this on anyone.

Keep on Jammin’ (but very quietly)

Filed Under: Home and Lifestyle, My experiences Tagged With: birthday party, chinese food, cold, General, headache, jammin, MSG, pain, sinus, virus

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