• Laiee

“I need a new heater for the room.  The old one is terrible.  Every time it kicked on, the lights in the room dimmed.”

That’s all the reason I need to search for a better heater.  My study is a regular size bedroom.  Therefore, my requirements are simple:

• Has a handle so I can carry it easily
• Looks modern, simple and clean
• Cannot be black
• Quiet
• Has a fan that can push the heat throughout the room
• $50 max
• Cannot scare Callie, the dog

I had a hard time to find the aisle where the heaters were displayed.  I was everywhere in the store.  Finally, I found them somewhere across from the toy section.  Target carried more than 10 different kinds of heater.  This was going to be more complicated than I thought.  Finally, I picked the Lasko Ceramic Heater model 5429.  It qualified for 5 out of the 7 requirements above.  I wasn’t sure if it would be really quiet as it said on the box.  In addition, I didn’t know if it would terrify poor Callie.

I drove as fast as I could to get home as I couldn’t wait to test it out.  For a person who always feels cold like me, you don’t know how much this new heater means to me.  It’s like you just got a diamond, OK?

Once I got home, I immediately put the heater to test.  I turned the temperature knob to half way, turned on oscillation, fan speed to 1 (the maximum is 2), and got Callie in the room.  She was fine with it.  The heater was quiet.  Excellent.  7 out of 7.  So the dog and I took a little nap in the room while the new heater was running and making the room warm.

I woke up with sweat.  The room was hot.  I couldn’t believe I actually said that because I never felt the room was warm enough.  The new heater was powerful.  I turned it down to 3 (maximum is 12) and I have left the setting just like that ever since.

I am very happy with it.  Target has it for $29.99.

name:  fad
email: fatimah@
 
comment:
 
I want to buy this thing, but does it really work??  I mean, in Malaysia it costs me about RM2388.00 or USD615..wuuu… 
  

When I first saw the iGallop in the Brookstone store last Christmas, it was selling for $599 US.  Somehow, I just liked the machine.   It looked like fun and an exercise equipment I would use regularly.  However, at $599, it was simply too expensive.

Brookstone has been putting it on sale for some time now for $199.  I got it in July and have been using it ever since.  It comes with an exercise demo DVD.  The first week I just did the basic program as I was learning to balance myself on the saddle.  By the third week, I was doing all three programs – the basic, intermediate, and advanced.  To do all the exercises only takes 40 minutes.  This is the first machine ever that I didn’t give up.  I now even feel guilty if I don’t do iGallop for a day.  I just weighed myself yesterday.  I lost 12 pounds since I started on 7/12/07.  My stomach looks much flatter and better defined.

In the beginning, I didn’t pay too much attention to my diet; however, I did follow Nancy’s, the instructor on the DVD, advice that eat small meals every three to four hours.  In September, I decided to change my diet as well.  I always love soups.  This is the perfect time of the year for soups as the weather begins to get cooler.  My diet looks something like this:

Breakfast:  cut 1/3 of the tofu cube in little chunks (The tofu you get from the grocery store that is soaked in the water.)  + spinach + carrots or corn + 5 to 7 slices of the shaved turkey or chicken deli meat.  Stir fry them in olive oil.  200 – 250 calories

Sometime between Breakfast / Lunch:  I love coffee.  I usually have two cups with fat free Hazelnut flavored creamer.  120 – 150 calories

Lunch:  Chunky Chicken Noodle Soup or Italian Wedding.  220 calories.

Sometime between Lunch / Dinner:  One South Beach Diet snack bar.  100 calories.

Dinner:  I make my own soup.  Normally, it consists of one can of chicken or vegetable broth, spinach, tofu, carrots or corn, either turkey or chicken.  If I don’t feel like having soup, I may have 1/2 can of tuna in olive oil with vegetables of my liking and tofu.  200 – 250 calories.  I gave the other 1/2 can to the dog and the cat.

Sometime between dinner / bedtime:  Fat free yogurt.  100 calories.

Basically, I cut rice, pasta, and bread out of my diet and replace them with tofu.  The total calories I consume per day are around 1200.

Does it work?  It does work for me and I really enjoy it.  I like the way I look now; especially, I lost almost all my belly fat.  The stomach is flatter and toned. 

We have another machine at home.  It is an elliptical trainer.  I hate that thing.  It cost more than the iGallop.  We used it once.  It is now standing there screaming at me to dust it. 

After a month, we finally got the camera back.  We were excited to open the package but found our old camera in it.  They fixed it.  Sony did not give us a new one.

There has been no communication from them since we sent in the camera to the Sony review board.  Before we sent it in, they told us that they would examine the camera and determine the cause of the problem and let us know about their decision.  Nothing was said afterwards.  They simply decided to fix it.

We were disappointed but there’s not much we can do at this point.  The entire package cost $380.  It’s an expensive lesson.

Matt said that the camera was not taking as good pictures.  I haven’t used it much yet after the repair.  We’ll give it some time and test it out. 

My last iGallop review was on 7/12/07 when I purchased the product.  It’s been a little bit over a month and a half since I started using it.  I am on the iGallop 5 days a week.  I don’t really have a diet plan but I do follow Nancy Kennedy’s, the instructor on the DVD, advice.  Eat small meals every 3 to 4 hours.  Yes!!!  It does work for me.  And no, I don’t have the killer 6-pack abs yet, but I have lost the fat that used to cover the oblique muscles.

During week 1, I was following the beginner and the intermediate programs.  By week 2, I did all 3 programs – beginner, intermediate, and advanced.

All it takes is just half an hour a day “galloping.”  Following the routines on the DVD is fun.  Poor Emma, who is the demonstrator for the beginner and the advanced routines, gets screamed at by Nancy.  “EMMA!!!  FEELING TIRED, EMMA???”  On the contrary, Nancy is much nicer to Jason, who only does the intermediate program.  “How do you feel, Jas?  Pull your hands up, Jas.  Gooooood.”

I do enjoy the work out on this machine.  Who knows?  I may look much better when I write the iGallop Review III.  Wish me luck.

Update:  Review III is now available

After hours and hours of researching, we finally decided to purchased a Sony Cyber Shot DSC-T100.  CNet also gives it an excellent rating and review. 

We purchased the camera on Amazon.com and received this camera on 8/7/07 from Cameta Camera.  When the package arrived, we were beside ourselves.   It took great pictures.  The colors were vibrant and almost no wait time in between to take series of pictures with the flash on.  On 8/17/07, the camera just stopped working.  We thought it might be due to the battery, so we went to Best Buy and got a new battery.  After charging the new battery up, we put it in the new camera and it was still not working.  We called Cameta Camera and asked if we could exchange it.  We were told that they couldn’t take the defective camera back because Sony prevented its dealers from doing so, and we had to call Sony directlyWe called Sony and were told by the rude customer service that they would not take the camera back, nor would they exchange it.  They, however, would fix itWe tried to explain to the customer service that the camera was defective within 10 days.  They would not listen but simply repeated that they would fix the camera. 

Finally, we told him that we’d never buy Sony products again if this was the kind of customer service they provided.  Then the customer service said that there was this final review board we could write a letter to and state our case.  They would decide whether an exchange is feasible.  We sent the letter a couple of days agoIf you are thinking about buying a Sony product, think again, because they are not going to exchange it even when their product is defective within 10 days of the purchase date

Update:  Review II is now available