http://www.owlpages.com/links.php?cat=Owls-Nest+Boxes

gmoke:
Thanks for the quick response. I, too, have the Google. I'm looking for someone who's built an owl house, and had owl guests come and stay in it, to tell us about it.

Oh man, I love owls. I would love to know the details behind a successful owl house.

With pictures.

Hello. I would like to recommend:

-- Glad collapsing food storage containers (accordian style)
-- Gator grip
-- Panasonic's hand held, rechargeable, battery-op drill
-- Lodge Logic Cast Iron pan - don't use any other pans now
-- Microplane lemon zester - the best one out there
-- Black and Decker's electric chopper - use it everday in my kitchen, there are several kinds and I like them so much, I bought two different ones. They are very cheap and don't break.
-- Yahoo Groups to keep up-to-date quickly on blogs and online communities

I love your website. It is very fun to read.

How about the Lift Mates Solo Lift. It allows you to Lift up a box by only using one hand. With the free hand, you can open doors or drink a cup of starbucks.

http://www.liftmates.com

You should do a post on that Cool Tool.

hi:
I'd like to hear more about Gator Grip, Lodge pan and the Black and Decker chopper. Please e-mail me (elon {at} schoenholz dot com) with a little more info about any/all of these and why you find them superior.

Re: lemon grater, it's commonly known that in Canada (the west coast at least), the hands down best grater/zester comes from Lee Valley:

http://www.leevalley.com/garden/page.aspx?c=2&p=32458&cat=2,40733,44734

It's actually a wood rasp, and was the very first kitchen tool I ever bought.

And I'd love to hear about the best game camera.

USE A TEA INFUSER FOR PASSWORD PAPER BURNING

Goal: a method for unrecoverably destroying small pieces of paper with a list of passwords written on them easily inside your home.

Today many people have multiple passwords that they use frequently and change regularly. It is practically impossible to memorize all of them.

There are excellent software password helper tools available, either standalone applications or built into the browser.

But many people prefer to also store a printed paper backup at some location in their home. There are, of course, security drawbacks with that but also some advantages. Assume for now that it can all things considered be acceptable to go down the paper backup route.

After password changes the old paper backup then needs to be destroyed. How? Many seem to use common strip-cut paper shredders. But such shredder output can be pieced together. For sensitive passwords that recoverability risk can be unacceptable.

There are paper disintegrators/granulators for higher security levels (more details here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_shredder ). But they are too expensive for personal use.

A better (high-security, low cost) alternative is burning. Here is a protocol for doing so indoors simply and safely, using a tea infuser with two metallic mesh halves that snap together and a fixed metal handle (not a chain).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_infuser
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tea_infuser.jpg (the upper one in that photo)

- Tear the small password paper a few times
- place the pieces inside the infuser
- hold the infuser under a hooded kitchen exhaust fan
- use a candle lighter with a long shaft to burn the paper inside the infuser
- rotate the infuser until all paper is burned black
- discard the ashed paper in the toilet
- cool and clean the tea infuser in tap water (until next time you need to burn papers. It will likely never be clean enough to be used for making tea again so get a new one for that purpose.)

The infuser stops glowing paper pieces from blowing around in the room and makes it easy to burn the paper from all sides.

the japanese art of packing, giftrapping, carrying and doing other stuff with a square piece of cloth called furoshiki

http://furoshiki.com , a lovely video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bn6zdyCAwJs ; a chart of various simpler styles from the ministry of the environment of japan http://www.env.go.jp/en/focus/attach/060403-5.html

stumbeled upon it via Life Less Plastic at http://lifelessplastic.blogspot.com/2008/12/reusable-gift-wrap-furoshiki-style.html

since then i haven't had the opportunity to give someone a furoshiki style present yet, but my beautyful square pieces of cloth (usually large scarves with traditional patterns) have become very handy at being stylish shopping bags, tops and carry-alls. i really love that with the shoulder carry wrap (katakake fukuro) when carrying something heavy you can adjust the cloth so that the pressure is spread very wide so it's very comfortable not like some bags with thin shoulder straps.

In my opinion there is no such thing as "the cheapest long range walkie-talkie". If range is the primary issue, then what you are looking for is a ham radio. They come in very small packages, and are capable of much longer range and more reliable communications than any other type of "walkie-talkie" out there. These radios are also capable of using a repeater to re-transmit the signal over comparitively huge distances, on the order of many miles depending on local terrain. Of course you must get licensed, but the entry level amateur radio license examination is fairly easy to pass, and many amateur radio clubs give classes for free, and administer the tests for around $15. An amateur radio license is valid for 10 years. The radios are anywhere from $100 and up for new, significantly less used on eBay or from a local ham.
Links:
http://www.yaesu.com/indexVS.cfm?cmd=DisplayProducts&ProdCatID=111&encProdID=5CB596EBED9A3EE26635C7E1F02500D9

http://www.icomamerica.com/en/products/amateur/handheld/t7h/default.aspx

Chris K1YU:
I'd welcome a radio review from you. Can you tell us anything about Yaesu WIRES II Internet Linking?
Please e-mail me.
-es

@Chris K1YU: I'm curious whether you need a license to purchase these units or just to operate them? And if the later, is there anything to prevent folks from buying them and using them without a license? This would seem a common temptation.

If you own a Windows Mobile smartphone, then Garmin Mobile XT software is awesome. It provides all the functionality of a standalone Garmin GPS device plus uses your cellular connection to download traffic information and lists the fuel prices at gas stations along your route.

Also, I'd love to see recommendations from masons on cement and mortar mixers - particularly electric ones.

Low tech garden tool: burden cloth. I never seem to live anywhere a cart is usable, and I hate wheelbarrows. I've hauled everything from straw bales to gravel in my cloths (I have the patio and farm sizes right now). You could make them yourself, it's a simple idea. burdencloth.com is their site.

This snorkel is great:
http://www.oceanmaster.com/Snorkels.htm

Just works. Has a comfortable bite-piece, a gimbal-mounted mouth piece, and has lasted for a couple or three dozen days in the water so far (over several years; OK, so I don't get out there that much. I blame it on the kids!) I haven't used any others except those cheap tubes, but having a dry one is a real luxury.

I've done some very limited diving and some snorkeling. When going anywhere tropical, I pack this snorkel.

I agree with one of your posters on the Liftmate Solo Lift, I just bought one, I found it on the UHaul website while renting a van. I had to move several heavy odd shaped boxes from the van parked in the street up to my house. I was able to carry the box with one hand and lock the van and open the house door with the other. It saved a lot of picking up and putting down to repeatedly open and close doors. A very simple design but very effective.............. definitely a Cool Tool.

Leo Marinconz