Recently in Home Category

Thinking of buying your kids (or yourself) a general purpose hand-held gaming system (also good for in-flight entertainment)? While they all play games + music, Nintendo's DSi doesn't play movies. And while the Apple iPod Touch is the most expensive system out the door, you'll save hundreds loading it up with games. (Note: Most of the games on the iPod Touch are not as sophisticated, but many times easier to learn and just as addicting. Plus for just a few dollars, you don't feel such the fool plunking down $30 for something your kids never play).

(*) All Console prices from Amazon, July 19, 2009.
(**) Top 10 Games and Prices listed on Amazon (DSi+PSP) and iTunes (iPod), July 19, 2009.

Breakout of Top 10 Game prices

Internal temp up to 160F and it's time to feast.

After holding on to a 1995 Pathfinder for 8 years, we upgraded to a new Honda Pilot. We wanted a three row SUV that actually fit in the garage and didn't require excessive trips to the gas station.

Instead of going to a dealer first thing, I configured the car online and asked for email quotes. What a great decision that was. Within hours, I was emailed 3 different prices. No haggling with the dealer required. Bottom line, I saved more than $3,000 off the sticker price. Not bad for browsing the web.

The Pilot I purchased comes with 3 months free of XM Satellite radio. Man, I'm addicted. Quality, commercial-free music. Trying to figure out how to get it for my car now.

So next time you want a car, make sure to get bids online. It may save you a lot of money and hassle.

On Sunday, I installed a new faucet in the bathroom. As most things in plumbing, the removal takes longer than the installation. The problem: nature welds. After 20+ years of corrosion, some of those nuts just won’t give.

Tools Purchased: 1 mini saw to cut copper pipe ($6)

Parts Purchased: 2 compression valves, 2 braided metal supply lines ($25)

Supplies Purchased (but probably already owned): teflon tape, plumbers putty ($4)

Removal: 4 hours (2 trips to the plumbing store)

Installation (90%): 1 hour

Find missing gasket: 30 minutes

Conclusion: The hardest part was removing the old stem valves and fitting my body under the sink. It doesn’t pay to be a “large” plumber. Overall, this was a pretty successful DIY repair. My body is sore and I still don't have the pop-up drain hooked up properly, but there are no leaks and I only spent $10 on tools and supplies.

After 4 days without power, a blown transformer in the neighborhood, we are back! The refrigerator is empty, the house is stuffy, but the fans are spinning, the lights are shining and the air conditioning is blowing. That and an internet connection will get you this post.

Thanks to Suzy's parents, who live just blocks away, this four day outage was more a vacation than hell's sauna. We spent our time there in air conditioned, swimming pool goodness.

If my ever expanding foray into the field of plumbing and the first home repair on my two week vacation, I replaced the rubber gasket in the sprinkler control valve. As usual, the tool was more expensive than the replacement parts. Luckily, I tried replacing the gaskets rather than the sprinkler assembly itself ($42.00 each). This job only took a few minutes too, not like the shower job which turned 10 minutes into 6 hours.

If you could be any type of contractor, what would you be? Perhaps a plumber.

While I may be a crap investor on the stock market (don't get me started), we sure were lucky with the timing on the house.

Check out the prices in your neighborhood with a great new tool from Zillow. Think Google Maps with prices overlaid on the homes.

The tile floor is in. It took a week but the floor is in. The house looks so much better. This weekend the grout will be sealed so we'll be able to resume normal kitchen operations :-)