In search of a new GPS unit

About a week and a half ago, I pulled out my trusty Garmin iQue 3600 to find out the exit for a mall to check out some sunglasses. Well, I managed to not seat the unit properly in the cradle in my car, so it reset itself and wiped out the contents of its memory. That's the major problem with older Palm OS based devices (one reason I recommended that Qualcomm not use the Palm OS for the pdQ smartphone; losing all your data when the battery dies really sucks). I got royally annoyed at the device and since have been on a quest for a new (modern) portable GPS unit to replace it.

On black Friday, I dragged my wife to the store in hopes of getting a cheap unit. Of course, that didn't work out. So, I've been doing my research on devices. Most GPS units sold come with a suction cup mount that adheres to the windshield. As I was looking at Costco's website, I discovered that these types of mounts are illegal in California. Yes, I realize that most people either don't know about it or don't care. I, however, do my best to adhere to the law. In that light, it appears that the Garmin devices are the only ones that have an optional bean bag portable mount (my iQue has this). So, I've narrowed down my search to either the nüvi 260 or the nüvi 360 with the bean bag mount.

However, I don't need a GPS unit at the moment. My father dropped his iQue 3600 and it no longer charges, so I offered him mine as I don't use the Palm functionality like he does; he won't pay me for it (I'm a nice son, aren't I?), so a new GPS unit will cost me over $300. Most of the time we go somewhere new, we drive my wife's car which has a built in navigation system, so maybe I'll just wait until after the new year when maybe there will be rebates or reduced prices.

The Roomba Saga

I finally got tired of the dog hair around our house, so I decided to purchase a Roomba. I purchased the Roomba 560 as it had a number of features that I liked and with the 20% off coupon at Linens N Things, it was $280. At the same time, they had the Scooba 5800 on sale for $250 and with the 20% off coupon, it was $200. I was pleased that we had a chance at clean floors; nether my wife nor I like to clean, but like to have the house clean which creates a problem.The Roomba started making funny noises and the Scooba stopped charging, so I took them back and exchanged them. The next set worked better, but I soon learned that the virtual walls of the Roomba 560 were not compatible with the Scooba, so I'd have to buy extra walls for BOTH devices as we have a large area that I need to clean in sections. Even if cost were not an object (extra virtual walls are about $30 a piece), having 2 sets was not realistic.So, I returned the Roomba and ordered the Roomba 416 direct from iRobot as it was $200 + tax with free shipping (Linens N Things had it for $200 - 20%). iRobot had a special where I'd get a free accessory kit that included 6 replacement filters, a set of replacement brushes, a remote control and another virtual wall. This time, however, the virtual walls of the Roomba and Scooba could be interchanged. The Roomba arrived today and while I didn't get the remote control, I did end up with an extra virtual wall. So, I now have 5 virtual walls that work with both devices. I like the Scooba and it is doing a decent job; the Roomba seemed to do an acceptable job, but unlike the 500 series, it really bangs into walls. I'll keep putting both devices through their paces and hopefully I'll be pleased with my purchase.

When money gets in the way of donations

The mantra of many that want to reduce waste and help the environment is reduce, reuse, recycle and in that order. So today I tried to do the second step of reusing by donating some of my old stuff to Goodwill. I went to Goodwill's Miramar landfill location as it was the closest location to me (less than 10 minutes away). I had a bunch of stuff to donate including a monitor, a sewing machine, an old laptop, old video camera, old cell phones, clothes, etc. The guy at the station informed me that they couldn't accept anything with a plug on it at that location because they had a deal with the "recycling center" next door. Which to me meant that the recycling center wanted the stuff as it charges to recycle things like monitor whereas Goodwill just takes it. It would seem that they don't adhere to the same mantra that I do and want me to skip the reuse step and go right to recycle.

In the end, I had to drive an extra 15 minutes up the road to their Sorrento Valley location to donate the rest of my stuff. This makes no sense to me as Goodwill takes all their stuff and resells it if it is in sellable condition. What a waste of extra time and gas to do the right thing.

What's a Dog/Cat?

I went to purchase some heartworm medication for my dog through 1800PetMeds and when I went to select which pet it was for, I selected Marley (we only have one pet) and the following came up:

I know that I setup Marley as a dog and when I checked his profile, it said he was a dog. I guess the site was a little confused.