More Things

A while back I wrote about Things I've Bought That I Love. Time for another installment, although this time it's not all stuff that I bought. Some of it is stuff I've managed to collect without paying for, which is not to say I charged it but rather that it was given to me. But also, some of it is stuff that I do not at all love, but I felt you needed a heads-up on.

Love It:
Logitech Trackball Mouse: My boss has one of these, and I've always been curious, but recently my amateur carpal tunnel syndrome was threatening to go pro so I thought I should make a change. I love this mouse- it just seems right. And since my hand is on a mouse much of the day, it only makes sense to have the best one I can have. My only complaint- I wish it had a button that automatically takes you "back," like our mouse at home does. But that would be asking for too much.

Waiter Rant: This book, by the author of one of my favorite blogs, is less an examination of the restaurant industry and more an autobiography told in the context of restaurant stories. Two of my favorite things- biography and tales from the front of the house. I will loan it to any of you who wants to read it. In a day or two- I still have 50 pages or so to go.

Hate It:
Bath Squirters: Really I hate all bath toys, because they immediately mildew and gross me out beyond belief. But when I tried to get rid of all of them, Chip laughed at me and called me "Richard" so I dropped it. So now I just regularly run most of them through the dishwasher. However, I did manage to throw away all the squirt toys without too much resistance. The mildew just grows and festers inside of them, and there's no way to clean them out. Then when the kids squirt them a bunch of yuck comes out and floats in the bath water. It's bad enough that Chloe always drinks that water when I'm not looking- I'd rather not know there were flakes of rotten mildew in there along with the rest of her dirt. (shudder) So in summary, don't buy these for your kids or as a gift for someone else's kids. Or at least lie to me and tell me you won't.

Lolonis Ladybug White: I'm a fan of other wines by Lolonis, and I'm impressed with how they do things, using ladybugs to keep pests off their grapes rather than pesticides or herbicides. Lolonis and Bonterra are basically the only two "organic" wineries who put out a decent product. Usually, that is, but not in this case. This particular white blend is not good. It's really unfocused and soft and tastes like something you'd get in a $7 magnum rather than in a $13 bottle. Not worth it. Stick to their Fume Blanc if you want white, or the Ladybug Red or their Zinfandel if you want red- all are reasonably priced and are much tastier than the Ladybug White.

Love and Hate It:
Weezer's new CD: Another self-titled record, this one is referred to as the "Red Album." The first five songs are amazing! I'm generally a fan of Weezer, but they definitely have had their ups and downs over the years. These first few songs are the best thing they've done in a long time. Sadly, the album totally falls apart for the last half. Rivers let the other guys in the band write and sing a song each, and they are rough. I can't decide if he did that because his therapist told him he should be less controlling, or if the guys were bugging him about it and he wanted to let them crash and burn to prove a point. In any case, I imagine I will listen to the first half of this CD repeatedly in the near future, but I might never listen to the last half again.