Tim's Thoughts: 2013

I had to replace the right hand tail light assembly. The part was easy to come by. I got a new, OEM part on Amazon that fit my car and was much cheaper than getting it from the dealer.

This is my car's tail light:

Many years ago, I had to replace a tail light on an old Chrysler LeBaron. On that car, the operation took maybe 10 minutes. I had to open the trunk lining, unscrew a few screws, disconnect the lights, and replace the light assembly. Very easy.
On my Civic, this operation starts with the same steps, but requires removing the rear bumper cover, because the light is connected to the car body with a bracket that is accessible only when the bumper is removed. Very annoying.
This took me over an hour to complete, because getting the bumper off is awkward, especially without experience doing so.

I found a helpful YouTube video that shows how this can be done:

As can be seen in the video, the task is not too bad if you are an experienced mechanic, but for me, a lay person, it was quite a task.

Monday, April 15, 2013

New Deals - April 15, 2013

Visit my deals blog, Tim's Deals for latest deals:
TigerDirect Specials - April 15, 2013
Lumber Liquidators Deals - April 15, 2013 - Expire on April 16, 2013

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Pink Gorilla Costume

I was looking around and found this funny costume:

The two pictures look different, but I suspect that they are in fact either the same costume or are very similar.
The pink color looks different, and the feet seem to have more fur on the lighter colored costume.

This costume is adult sized, and is sold by a number of sellers.

You can find it here:

Amazon - From $66.29
Birthday in a Box - $84.99

Get Free Shipping on orders $60 and up (code FREE60)

Costume Discounters - $119.97

Get 20% off costumes $20 and up (code SAVEBIG)

Costume SuperCenter - $99.99

Get $10 off $75 order (code 10PSC75) or $15 off $100 order (code PSC100)

eBay - From $91.96
Rakuten Shopping - From $89.99
Wholesale Halloween Costumes - $92.90

Fostoria American Collecting

I discuss the Fostoria American pattern on my collectibles blog.
New book review is available on my bookshelf.

Friday, April 12, 2013

New Deals - April 12, 2013

Visit my deals blog, Tim's Deals for latest deals:
1 Sale A Day Deals - April 12, 2013
Cosmetics and Skincare Deals - April 12, 2013
Food and Drink Deals - April 12, 2013

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

New Deals - April 8, 2013

Visit my deals blog, Tim's Deals for:
Costume and Party Deals - April 9, 2013
Sports Apparel Deals - April 9, 2013

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Replacing Honda Headlights

A few weeks ago, my right hand side low beam headlight stopped working.

I did some research, and realized that to replace it, I had to to through the wheel well. This is an exceedingly awkward thing to do. According to instructions, I had to turn the wheels all the way to the left (for right headlight), and then open up the wheel well cover that shields the engine compartment from dirt thrown up by the wheels.
I did some Googling, and I found a helpful YouTube video:

The video is much shorter than what it took me to do. I was able to replace one lightbulb in about 20 minutes, and this included a lot of scratches on my arms from the various edges in the way.

Since I was going to do this, I decided to replace both headlights, right and left. I bought Sylvania 9006 XV XtraVision Halogen Headlight Bulb (Low Beam), (Pack of 2) in a local auto parts store for about $25, it is less than half that on Amazon, but I needed to get the headlights immediately, so I had to use what I could get.

Drinking Wine

After our wedding, we had quite a few left over wine bottles.
We decided to start drinking wine for dinner.
It was suggested to me that wine out of the bottle will taste better if I used a wine aerator when I poured the wine.
I saw one, a Vinturi Essential Wine Aerator,but I thought that it was somewhat awkward to use as it required using two hands, one to hold the aerator, and one to hold the bottle.
I found a different one, a Trudeau Aroma Aerating Pourer with Stand. It is available from a number of sellers, including the manufacturer, Trudeau, or from Amazon.
The aerator looks like this:

It plugs into the bottle and doesn't need to be held when pouring wine, so it is quite convenient to use.
According to Amazonreviews, the results are as good as with the Vinturi aerator,but it is easier to use.

Wedding Rings, Ctd.

The "stunt" wedding rings that we got, as I mentioned earlier, were a Tungsten ring for me, and a Titanium ring for my wife.
My ring is a Tungsten Carbide 5mm Comfort Fit Domed Wedding Band Ring
Here is an image of this ring:

My wife got Titanium 3mm Comfort Fit Wedding Ring
Here is an image of this ring:

I like this idea. The Tungsten ring looks very similar to the Platinum ring, but is much cheaper, and, even though I rarely loose things, because it is cheap, I don't need to be worried all the time about loosing it.

Wedding Rings

When we got married, we decided to get nice rings made of Gold or Platinum .
These rings are expensive, so a friend of mine had a great suggestion. He suggested that we get cheap rings to wear on a daily basis. He suggested to get Tungsten rings.
We did some shopping around, and I chose a Tungsten Carbide ring, and my wife chose a Titanium ring.

The Titanium ring is very light and feels like it has no mass. The Tungsten ring is quite heavy, it is almost as heavy as a Platinum ring.

My Tungsten ring is now a few months old, and it looks like it is brand new with not a single scratch on it. Tungsten is much harder and doesn't scratch easily.

Friday, April 5, 2013

Mazda3

My wife has a 2007 Mazda3 s sedan.
We bought it used with 25K miles on it.
When we looked at it at the dealership, it looked pretty nice and clean.
Over time, things started going bad with it.
First, the right front strut leaked and lost all of its oil.
Then our mechanic found that the transmission fluid was dirty and needed changing.
Now, the check engine light is on, sometimes. We checked, and it turns out that the oxygen sensor is malfunctioning We need to get a new one, but it costs something like $250-$300 at the dealership.
We found a compatible sensor on Amazon, Denso 234-9085 Oxygen Sensor (Air and Fuel Ratio Sensor), but when we got it, it looked used. We took it to our mechanic, and he said that the brand was filed off and that it was fouled with oil. We returned it, and were promised that Amazon will check their warehouse to make sure that the sensor that they are selling as new is in fact new.
The same thing happened two more times. Last time, the sensor came and it looked clean, but the brand was filed off, so it was probably re-manufactured. We returned the latest one as well.
We will try again, probably, because on Amazon this sensor costs less than half of what the dealership charges.

My Car

I have a 2006 Honda Civic EX.
I bought it in 2005, just when they came out on the market. The car has seen better days, but it still runs great.
My car has a manual transmission, and when I was buying it, there was only one such car in the color that I wanted in SD county. The dealer had to get this car traded for a different car that they had on the lot for me to get it.
My commute is a mix of city and two lane highway, and I am regularly getting 30-32 mpg. I think that this is not bad.

First Post

Hi All,

This is my first post on my new blog.

This blog will be used to post my opinions on everything that I find interesting or care to opine about.
I will be posting brief reviews of things that I experience throughout the days and weeks of my life. This will include reviews of products that I buy, movies and TV shows that I watch, and anything else I find interesting.

So, stay tuned.

Tim