I Love New York Travel

I hadn’t heard of such a thing until I got the Gruene Dual 2 in 1 Steam Cleaner. What a terrific invention! And for us, it’s just in time. We are renovating the house, and had gotten rid of the yukky 40-year old vinyl tiles in the kitchen and the yukky 40-year old indoor-outdoor carpeting in the dining room, and are replacing the floors with TrafficMaster Allure flooring. We also have laminate flooring in the living room.

The kind folks at Gruene must have recognized our plight– imagine all that mopping we’d have to do!!– and sent us one of their steam cleaners to review. Thanks, Gruene! We made a video detailing the assembling of the machine, and testing it out for the first time.

I think it’s a great alternative to the mop and bucket system (which, incidentally, I hate). It’s nice to see mops enter the 21st century, finally. I also love the fact that you do not HAVE to buy special cleaning pads for the machine. As a matter of fact, Gruene encourages you to use terry cloth towels or any kind of absorbent pad to attach to the bottom of the cleaner. And it’s very easy to attach a new pad, too. No screws, no complicated clips or buttons, etc.

As we mentioned in the video, the machine is a little top heavy. You have to hold it up, or it will fall down. It’s lightweight and easy to glide across floors. If you have a textured vinyl floor, you may have to push a little harder. But the steam and the absorbent pad pick up a lot more dirt and grime than a mop and bucket, definitely. I was surprised how dirty my laminate floors were.

Overall, it’s a great upgrade for cleaning bare floors. I never liked the mop and bucket, and I never liked how the wet mops saturate the floors and leave them wet for long periods of time. The Gruene Steam Cleaner makes it nice and simple, and the floors dry quickly. Thumbs up for this one!

Well, I bit the bullet (or, the bullet bit me) and I got a new camera. It’s a Nikon DSLR d3000, a nice, cheap starter DSLR camera. My first, actually. My Kodak z1012, which has served me well for almost two years, is having lens problems. It just doesn’t focus properly. I bought it refurbished at a very cheap price, so I did realize that I would eventually have to replace it. The kids are grateful to have it. And I can claim the new camera for business, which is nice.

Anyway, I’m puttering around with it, testing it on various things. The Nikon works so well in well-lit rooms. In poorly-lit rooms, not so much. But I’m happy with it, so far. It’s not a high-end camera (holy cow, those things are expensive), but it’s much more sophisticated than the old point-and-shoots that I am accustomed to. This Nikon is like a point-and-shoot on stuff from www.multivitamin-s.org.

I decided I need a new camera when I came home from New York. I had taken many, many photos, but 50% to 60% of them turned out horrible. I’ll never take a point-and-shoot for such an important trip again. From now on, I’m getting serious about my cameras! Here’s hoping my photo skills will improve…

Isn’t this a pretty picture? Taken in Paris, New York. It’s an old Episcopal church. I don’t remember how far back it dates; the neighboring Congregational church has “1791″ on its pediment. Yeah. Gimme that old time religion, you bet. There are very few “old time” religions around here anymore. So many churches have become mere social clubs or Bingo halls, where yoga, best hemorrhoid treatments, and town gossip rules the conversations. :-p I was never much of a team player, anyway.

I am not quite sure of this particular little church still holds services. There’s a very old graveyard in the back. The remains of Isaac Paris, for whom the town is named thanks to his starvation-saving heroism, is buried here. I wonder what those ancient folks would think of life as it has turned out in our modern times. It’s silly speculating, I know. But I wonder…

I hate these things. Oh sure, they look so quaint in Currier&Ives prints, but I dislike them. For one, they are a horrible hazard to children and pets that get too close to the house. A falling sharp icicle…. *shudder* I don’t even want to think about it.

Secondly, they pose a danger to my poor old house. Their presence stimulates the growth of the dreaded ice dam. The thaw-freeze cycle of ice on the roof works its way under the shingles, dripping down into the interior walls of my rooms. What horrible damage this causes!

I know, I know! Spring is coming! It’s mid-February and we *only* have two more months of cold weather to endure! As I get older, I tolerate the cold less and less. I may be one of those snowbirds who will take off for Branson vacations every winter, at least, I wish!

Alack, for now, I must endure the icicles. I can’t wait til they are all gone!

Another oddity at the Utica Zoo. It’s a goat form made from wicker. It’s one of the first things you see when entering the Zoo.