Ontario Provincial Election 2022 Jun2 02 used the Dominion Voting Imagecast Precinct tabulation machine. Photo by Don Tai
The world’s democracies hinge on elections being fair and above board. No party should be able to “steal an election”, with no vote rigging or other shenanigans. At the end of an election day, when election workers are most tired, the counting of votes is a critical final step to the final election result. The Dominion Voting Company’s Imagecast Precinct, or “tabulator” as we call it, is a vote counting machine that reads all votes throughout the election day. At the end of the election day the poll is closed and, “voila”, the election poll results are printed out on a grocery store sales slip-type of thermal printout.
Weider 8530 Home Gym, has two weight stacks of 106lb each.
A gracious neighbour gifted me this Weider 8530 home gym. As I work out daily I am glad to have it. The home gym is from 2002, but works just as well now as then. I’ll document what I did to make it better, and some of the caveats to owning and using the system.
Ikea JANSJÖ desk lamps are inexpensive LED lamps that have excellent light, a solid base and flexible neck, but the switches may make the light flicker.
I have two from Ikea and use them with my computer. The light they cast is a pretty pleasing combination of blue and yellow, neither too much of either. They are also very reliable, with the exception of the light switch. These were thrown out because they would not turn on. The issue was the utter cheapness of these switches.
Black and Decker Steam Advantage Iron, F1000 type 1, has a terrible reputation for usability and reliability. Diana’s iron does not work as the safety features prematurely turn the iron off.
She was miffed, friend Diana, in Toronto, Canada, that her newly purchased Black and Decker Steam Advantage Iron, F1000 type 1, was acting up. It was prematurely shutting down, a supposed safety feature that belied the task of actual ironing. This seems similar to PC anti-virus software that so overtaxes the PC such that it cripples even simple and small mouse movements. She asked me to look into it.
Authentic they do look, and my neighbour got suckered in. He found a roofer on their recommendation than may be less than legit. As with all things internet, it is buyer beware.
Even a cursory search for “homestars scam” on Google search shows a lot of mixed comments. it seems like contractors pay $150/month to Homestars and they get favourable reviews. When I say “favourable” I mean really stupendous reviews. This is what tweaked my curiosity. When reviews are gushing over a roofer’s services, I am a little suspicious. Site over site on Google have complaints about Homestars. If you are looking for a contractor in Canada, please use other means than Homestars. You may be scammed by their fake reviews.
Sans car, we have begun renting on a semi-regular basis, trying out many brands of compact cars, here in Toronto, Canada. These are my biased opinion about what I have liked and disliked about these cars. In trying out different brands I hope to understand what I really like in a car. It seems like these small options can really make the difference in your love or hate of the car. I also received the input from the kids and SO.
Sometimes you just want to shop in person for certain items. For me, recently, it was for a down duvet for the Big Weed. I did recall seeing down duvets at Sears Canada, here in Toronto, Canada, so we made the trip to our local Sears at Scarborough Town Centre. Not only did they not have down duvets, but they did not even have any staff on the floor to help us out. Yes, there was much more help online at Sears.ca, but this is true for a lot of other bricks and mortar and online stores as well. I called around the local Sears, asking for duvets made of down, and there were none to even be displayed. Their solution: order online. What a total failure of a retail experience. Why set up and maintain a retail bricks and mortar chain, and then tell your customers to shop online? Overall I can see why Sears Canada has had trouble in the recent past, and why they will continue to struggle in the future. Will the chain still be around in 5 years, I am unsure.
As a WordPress developer you seem to be always looking for a new theme, something that will be fresh, new and novel. This is what brought me to use the EvoLve theme.
On the plus side the EvoLve theme is a free theme, available on WordPress.org, from a company called Theme4Press. The look is clean and uncluttered, something I can present and work with. I do like the home page slider options, which allow you to have up to 5 slider images. I also like the 3 front page content boxes that appear under the slider. They have large eye catching icons, some text and a call to action button for more info.
ICE 3 Vending Machine: Cheaply made in China, stay away and save your money
Deceptive advertising can be, but when you can take a machine apart there is nothing but the truth to see. This is surely the case for the ICE 3 MIS2200 personal vending machine or chill can dispenser. Sold under the names Heartland America or Curtis, this is truly a piece of junk and cheap from bow to stern. At $79 I council you to run away from this unit.
Ibanez Roadstar II RB800 electric bass, 1987: body finishes were black, pearl, red, fountain blue
Ibanez basses are difficult to identify. They often have no specific model numbers written on the bass. After heavy use these model markings can wear off, making identification of vintage models difficult. Many sellers using Craigslist and Kijiji will also post poor photos of basses, making ID very difficult. This post will positively identify the Ibanez Roadstar II RB800 electric bass, as well as provide related internet links. There is actually very little information about this Made in Japan, Fugigen factory 1987 model on the internet, so every little bit helps.
