I’m torn between giving this 4 or 5 stars. In the end, I’m super happy with these. That said, I did do some heavy modifications on them.
My rock collection is small samples. My shelves are 2 inches deep and about 3 inches high. So my display samples are small. These were the smallest stands I could find. I love the super clean clinical look. It doesn’t take away from the stone at all. I like that adjustable arms can be moved to hold different stones. I love the clean look. I don’t want to just set a rock on the shelf. I want it displayed and labeled. I want a clean organized collection. Not just a pile of rocks.
So I thought these would be perfect. They almost were. Hence my considering 4 stars. If I were to use them as is, the only issue I have is the insanely tight fit in the base. One, I couldn’t get all the way in. I pushed on the top peg only and it pushed through the others. So then I pushed down on the lower pegs and that was enough to tear the thin metal wrapping them together. Not noticeable displayed on the shelf, but disappointing. It’s still just not fully inserted.
Now, another fact is that I heavily tweaked these. I need my specimens plus the stand to be around 3 inches. The stand actually holds the specimens a decent height off the shelf. I can’t measure this for you as I’ve already altered mine. I used my Dremel with a metal cutting wheel to take the height off the bottom (Dremels are magic). This allows the lower pegs to sit closer to the acrylic base.
This made me happy for some of my specimens, but wasn’t working for displaying the smaller slices and stones. They wanted to lay down because the arms are over 2 inches long. Time to get out the pliers. I was able to bend the back peg forward according to each stones need to display it exactly as I wanted (see picture). It’s a thick peg so it did require a bit of force.
Now they’re perfect! I added a tiny label to the acrylic and these look great on my shelves! Here are the 4 I ordered and tweaked (see picture). I’m very happy with the final result. I will buy again, but they need modification. I was also very disappointed in the one that tore the metal wrap when I tried to get it in the base. So I’m knocking it down the 4 stars.
I was not aware that I gasped like a B movie actor in real life — nor that I snicker like a leprechaun stealing gold when I grab happy things. Apparently, I do. So there’s that. Let’s hope if I’m ever witness one of those dramatic “I’m pregnant with your baby” moments in real life, that I keep it together. I did buy this, obviously. However, kickstarters usually come so late and I never got a tracking notice so I was NOT expecting this.
LET’S OPEN IT! There is a lot of waste in this packaging because this guy has dense foam on the top and bottom and full corner pads. But it makes for a perfectly unblemished box.
I think it’s cute that it looks like a cargo crate, but I’m a bit sad that it doesn’t say “Firefly” on the side because that is what shows on my game shelves. So it’s not particularly attractive on my gaming shelves. It sticks out because it’s so large too. So it’s kind of unattractive on my shelf, to be honest. Insanely impressive when you get it out — but just not a looker on the shelf. (*See UPDATE at end of post)
The first layer is 4 token trays. Note that every tray in this box has a clear lid, they are removed for the photos so they don’t glare. So each of these trays has an individual lid for it. As you can see, I’ve already punched out all the tokens. Note that I put the round green tokens in the wrong place. They should go in the slot marked “Haven.” (*See UPDATE at end of post) I had to watch the gif of the packaging on the kickstarter a few times to get a screenshot of this level to see if I did it correctly.
I do love that everyone can have their own tray, or at most, share a tray with someone else. Less reaching around the table and huge game board. Less little piles of discarded fuel tokens all over the place where we’re not sure if you own that or just discarded it…
Level two has a lot to reveal. We can see they have a slot for the neoprene mat (which is actually part of the tray below this one). THANK YOU for giving us a place for the mat in the box. Holy shit, hallelujah!
In this tray we have all of the start up “stuff”. You’ve got your ship cards, the captain cards, and the drivecore cards here. Every ship has a custom matching die. The number six is marked by a Firefly. As you can see on the last die in the row, the number one is marked with a sad face. I think that is for a game variant.
We have the “Big Money” here. I wish it came with the regular money. This game takes up enough table space. I love the big money, but I wish they had included the small money to play with too. I don’t want to cannibalize it from my previous game because I might as well sell that game or give it away.
There’s also the setup cards, single player story cards, and regular story cards. I do love that they made in-theme envelopes to hold these large “decks.” However, there’s a major flaw. There are far too many cards to fit in the envelopes. (*I WAS WRONG See UPDATE at end of post). With all of the expansions plus all the kickstarter stretch goals, they just don’t fit. So pretty envelope with no purpose. Only the setup cards will fit. Another stretch goal was the dice bag. Unneeded since you have the slot to store them. I will use it to store the Haven tokens since I put those in the wrong slot in the token boards. You don’t need those every game so this is a nice option and location for those.
Lastly for this layer, we have the current player token in enamel. It is not very bright, but it is very nice and hefty. The punch outs also had the traditional dinosaur if you prefer to use it. This is also where they stashed one of the BEST PARTS of this campaign: EVERY SINGLE PROMO CARD EVER RELEASED. Holy fuck! Those will get distributed to their appropriate decks, but this is where they stashed them. So exciting! I only had a few promos before.
Below that level, we start to get into the card decks. We have the Navigation decks, Misbehaving decks, and various expansion decks. Plus… the mat.
Look at this baby! The original Firefly mat by itself was a pain in the ass. It folded out in 6 squares. You know those squares never laid perfectly flat. Then two expansions had additional mats for each side of the board. Now we have ALL OF IT in one beautiful mat. Might I add, nicest neoprene mat I’ve seen. Stitched edges and insanely heavy. Note that straight out of the box, BARELY any edge curling. And this is the first unroll with no effort to fix that corner. Top notch quality on this and it wasn’t even the “Vera” upgrade mat.
Did I mention it fits in the box? It does. It has its own slot in the box. No box plus mat bullshit. THANK YOU.
The last level brings us to the core decks. Firefly has a fuck ton of cards. Now they are all separated in their own beautiful compartments. That’s nice. Yes, you still have to shuffle — but this will really speed up setup.
One reason I didn’t get the “Vera” mat was that it had card deck locations. Yeah no. Aint nobody got arms long enough to reach the decks. When we play, we set up a separate card table with all of the shopping and job decks. This way everyone can take a look through the discard at any time without interrupting the game. Plan your turn, people, or never get invited back.
And whats that little box there? THE SHIPS!
Note that these do have the little stands. Those were up in the previous card level in an empty deck slot. All of the ships have been hand detailed and are made of resin. No more bent spikes on the Alliance Cruiser. The Jetwash and Esmeralda, being a newer class of Firefly ships, are larger than the others. You’ve also got other expansion ships, of course, like the Interceptor and the SS Walden. plus the others.
But can I point out the Reaver ships? They used the same mold for the three ships — standard practice. But they painted each differently. That’s such a nice touch! So they look like different ships even though it’s the same mold. I appreciate that.
I’m super happy with the ships.
I call Serenity with Jayne or Mal (maybe Zoe? I don’t know her captain stats as we didn’t have that expansion) as my captain since I bought the bougie game! I told husband this and he thought it was unfair. I was like I spent $220 plus shipping, so I get Serenity, dammit! He asked how long that lasted. At least the first fucking game night. Damn.
Though I have to point out, so worth the $220. Someone on r/boardgames (Reddit) said that was an insane price to pay for a game. Um, excuse me. First, the base game is a $70 game. And lets look at what is in this box IN ADDITION to that base game:
Two HUGE expansions that add on to the board itself:
Blue Sun
Kalidasa
Three full game expansions:
Crime and Punishment
Pirates and Bounty Hunters
Still Flying
One mini expansion:
Breakin’ Atmo
Two ship expansions (yes, they were packaged and sold separately):
Jetwash
Esmerelda
So you’ve already come to almost $400 just in the base game and expansions. And what else are we getting? How about a glorious play mat? Hand painted resin ships — the originals were all cast single-color plastic. Big Money (if you like that). Custom matching dice for each ship (only the expansion ships had matching dice before). New unreleased story cards for basic and solo play. The awesome storage box that makes set up and take down a breeze. Plus, every single promo card ever released — including the ones that were in the special lootcrate subscriptions. Plus all the new promo cards that came with the kickstarter stretch goals.
The value for your money here is huge. I actually feel really bad because one of our friends actually already owns every single expansion. So he paid a lot more than we did for our original game plus this anniversary edition and doesn’t have half the cool shit we do now. Husband had to point out that he paid a premium to have them all when they came out. Fair, I guess. I’d be pretty bitter about it though.
Also, don’t underestimate how much these huge boxes bring to the game just by themselves. We bought the big Terraforming Mars box when it came out. Like this, it holds every expansion, has trays for everyone’s pieces, two trays for the money tokens (one for each side of the board), card organization, etc. Takes setup and tear down time from over an hour to very short time. Having everything already sorted and ready to go with games like this is just like a cherry on top. Except way better, because I don’t like the cherries — so more like those milkshakes where they put like a whole-ass fucking slice of cheesecake on a stick on top of it and cake icing on the rim.
~~~~~ UPDATE ~~~~~
Today I got the game out and rearranged the token trays to be correct. I stored the Haven tokens in the dice pouch in an empty card deck slot.
I Also used some of the kickstarter stretch goal stickers to spiffy up the box. Now it looks much better om my shelf.
And furthermore, I actually tried out the Story Card envelopes. I was wrong, the cards do fit. Does the Story Card envelope close properly? No. It’s a chonker. But they DO FIT. I only wish the envelopes weren’t so thin since it’s going to take a beating with so many cards in it.
Where have I been for over a month? Crocheting. Stressing and crocheting. And sure, crocheting actually sounds like something I’d do. However, until like last month, I didn’t even know the difference between crocheting and knitting. I knew there was a difference, but not exactly what and which was which. Then Facebook got me.
How? Ads. Facebook kills me with ads. It’s like “you want this?” And I do. So, I don’t know how long ago, it started showing me The Woobles. The Woobles intrigued me. Not only is it a craft — it’s all in one. It includes EVERYTHING you need. So you can try out crochet without buying anything but this one kit. Look at this:
Yes, when the Halloween collection came out and I saw pumpkins and bats, I caved. That picture is for Luna the bat. It comes with beginner “easy” yarn that HAS ALREADY BEEN STARTED FOR YOU, all the colors you need, the stuffing, eyes, and crochet needle. But it also has step by step videos. In the reviews on Amazon, one of the only negative ones was that they videos were too slow and aimed at kindergartners. Bitch, some of us are LEARNING. We need crochet kindergarten.
It took until about row four before I even figured out the “yarn under” thing. Well, the second row four. I had to unravel the first attempt. But I did it! I created a bat! I MADE THIS. I had also ordered the mini pumpkin kit so I made that shit too. I was hooked (no pun intended). I wanted to do more, but all I knew how to make was that bat. But I had some yarn from a previous craft! So I bought a hook sized for the chenille baby blanket yarn and made en even BIGGER bat (stuffing from an old pillow). Holy shit, I’m amazing.
So then, I was like… I like this. I’ve been crocheting every evening while watching the old 90’s TV show “Sabrina the Teenage Witch.” It’s simple to follow and doesn’t require a lot of attention. It’s also a cheesy throw back I enjoy. And I’ve been loving it. It’s relaxing. Instead of feeling like I’m wasting my evenings (and therefore my life) away aimlessly clicking on Reddit and waiting to retire — I’m enjoying my evenings. I’m making things again. So I ordered a kit to make a blanket, because what am I gonna do with all these bats?
Then I got antsy and made the penguin kit with his tiny aviator hat. Yall, these tiny kits (the pumpkin and the hat) are only $5 each. SO WORTH IT. Look how stinking cute he is! I’m so fucking good at this! I LOVE CROCHET. Look how fucking adorable that penguin with his hat is! He’s got stubby little wings yall! And a hat! Husband likes him so much it’s on his desk.
Then I started the blanket because I’m gonna knock this right on out.
Yeah… no. This shit is hard. One, that easy yarn TRICKED ME. It was so easy! I thought the chenille yarn was super hard because I couldn’t see my stitches, but I was wrong. This “afghan yarn” is 2 ply and slippery as FUCK. The stitches are sliding all over the place. And it barely holds together. It’s so hard to not stab right through it every stitch. So it’s slooooowwwwww going.
I’m not gonna lie. I thought about giving up on this shit. But NO. I’m gonna finish. This is my first big project and dammit, I’m gonna do it. And yes, I’m gonna fix that first dark green row because jesus, that’s terrible.
I’ve got the five color sequence done two and a half times now. I’ve figured out the yarn — that being that it’s going to stretch out and pull everywhere, just go with it. I’m not having to look at the pattern. And I can see why the pattern is the way it is. It took about 6 rows before the chevrons really started to stand out. I also thought the single crochet rows were worthless (each color is 4 rows) — but now I see. By doing the single crochet row and back stitching everything, the single row ends up completely on the back of the blanket and invisible from the front. This leaves only the two double crochet stitch rows showing on the front. It also makes them look like they’ve overlapping like fish scales. Nice. And this yarn may suck to work with, but god damn is it soft.
So yeah, Woobles. 100% recommend that shit. They were even on Shark Tank! Sure, if you already have the stuff to knit or crochet, it’s over priced. The people saying that already have hooks and shit and know yarn is cheap. But if you just wanna give it a go, this lets you do a whole project with everything. Even the little plastic eye balls! An yeah, I can look up stitches on youtube, but this is the stitches plus a slow step by step guide.
Everybody’s getting Woobles for Christmas!
Here’s my old lady ass crocheting with my cat. I love it!
Here’s my update on that previous review with photo:
We’ve discussed mosquitoes love for the sweet sweet vintage of my blood. Well, last night, a mosquito in my house got me FOUR TIMES on the shoulder. When I saw the welts in the mirror, I decided to give this thing another try. It’s not my face this time. So I ran up to my husband and got him to use it on the four bites on my back.
I have attached the resulting picture. My husband was laughing uncontrollably. This thing is a professional grade hickey maker. That’s it. Now, maybe hickeys are the cure to mosquito bites and these people are the first ones to figure that out. I suppose this is a more sterile way to create a hickey so there is that. So you get 2 stars.
I’m gonna be honest. Those four bites DON’T itch anymore. My husband swore the itch would come back when they recovered from the trauma, but they’re still not itchy. I’m not going to say they’re fine because now they’re purple, but it is what it is.
I may sound silly, but it’s a scientific fact: “Sucking is sufficient to burst small superficial blood vessels under the skin.” What does this product do? “Suction Tool” is in the TITLE. We’re all idiots.
I’m not gonna lie though. As long as it’s covered by clothes, I’ll use this thing. With full acknowledgment of the hickey that will result. I pray I never have to explain why I have a cluster of perfectly round hickeys to a medical professional. Right now it’s looks like a giant chicken stood on my back. Chickens are descended from dinosaurs so I’m going with Raptor attack.
My credit card information was recently stolen. That’s gonna be its own post because it was fucking amazing. So new credit card. This coincided with a new debit card as well. Both have NFC (near field communication) technology. Also known as “contactless payment” or “tap to pay.” So I used it for the first time at the gas pump. I was a bit bothered that I didn’t even ask me for my zip code to authorize the transaction. So I decided I needed some RFID/NFC blocking card covers since my wallet is not RFID blocking.
First, I will say that I did research and NFC is the safest technology we have right now to make payments. Either via the card or the phone. Unlike other methods, your card number and name are not transferred. Only a unique encrypted code is. This code changes every time so it’d be pretty hard to spoof. My card was spoofed. I don’t know if they got it online somehow or skimmed it somewhere, but they had a physical copy of my credit card. Swiping a card is the easiest to steal/copy method. People put skimmers on gas pumps and ATMs and steal your card info and pin. Easy peasy. This can also be done with a chip card but it’s much more difficult and therefore unlikely due to the chips encryption. With NFC, you don’t insert your card so they can’t copy it at the point of sell system. So now NFC is the even more secure version. Therefore, I am willing to embrace this technology.
The most powerful NFC is only going to be a few inches using a magnetic field. We’re talking just barely over 1.5 inches (4 cm) on a credit card reader. RFID can be hundreds of meters when it’s used for inventory tracking since it uses radio waves. So even with that tiny range on NFC – I’m uncomfortable. It’s still too close for comfort for me. Either way, they are easy to block. Just need some metal. Nothing fancy. You could totally make your card a little tinfoil hat if you wanted and be completely safe. I chose to order ready-made sleeves. I saw they had cute ones and settled on the LotFancy slips. Or, as Amazon calls them: “LotFancy RFID Blocking Sleeves (19 Pack, 14 Credit Card Sleeves + 5 Passport Sleeves) for Identity Theft Protection, Designed with Cassette Pattern, Smart Slim Design fits Wallet/Purse” (click for link).
As you can already see, they are adorable! There’s 5 passport sleeves and 14 credit card sleeves. They look like old VCR tapes and audio cassette tapes. Ah the good old days. Why have a bunch of grey or navy blue sleeves when you can have THESE? Come on!
Now I will say, I tested them. I figured they would work fine. It’s not like this is advanced technology. However, these are very affordable and who’s to say someone didn’t just print out some card stock and send it out? So first thing I did was test it at the gas pump. I had my card in the sleeve and rubbed it all over the reader. Nothing. So yeah, they work!
I’d give them 5 stars if it weren’t for one thing. In a regular wallet, they are a tight fit. It is actually easier to just slide the card out of the sleeve in your wallet than to pull it out in the sleeve. So that’s what I’ve been doing. I just leave the sleeve in my wallet and pull out the card, then carefully return it to the sleeve. So 4.5 stars from me. Though honestly, I don’t see how this could possibly be avoided. Any material is going to add some bulk to the card. Therefore, I imagine any slip would be just as tight in your wallet.
For now, I’m going to enjoy the peace of mind of safety and the new pops of color in my wallet! I put them over my cards and then realized your passport card actually says to store it in a sleeve on the card. So yeah, it went in one too.
Added bonus. Today we were in a training talking about safety and the instructor asked who had their credit cards in RFID blocking sleeves. Only two of us raised our hands. I even proved it and showed how cute mine are. Win.
Haha. You got me! Mosquitos treat me like free money. No, not “prime rib.” Even the vegans are going out of their way to bite me. So I’ll try anything. I get big welts that itch for days. So I saw this thing has so many great reviews and I buy it immediately.
Well, last night there was a mosquito in my house. He got me THREE times. Twice on my arm and on my forehead. I remember the “Bug Bite Thing” and immediately give it a try. I am very impressed that it actually has so much suction power.
You know what happens when you suck on someone’s skin for too long? It’s called a hickey. I know this. We all know this. How did this not occur to me? Now THERE’S A HICKEY WITH A BUG BITE IN THE MIDDLE OF MY GOD DAMNED FOREHEAD.
I’m so embarrassed. I showed my husband this morning and told him how embarrassed I was. HE LAUGHED AT ME. He told me I did it to myself. And you know what? I did. And that makes it worse.
I just purchased this backpack for my new cat. I had two carriers from my previous cats. However, those carriers were obscenely expensive and had a ton of features I didn’t need. Like wheels. This made them heavy and awkward as hell. So I decided to retire them and find something new.
I settled on a backpack because I loved the idea of letting my cat peak his head out of the top. So I looked at a lot of backpacks. I had a few requirements:
* Lots of mesh for breathing. (No plastic. Sure that bubble is see-thru and maybe even cute until it gets filthy with nose prints.)
* I wanted pockets for keeping important things like rabies tags.
* I also decided I wanted the bottom to be solid all the way around. This way my cat could lay down and have privacy if they were scared.
I took looks into account as well and picked this one. It came just in time for me to pick up my new little guy! I’ve had it for almost a month now and it’s already been through the ringer! He’s been to the vet. I took him to the grocery store (because why not). We also took him for a walk outside and he pooped in it. So it’s also been washed! So I feel like I can really review this bag now.
PROS:
Tons of mesh for airflow.
The bottom is solid on all sides so my cat can lay down for privacy.
Pockets! I didn’t even expect to use the two side mesh pockets. However, as you can see in my pictures – my wallet ended up in one and his medication from the vet ended up in the other.
Three entryways. Both sides of this open up wide and the top opens. I find it easiest to stick him in the side.
Washable! Did I mention he pooped in it? Well, I washed it and we’re fine! I was afraid the bottom liner would shrink. It’s just zippered over a piece of cardboard-ish material (see photo). I popped it in the hot wash and air dried it and it fit back perfectly. No shrinkage.
My cat can sit up. I had never considered that my cat might want to sit up instead of being forced to hunch down as in a traditional carrier. But he really likes to sit up. He’s laid down in it once. But he vastly prefers to sit up. The top opening lets him look out perfectly.
The fact that it’s taller than a normal carrier means I can buckle it in! See my photo to see my cat buckled up and sitting pretty ready to go for a ride in the car.
Soft carrier. This is a must for me because I had a cat that would throw herself against the side of her carrier in a panic. So I always go for a soft carrier for cat safety.
The smaller footprint makes carrying this around less awkward.
It’s a backpack, so you can wear it hands free.
I love the way the top opening rolls up and velcros in place. I leave this sitting around with the top open in case my cat wants to hop in it in to sleep.
The top handle is nice and secure – thick and comfortable to hold. I like it for carrying. It’s not just for looks.
It’s a good looking bag. I got the grey and don’t mind it sitting out in my house. It’s not ugly.
It folds up for storage.
CONS:
Not super high quality. You get what you pay for and this is insanely inexpensive. That means your gonna sacrifice a bit on quality. In this case the bottom is only cardboard and the zippers are not exceptional.
Yeah, that harness clip is worthless. I had hopes of buckling in my cat so I could open the top for him to poke his head out. Not gonna happen. The harness clip is on a long tether and attached to the top of the shoulder straps. Meaning your cat can easily and comfortably get out and sit beside this thing. I’m actually contemplating cutting if off and sewing a shorter length to the middle or bottom of the bag.
It’s a bit small. The dimensions are 12″L x 10″W x 15.5″H. So that means the bottom pad is only 12” x 10”. My cat can curl up in there – but he’s only 9.5lbs. I’m afraid he might outgrow this. For the price, that’s fine. However, be warned – no medium or large cats. Only small cats.
I wish it had support around the sides. Some bags have steel support to keep their shape. This does not. So sometimes when wearing it as a backpack, the top can scrunch and take away some of the head room.
In practice, when walking with this as a backpack, there’s a lot of swaying for the pet inside. We found that my large hips swing a bit too much so we switched to my very slender husband for the walk. Even then he was swaying back and forth a good bit.
SUMMARY:
I’m super happy with this purchase. I gave it 4 stars because it is by no means perfect. I probably won’t be using the backpack feature anymore. However, I like the taller bag with a smaller foot print. It’s easier to carry and buckle in the car. Also my cat likes to sit up and see what’s going on. Love all the mesh and various entry ways. Already had to clean up a worst-case-scenario and it’s still as good as new!
100% worth the price. One of my friends already asked him to send him the link so he could purchase one.
Yes, that’s a gratuitous tattoo shot. You’ll survive.
I’m trying to review a lot of the things I’ve purchased for Louie. Which, of course, is a lot of things. But I can’t review these odor eliminating products. Why? Because I just chunked everything available at the problem so there’s too many variables.
I have charcoal bags. Charcoal and baking soda litter freshener. Gel odor absorbers. A little soapish paw print that I tossed in the litterbox. Bath and Body Works Plug-In and candles. Cause Louie has some kind of digestive issues.
I mentioned his gas problem in a previous post (clicky). So I took him to the vet the day after I got him. They prescribed him prebiotics and they did a lot! His gas is a million times better. Our house had just smelled like cat diarrhea. Now we’re doing good. However, his poop smells beyond foul. Yall, it’s bad. Hence the barrage of odor solutions. It’s been two weeks so it’s not anxiety. So time to switch his food. I researched foods for pet food specific for this problem and was recommended Blue Buffalo: Grain-Free and Natural Balance: Limited Ingredients by Google. I asked the vet what they would recommend but they said they don’t recommend specific foods because different food work for different pets. Kinda sounded like bullshit, but whatever.
So Blue Buffalo is good ingredients, but don’t I need to figure out what he’s having issues with? So I chose Natural Balance: Limited Ingredients. We’re switching now. He hasn’t noticed because he’s a vacuum. I hope this gets rid of the smelly poop. I’ve got the house under control, but once you open that litter closet — DAMN.
Also, as to him being a vacuum. I feel bad. I free fed Jack and Tabitha so they always had food available. I tried that with Louie and he ate more than a days worth in like an hour. So Louie gets fed twice a day but he eats it immediately. So I feel bad for him. But I don’t want him to turn into a basketball either. No conclusion to the paragraph, I just feels bad, ya know?
Mario
Have you seen the new Mario movie? It’s fucking fantastic, if you have not. Well, if you like Mario it’s fantastic. It’s a kids movie so we’re not looking at Oscar material here. However, if you know the Mario games and appreciate them, it’s awesome. I was worried because I don’t like Donkey Kong and he’s obviously a big part of it — but Seth Rogen played him great. It was basically just Seth Rogen in a monkey suit and it was fine. Also, Bowser was Jack Black. And it was HILARIOUS. Jack Black is obsessed with Princess Peach and want to marry her. Jack Black sings about her. It’s perfect. I love Tenacious D, so I’ve had the “Peaches” song in my head for over a week. And that’s impressive considering the lyrics are mostly just “peaches peaches peaches peaches peaches.”
The absolute standout though — Lumalee. In Bowser’s prison, there is a demented Luma. We cut to Bowser’s prison throughout the film — the penguins are there (OMG, I have to have some kind of King Penguin merch). Luigi ends up there. And Lumalee is always there. And all Lumalee wants is the sweet release of death. Yall, demented Luma is so fucked up and amazing. I have no idea how they decided to put that in the movie — but my god, it made it wonderful. Lumalee is constantly dancing and singing and user his magic — but he’s dark as fuck. He calls Luigi “more meat for the grinder” when he arrives. And when he’s about to die in the climax, he lays down in his cage and says “finally.” Of course they’re rescued and all you see is Lumalee laying there saying “boooooooo.”
The move ends and it’s good — we’re all happy. Them Lumalee pops up to say that was a happy ending. Except now there is nothing left but the emptiness and the void. What the actual fuck? I’m sorry to the parents that had kids there who heard me say “what the fuck” every time Lumalee said something. I’d want Lumalee merch, but I feel the only way it would be good is if it had the lines from the film. Like maybe a stuffed Lumalee and when you squeeze it, it just says dark shit. 100% would buy.
Not sure where to start this review. A pro/con list? Let’s start with getting the package. This thing was packaged wonderfully. Was there a ton of excess trash because of that? Yes. However, I appreciated that the acrylic bowl was situated in custom cut styrofoam to keep it from getting damaged. I also liked how organized all the assembly bits were in their neat tray. Just don’t open them upside down, like I did.
First, I laid everything out. Then I was intimidated. I love assembling furniture, but I have to say, this had a lot of pieces. The first thing I noticed, out of the box — All of the particle board pieces are completely finished on all sides – even those that meet and don’t show. That’s really nice. I wasn’t thrilled that the front and back pieces are just thin laminate and not solid “wood.” However, I did note that it would be easy to switch those two pieces so this tree could face left or right. That’s nice. The biggest con was the assembly method. It uses cam lock fasteners. I hate these things. They just don’t make for sturdy fasteners. They give too much wobble.
The instructions were pretty good. I’d watch the video first. I did not. Had I done that, I probably wouldn’t have done step 6 upside down and had to back track. Do you know how hard it is to get cam locks out? Real hard. Note that on the piece with the two entrance holes, there are predrilled holes towards the top for the top stair. It’s not just symmetrical.
Also, I posted a picture with some markups. 100% switch steps 11 and 12. This is stupid – do 12 first. That saves you from “some” of the gymnastics to get step 11 done. Good lord, good luck. You’re going in blind – literally, and trying to fasten things you can’t see at strange angels upside down. God speed.
That said, my cat was all over this thing during assembly. He loves it! I was putting the rug mats on and he was already climbing it and getting in my way. He went under the bowl and started attacking those four scratchers immediately. I sat him in the bowl and he started attacking the corner balls. Tons of fun for the cat. He hasn’t been into hiding in the boxes, but I, at least, appreciate the very fluffy butt pillows that are in there.
I found that he loved the bowl if I put him in it, but wouldn’t jump in it on his own. I think that’s because he can’t see that it’s a solid place to jump. So I put a blanket in there. I know, this limited the adorable toe beans and scrunched-up-cat-cuteness, but it’s probably more cozy with the blanket anyway. Even if it does distract from the clean aesthetics. Now that the blanket is in there, this is his GO-TO spot. He just trots up the stairs and gets in his little bowl. My husband says that’s mostly where he hangs out when I’m at work.
I bought this for the high bowl for him to hang out in. I wanted him to have a high place to sit in the window. This is perfect! He sits in the bowl and watches the people go by in the front window. I have to leave those blinds open for him. It is his favorite spot in the house. I also bought this for the clean design. Thank you so much, for not covering this thing in carpet! I hate those ugly cat trees! Also, if he barfs on it, I can wipe it up or wash the part he barfed on (the rug pads are velcroed on).
So in summary, I do love the finished product. If it was screwed together and not held together with cam locks, it would be 5 stars for SURE. Even with the cam locks, it’s pretty sturdy. My cat has leapt at this thing and it’s been completely fine. He loves it, I’m happy with the look. It’s great. So I give it 4 stars.
I’ve been doing physical therapy for headaches and some neck damage after hitting my head in a car accident. After we get done, they always apply heat and TENS for 20 minutes. I wanted to be able to do this at home in hopes of breaking my headaches without pain killers. So ‘a TENS shopping I went.
I quickly learned there are a LOT of affordable TENS devices. At this low price point, the market is saturated. Most websites and videos that rank them are just hidden advertisements. So in my non-professional knowledge I started looking. Here’s a few things I knew I wanted that helped me with my first cut:
– Duel Channel.
– Distinguishable positive and negative terminals (NOTE: this product does not meet this requirement. Read further).
– Powerful. I like my TENS pretty strong. Just below what causes a twitch.
– Great reviews. (I trust Amazon reviews. If you find this helpful, give me a helpful vote).
– Snap connectors rather than line-in. This is 100% personal preference. Snap connectors can easily be connected and disconnected with one hand. They can be disconnected with one finger. This is super helpful, in my opinion, when it’s in a hard to reach location on my back. Also, if you were using it on an arm, I’m assuming it would be almost a must. Also, snap connectors seem to be a little more sturdy, again, in my opinion.
This got me down to two devices. I chose this one because it DOES NOT have a touch screen. Touch screens are sensitive, they break, they crack. Do you really need a touch screen? I decided I did not want that liability.
So here we are. I’ve ordered my TENS device. My thoughts:
PROS:
– The box is a perfect fit for everything. I’m just going to keep it all together in the box.
– Attached cable ties! What? That’s such a thoughtful touch. It shows they thought about how people use this. It’s so convenient. No garbage ties. This keeps all the cables so neat and tidy. Awesome. Thumbs up, for that, guys.
– Very small. I like small. However if you have crappy near vision, this might not be best for you. For me, it’s a pro.
– The included pads each have their own protective plastic sheet. I love this over having multiple pads on one sheet. It’s super space saving too.
– The included pads are in little zip bags grouped by two. I like this. To me, it shows -again- that they thought of how people will use this. You generally use the pads in pairs. These are grouped into pairs and easy to grab from the box or bag. You can also label the baggy to show which have been used. If you had multiple users, you could have the baggy labeled with their name.
– Manual has great descriptions of all 24 modes.
– Strong current. I find that around 60% is enough to cause slight muscle twitches. This means I, personally, will not ever go above that. I don’t like it that high.
– No wasted buttons.
– Duel channel.
– Can use up to 6 pads at once.
– Snap connectors (See above for why I prefer these).
CONS:
– I wish they sold a case for it. I’ll use the box, but I’m not going to just toss this all in the included bag. That’s messy.
– The product photos show color coded terminals. I assumed this would tell me the polarity of the terminals. It does not. I’ll have to borrow a voltmeter to figure this out and mark it with a sharpie.
– Only one of my wires is even color coded. On the two individual wires, both terminals are white. So not only do I not know the polarity at all, now I can’t even make sure I’m mirroring the polarity when I use the pads. SERIOUS downfall. I’m getting around this by using the double wire and will eventually use a voltmeter to mark them. If the double wire wasn’t color coded, I’d have sent this back immediately. I feel like the product photos are a lie because of this.
– No setting for constant intensity. Setting 3 : 3 does a good job of mimicking the sensation I use at physical therapy. However, it fades in and out in intensity like a wave. I would like it to be one constant intensity like I use in physical therapy. In 24 settings, not one single one uses constant intensity.
– Can only increase time in 10 minute increments.
– Can only increase timer. Cannot lower timer if you went over.
USAGE:
It’s not extremely user friendly or intuitive on how to select individual modes. I’m an engineer so it’s no trouble, but if the clock is never set correctly on your microwave, get ready. Since the manual didn’t seem well written for this, here’s how to use it:
1) Put the pads on so you can feel what you’re adjusting.
(Don’t stress about picking the mode here. Once you do it once, you’re probably just going to use that same mode every time. You got this)
2) Select MAIN MODE using side to side arrows. There are 6 types of massage aka “main modes.” Use the side to side buttons to select the type you want. I’m a fan of number three. You probably can’t feel anything because when you switch modes, it automatically turns the intensity down to nothing. So use the up and down arrows on the side of the device you are using (the side you plugged in) to feel the sensations.
3) Select Setting/Sub Mode using the ‘M’ button. Within each of the 6 main modes, there are 4 settings. The manual actually does a great job of telling you what each setting is and what it is good for. I’m a fan of 3: 3. This is “Tapping (TENS)”. The manual tells me this produces a “hard thumping sensation that massage your muscles, which can give you an invigorated and revitalized feeling.” Keep hitting the ‘M’ button until you get to the number of the sub mode you want. Again, it automatically turns the intensity down to nothing when you change modes, So use the up and down arrows on the side of the device you are using (the side you plugged in) to feel the sensations.
(Now you know what mode you like. So next time you turn it on, it will be easy. I like 3 : 3, for instance. So when I turn it on, I arrow over to the 3 Mode. Then I hit ‘M’ twice to change from sub 1, to sub 2, to sub 3. Easy peasy).
4) Adjust the intensity with the up and down arrows. If you’re using both A and B, you’ll have to do this on both sides.
5) Optional: Adjust timer. Hit the ‘T’ button to add 10 minutes to the current timer setting.
NOTE: The center round button starts and stops the pulses.
MY PERSONAL SAFETY SUGGESTIONS:
– Don’t move around a lot while the TENS device is active. Get yourself comfortable and settled before turning on the pulses. You can use the pause button (center circle) to pause sensations if you wanna move around to get more comfortable.
– Don’t plug in the wires if it’s not active. I have to have my husband place these pads on me. So I go get him to hook me up and then I go lay down, get comfortable, and ONLY THEN do I plug the wire into the device.
