Why I Oughta...

We Americans load our homes and kitchens with uni-taskers .  At Menards last week, I spotted this "Melon Splitter" for just $4.99.  What is a melon splitter?  It is a device that slices your water melon into 12 equal slices.  That is - as long as it fits inside this contraption. This thing is HUGE.  You'd have to live in a really big McMansion with a really big kitchen to be willing and able to store this thing for the 3 or 4 times you'd use it every year. As you can guess, after mocking this thing in store, I had a moment of weakness where I actually thought about taking it off the hook and sticking it in my cart.  Fortunately, sanity overcame me and we left without this gadget.

I picked up this hose nozzle as a gift earlier this year but have yet to put it through it's proper paces.  What...with the lack of 'hose weather', right? This thing is super simple but is highly endorsed and is labeled as being used by 'wildland firefighters'.   From the DuluthTrading listing  come some big boasts: BULLS-EYE NOZZLE NEVER LEAKS, NEVER BREAKS. Proven on firelines by U.S. and Canadian wildlife services, the small but powerful Bulls-eye Nozzle saves water and gives you more power, in an emergency or just around the yard. A simple twist adjusts the force from maximum to heavy spray to pinpoint stream. Sprays up to 600 psi! If there's a way to break something...trust me...our family will figure out how to do so.  Stay tuned for pressure-testing that claim...

Last year, I received a four-season birdbath that has a cord that plugs into the wall to keep the water from freezing.  It also happens to have a railing clamp - which allowed me to put it right on our back deck outside our back doors.  I've been dutifully re-filling the bowl when it dries out (the recent rains have really helped!), but I don't think I've ever witnessed one single bird come over and take a drink. But, over the weekend, I found this Water Wiggler still in the box.  I was given it by my mother-in-law a few years back and never installed it.  I put it together, slapped in a couple of D Cell batteries and plopped it into the bowl.  It creates this neat ripple effect on the water which moves the water out in concentric circles. That has the benefit of helping eliminate a potential mosquito breeding ground (moving water is bad for mosquito babies!) and according to the box, birds are attracted to moving water. Guess what?  Not 4 hours after putting in the

This morning, I received a nice surprise:  this thing that I've been carrying around in my pocket for 3 weeks is finally more than just a wifi paperweight.  LTE time!