I Purchased a Eufy Robotic Vacuum Cleaner

 I kind of hate when products I never thought I'd buy pique my interest because internet forum users are discussing products they have bought and how amazing this or that is. The other day I stumbled upon a forum thread about Robot Vacuums, I read with interest because let's be honest, if I can minimise housework I'm interested. There are many brands and types ranging from cheap with less features to expensive with all the bells and whistles.

I live in a small unit/flat, it only has two rooms, well three but one is the bathroom/toilet and one is a very small hall I'd guess you'd call it, so I don't have a lot to vacuum but it's enough for me to despise doing it. I didn't need a big expensive model, I only have two very small areas that require mopping one of those is easier for me to wipe down with cloths, the other, the bathroom has tiles and is slightly larger, so I'll drag out the mop very infrequently lol.

So I came upon a Robo Vac from Eufy (I have a set of their smart weight scales great for logging one's body weight) available from The Good Guys, just up the road from me, I thought hard about whether I needed them and checked that they are compatible with Google Assistant, they are, big bonus for me. I can control the Robot Vac from the App on my Mobile Phone (Pixel 4A) or with voice commands. Unfortunately I do still have to empty the Vacuum's dust collector, but the one's that have a bin that's sucks the dust into a hopper still needs to be emptied albeit less often of course and they're expensive.

Ok what did I buy? I bought the Eufy RoboVac 35C WiFi for $299.00 which was the best Australian price I could find, it was on sale I guess, because other stores like JB HiFi had it for $449 so it was a decent saving from The Good Guys.



Now let's be clear it is a basic model compared to others costing $1000 or more, and it doesn't totally negate the need to own a traditional Vacuum Cleaner as such, though it certainly would be better than nothing that's for sure. The Eufy basically wanders around the floor sensing objects that are in its path which changes its direction, it does generally "hug" what it's going around and cleans quite close to the object. It sounds random doesn't it, I suppose it is but it seems to cover the whole floor and even if it didn't it will get to that area next time, you can schedule the this RoboVac so it ends up doing a great job with regular usage.

I do envisage the traditional Vacuum will need to be used now and then to get to corners and close to edges, but for me that's not a problem I'll do it as much as I did before, rarely lol. My floor though will be much cleaner than it was, that is guaranteed! The Eufy does go back to its dock automatically or it can be directed to do so, with the app or by voice, it also has a handy remote control for manual usage great if something needs to be cleaned outside of the scheduled times, visitors coming over or an unexpected mess that needs to be cleaned straightaway. Of course this can be done with voice also, but the remote is handy, now where the hell did I put it...

Here's a Blurb from The Good Guys website...

Have your carpets and floors magically cleaned with the Eufy RoboVac 35c T2117T11 and its Wi-Fi connectivity that allows you to operate it even when away from home. Set and forget thanks to RoboVac's clever sensors that keep it within the Boundary Strips set via the EufyHome app so that it only cleans within designated areas, while its drop-sensing technology ensures it won't be falling down stairs and off ledges. Plus, a 3-Point Cleaning System combines three brushes and strong 1500Pa suction to loosen and extract dirt for a spotless clean. Eufy RoboVac is compact and slim to not get in the way, and cleans continuously with powerful suction for up to 100 minutes at a noise level that's no louder than a microwave. This robot vacuum cleaner can be operated either via the touch control panel, the EufyHome app, or using your voice with your compatible Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa voice-assisted speaker. It has a triple filter system for a cleaner home, a large 0.6-litre dustbox for cleaning and storing more in the one go and is even self-charging; finding its way back to the docking station when in need of a charge. Spend time on what you'd prefer to be doing with the clever RoboVac 35C from Eufy.

All in all it's a great little unit and is perfect for my situation, eg. a fairly small flat/unit, with no need for a mopping feature, they say its operating time is 100 minutes I haven't timed it but it seems like it operates for quite a lengthy time. At this stage I plan on scheduling it to run two or three times a week most likely when I'm laying on my bed watching TV, I then won't be an object that it needs to navigate around. The dust collector has been full both times, I guess it might be like that for a while until it's done a few runs. It does take a while to recharge after each use, but that's only a problem if you have OCCD (Obsessive compulsive cleaning disorder) this seems to mainly affect the female of the species mostly, dog bless them...

The Eufy also travels under my Mobility Scooter, Treadmill, Bed and of course my kitchen table, though the chairs for the kitchen table can be a bit of a maze for the Eufy which I've named Robert, Robert RoboVac get it? I wouldn't be surprised if this Eufy Robot Vacuum was discounted even further so keep your eyes open for bigger discounts, as I say I think it's particularly great for people living in smaller apartments, units, bedsits flats etc. I've already looked for spare parts or the consumable parts that might wear out before the Eufy does, I won't link to them because it's much easier just to do a Google search for your area, but spares are available.

I haven't used the no go zone strips yet, but I'll probably get around to it at some stage, there's really only one, maybe two places where a no go zone might be handy, it's more so if I want the Eufy to clean while I'm not at home so I can be sure it doesn't get get somewhere that it's best not to go, around cables for example, but I'll slowly route the cables better as well so there just isn't an issue. I'm mostly home but I do have to visit medico's occasionally and that would be a perfect time to do a clean.

To control Eufy RoboVac with Google Assistant:

"Hey Google, ask RoboVac (or Name) to start cleaning"

"Hey Google, ask RoboVac (or Name) to stop cleaning"

"Hey Google, ask RoboVac (or Name) to go home"

"Hey Google, ask RoboVac (or Name) to find my robot"

Three hundred AUD well spent, let's hope I get at least 12 months out of it, yeah I have low expectations on anything I buy these days!

Here's the Eufy Google Assistant Voice Commands list...
https://www.eufylife.com/pages/google-assistant-en

Here's Eufy's Youtube Video about the 35c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4FeQowRd8E

Here's the 35c Eufy Product Page
https://myeufy.com.au/eufy-robovac-35c/

Technical Specifications

Type:	Robot Vacuum
Bagged/Bagless:	Bagless
Surfaces:	Hard floors to medium pile carpets
Suction Power:	1500Pa
Bin/Bag Capacity:	0.6L
Sensor Technology:	Infrared, Drop-sensing
Sensors:	Specialised dual-hall sensors to detect Boundary Strips set
Restricted Area Detection:	Yes - set 1.8m Boundary Strips
Battery:	2600mAh Li-ion, DC14.4V
Automatic Charge Function:	Yes - auto docks and recharges
Charge Time:	5-6 hours
Cleaning Time:	100 minutes
Noise Level:	55dB
Wi-Fi Connectivity:	Yes
Compatible Smart Home Systems:	Works with Google Assistant & Works with Amazon Alexa
Weight (kg):	2.69
Dimensions (mm):	325.1(L) x 325.1(W) x 723(H)
Additional Features:	Slim 2.85" body, Advanced brushless motor for a quiet clean, Triple filter system, BoostIQ Technology - automatically boosts suction power when needed, Controllable via the EufyHome app
What's In The Box:	RoboVac 35C, Charging Base, Remote Control (AAA Battery x2), Power Adapter, Cleaning Tool, Side brushes (x4), Additional High Performance Filter, Additional Foam Filter, Cable ties (x5), Boundary Strips 6.6ft/2m length, Adhesive Tapes (x2), Owners Manual & Other Documents
Manufacturer's Warranty:	1 Year

I Purchased a Treadmill

No, I didn't buy it during the Corona Virus lock down we had in Melbourne, I bought it afterwards so I could go and see the treadmill I was interested in at the Lifespan showroom in Broadmeadows. I asked a friend if he wouldn't mind picking me up in his car and coming with me to have a look. Yes purchasing treadmills and other exercise equipment was a "thing" in lock down so that's definitely what piqued my interest, I didn't realise that they weren't as expensive as I thought they would be, but I waited and did lots of research in the meantime.

I was interested in the Lifespan Apex Treadmill, it just had some features I was interested in for example it had an app the Apex can link to for stats and some minor control, you don't need to use it but I'm a geek so I like apps that can provide something extra to the experience of using a device or product. The app is called Fitlink it logs all of your workouts, I'm not saying it has everything some would want or need but it does everything I want, here's a screenshot from the app stats it shows after every workout as you can see it does show a list of stats that some might be interested in.

Now, I'm in the Google Fit ecosystem and unfortunately the Fitlink app does not send its stats to the Google Fit app, bugger, so with a little more research I stumbled upon a company called Under Armour they make fitness clothing, in particular, the interest of mine was their footwear, footwear that connects to, you guessed it, an app, I'm mainly walking on the treadmill so I chose Under Armour's Walk with Map My Walk app, they also have running apps as well. The Under Armour app connects to Google Fit or syncs with it may be a better way to describe it, woohoo, mission completed! This app connects to the Under Armour Sonic 3 Running Shoes through some kind of chip in the shoes, no they don't need a battery as far as I can see lol.

So now the steps and distance I walk on the Lifespan Treadmill can be logged and sent to Google Fit, sure it's a bit of an arse about solution but certainly not difficult to configure, I did need some more runners to use on the Treadmill as I only had my trusty New Balance trainers which are fine of course but the UA Sonic 3's offer more comfort and cushioning for walking and running workouts. I usually take a USA size 8.5 in mens footwear, but hearing the UA footwear runs a little small I went with a  USA size nine and they fit like a glove, they are working exactly as they are meant to connecting to the app.

I am starting out slowly on the treadmill, because really I'm using it for rehab as I haven't really done much exercise for years and the fact that I have MS and my right leg in particular was most affected after an MS exacerbation, I've had the treadmill for about a month and a half and my walking is slowly improving as is my fitness level. There's heaps of different brands of treadmills out there that all offer slightly different options, but most make it fairly easy to choose the right one for yourself, buy what they suggest and do your research!

Wahl Lithium Ion+ Advanced - Review

My previous Remington rechargeable head/hair Clippers were finally starting to slow down and the battery was also holding less power. The Remington will remain a handy backup but I decided to look around for something similar, I did a fair bit of research on the latest devices. some interesting stuff out there for sure. Though one device kept popping up in discussions, it was the Wahl Lithium Ion+ Advanced beard/hair trimmer. I've never owned something that was more specific to beards and facial stubble that could also do ones head hair as well, I figured as I'm only getting thinner and thinner up top I may as well go for a unit that can do both.

Wahl Lithium Ion+ Advanced

I'm in Australia so I will list the Australian Product Number below
Aust Product No. : 9818-012

Link to Australian Wahl website product page here!

I purchased my Wahl from the Shaver Shop at the Essendon DFO at Essendon Airport, I ordered online then went and picked it up, wasn't on special or discounted at all, I just really wanted one and so far it's well worth the money I paid, hopefully that will continue to be true.

The image above shows the accessories you get, though it doesn't show the fairly flimsy useless bag that Wahl also include in the packaging, I shall source a more suitable bag or container to house it in at some stage. It's still fairly early days of using the Wahl but so far so good, because of it's smaller size than I'm used to it really does make it so much easier to keep one's beard trimmed.

Wahl Packaging

A fully charged unit seems to last a while, it also seems to charge quite quickly, I am yet to try the blades height guides (is that what they're called?) but I will soon as I will try a bit of beard sculpting when my beard grows a little bit more than it is now. See I despise shaving, so I'm hoping the Wahl will be sufficient for my needs to just keep my beard shorter and neater, only ever needing to occasionally shave "bits" for like weddings and funerals lol.

MeeMeep Absolutely Incompetent Never Again!

Meemeep.com Crowdsourced Courier Company Review

So I order a few things from Kmart, this was the first time I had ordered from their online store, everything was fine with the order process as it should be in this day and age of course. Then the delivery...little did I know my delivery was going to be made by some company called meemeep.com, if you ever order anything from anywhere demand they don't use this absolutely crap company.

They use private drivers/people to fucking deliver your goods, what a load of crap, I didn't realise Kmart used this totally unprofessional incompetent business for deliveries, if I had known I wouldn't have ordered off them. I had never before heard of this meemeep crowdsourcing business before, but I have now and it's shit, in transit means we'll deliver your items whenever we feel like it, don't expect it on the same day as the "delivery is in transit notification" you get, that means nothing to these arseholes. They don't seem to have any control over their drivers, they offer zero help in finding out about your delivery and when it will arrive.

They gave me the drivers phone number and said "you ring him"...so I did, of course it went to message bank, I left a message, and of course the incompetence continued, he never returned my call.

It was "in transit" this morning, plenty of time for my delivery to be made, I've been waiting all day, I've watched the driver sit at Hoppers Crossing for about four hours not moving at all, while I'm here waiting and waiting and waiting. Now remember it's "in transit", the driver reached Hoppers Crossing around 12.00pm, plenty of time to make it to Essendon North, but nope he just sat there until the end of the working day, not moving any further at all.

Here's some screenshots of the customer portal

The screenshot below shows the "red pin" that's where I am and the "blue pin" where the driver was from about 12.00pm until the end of the day, in Hoppers Crossing, while I'm still waiting for my delivery. There was no notification that the driver had stopped for the longest lunch in history, I had to use the online chat, to find out what was happening and they didn't have a clue either, that's when they gave me the supposedly driver's mobile number which just went to voicemail!

The following screenshot shows the name/handle the driver uses, the mobile number listed is not the one they gave me to ring him on!

I've contacted Kmart to voice my displeasure with the MeeMeep courier, I told them if I had known my delivery was going to be made by some third grade courier service I would never have agreed and would've cancelled the order, but they don't tell you who the courier will be before or after checkout and you've paid the money. If this is the future of couriers, god fucking help us! Even though I've had one particular Auspost courier who was absolute shit, the other 99% Auspost drivers are wonderful.

So if all goes to plan my delivery will now be made by Auspost, when they say "In Transit" it actually means something, unlike MeeMeep.com. I despise these new pop up businesses that crap on about how good they are at what they do, yet they are nothing like what they claim to be. The only "beef" I have with Kmart is that they are stupid enough to use incompetence like MeeMeep.com, seriously do companies like Kmart actually test these services out, or do they just believe the bullshit blindly, I can't fathom how a service like this is good for business, for Kmart themselves, it has to reflect badly upon Kmart, surely!

Now just note, the MeeMeep driver accepted the bid for a door to door delivery, why did he if he can't fulfil the job, why did he stop work at 12.00pm instead of working a full working day, what the fuck is wrong with people these days? If either the driver or customer service actually let me know that the delivery was now not going to happen I could have had at least four less wasted hours of my day, none of this would have been a problem, but neither gave me the courtesy of any helpful communication, which meant I was stuck at home all day waiting for a delivery they knew would not be arriving, it's disrespectful and I despise being disrespected by incompetent companies that have my money for a service they espouse to provide, one phone call, is all it takes to appease most people, me included...

I couldn't have made it any easier considering I actually rang the driver on the number that customer service gave to me, if only the driver had picked up and answered the call or rang back and replied to the message I left, oh well, they had more than enough chances to make things right, but alas, their incompetence shone through, I guess they errr, won? Bear in mind that the meemeep customer service also couldn't contact their own driver, it does make one wonder if they have any control over their drivers at all, I mean, why would the driver ignore a call from meemeep itself, their employer?

Product Review

http://www.productreview.com.au/r/meemeep/1002054.html

It's rather hilarious that the same day the CEO of Meemeep.com was asking to contact me to "have a chat" my product review got a little friend, one more review, the username of that new product review is "Jdub", now scroll down and read the only comment on this blog post, it's by the CEO of Meemeep.com "Justin W" quite a coincidence... I'll quote the new review on PR of meemeep.com with a screenshot of the review by "Jdub".

It's worth noting that my review of meemeep is a "Verified Purchase" review, "Jdubs" is not a "Verified Purchase" review lmao.

Not really a genuine independent review that we have here, ooh sending a case of wine to a colleague well ladi fucking la... note the date, the amount of reviews of this Jdub and let's not forget the username... It's the courier service company that keeps on giving...bullshit that is!

The CEO (Justin W) and I did have a chat on the phone, he seemed like a reasonable fellow, he apologised to me and yes I let him "have it" about the service that I had received and just how incompetent and pathetic it was by the "driver" and the "customer service" drone that I dealt with.

His apology really means nothing though, he didn't even know about the driver's incompetence until two months after it happened...like most CEO's they are too busy sending cases of wine to their mates but wouldn't have a fucking clue what goes on in the day to day running of their businesses!

They wonder why customers have no loyalty to a business these days, well it's real simple, do the fucking job you're paid to do and treat your customers with respect and don't fuck them around, it really isn't that difficult, yet so many businesses just can't grasp that concept...or they just don't care!

The following image is a screenshot of the only comment made on this blog, I just want to save it in case it "disappears"...

Something else to note, you'll see in the "screenshotted" image of the CEO's comment directly below, the only piece of text that has brackets around it, is, (not crowd sourced). Now go down to the next screenshot, there it says the courier Driver4M is indeed a CROWDSOURCED COURIER pmsl ;)

Apparently Kogan are using meemeep for deliveries over the Christmas period, I have spoken to Kogan customer service and they too are sick of the meemeep complaints, apparently they will be reviewing whether they use meemeep (let's hope they don't), they're probably sick of the incompetence and lies that many are voicing about meemeep.com on the product review page I started about meemeep, so many reviews in fact that meemeep have had to "manage" the complaints on product review, Kogan customer service said to let them know if you didn't want your delivery to be made by meemeep.com, that's great, it means I can continue to buy stuff from Kogan, it seems they have been using meemeep in the busy Christmas time so let's hope that doesn't continue...

Update: 20-08-2018

Well, well, it seems Meemeep.com has disappeared from the face of the earth, their website is gone without a trace, no "wind up" information page as to why they have disappeared, no nothing that can be found by searching Google anyway. The negative reviews continued on the Product Review website unabated, well except for many bullshit positive reviews (maybe 5 were real from the twenty or so positive reviews) that just couldn't keep up to quell the negative ones. It seems at least one of their couriers was not advised of Meemeep closing their "doors" as one courier was quite pissed that no information was provided, I wonder if they told any other drivers?

The fact is though it seemed that the biggest clients of this "company" were Kmart and Kogan, with many people stating that they will never use either of these two businesses if they used Meemeep to deliver their purchases, yes customers were contacting K&K to let them know this, I know Kmart dropped them fairly quickly, though I think Kogan used them a little longer, Meemeep definitely brought this upon themselves with their incompetence which was well documented on the Product Review website. Anyway all I can say is I'm glad another incompetent business that had zero customer service skills and even worse, couldn't deliver one's purchases in a timely, professional manner has bitten the dust, this is one time the power of the purchasers has had a win!

Good riddance Meemeep, you deserved everything you got, it definitely wasn't unexpected...
I'll leave one final screenshot from PR, the most recent two posts and no doubt the final two posts ever!

Getflix dodgy Affiliate program - Beware you can't leave!

I guess this is a Getflix Affiliate program Review and a story of incompetence!

So I stupidly signed up to the Getflix affiliate program, all my fault of course no doubt, what I didn't realise until I saw the Dashboard was that it appears to be a third party company that runs this affiliate service. How do I know this, well I don't, but after numerous emails and being told numerous lies by their customer support morons that told me that being removed is no problem, well  guess what 2 weeks later they still haven't removed me.

I suspect something stinks with this company. I did not sign up to a third party I signed up with Getflix, I do not want my details shared with some scumbag third party affiliate provider. They can't remove me so I'm guessing they have no control over this "system" at all, you can also see the advertisement for "Affiliate Library" when you type the following into your browser www.affiliatelibrary.com it doesn't load, it doesn't seem to exist, seems a bit dodgy to me!

So who the hell is running this service, Getflix or some dodgy third party whose web address doesn't seem to exist, well who knows, the Getflix CSGs are now ignoring me and giving me bullshit answers to clear questions.

Now please understand I have tried and tried to ask nicely to be removed, the more I was lied to and fucked around the more suspicious I have become, I will gladly remove this post if my request is fulfilled and I am removed, but as it stands with their lack of honesty and transparency, I just have to believe this is a dodgy company that does not value their own customers and would prefer to lie to them. They seemed like a great company before they were sold, now it just seems dodgy!

I am posting this to warn others about the Getflix affiliate program so they can be better informed before they sign up!

Below is a screenshot of the Dashboard

Here is my Twitter conversation with Getflix, note the date!

So what the hell is wrong with these people at Getflix? Anyway, I am at a loss to explain Getflix's behaviour but it seems they are either liars or incompetent, it's been over two weeks now. I've had absolutely no communication from these arseholes, so all I can say is, BEWARE OF GETFLIX! This is a honest review of dealing with Getflix and it's staff, the screenshots allude to that from Twitter and as I have said they removed me from following them on Google Plus, when my subscriptions ends and  needs to be renewed for Getflix services to bypass geo blocking for Netflix, I will not be renewing my subscription, this whole experience showed me what type of a company they now are since being sold!

Jumbuck 2 Burner Maxi Hooded Barbecue - Review!

I've wanted a Barbecue for a while now and finally got around to purchasing one a couple of weeks ago, when I had the chance to get to bunnings. Yes I know the best BBQ's are of course the Webers of all models, I really do believe you, Weber BBQs rule they are the best of the best!

Right, now that I have that out of the way, I couldn't afford a Weber or any expensive BBQ model or brand, still, I searched, I wanted a two burner or at least smaller patio or courtyard size rather than a full size 4-6 burner, it's only me so it will do me fine. So after much searching using the trusty google I stumbled upon the Jumbuck from Bunnings. I did my research on review sites and forums and there was not a lot of info on the particular model I wanted just a few things, more so ads on gumtree with glowing descriptions of course, but nothing negative either so I took that to mean adequate at least, eg. usable to cook a BBQ of meat.

It seems that Bunning's has the distributorship of Jumbuck BBQ's, I think I read that somewhere so that may not be true, anyway they had a couple of hooded type two burner BBQ's, the ones in my price range were both Jumbuck models, I bought the more expensive one as I could not find any overly negative reviews, I don't trust many of the even what seems like honest reviews as let's face it people are morons these days, no common sense, listen to idiot "mates" that know nothing but talk loud and most don't read instructions or if they do they don't understand them anyway. So without ranting too much here's the story so far!

So far the Jumbuck as performed quite adequately and by that I mean definitely good enough to cook a nice Barbie, my first test was just a lamb forequarter chop, I wiped down the hotplate and ignited the hotplate side of the unit, I let it warm up a bit, about 3 mins, with the hood down of course. The first time there was of course much lifting of the hood, couldn't help myself, but in fairness it was it's maiden voyage, so I wanted to get a feel of cooking time and burner settings for continued success. The chop could have been cooked a little more for my liking but that had nothing to do with the BBQ as such, it was all my fault, lifting the lid, messing with gas settings and over excited as well I guess lol, oh the gas jet igniter is pretty darn good as well, shoots a long flame out to ignite the burners!

The next meal I had was Chicken Drumsticks, always a great snack and tasty when Barbecued, these were lovely, the cooking time was right and I just let it do it's thing with the hood down on high gas setting, I turned them a few times to try and crisp all sides, but they definitely benefited from the oven effect of the Hood, which also has a temperature gauge so you can watch how hot it gets under the hood so this did impress me, it showed me that the Jumbuck 2 Burner Maxi Hooded Barbecue from Bunning's was well worth the price for me anyway, it's definitely good enough!

I paid $199 not too bad for what you get, I also got an opened and returned 2 burner BBQ cover for half price, a friend was able to supply a gas bottle that should last for ages, I'm now thinking about a rotisserie lol, not sure how it would go with that but it does have the holes for it, so ya never know :)

The spiel...

"You don't need a big outdoor space to entertain your family and friends, with the Jumbuck 2 Burner Hooded Barbecue. Its compact design and functional features allow those with smaller outdoor areas such as patios and courtyards, to host barbecues. 

With a sleek stainless steel hinged lid and a sturdy steel frame, this 2 burner hooded barbecue features a cast iron plate and grill cooking surface. A built-in temperature gauge helps you better control heat, achieving delicious and juicy meat. It sports a handy condiment tray and wheels for greater portability".

• Sleek, stylish and compact design
• Cast iron plate and grill
• Jet force ignition
• 1 year warranty

Specifications - Details

Model Name

2 Burner Maxi Hooded Barbecue With Side Burner

Model Number

B142

Material

Cast Iron / Stainless Steel / Steel

Colour

Silver / Black

Product Dimensions (mm)

W:567 H:1077 L:1120

Package Dimensions (mm)

W:575 H:550 L:610

Weight

21.7kgs

Frame Material

Steel

Frame Colour

Black High Temperature Painted

Cabinet

No

Fuel Type

LPG

Number of Burners

2

Gas Rate

17Mj/h

Cooktop Length (mm)

500

Cooktop Width (mm)

378

Hotplate

Yes

Grill

Yes

Ignition Type

Jet Force

Infared Burner

No

Heat Thermometer

Yes

Rotisserie Included

No

Rotisserie Attachable

Yes

Side Burner

No

Wok Burner

No

Natural Gas Conversion

Yes

Warming Rack

Yes

Wheels

Yes

Online Incense - Shopping and Purchasing

I've been needing to get some Incense for, um... meditating and fragrance, I am a single male so one must do one's best not to offend any visitors or passers-by lol.

After a bit of searching I found the Buddha Shop, so it's my first foray into buying very fragile Incense online and having it delivered via post or courier, I think it will be an Australia Post Delivery, haven't received a tracking number yet, maybe I won't, I think it's just normal post, I'll know more when I receive the goods and will report back.

The Buddha Shop has many different products, some are very light, like Incense and some are quite heavy like Statues made of metal, concrete and wood etc. I am mentioning this as they will email you advising of the postage costs before they send the goods, fine by me, the email was sent in a timely manner, although early morning would have been better to ensure it is picked up at the earliest possible time for prompt postage delivery.

I don't have an Incense Burner so I bought some "Hangover" Incense which included a small Incense stick holder or burner as they are called, heh, I don't drink alcohol hopefully it smells alright regardless. I went for the slightly more expensive brands of Incense, they were free trade, non toxic, all natural types, we'll see how they smell, burn and what effect they may have on my well being...

What you need to know about Buddha Shop Australia

Buddha Shop

All Information can be found on their web site, please click the following link to be redirected to Buddha Shop Home Page

Buddha Shop Australia

Our on- line store Open 24 hours

Bricks and Mortar Stores

Albury Buddha Shop 
478 B Dean St, Albury. N.S.W. Australia
Open every day from 9.30am

Yackandandah Buddha Shop
A Bears Old Wares 
12 High St, Yackandandah. VIC. Australia 
Open Friday to Sunday from 9.30am

So the wait begins to receive my fragrant purchases, can't wait :)

Update:
Ok just got the return email to say my order has shipped, hopefully the journey is free from hiccups, it's up to the transport gods now! The return email also had a link to the tracking number, I shall watch that page with determination lol :)

Update:
Ok doesn't look like I will get the goods today, but it is in the Auspost tracking system, so it's "In Transit", it's on its way...

Update:
Nothing came today, at least the tracking has changed, it's now in Sunshine, I have to admit, I'm thinking this could have easily arrived at my place today, there seems to be a time warp some where along the journey...

Update: All received, well packed (nothing broken) and good incense, will use these guys again! :)

Paleo Diet - Two appliances to help me succeed

I'm back on the Paleo Diet, it's been about 2-3 weeks now, the reasons for going off it have been discussed before, so I won't go over that again, though one thing that frustrated me about the diet was the actual cooking and the subsequent clean up of dishes, nope, don't have a dishwasher (don't particularly want one either), I'm the dishwasher, I'm the one who has to do the scrubbing. Cooking, well, as I have Multiple Sclerosis standing over a hot stove too long eg. the time it takes to cook said food can leave me with shaking legs, I can't stand still for long periods of time. If it's difficult. these days I find it really difficult to stay positive and I'll just go for the easy option which is usually take away food or processed crap in a box.

This time I have come prepared with some tools that make things much easier for me to prepare Paleo goodness, enter "The Breville fast slow cooker", it's a slow cooker and pressure cooker combined, a bit more expensive than a slow cooker only, but I've always wanted a pressure cooker for it's energy efficiency and speed when cooking, it was the perfect appliance for me, with either function you do not need to stand over and watch food cook, tick! I have never owned a slow cooker although, my mother did have an electric crock pot years and years ago, it's exactly the same as a slow cooker as I have since realised lol.

The humble hard boiled eggs are just the best snack that is also Paleo approved, now, remember I'm a single male, I can boil water, but I could never seem to get boiled eggs right, they would always have the green tinge or be too soft or over cooked, waiting that six minutes or whatever the perfect time is was like six months for this single male MSer, I know, don't worry, I already feel like a fool lol. So there had to be a better way and guess what, there is, I found the right tool that is absolutely wonderful and simple to use, I don't need to watch the eggs while they come to boil so as to take them out at that exact time, although I do need to be within earshot, which in all honesty could be about 500 metres away, it has a really loud buzzer when finished, which is great for me because it makes me actually get up off my fat arse and turn the machine off, lest I burn the place down.

I found "Breville Egg Creations" a dinky little egg boiler, except it cooks with steam, heaven for me, it is so damn simple, uses about 40/ml of water to hard boil seven "cackleberrys" at once, how long does it take, never timed it, but it doesn't seem much different to doing it the old water and saucepan way. Now I get two dozen eggs and boil them all straight away, ready to snack on as needed. Whack them in the fridge and you have Paleo snack goodness. The vessel that comes with it to measure the right amount of water to use also has like a pin in the base to pierce the wider end of the egg, anyway that's all in the instructions!

These two appliances have made what I considered difficult, time consuming and tiring to now be a pleasure because they make my life so much easier when preparing meals that someone on a Paleo Diet, needs to do quite a bit of, that is cook food and lots of it. Both products are simple to clean, seriously they are, I wouldn't lie about something I despise doing lol. I am also now on the search for the best vegetable grater, I bake a decent Pumpkin bread these days and grating the pumpkin, the second main ingredient, really grates on my patience....

Next up I might talk about some recipes, but it will just be links to sites where I found the details, I won't be ripping off other peoples hard work and passing it off as my own, I might give the ingredients though so people can fight about whether it's Paleo or not :).

Oh I need to make it clear I have no affiliation with Breville, although I would accept a donation from them if they care to give me one, I do think they make decent products though, that's why I bought them!

Recovering from Multiple Sclerosis - Book Review

Recovering from Multiple Sclerosis 

Real life stories of hope and inspiration

George Jelinek and Karen Law

This latest book is the third of Professor George Jelinek's books, dealing with diet, exercise, meditation and a positive outlook on life as a way to take control of your Multiple Sclerosis symptoms, there are twelve stories of real people that have have been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and have followed the advice from Dr. Jelinek's two previous books the first being "Taking control of Multiple Sclerosis" and the second, Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis (Google Play Books).

If you're looking for some motivation and inspiration and are willing to follow the advice given to manage your Multiple Sclerosis, look no further, the stories give real hope that just changing your lifestyle can make a real a difference to the MS journey you're now faced with, all of the stories are personal experiences of following the diet and lifestyle changes outlined in  the "Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis" book.

A few of the people in the book reported that some of their lesions appeared to have shrunk or disappeared on subsequent MRIs after being on this program, understand though that this not a quick fix or silver bullet, this is a total lifestyle change that you will need to stick to without deviation over many years for best results, it's a total lifestyle change! It appears that most of the people in the stories are living normal and active lives apart from some minor MS symptoms from the nerve damage from previous exacerbations and relapses.

Eating healthier and making lifestyle changes can never be a bad thing, why not give it a go!

I was given a free copy of this book to review by Allen and Unwin, click > Recovering from Multiple Sclerosis to buy the paperback. This is an honest review and was not part of any deal to get a free copy of the book.

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Just for your information Dr. Jelinek also has a web site called Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis where you can find all the information needed to follow his program for coping with MS, the "Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis" book is often given away freely and at the moment if you live in Australia or New Zealand you can get a free copy, you only have to pay for postage here are the details for the free copy.

Below is a Youtube video by Dr. Jelinek
Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis - Dr George Jelinek
Professor George Jelinek is an academic emergency physician. His experience with his mother's death from MS, and his own diagnosis in 1999, lend an urgency and compassion to this meticulous work which offers a new approach and new hope for sufferers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPYLKZG6Bt0

On a personal note, I'm not following this program as I am purely trying to lose weight at this stage by following the Paleo Diet which also has the added bonus of helping with my MS symptoms, if that goes well, I think I will give Dr. Jelinek's program a try, if I can stick to Paleo I should have little problem following "Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis" well it should be a lot easier anyway :)