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The Avengers

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With the Avengers movie finally arriving after several lead-up movies/cameos (Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America), it’s about time that everyone got a chance to watch it, and read the eventual reviews afterward. If you want to short version: See it. Love it. It’s quite good. For the long version, read on.

The movie starts off already moving, and Loki shows up in no time ready to wage war against the helpless humans. Samuel L Jackson quickly makes the call, and the team is assembled with some stragglers (Thor shows up on his own, later, since getting in touch is not exactly a phone call).

As expected with a group of type A personalities (except possibly Captain America), conflicts abound within the team, but eventually they all come together to conquer the challenge.

As expected, Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark, really is the “star”, though the script that director did a very good job at giving all the individuals a good amount of time, story, etc. As usual for a Joss Whedon film, there’s a good amount of sarcasm, jokes, and humor for an otherwise serious film. And, as also typical, a “main” character dies. I won’t say who, but when it happens, it’s hard not to curse Whedon for his “signature“.

While it was obvious the movie was “long” it wasn’t unbearable, and the climax action scene, even though it was probably 15-20 minutes, it wasn’t boring like many action sequences can be. And I HIGHLY recommend you stay for the whole credits, and what comes after. It’s good for a laugh.

Highly recommend the movie, though I think Hollywood needs to re-examine their trailer writers/designers, because coming into this movie I was a bit concerned based on the trailers. Thankfully, those concerns were un-realized. This was easily the most enjoyable of the Marvel movies, with maybe the exception of Iron Man (1), but even that would be tough.

[xrr rating=4.75/5]

Craftsman Auto Switch

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Since installing hardwood in my house, and dealing with the mass amounts of saw dust that created, and the realization that sawdust “bags” don’t work very well, I’ve had to manually switch on my shopvac then start using the saw, or the orbital sander, etc. This is annoying, so I started looking for solutions. The internet consensus seemed to be either a Smart Strip, or cheaper/easier is the Craftsman Auto Switch. The annoying thing, as with most of the Sears experience, is their site didn’t say if the local store had any in stock. But, a quick trip over there found one on a random shelf for $20. I picked it up, and quickly came home to try it out.

Simply put, you plug the device into the main outlet, and then the vacuum into an “accessory” outlet (and maybe a work light into the other). When you switch on the primary load, a simple hall effect sensor sees that, throws a relay, and the accessory comes on. After the load switches off, the accessory continues to run for 3 seconds to clear the line (which is awesome). Since using it while my wife has been sanding cabinets, the dust creation has been minimal, and there’s been no more forgetting to turn on the vacuum.

Sure, a whole shop vacuum would be better, but I don’t have a shop… I have a garage. So using my shopvac, and an auto switch, is far superior when it comes to multi-taskers, and space usage.

[xrr rating=5/5]

Dymo LabelManager 420P

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In February of this year, I bought myself a Dymo LabelManager 420P because the price point was great for the feature set (can be hooked to a computer, rechargeable battery, barcodes). One of the big reasons I purchased it was because my ancient Dymo LabelPoint 100 ((which I received for free from Dymo for purchasing a LabelWriter 330 ages ago)) was printing crappy labels ((more on this later)), and chewed through batteries (it takes 6 AAA batteries). I purchased the unit off Amazon marketplace for a steal ($55), and received it a few days later.

The unit is a bit large, but the screen is very readable (backlit), and the keys easy to use (though, they’re in alphabetical order rather than QWERTY. I don’t mind this (since I type in Dvorak), some do). The battery meter, however, is extremely inaccurate. A full charge results in the meter fluctuating between half and full, and it stays this way for some time. I don’t know if the battery is faulty, or if it’s the unit. I really need to email them about this.

Printing is fast, and changing the labels easy. Much like most labelers, it tends to waste a lot of tape at the start and end of the label, so you’re generally best off (if doing multiples), writing a label, putting a few spaces, then another label, etc. Then manually cut them up at the end.

Dymo tape is always easy to peal the back off of (it’s split down the middle), but as I found out, the new unit printed similarly crappy on the label tape I’d been using. Doing some reading online, it seems that the tape doesn’t last forever, and printing problems are usually due to bad tape. I ordered a replacement cartridge, and viola, it prints great. So I’m guessing my old LP100 would have worked just fine with new tape (but, I do like the new model much better). Aside from the battery meter ((I say meter, because the battery seems to last a while, its charge just isn’t accurately represented)), and the occasionally confusing interface, I really like the unit.

[xrr rating=4/5]