Ntctiawc 2005 blog

Posts Tagged ‘tools’

I first saw this on a shelf a couple years back and was intrigued by it but hadn’t picked it up to read it until my 8 year old insisted that it was an awesome story and that I’d love it. So, with him continually asking how I liked it, I read Artemis Fowl.

When asked by my wife about the plot, my best quick answer was that it is sort of an “evil Richie Rich carrying out a dastardly scheme against the world of fairies.” (For those unfamiliar with Richie Rich, he’s the super rich kid with tons of fun gadgets and crazy adventures to save his family/friends/world). In this case, the rich kid is 12-year-old Artemis Fowl, and his motives are less altruistic.

Style
The writing was well done. It was written very simply and straightforward which was good considering the audience. It was something that a young reader could pick up and push through without getting bogged down by the language. The writing and dialog was natural and flowed well. Overall, very nice.

I have only 2 gripes about the writing itself:
1. Numerical consistency. Specifically, the phrasing “[something happened:] in as many [amount of time:].” You’ve likely heard this phrase before…along the lines of “He fell on his butt three times in as many seconds.” Which means he fell on his butt 3 times in 3 seconds. Colfer uses this phrasing enough that it got distracting to me, especially the times when he used it without a good frame of reference or without numbers. I don’t have the text with me to provide an exact example…but the memory I have is something like “he passed out again in as many minutes.” The numerical reference “again” isn’t really concrete (can be alluded to as it being 2 since it’s the second time) and the timeframe mentioned didn’t fit based on everything that happened in between.
2. Swearing. This is a book presumably for an audience of young kids. Through the first ~2/3 of the book, the author introduced a fairy swear word and used it a handful of times. The word itself is meaningless an
Sierra Tools Retractable Sun

When my last HRM needed a new transmitter I decided “time for a GPS”. For the same cost as a new HRM I purchased this GPS/HRM and am sooo happy with it! I am a distance runner both on road and trails (in heavy wooded New England.) Not only was this unit easy to set up it is a snap to use and have yet to have a signal drop. I also use it for Mt Biking and recommend getting the bike adapter too. I love the easy upload to the Garmin site and the option to share selected workouts with other people.
My only complaint is….I now can see just how darn slow I am on the trails! So be prepared (if you run/ride technical singletrack) to be humbled!
CTA Tools 5110 10

This is a convenient tool to clean thick stains from carpets. We used this to steam vacuum our carpet after a year and a half and the difference is noticeable. Perhaps we should have purchased this before! Cleaning the brushes can be challenging, that is perhaps the only downside. Other than that, easy to set up, operate, and maintain. Certainly a recommended product.
Vim Tools V420 1

Eoin Colfer has earned my undying admiration: He writes a truly entertaining and unique youth novel. Artemis Fowl is complex, it’s unpredictable, it’s imaginative, it has some gruesome descriptions, and it is really, really good.

Colfer’s focal point is the wanna-be evil boy genius. He’s all genius, but he can’t quite bring himself to be truly evil, and the conflict in character is fascinating to read. Colfer latches on to a real problem that so many youth identify with, sadly–the absentee parents for reasons that even they can’t always help. Although Colfer acknowledges this issue, he doesn’t preach, he just lets it be, and allows Artemis to make his own mess and dig his way out.

Colfer’s imaginative LEP unit and Foaly are great fun to read. I can’t wait to get into the second novel, and I would not hesitate to recommend this series to any upper elementary/middle school aged reader, either in years or at heart. Order the series without reserve and enjoy!
KD Tools 2775 Hand

Great scale batman! Very happy! And, I am losing weight! Ha! Very good customer relations. Keep up the good work!
Irwin Industrial Tools 2078500

This is a wonderful book about the quiet side of civil rights movement of the 60’s. Couldn’t put it down.
Michigan Industrial Tools MIT

I use it to track my running, biking, and canoeing. Does a great job. Locks in on satellites very quickly. The user interface on the device is a bit clunky, but does the job fine.

The data is the reason to have the 305. I’ve really switched my workouts over to more heart rate zone training and the watch is perfect for it. Heart rate function works perfectly. Speed function is almost always exactly what my bike speedo shows.

Overall I’m very pleased with the purchase.

Two possible improvements
1. I wish I could configure the settings from the Garmin software rather than having to use the 305 buttons. For example configuring the disply settings, clearing history, etc would be much nicer in a GUI on the computer rather than the buttons on the 305.
2. If I have the setting wrong for Running, Biking, Other, I can’t see how to change it once its downloaded into the Garmin software. So if you run when the 305 is set to Biking, your workout will show up in biking, calculate calories based on biking, etc.

One word of warning – although the device is called waterproof with an IPX7 rating, I know several people who have had water get in the device and ruin it. When I use mine in the ocean I keep it in a drybag.

SK Hand Tools 4080

I ordered the set and found them to be one of those you read until 6:20am. I like books like this and found this story fascinating and so romantic, it really bowled me over. Considering the fact that I like Dresden Files, The Lensmen series,etc. I think people who like fantasy and supernatural stories, will be agreeably surprised after all the negative reviews I read. I went to my nail tech and she said all the women in the salon were reading it. That changed MY mind, after reading all the awful reviews I read. Try it, you’ll like it!!
Hit Tools 16 PT05H