The Honeywell Prestige touch screen programmable thermostat with HD full color display looks like the kind of thermostat I’d like to get, but I wonder if it’s any more accurate than the less expensive thermostats.

The Honeywell Prestige is easy to use, easy to view, comes with a remote control that you can use anywhere in your house, and remote outdoor temperature sensing unit so you can see the outside temperature. 

I haven’t found a better looking high-tech thermostat, but my quest for a new thermostat began after years of being annoyed with two inaccurate thermostats.

In my house, I have a  15-year-old Honeywell programmable thermostat which controls both heating and central air conditioning for 5 bedrooms; a second Honeywell programmable thermostat controls heating and central air-conditioning for the kitchen, dining area, family room, living room and dining room; and a third Honeywell basic round non-programmable thermostat (which looks like the current model YCT87K1003 with analog temperature scale) for 10 zone radiant heating which I use in January and February.

My two existing 15-year-old Honeywell programmable thermostats are inaccurate as much as 3°, but the inexpensive round non-programmable thermostat, which uses a coil spring for temperature measurement, is dead on accurate.

I just purchased a Honeywell RTH6300B Deluxe 5-2 Day Programmable Thermostat at Lowes for $49.  Without hooking up the electrical connections, I inserted two new batteries and to properly compare accuracy, I placed it sitting on top of my existing thermostat.

I then compared the display temperatures of the 15-year-old programmable thermostat; the new RTH6300B programmable thermostat; and a Cooper-Atkins Multi Probe Temperature Tester model SH66A. The results showed that the two programmable thermostats differ by as much as 3° from actual temperature. The older thermostat usually reads high, while the new thermostat reads low. Accuracy varied and occasionally one of the two thermostats was reading correctly. Both thermostats were more accurate between 70°-72° and less accurate at temperatures below 70°.

I would like to get the Honeywell Prestige thermostat, but I want a programmable thermostat with the accuracy of the basic round thermostat.

Honeywell Prestige details.  I found the Honeywell Prestige HD color touchscreen thermostat at Amazon for $464, somewhere else for $644 and at PexSupply for $414.27 with free shipping.

Watch the video to see how easy it is to use and how pretty the color screen is on the Honeywell Prestige programmable thermostat.

I like the idea of a remote control for the thermostat, but I would really like to have it connect wirelessly to my wireless access point so I can access and control the thermostat from any of the computers on the network in my house or any Internet connected computer. This would be useful for checking temperature conditions while only on vacation.

If anyone has any information on the accuracy of the Honeywell Prestige thermostat, please let me know. I will provide a complete in-depth review if I ever install the Honeywell Prestige programmable thermostat.

If you’re looking for elegant chopsticks, Yunhong Chopsticks Shop has several sets that will add elegance to your table. Located in New York’s Chinatown, you can also order from their website HAPPYCHOPSTICKS.COM.

Each chopstick set has its own theme and gift box. I have a set of silver ware from my mother worth thousands of dollars, but for a very affordable price you can elegantly dine with these chopsticks. Their chopsticks are repeatedly sanded, polished and layered with lacquer and the ones I like have hand hammered silver.

The Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea

The Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea, one of the most famous folklores in China, represents the male, the female, the old, the young, the rich, the poor, the noble and the humble Chinese.  I would like these if they had matching table stands.

Chairman Mao’s Poem Chopsticks

These Chopsticks are made in mahogany. Engraved in silver at the top is a poem written by Chairman Mao after he swam across the Yangtze River in 1956.  I would like these if they had matching table stands.

Elegant Chopsticks

Elegant Chopsticks have matching table stands.

Gold Lions Mahogany Chopsticks

Solid silver Lion plated with 24 Karat gold and matching table stands.

Gold Panda Mahogany Chopsticks

Solid silver Panda figure plated with 24 Karat gold on top with silver inlay “Harmony” on the body and matching table stands.

Are you afraid of flu shot pain? I’ll tell you how to prevent flu shot pain when you get the flu shot or any injection.

A lot of people are afraid of needles when they have to get a flu shot, allergy shot or other injection.  Fear of getting a shot or fear of needle pain may cause some people to unnecessarily avoid getting the flu shot or the H1N1 swine flu shot, when the flu shot can easily be given pain free.

The fear comes from associating pain with the needle after previously experiencing pain from an injection.  It would seem to make sense. Since the needle looks sharp and sinister and is used to puncture the skin like a knife, it’s natural to assume that the needle is what causes pain.

However, it’s not the needle that causes the pain. In fact, the needle is so thin that you can barely feel it. So, if it’s not the needle, what causes the pain?

After thinking about exactly what it is that causes the pain, the solution is obvious. Interestingly, nurses are usually much better at giving an injection, than a doctor is. The reason for this provides the solution to a pain-free shot. Doctors are always in a rush, while nurses take more time. Also, some of the blame can be placed on patients who want to get their shot quickly because of their fear.

What happens when you rush an injection? The plunger is pushed much too quickly causing the fluid in the syringe to be forced through the needle and into the body tissue with explosive force. In fact, while a narrower needle will cause less pain, it will cause higher pressure when the fluid is forced through the needle quickly. Under high pressure, the force of the fluid rushing into your body ruptures cells and causes pain.

The answer to a pain-free injection is now obvious. When I get an injection, I tell my doctor that before I get the shot, I have a request. I then tell the doctor that I would like him to push the plunger on the syringe very, very slowly. While doctors have asked me why, no doctor has ever refused. You may have to put up with having the needle in your arm a little longer, but it’s not the needle that causes the pain.

This also works with Novocain injections at the dentist. The result is that I always get a pain-free shot.

This is an old check fraud which is becoming very popular as information about it spreads on the Internet.  It’s called check washing and is done with bank checks and medical prescriptions.

This is how it works.  You write a check to pay your bills; someone steals your check and changes the name and amount on your check; deposits your check in a bank account; takes the money; and disappears before anyone knows what happened.  The easiest way for crooks to steal your checks is from your mailbox.

How can someone change the name and amount on your check? They wash the top part of your check with acetone and leave only your signature. Now, they can write their own name and amount on the check and it only takes 3 minutes.

The same fraud can be easily done with medical prescriptions written by a doctor. All someone has to do is take a prescription and wash the top portion of the prescription; now, they change the prescription to a drug that they can sell or take themselves.

If you write checks instead of paying with online banking or if you write your prescriptions instead of printing by computer, use a Uniball 207 pen marked “Helps Prevent Check Fraud” on the packaging. Wal-Mart, Office Depot, Staples and other stationery stores have them or order online: Uniball 207 pen at Staples.

Watch how your check can be easily altered to steal your money.

Looking for a custom wrought iron gate, railing or maybe a front door to be the focal point of your house?  This isn’t the best wrought iron, it’s wrought iron art.  Fabian Parejas, owner of The Forger of NY is a blacksmith artist creating decorative and sculptural iron work and of course, wrought iron gates and railings for outdoor stairs, indoor stairs and balconies.

Ask for Fabian Parejas at 718-357-7666.

It’s difficult to find a good Jewish bakery that still has corn rye bread.  If you have never had corn rye bread or don’t know what it is, it’s very similar to rye bread but is heavier, denser and more moist than regular rye bread. Corn rye bread is so much better than rye bread, that it is almost like comparing white bread to cake.

Corn Rye bread

I know that there are recipes on the Internet, but I don’t think it’s possible to make real corn rye bread because I’ve been told that the bakeries which have the starter yeast and bacteria, have had it for several generations and keep it closely guarded.  If it was easy to get, many more bakeries would have corn rye bread and it’s hard to find a bakery that has it.

If you order corn rye bread by mail, I would order it un-sliced because it will stay fresher longer.  If you order more than one, you can freeze the others.  Even with just one bread, you can cut it in half and freeze half.  Corn rye bread freezes very well.  The best way to defrost it is in the refrigerator.  Once defrosted, take it out of the refrigerator.

You can order corn rye bread where I get it.
(please note that to ensure freshness, they will only ship by FedEx overnight)

Wheatley Bake Shop
1506 Old Northern Blvd
Roslyn, NY 11576
516-621-7575

The best bagels are made by Stuff ‘n’ Bagels. Of course, their bagels are handmade. As a matter of fact, Benny is the one who makes the bagels by hand. There are a couple of bagel stores in New York City that make bagels just as good, but not better.

The bagels at Stuff ‘n’ Bagels are a little larger and thicker, than other handmade bagels, with a really doughy texture inside and just the right crust/skin. I’m not sure how I could describe how a bagel tastes, but their bagels have the taste I look for in a bagel. On the north shore of Long Island, the bagels have no taste.

Making bagels by hand is one of the secrets. Another secret is only available in New York and the south shore of Long Island. Stuff ‘n’ Bagels is in Oceanside on the south shore of Long Island, which has an important secret ingredient to make great quality bagel dough or pizza dough… The right water. Just 30 minutes away on the north shore of Long Island, the water is different enough to make me drive to the South Shore for my pizza and bagels.

If you want the best bagels, call Stuff ‘n’ Bagels and they will ship bagels out of state to you by overnight delivery. Storage Tip: If you want to toast them, slice the bagels in half and store in a Ziploc baggy and freeze. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator. One bagel will just make it into one baggy.

Stuff ‘n’ Bagels doesn’t have a website, but you can call them to order the best bagels.

3570 Long Beach Rd
Oceanside, NY 11572
(516) 536-6278

Classified ads on CraigsList and other classified ad websites result in a lot of fraudulent responses, some of which were designed to divest yourself of your money and others which are designed to obtain your e-mail address so it can be sold to various spammers and fraudsters.

I recently posted a classified ad on Craigs List and immediately received several responses from people claiming to be interested in what I was selling. When I responded, I received back an e-mail stating that the person would send me a check and send someone to pick up the item I was selling. I immediately recognized as as a fraudulent e-mail. Anytime someone says they will send you a check, you can be sure that it’s fraud.

Obviously, I did not fall victim to the e-mail scam, but the worst part of this is that I suddenly realized the scammers now have my e-mail address which of course I had hidden on my Craig’s list ad. Not only do they have my e-mail address, but they know it is a valid e-mail address just waiting to receive spam e-mails from all of the spammers and scammers they sell it to.

How can you avoid revealing your e-mail address when sending an e-mail to someone responded to your Craig’s List classified ad?

Tip: Set up a free e-mail account at Yahoo.com or elsewhere to respond to people responding to your classified ad. It will only take you 60 seconds to open a new temporary e-mail account, especially because you can use any weird username, so you don’t have to spend a lot of time looking for a good one.

Be sure to keep the username and password available so you can use your new e-mail account again when you post another ad. At any time when you start receiving too much spam at your new temporary e-mail account, just open another one.

This was an easy and natural cure for both my allergies and asthma.  I don’t know if it will cure your allergies, but it certainly worked for me.  I suffered with typical hayfever type allergies and serious asthma for most of my life.  Although I used to get allergy shots every week, my nose was always stuffed up, I lived on Sudafed decongestant, and I still had to carry a box of tissues with me everywhere I went.

15 years ago, I was moving to Long Island from New York City and was worried that my allergies would get worse.  A very bright friend of mine, who is a doctor, advised that I start taking a number of vitamins. I told him that I was taking a multivitamin and he said it’s not enough. He gave me a list of vitamins to take and within days of taking them, I noticed a big difference.  Since I started taking vitamins, I never take Sudafed anymore, I don’t need a box of tissues wherever I go, I don’t have asthma symptoms and I haven’t refilled my asthma medication.

I added a few more vitamins and I now take 18 vitamins every morning. Before adding more vitamins to my regimen, I tried to determine which vitamin or combination of vitamins was responsible for improving my allergies.  I do not believe that any one vitamin is responsible and I was never able to figure out which combination of vitamins improved my allergies.

I know vitamins are responsible for improving my allergies because I occasionally stop taking them due to laziness and when I stop, my allergies return.  I don’t like opening 16 bottles of vitamins every morning, so I put the vitamins in 50-60 small cups which I keep in my kitchen cabinet.  Sometimes, I run out of cups and get too lazy to fill another 50 or so cups.  After five or six days of not taking vitamins, my allergies come back.  That gives me the incentive to fill another 50 cups!

So, what vitamins do I take for my allergies?  I have since added some additional vitamins for other reasons, but following is a list of the vitamins I was taking when my allergies improved:

Multi vitamin
A 10,00 IU & D 400 IU
B6 100 mg
B12 1000 mg
Super B-complex
C 1000 mg w/rose hips
E 400 IU
Cod Liver Oil (A&D)
Fish oil EPA 1200 mg with Omega-3 684 mg
Flax Seed Oil 1300 mg
Co-enzyme Q10 50 mg
Folic Acid 600 mcg
Soya Lecitin 437 mg
L-Lysine 500 mg

I hope this works for you. Taking vitamins has eliminated my asthma symptoms and substantially improved my allergies.

Update: I recently doubled my intake of Fish oil EPA 1200 mg with Omega-3 684 mg, by taking one in the morning and another at night.  After a few days, I noticed that in the morning I started remembering some dreams which I haven’t experienced for years; I feel a little more rested; and my allergies have improved even more.  My nose seems less congested and I frequently can breathe through my nose which I am never able to do.  I will probably try taking three per day.

Best coffeemaker: BUNN

I only started drinking coffee a few years ago when a friend of mine started working at Starbucks and gave me several bags of coffee beans. Since then, I’ve become addicted to coffee. I bought a burr grinder which is the only kind of grinder you should use if you want to grind your own coffee beans. I also bought a BRAUN coffee maker which was very inexpensive and great for making a single cup of coffee because it uses a funnel shaped coffee filter. The only problem is that sometimes the coffee is really good and sometimes a little bitter.

Lately, I’ve gotten too lazy to grind my coffee and I buy Chock full o’Nuts ground coffee.  I’ve been wondering how to get consistently good coffee, so I spent the day researching coffee makers on the Internet. Only the BUNN coffee maker has nothing but great reviews everywhere. I’ve seen BUNN coffee machines in restaurants and diners all my life but I never realized they made a home coffee machine.

After trying a BUNN home coffee maker, there was an immediate and noticeable difference.  The coffee is definitely milder and was not bitter.  I’ve been using it for three weeks now and I have not had a cup of coffee yet that was even slightly bitter.  Every pot of coffee is consistently mild, not bitter and really good.

Also interesting is that with less bitterness, I found that I am able to use approximately 25% less sugar, which means 25% fewer calories.  Since I don’t use sugar substitutes, I’m very happy to be able to cut down a little on my sugar intake.

After reading about BUNN, I found that there is a distinct difference between the way a BUNN makes coffee and other coffee makers.

First, BUNN uses a stainless steel water tank which is pre-filled with water and maintained at a consistent 200°F. According to the Specialty Coffee Association of America coffee should be brewed with water at 200°F. Other coffeemakers heat the water directly with the heating element at temperatures ranging from 186°F to boiling.

BUNN is able to achieve a consistent water temperature of 200°F by using the stainless steel water storage tank which pre-heats the water and maintains it at the correct temperature. The tank essentially works the same way as the hot water heater in your house. When you make coffee, you add water which enters the tank at the bottom pushing the hot water up and through the spray nozzle onto the coffee grinds.

Apparently, in addition to the correct temperature, a quick brew time is also important to eliminate bitterness.  BUNN home coffee makers will brew an entire pot of coffee in only three minutes, approximately half of the time of other coffeemakers.

BUNN’s unique spray head is designed to create just the right amount of turbulence to mix the coffee grind with water.

BUNN coffee makers seem to be well built because there are many reviews on the Internet from people who say they are tired of replacing $50 coffee makers which break frequently while their BUNN has lasted without problems. It’s made in the US, so your money helps support our economy.

There are 5 home coffeemakers and a couple of commercial coffeemakers which are suitable for home use. All of the home coffee makers work exactly the same way and produce the same quality coffee.  The only difference is the styling and whether you want a glass decanter or stainless steel decanter.  I prefer the glass decanter.  Although the stainless steel decanter is designed to keep your coffee hot longer, I like my coffee hot and prefer to heat it in the microwave.

The 5 BUNN home coffeemakers and their differences are as follows:

• GRX is sold at stores like Wal-Mart, has an all plastic housing and a glass to counter with a hot plate.
• NHBX is a more modern design and little more compact in size front to rear and its a little shorter than the others. It also has a swivel lid on top versus a lift up lid to fill it.
• BX is the original design with a square, more commercial look and a glass decanter with a hot plate.
• BTX is the original design with a square, more commercial look and a stainless steel unbreakable double wall vacuum insulated carafe which keeps coffee hot without overheating, no hot plate and is dishwasher safe.
• My Café is a coffee pod machine.

There are at least three BUNN commercial coffee makers which are suitable for home use:

BUNN A10A

BUNN CWTF15-1

BUNN CWTF-1 Automatic Coffee Maker with hot water faucet