Mouthwashes - Alcohol Vs Alcohol Free

I have posted on mouthwashes before, but this time I was trying out the alcohol free version of Crest mouthwash.

I even compared it with Scopes' cool peppermint, and I must say I prefer the alcohol free mouthwash from Crest. It was waaaaay better tasting and I could feel a definite difference in terms of how clean my mouth was afterwards. Longer laster flavour too.

Tried both of them for over a month, got way better satisfaction from Crest.

Cancelling Rogers Internet

Two days ago I cancelled my Rogers internet.

Had it for 7.75 years. Would have been 8 years in February.

Made the change because I was moving into a new apartment and frankly, Rogers wasn't giving the best quality service.

See all previous complaints about Rogers internet crashing, going down, etc.

Don't get me wrong, most of the time Rogers worked perfectly. And it was fast. I give Rogers internet 5 stars for the speed I was getting with respect to downloads and so forth.

But "most of the time" doesn't cut it when I need my internet to be working constantly for work reasons.

And then there was the customer service... which was a combination of computer system and whatever poor saps work in the customer service department. I feel sorry for them, I really do. That is a horrible job.

Big corporation customer service is often less than stellar. I give Rogers customer service 2.5 stars out of 5.

There are other factors too that I didn't like.

Hidden fees on my bills that come out later.

The email spam / snail mail they send customers.

Their insistence on trying to get everyone to sign a contract for a year or more for service.

Overall I give Rogers 3 stars out of 5. Fast, but not reliable and very annoying.

So who am I replacing Rogers with?

Bell.

Which I have tried before and it was "okay". 3.5 stars out of 5 if I recollect correctly. Marginally better than Rogers.

It does make me wish there was more internet companies wooing Canadians than just Rogers and Bell. Or rather, more internet companies with lots of speed and GOOD or decent prices.

For example TekSavvy is a newer company that sells internet connections via dialup, cable, and DSL.

They advertise their prices as being competitive. And it sounds good on paper, but the prices in the commercials and advertising is for their BASIC rate.

Meaning if you want more speed, more bandwidth, etc... well then you need to pay extra. They also charge you extra for the cable activation fee if you don't purchase a modem from them. (And if you don't like their service, they don't take back the modem and refund the difference.)

Cost of the modem? Between $99 and $120, depending on the type you purchase. If you don't buy the modem then they rent it to you. So you end up paying for it either way.

If you go over on bandwidth they charge 50 cents for every GB over.

So TekSavvy is just as much a money grubber as Rogers and Bell.

One of these days a new company is going to come along, offer internet service for a fair price - set a really high limit on the bandwidth, and have 100% uptime. At which point nobody will complain about the customer service because they won't need any customer service. It will just WORK the way it is meant to.

And then maybe Rogers and Bell will start taking the quality of their service seriously.

UPDATE!

Rogers is overcharging me on my final bill. No surprise there. Booooo Rogers! Boo!

Apple Vs Windows - The Screen of Death Statistics

If you Google various combinations of "screen of death" you get some interesting results as to which products people complain about the most when it comes to their computers / devices failing to work / load properly.

102 million for iphone blue screen of death

70.2 million for android black screen of death

58.9 million for apple white screen of death

54.7 million for windows blue screen of death

34.3 million for windows 7 blue screen of death

26 million for windows 8 blue screen of death

16.4 million for android black screen of death

6.76 million for windows me blue screen of death

5.48 million for linux screen of death

3.13 million for mac white screen of death

1.56 million for windows xp blue screen of death

546,000 for windows 3.11 blue screen of death

276,000 for windows 3.1 blue screen of death

Feel free to do your own research into this topic. Draw your own conclusions as to which operating systems are the most reliable / best for your computer / phone needs.

Please note that some products have larger market shares, and yet have less complaints about them.

Wireless USB Adapters

I just spent the last half hour browsing wireless USB adapters.

I am heading to Best Buy soon to pick one up.

I have decided I want to get one that is dual-band (for added speed), has an actual antenna (for better range), and a five star review.

Which means I will be spending $50 - $70. But it will be worth it to get the added speed.

It was this or running an ethernet cable all the way from the living room to the office. And buying a rug to hide the cable on the floor.

Some of the reviews I have been reading say they get a strong connection from 3 floors down. I am curious just how far away I can get such a strong connection... Maybe the laundry room in the basement? Lets find out!

New Steel Toed Boots

By Charles Moffat.

Every couple of years I buy a new pair of steel boots. This is a bit of a tradition I have been doing for 16 years now, ever since I worked in a welding shop when I was 18 years old. I got addicted to wearing the boots and with time I just didn't notice the weight any more.

In the photos further below you see my old Dakota steel toe boots that I got in December 2011. They lasted almost 2 years before the heels / ankle bits started to fall apart and needed to be replaced.

So I got a new pair of Dakota steel toe boots, similar model. Price? At Mark's Work Warehouse they were $119.99 + $15.60 HST. Total 135.60. (Thanks to the elimination of the penny in Canada we now round up regularly.)

Design wise they are basically the same pair of boots. With minor differences. The blue around the ankles, different holes for the boot strings, the sides of the ankles are higher on the new boots. But whatever, essentially the same.

I think I have an even older pair of Dakota boots somewhere in the closet. I should throw them out. Never going to wear them again I am guessing.

The old pair above saw me through two winters and literally hundreds of trips to the archery range, hiking trips, trekking across muddy fields and more. They have seen wear and tear and look like they went through a battlefield.

The only reason why I even chose to replace them was because the ankles / heels were falling apart. Cleaned up (the mud makes them really bad) they look almost brand new except for the rips in the blue ankle bits.

Judging by the hard life that my boots live, the fact the lasted almost two years was pretty amazing.

And the wear on the ankles is my fault. I don't untie my boots regularly, I just tie the laces semi-tight and then yank them on my feet, which damages the ankle of the boot over time. So they're not meant to be yanked on like that so they're bound to take damage.

Price wise these aren't even that expensive by steel toed boots standards. They pass all safety requirements for steel toe boots, but they're relatively inexpensive compared to the $200 to $400 steel toed boots you can buy.

The trick is however is that I KNOW my boots will be treated harshly. I don't see the point in shelling out an extra $100 to $300 on boots that I am just going to wreck anyway.

I gave my old boots to the cashier at Mark's Work Warehouse and told her to toss them in the trash. Although I did briefly make a joke that the company might be curious in analyzing the boots for defects, but honestly they were NOT defective. They simply lived a hard life.

But they stood up to the test which is why I got a new pair from the same company. Huzzah!