Tricia's Musings

Random Thoughts about life in general, living in the big city of Toronto



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Thinking about getting a home security system

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Back in 2001 when Chris and I first bought our house I remember that our insurance company told us that if we installed a home security system they would take a percentage off the cost of insuring our home.

At the time we were just about to start doing major renovations on our home – knocking down walls etc so it didn’t make sense to have a security system installed. (We still have some home reno projects (stalled ones) on the go too) Plus we live in a pretty safe neighborhood.

Even though our neighborhood has few break ins it’s always possible that something could happen. In fact there was a home invasion just a few blocks from us last year!

Earlier today I decided to take a look a the home security systems offered by ADT. They are offering discounts on some of the packages installation fees (one package is as low as $99 installation after a $200 mail in rebate!) and all of their monthly monitoring fees seem reasonable at a range from $33.99 to $48.99 per month.

I can’t remember exactly what the discount was that our insurance company was offering if we got a home security system, but I believe it was something like 10% off the monthly insurance payment. That discount would likely pay a large chunk of the monthly security system monitoring fee. Sounds like a win win situation to me!

Obviously a security system will help prevent a house from being broken into, or if it is broken into alarms will go off and the police will be sent to the house quickly likely preventing a large robbery. However, did you know that there are a number of other services that come with a home security system? Well … depending upon which one and which service you use of course …

You can get security systems that monitor your house for fire, carbon monoxide, flood detection and ones that you can push a button on the installed system or a hand held device to alert the police, fire department or ambulance in an emergency. Some home security systems even have a voice system where you can talk to someone directly at the monitoring service during an emergency.

I certainly like the idea of a security system that not only protects my house from burglars but that also monitors for fire and carbon monoxide! My parents had a security system that did all of that plus was able to contact the various emergency services and they were very pleased with it.

Chris has always like the idea of use having a security system so I guess we’ll look into it further over the next week or so and perhaps have one installed soon.

Do you have a security system in your home? Are you happy with the system and the monitoring service?





I just bought a Wii Fit on eBay!

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I just made my first ever eBay purchase! Yep, I won the bid, waited ’till the last minute to make a bid too. I bought a brand new, never been opened Wii Fit!

I’ve been thinking about getting a Wii Fit for a while. I had even joined some contests that a few bloggers did in late November, early December in an attempt to win a Wii Fit, but luck wasn’t with me.

Actually when I entered the other bloggers contests that was the first time my husband learned of my desire to get a Wii Fit. Of course he wished me luck because of course if I won one it wouldn’t have cost us a cent.

I didn’t mention Wii Fit again to my husband until yesterday when we were out shopping at Costco (that’s like Sam’s Club) and grocery shopping. He knows that I’ve been looking for a way to get more active, however, ever since I was diagnosed with vitamin D deficiency I’ve been a little worried about slipping on ice outside (in case my bones are weak), so until I find out exactly what my health status is – ie how low my vitamin D really is and if it’s affected my bones, I’m not about to start jogging outside or doing anything that might make me fall and break a bone. So safe exercise indoors is looking better and better, for now anyway.

So while we were out shopping I mentioned to him again that I’d like to get a Wii Fit and that I’d looked online at Best Buy and the Future Shop, but they were sold out (thanks to Boxing week and New Year’s sales). He was agreeable to us getting a Wii, he almost never says no to me, so we did go to Best Buy just to see if they had any in stock, but as I suspected they didn’t.

Last night I thought about looking on eBay, but I didn’t get around to it until today when my brother sent a link to some dog boots that were on sale on eBay … so of course while I was on the site I did a search for Wii Fit and I found one that was still at a decent price and the auction was about to end. By about to end I mean it only had about 3 and a half minutes left! So I had a very quick discussion with Chris and placed a bid and Ta Da! I won!

We don’t have much extra money right now, so this is a splurge that I’d better use! However I’m becoming less fit by the day so I need to start doing something to get into better shape, so I think this was a good purchase.

The eBay seller is in Canada as well so I won’t have to pay duty or any other fees when it arrives. Now I just have to sit back and see just how fast Canada Posts expedited Parcel delivery really is. I was told it would be 1 to 7 days, and considering the seller is on the East Coast I expect it will be at least two or three days before I get my Wii Fit. Surely it will be here by Friday (crossing fingers, toes, legs, arms … getting harder to type!).

So for those of you who have used Wii Fit …

  1. Which games are the most fun? Am I going to be happy with the Wii Fit?
  2. Where should I start as a beginner – Yoga? Pilates? or something else?
  3. Any tips for a new Wii Fit user?
  4. Are there any “must have” accessories that I should consider getting?

I’m certain that using the Wii Fit will drive my dog nuts for the first while. She’ll want to play when I’m trying to use it. Maybe I’ll have to keep her in her crate?

Anyway .. any tips from those who have or who have used a Wii Fit would be helpful! I’m so excited that I won my bid and can’t wait for it to get here!

Ok stupid question … do I need the Wii console to use Wii Fit? If so I’m screwed ’cause we don’t have Wii.

What’s the best electric shaver for men?

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My husband has wanted a decent electric shaver for years. He had one that he was using for oh, about the last decade, but it finally broke sometime over the summer. Since then he’s just been using a razor to shave.

The trouble is my husband could grow a beard in about two days, which of course means he could easily shave twice a day if he really wanted a smooth clean shaven look all the time.

I know it’s a little late, but I think that I might try to get him an electric shaver for Christmas. If I don’t manage to get one for him before Christmas I could always take advantage of boxing day sales or a New Year’s sale I suppose.

The problem? I have absolutely no idea which electric shaver he’d like best. I’d like to get him a well made electric shaver that will last for years.

Do any of my male readers or their spouses have any suggestions? Which brand and or model is best?

I spent a bit of time today looking at electric shavers on the internet and the brands I’m most familiar with are Braun and Phillips. The Philips Norelco 1060 arcitec Mens Shaver and Accessory Kit caught my eye. If my husband ever decides to grow his goatee back he can use the tube trimmer to shape it.

Anyone use the Philips Norelco shaver? I’d love to hear your opinion of it or any other brands. Perhaps with your help I can get my husband a Christmas gift that he really wants.

Oh my aching back!

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Over the last year or so my back has been going out and spasming when I do simple tasks. It seems that if I’m doing a task, say some housework, where I have to bend slightly forward such as sweeping the floor, vacuuming or taking care of my plants in the garden my back will eventually start aching.

Yeah, I’m out of shape. Being off on medical leave for three years certainly hasn’t helped me stay physically fit!

Earlier today I had a doctors appointment. The doctors office is only a few blocks away so I walked there. That went fine, but by the time I was halfway home my back started aching. It snowed fairly heavily last night so perhaps I was walking fun as I made my way over shoveled sidewalks and streets.

My back pain usually goes away fairly quickly if I can lie down for 20 to 30 minutes, but this time round my back is still aching on and off. I guess I won’t be going out to shovel snow this evening!

Anyway, since my back has been troubling me occasionally over the last year I think it’s time to get one of those back massagers. My husband has a bad back as well so he could use it too. In fact I’m certain he’d hog the thing if I got one!

I found one that I like at Buy.com. It’s the Homedics VC-100 Back Charger Massage Cushion. You can place it on a chair or a couch or even use it in your car. It comes with a 110V AC adapter for your home and a 12V DC Adapter for your vehicle.

The back charger massages the muscles of your lower back. That sounds good to me!

It’s inexpensive too. Only $19.99! Still … we are more than a little short on funds right now so I think I’ll keep an eye on the site and see if the massager goes on sale and then I’ll snap it up. In the meantime I’ll stick to our very old heating pad.

Now that I think of it, with that DC adapter for the car I’ll probably never see the back massager. My husband will steal it and keep it in the car! Hmmmm maybe we’ll have to get two of them.

What do you do for your back when you throw it out or when it suddenly starts to hurt for no apparent reason?

Keeping a dog can be expensive!

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When we got our Labrador Retriever a little over a year ago I knew we’d have some extra expenses, but I guess I didn’t take into account just how much extra having a dog costs.

The first few months were the most expensive as we bought a crate to keep her in at night, got a dog bed to use inside the crate, experimented with a few different types of food (she was sick when we got her too so we had extra medical expenses too), puppy training classes and we also went through several dog toys as we tried to find ones that wouldn’t be destroyed within minutes! We’ve also tried several different leashes and harnesses in our effort to get her not to pull so much when we take her out on walks.

midnightonporch I guess that’s what happens when you are a first time dog owner, eh?

These days The biggest expense in relation to keeping Midnight is her food and toys. She obviously needs food and we feed her with a higher grade dog food – no chemicals, natural ingredients as we’ve found that’s the only kind that works well with her sensitive digestive system.

She also needs toys. Labs are high energy dogs that tend to be chewers. If we don’t provide her with something appropriate to chew on she’d chew the furniture. She’s tried that too, but luckily she hasn’t done too much damage! Yet!

Toys for power chewers (really durable hard toys) are not cheap and Midnight seems to go through her toys pretty fast. We bought her a power chewer bone (foot long nylabone) a month ago and she’s chewed it down to about three inches. So we just got her yet another one on the weekend.

I don’t mind buying her toys if it keeps her busy and keeps my furniture intact, but man, it’s getting expensive! I think I’m going to watch for a sale on durable dog toys and when I see some on sale I’ll buy two or three at a time. That should save us money and keep her occupied!

I was just looking on Buy.com and I found this Ruff Wear Turnip dog toy. It’s a large rubber, turnip shaped toy. It has a hole in it that you could stuff with dog treats (great way to keep dogs happy and occupied for a while), plus the toy bounces like a ball so we could play fetch with her.

I don’t know if it would be all that durable if she were to lie down and start chewing on it, although I think it would last longer than some of the toys we’ve bought her in the past! This toy would probably be best if we were actively playing with her with the turnip toy.

For those of you with dogs, especially large breed dogs … did you find it a little more expensive than you thought it would be after you got your dog? What kind of toys do you buy your dog (especially dogs that are chewers)? I’m just looking for new ideas to keep her occupied and of course anything that’s inexpensive or that might save us some money would be much appreciated.

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