Khaki Shorts from H&M

Below is a photo of the new khaki shorts I purchased on sale at H&M for $15 + tax. Perfectly good shorts, very good price.

However because it is on SALE the company H&M has a strict no returns and no exchanges policy on sale items - which means MAKE SURE IT FITS YOU!!! Mine fits me perfectly.

Why is printer ink so darn expensive?

If I want to buy ink for my printer I had best be ready to pay an arm and a leg for a little ink cartridge.

And it isn't because ink is particularly expensive - its because ink cartridge companies overcharge to ridiculous levels.

At Best Buy I find the following prices for ink for my Canon Pixma MX300...

Canon PG-40 Black Inkjet Cartridge (0615B02) 
Canon PG-40 Black Ink Cartridge is compatible with the Canon Pixma IP1600 photo printer.
$29.97

Canon CL-41 CMY Inkjet Cartridge (0617B002)
The Canon CL-41 Colour Ink Cartridge is compatible with the Canon Pixma IP1600 colour photo printer.
$39.99

So $69.96 for both.

If I go to Future Shop instead I find the following prices...

Canon PG-40 Black Inkjet Cartridge (0615B02)
Price: $34.99
Now Only: $34.99

Canon CL-41 CMY Inkjet Cartridge (0617B002)
Price: $39.99
Now Only: $39.99

So $74.98 for both. The colour ink at both locations is the same, but the black ink is cheaper at Best Buy.

HOWEVER!

$69.96 seems like a lot for two ink cartridges...

Especially when you can buy a brand new printer (with ink cartridges) for less - possibly even the same brand name as the ink you are seeking to purchase.

For example... Future Shop currently has an Epson printer for sale for $49.99. So you'd save about $20 + tax just by buying a new printer.

Ahem...

Or go to Best Buy... lots of sales to choose from. You can even get free shipping from either Best Buy or Future Shop if you order online.

If you pay attention to SALES regularly you can find cheap printers that are compatible with your current printer - and buy them just for the cheaper ink.

Now you might wonder WHY would I want to keep my current printer? Well in truth my current printer isn't that old - 1.5 years roughly - and it (Canon Pixma MX300) still works perfectly. Plus it is a scanner, fax machine and photocopier - so it has other uses compared to generic ink printers.

Although I must admit some of the Canon printers are wireless - which makes it tempting to have two printers available.

Also another complaint... the BestBuy.ca and FutureShop.ca websites are rather slow today. Appalling from companies that are supposed to be reputable.

But it all comes back to the idiocy that printer ink is more expensive than a new printer.

Jugo Juice Xtreme Protein Shake

Tried Jugo Juice's Xtreme Protein shake today. Tastes good. But does it actually contain 47 grams of protein? Good question.

After drinking it to the bottom I can only guess that, yes, it did contain a fair amount of protein. Tasted good to the last drop too.

Yogurt - Beatrice Vs Activia

One of the things I like to do when shopping is compare labels (hot tip) to see what the calories in different products are.

Today I looked at

Beatrice Yogurt - 90 calories per small container
Activia Yogurt - 100 calories per small container
Activia Fat Free Yogurt - 40 calories per small container

Now the obvious choice - if you are on a diet - is to buy the Activia Fat Free yogurt because it has the least amount of calories in it. However I have purchased the Activia Fat Free yogurt in the past numerous times so I decided its time for a change.

So instead I am now trying the Beatrice yogurt.

Because how can I call myself a real product reviews person unless I sample different companies???

In the past I have also tried the Astro Zero yogurt too - and so far it is my favourite. Goes well mixed with granola or plain by itself. The Astro Zero also has 40 calories per small container.

I shall update this later with my thoughts on the 90 calories Beatrice yogurt. (I do like Beatrice chocolate milk so maybe the yogurt will be good too.)

Ties, Suspenders and Cufflinks Oh My!

Grey Paisley Design Silk Tie - $9.95 AUD

Honestly... When it comes to ties, suspenders and cufflinks I really could not care less about Brand Name.

Why?

Because I can't NAME a brand name of ties, suspenders and cufflinks. (Ask me about bicycles on the other hand and I will rattle off about Miele, Norco, CCM, Raleigh, Cervelo, etc.)

And it is the honest truth - myself and, I imagine, many other men would be hard pressed to name a manufacturer of ties, suspenders and cufflinks - unless they were really into a particular brand for some reason.

Now for demonstration purposes lets use a website which has all three. The Aussie website Ties n Cuffs (www.tiesncuffs.com.au) has all three - and they sell men's handkerchiefs too. And scarves, men's underwear, tie clips, socks, silk vests and more. So they will be a good demonstration for talking about ties and other things.

But what impressed me about this website is that they DO pay attention to the brand names of all the companies. They are (I copy pasted this straight off their website so some of them are not actually brand names, but just topics like "clip on ties" instead) the following:

2eros 4 Play London Business Socks 4Play London AFL Belts AFL Credit Card Holders AFL Cufflinks AFL Tie Bars AFL Ties AS Colour Belt Buckles Ben Sherman Underwear Bloke Undees Bonds Bow Tie and Hanky Sets Bow Ties BR4SS Underwear Braces Braces by Buckle Budgy Smugglers Business Belts Carlo Visconti Collection Carlo Visconti Socks Celtic Antique Silver Cuffs Chicklinks Clip On tie

Collar Stays+ Collar Bars Cufflink Box Culture Cuffs DC Comic Cufflinks DC Comics Diesel DIY DKufflinks Footy Cuffs Footy Socks Frank Dandy Fun Novelty Cuffs Geoffrey Beene Gianfranco FERRE Gift Voucher Giorgio Rossini Italy Givenchy Ties Grundies Hardy Amies Hardy Amies Cufflinks Hardy Amies Formal Ties Hardy Amies Pocket Squares Hardy Amies Socks Holeproof Socks Jockey

K by Karl Lagerfeld KENZO King Socks Knitted Scarves Lafitte Socks Lapel Pins Leather Belts Leather Island Belts Men's Gift Sets Money Clips Moschino Mosmann Australia Muay Tie NRL Official Team Cufflinks Nudie Ties On sale ties Oroton Underwear Pashmina fashion Scarfs Personalised Beanies Personalised Belt Buckles Personalised Collar Stays Personalised Cufflinks Personalised Lapel Pins Personalised Scarves Personalised Supporter Sets

Personalised Tiebars Personalised Ties Plain Silk Scarves Plastik Underwear. Pocket Squares Polyester Scarves Puma Socks Puma Underwear Roberto Loren Collection Salvatore Ferragamo Silk Georgette Scarves Silk Knot Cufflink Series Silk Satin Scarves Silk Series SirRocco Cufflinks SirRocco woven ties Sly Underwear SmartSet Snatch Underwear SNJ Socks Socks Express Star Wars Cufflinks Teamm8 Tiebox Timothy K

TNC TNC Bottle Openers TNC coins TNC Cufflinks TNC Custom TNC Money Clips TNC Neckties TNC Novelty TNC Pewter Mugs TNC School Ties TNC Skinny TNC Tie Bars TNC Vests TNC Wallets Tribe Underwear Underwear Of Sweden Valentino Vintage Cufflinks Vintage Ties VIP Wedding Cravats Wedding Cuff Links Wedding Silk Ties Wood Look Cufflinks Wright Socks

Hardy Amies Formal Silk Tie - Black Floral - $50.00 AUD

In which case, that is A LOT OF BRAND NAMES.

I had no idea there was so many companies in the men's accessories business.

I do like suspenders and ties myself (especially silk ties with a very kewl pattern on them), but not a big fan of cufflinks. The photos I have chosen for this blog post are silk ties I picked out because I like their patterns.

What I do like about the Ties N Cuffs website is that you can search their selection very easily and it shows you EXACTLY what you are looking for...

Examples

http://www.tiesncuffs.com.au/search?q=grey+ties

http://www.tiesncuffs.com.au/search?q=silk+ties

http://www.tiesncuffs.com.au/search?q=black+suspenders

Mucho gracias!

The only disappointment was when I tried typing in "Moffat tartan" to see if they had a tie with my Scottish family tartan on it. They did have a variety of tartan ties (44 results, including bow ties and other tartan products), but they didn't have specifically the tartan I was looking for (see Moffat tartan below).

So maybe that is something they could add in the future. Tartans ties and bow ties for specific families.

However I will note they also had custom bow ties and custom ties. So maybe it is possible to get the exact thing you are looking for.

The last thing I should talk about is the prices.

Ties can get quite expensive sometimes. The Hardy Amies Formal Silk Tie in Black Floral for $50.00 AUD above for example... is a tie worth drooling over. But you wouldn't want to drool physically on it because its $50!!! That is the kind of tie you should wear to weddings, funerals and really important events.

The Grey Paisley silk tie that I picked out (way up at the top) on the other hand won't break your wallet. And it still looks fantastic.

What I also like about that website is that it tells you when a product is currently sold out.

What I don't like is that you cannot sign up for a waiting list so that they will email you when the product becomes available again. (I should email them with a list of suggestions for improving the customer experience...)

Still, its a very good website and one worth checking out if you like ties, cufflinks and other accessories.