Blooming Hunter Wellies

Realizing that I needed to keep up with my kids through mud and rain puddles, I decided to buy the trendy Hunter Wellingtons that Angelina Jolie wore in Mr. and Mrs. Smith. That was a year ago. Here is a picture from a Canadian store that sells them:



The picture is not accurate, however. They are not semi-shiny and all black. Even brand new wellies out of the box look somewhat chalky.

My black wellies developed a whitish cast to them, referred to as "blooming" in various Hunter information sources. This is a natural process of the rubber that occurs over time. Scrubbing with soap and water will not remove the marks.

I found an excellent source for possible solutions in a purse forum!

I will summarize so you don't have to read the whole thread. The possible solutions are: olive oil, Armorall, and McNett UV Tech. The only solution that I would consider, given the reports on the permanency of the various methods, was the McNett UV Tech. I also like the fact that it is non-toxic and biodegradable.

McNett UV Tech is available from REI in the U.S. and at Mountain Equipment Coop in Canada.

Another blogger has posted the results of her cleaning.

Now, this all got me thinking about my triathlon wetsuit. It's overdue for a repair of two moon shaped cuts. Despite all the warnings, I still managed to cut up my wetsuit with my fingernails. McNett also makes Aquaseal, which can be used to make such repairs. I'll have to conquer that problem another day.

Read an update on whether it was worth it to buy these boots here.

Buying a New Computer

On December 3, my IBM ThinkPad finally died, probably from a virus, even though I never really took her out of the house. As luck would have it, just before she died, I made copies of important files and stored them on an external hard drive. I received a message that she could not start Windows because the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM file was suddenly missing or corrupt. ¥£$&#@!!!

The picture of the old girl in her dying days shows a broken hinge. The hinge broke due to an unfortunate meeting of the laptop with the floor while the laptop was accelerating toward the floor. The special enhanced laptop lettering is handcrafted with white paint. On November 26, the display was wavering and could only be fixed by unplugging the adapter cord or by pushing down on the top left corner of the laptop. Seriously.

I was a militant Apple girl from 1984 to 1992, when I finally gave into the dark side and bought my first "IBM" computer. And now that my ThinkPad finally died, I had the chance to be re-born as an Apple girl again.

Alas... after researching prices, I realized that I would not be returning to my first love. The very cheapest Mac would ring in at $1200 CAD. I reluctantly decided to go with a non-Mac, as it would be about 50% less. I only need the computer for surfing, some word processing, and some online TV watching.

With such limited needs, I figured I should be looking at netbooks, until I read this. The article claims a high return rate for some netbooks. I decided to go for a full size computer.

The choice of computers today is quite astonishing. I was overwhelmed by the different brands, stores, and configurations. I tried Costco's online Canadian site ("http://www.costco.ca"), but the prices were not very aggressive. The US site of Costco offers even cheaper alternatives, but not cheap enough to justify crossing the border for a package pickup and having possible duties tacked on.

Finally I decided on an enhanced Lenovo ThinkPad SL510.

Reading multiple reviews, it seemed to be a good value for money machine, and it was not flashy but was powerful. Perfect. I didn't care if I had no choice of designer colours, or if I wouldn't be able to play a decent video game on it.

Deciding where to buy the computer was another matter. Eventually I bought the computer from Lenovo directly, using a discount code I found while surfing. A great source for researching shoppers like me is Red Flag Deals.

At redflagdeals, I found that most folks bought their computers directly from Lenovo, and I also found many discount codes, including the special one for redflagdeals that I eventually used. Before making the purchase, I obsessed over whether I would eventually find the computer for a lower price. Would it be cheaper on CYBERMONDAY, November 30? Should I wait until Boxing Day? Now that it is Boxing Day, I have finally had the chance to find the answer to my burning question. On these three days, Black Friday (November 27), Cyber Monday, and Boxing Day, I tried all discount codes and found that it was the *same* price, no matter which code I used, or which day I purchased, so let's score one for the little obsessive researching mommy. I bought it on Black Friday, and that was the right decision. According to the Lenovo website today, Boxing Day sale prices are the year's lowest prices!

So you know what to expect if you order from Lenovo, here's a timeline of my purchase process.

I ordered my computer on November 27. It was ready for shipping in Shanghai on December 5 and departed December 7. It arrived at noon on December 8 in North York, Ontario. It arrived in Vancouver's port on December 10. It arrived on my doorstep on December 14. I was promised 11 business days, and that was pretty close to what I got. It crossed the country twice before arriving in my grubby hands.

The day of the promised arrival was fairly annoying. I stayed home most of the day waiting for the package, which would arrive any time between 9-7 pm. At 4:45 pm, I gave up on waiting and took a hot bath. As soon as I lowered myself into the water, the doorbell rang. I'm pretty sure the delivery guy was waiting outside until I got into the water before he rang the doorbell.

Before the computer arrived, I worried about where I would get a web browser. I would need a web browser to download a web browser! Setting up the pristine new computer was incredibly easy. It was already equipped with Netscape AND a 60 day trial of Microsoft Office 2007, as well as a trial of Norton. Well now, they've thought of everything.

The only thing I regret is the quality of the display. It seems a bit fuzzy and low res. My old computer had better resolution. Ten days later, I'm used to the fuzziness.

Guilt Free Hair Colouring: Part 2, Colora Henna Creme

First, I have to laugh at the name of this product. Creme? As in creme brulee? As in, French cream? There is nothing better to make something sound classier by making it French, n'est-ce pas? Also, this one claims to be a "hair color & conditioner". Wow.

The box claims that this has no ammonia and no peroxide. There is a picture of the henna producing plant on the cover. I wouldn't exactly call it all natural, though. Here is the ingredient list:

Water, Henna Extract, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Cocoamphoproprionate, Dowicil 200. May also contain solvent black 5, disperse blue 1, basic violet 14, basic yellow 15.

I would be more inclined to do a test for an allergic reaction with this "henna."

The instructions are much simpler. Shampoo and towel dry, apply the "creme", cover with a plastic cap for one hour or more, then rinse thoroughly. Simplicity itself. The whole process took about 1.5 hours. For the simplicity alone, I preferred this "henna." But when I had to henna my hair again, I chose the messy Light Mountain "Color the Gray!" option.

Here is why. The Colora did not smell and washed out easily, but a few days later I went swimming. It turned the inside of my white silicon cap light brown! I could not wash the colour off my cap, and months later, despite exposure to chlorine, my cap was never quite be the same white it used to be. With the chemical additives with multisyllabic names and the unknown "solvent black 5", I wasn't exactly sure WHAT was going into my hair. This product is a compromise between real henna and chemical commercial dyes. The box claims to be "coloring your hair with organic colors". I don't know how organic "basic violet 14" is.

It also did not seem to last quite as long as the Light Mountain henna. It washed out after maybe six weeks, and my grays become light enough to be noticeable again. This may have also been a result of my colour choice, mahogany, which is the fourth darkest shade. I could have chosen Chestnut, Brown, or Black for darker colour.

For my next move, I may try to find henna in Little India.