Monday, 16 August 2010

Park Bench Back Yard Bench - 2x4basics, bench


I just finished assembling a 2x4basics AnySize Bench 11200 and am very happy with it. The bench assembly took a little longer than I thought it would. I think I worked on it for about two hours. I wasn't counting on having to drill pilot holes for the dozens of screws (included) that had to be used putting the bench together. Nor did I figure on spending so much time figuring out how to best sink the screws into the underside of the boards. Don't worry about slanting the screws into the wood a bit. It is impossible to get a drill into a perfect position for making a 90 degree hole. Most of the screws do not show anyhow.



It was necessary to tip the bench over in order drill pilot holes and to get at the screws. I had to clamp the 2x4's to the plastic/composite ends to keep them from falling off or moving out of position. I would recommend using a couple of small carpentry clamps to hold things in place while putting the bench together.



I had the 2x4's sanded and painted prior to attaching them to the plastic/composite ends so that took a little time, but probably not more than an additional hour. That probably saved time in the long run. Making this bench with the 2x4 basics kit is not a difficult project.



The 2x4 basics bench is solid and not all that heavy, but it isn't going to blow over in a high wind. I am quite satisfied with how the bench came out and somewhat surprised at how substantial it is. I thought it might twist and perhaps wiggle side to side--nope, it is a rock.



I am so pleased with this approach to building patio furniture that I will be recommending the product to friends. 2x4basics AnySize Chair or Bench Ends, Sand

These are the coolest things! We bought 3 sets and made two 12 feet benches, each with one of these in the middle for extra support. We used redwood and they turned out really nice! I love that these come with all the hardware you need. All you have to do is buy the 2x4's and just slide them through and screw them in place! So easy! And you can make them as long as you want. However, if you make the benches long like we did you do need the extra support of more of these. I definately recommend these to anyone!

The vinyl seats on my pontoon boat had deteriorated over the years of exposure to sun and weather. Yes, we started out with good intentions of covering the boat, but we all get lazy after a while.



I had been looking for a solution other than spending a lot of money to have the seats recovered. Found the bench ends of 2x4 basics on line vs. many other types of outdoor benches available that are all very expensive.



The 2x4 basics have worked out perfect. Easy to assemble, very sturdy, durable for the crowd we get on the pontoon boat.



I actually made the benches eight feet long even though the recommendation is not to exceed six feet. I made a center support from a short 2x6 (used 2x4's for the bench as instructed) using the bench end as a template. Just cut the shape and angles with a sabre saw. Used deck screws to screw the support to the 2x4's of the bench seat and front and back support 2x4's. Very strong and no flex in the bench seat.



Working great and no maintenance.

Have purchased 2 sets of the 2x4 basics bench ends for use in our neighborhood common area by a small lake. Residents are pleased with the comfort and sturdiness of the benches while enjoying the view and feeding the ducks.



The only addition I made was to install 4" mending plates at 1/3 span intervals of the 2"x4"s for the seat. These served to firm up the seat and eliminate pinch points between the 2"x4"s.



Amazon had the best price and were incredibly quick with delivery.

We like this bench so much we bought another. It comes in a relatively lightweight box, and we easily assembled it using our own wood. We chose the location for the bench, then put it together at that location so we didn't have to move it once it was one piece and heavy. We've had it now for over a year and it's sturdy and charming. You'll enjoy this bench, and the price!

We purchased 2 sets of bench ends. We needed something in our yard areas to sit and view the gardens around our home. This fills the bill nicely. Purchased 8 foot 2x4's and cut them all 4 foot long. Painted them up and put them all together. We just love our new benches.

My 14 year old grandson put this together as a 5' bench for my porch in less than an hour, following the very clear instructions on the box. It is sturdier than most of the fancier and more expensive metal framed benches I have seen and it is comfortable to sit on. The "Product Description" information makes it clear that 2x4's are not included. You need 9 cut to whatever length (up to 6') you intend to make the bench. This is a reasonably priced product that should provide years of enjoyment.

Buyer/builder beware!



I am so glad that I carefully studied (and did not trust) the alleged instructions, which were, by the way, no more than a few pictures on the box.



For my four-foot bench, I was "instructed" to cut three four-foot 2 x 4s, and two 41" 2 x 4s. In actuality, the bench requires nine four-foot 2x4s, and no other lengths. Had I followed the instructions, I would have wasted eight feet of expensive treated lumber, AND needed a second trip to the lumberyard to buy additional boards.



My four hours' labor has resulted in a great bench, no thanks to the manufacturer.

After our old metal bench died, I started looking for a replacement. We live in south TX on the coast, so having something that wouldn't rust again was important to us. I finally found this bench doing a search and it looked easy enough to do. It's available on several sites, but Amazon was the best deal for sure! My DH and I are homeowners, but not fixers, therefore I was a little concerned about how easy it would be. It was easy, easy. We used pressure-treated wood and did have to cut it ourselves - but we were easily able to do that with a circular saw. We cut out wood 5.5 ft long for a bench (plenty big for 2 large people) and we still have the 2.5 lengths leftover for a chair to do. It's comfortable, very sturdy, looks good in the yard, rust proof, and easy care. What more could you want? - Bench - 2x4basics - Diy Bench - Outdoor Seating'


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Angry Birds Silly Bands - blueproton, angry birds app


I ordered these for cupcake toppers for my son's birthday cupcakes for school not expecting much. I was VERY happily surprized. These are fantasically shaped, heavy and much more durable than expected. I see the kids actually being able to keep these and not just toss them after they break. I got several packages to use the extras in my son's pinata, but instead may use them as prizes. OUTSTANDING! The seller individually wrapped them and they were shipped with lots of extra packing. I could not be more pleased. I got the game to use as a cake topper for my son's actual party and am using these instead becuase they are so much nicer! Angry Birds & Pigs Cake - Cupcake Toppers Decorations / Party Favors 12 Pieces

These little guys are EVERYWHERE! I found these and immediately thought that I could use them in my son's treasure chest as a little reward token, as he loves Angry Birds. They're solid, well-crafted, and can be used as little play figurines. The amount you get is a pretty sweet deal for a licensed product too. =)

We just recieved these today and these are perfect!!!! We got these over the knock on wood game since it's cheaper for one, has more birds and pigs, and since we have wooden blocks already my son can just use his own blocks. The quality is beyond what we thought!!! The seller was super fast!! We got this days before expected:) A great buy for any Angry Bird lover!!!

We purchased these cupcake toppers to use as figures on our son's Angry Birds birthday cake. We made all kinds of structures using Nutty bars, Fudge Stripe cookies, marshmallows, (and frosting as glue), and put the Angry Birds and pigs in action on the cake. It was a total hit, the kids went crazy and were begging to take them home. So I let each child pick one to take... Now we're wishing we had more for our boys to play with at home--they're fighting over their 2 :) Maybe we'll have to buy more!As a side note, I contacted the seller to ask for the shipment to come ASAP in time for the party. I found the package on my doorstep just two days later! I was so impressed, and really appreciated the seller's prompt action. Great job!

Don't be fooled by the extras in the picture. Only the birds and the pigs come in this package. I guess it could be fun for kids who will not be foolish enough to choke on it. I bought it for actually topping my angry-birds-addict boyfriend's cake.

Not very expensive compared to other similar items especially when it is shipped free. Was shipped right away. Nicely packed. Served the purpose very well. Not a cheap toy... Good material and well crafted. Infact, can be used again if needed. Good sized birds and quantity was enough to decorate full sheet sized cake.

I ordered this to put on my son's birthday cake, he is an Angry Birds maniac... lol. The characters come individually wrapped and they are adorable. All of the kids at the party loved them, it really livened up the cake. A big hit!! I definitely recommend and would buy from this seller again.

My triplet boys who are turning 8 loved having these on top of their cake. They come in individualized decorative wrappers in case you want to use them as party favors. We took them out and washed them in dish soap briefly in order to put them on the cake. While we took them out, the boys played with them and had a blast. They seem very durable, the colors are accurate, and there is a good variety of pieces. Very glad we got these!

We used these as cake toppers. They are very high quality and absolutely adorable! The looked so nice on the cake and my girls enjoyed playing with them after the party. Great product and well worth the price! - Angrybirds - Blueproton - Angry Birds App - Board Game'


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Angry Birds Silly Bands - blueproton, angry birds app angry birds app Angry Birds Silly Bands - blueproton, angry birds app

36


I've had this belt for 2 weeks now, so it may be early to review it. But the belt is solid, strong, and good looking. My previous reversible belt was a Perry Ellis without any stitching, which means they pretty much glued a thin brown belt to another thin black belt. That one looked good for about 2 days before they started to peal away from each other. The Alexander Julian belt is so far really nice, and has really strong stitching to where that's not a problem. I'll update this post if I have any problems with it over the next six months. Alexander Julian Men's 32MM Reversible Leather Belt.,Black/Brown,36

I would love to give this belt a 5 star review. It's well made and very trendy. It can be used for casual wear and business wear. The only reason I gave it four stars was because on occasion, the belt squeaks. The belt buckle itself makes a small noise when you make sudden twists or turns. No one has ever noticed except myself, but it can be a tad annoying. Besides that I love this belt. Has held up well for a couple months with very few signs of wear. Not a bad price either for quality. Even though mine has a small squeak, I still love this belt and would probably buy one again.'


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36 36 36

Indian Selections


Very creamy to rub on. Doesn't bother my sensitive skin, however the scent does not last very long. It is fine for carrying in a purse for instant scent. Will switch to the liquid Orange Blossom perfume in a bottle which has always been a staple in my scent collection and lasts longer. Pacifica Indian Cocont Nectar Solid Perfume'


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Support System For Pontoon Covers


I purchased the bow sockets and wooden bow for my boat. This was

a big mistake as the reviews were ugly and I did not listen.

Believe me these two products are worthless and I would like to

return them and get my ego straightened out for being so foolish

and buying these products. Don't waste your money, go to a boat

dealer or tarp manufacture and let them help. I had to do that

after wasting my time and monsy with this fix. Attwood Corporation 10796-3 Bow Socket'


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Dry Erase Markers - boards, dry erase


I spent 10 years teaching in a blackboard and chalk environment, but I changed jobs several years ago and I've been teaching in a whiteboard and dry erase marker world ever since.



I have to admit that I was hesitant to make the switch - people don't like change, but I've come to appreciate the increased flexibility that dry erase markers can give.



I routinely use 5 or more different colors of markers in my zoology courses (black, red, green, blue, orange, and sometimes others), and I've been particularly pleased with Expo Dry Erase Markers.



I find these markers to have brilliant colors, I quite like the orange ones :-)



Of course, no marker lasts forever, and like any marker, once these start to run out or the tip dries out it's a gonner. Until then though they work great.



Likes:

- I like the fact that you can tell when the pen cap is firmly seated - a must for lengthening marker life

- I also like how the pen cap fits easily and securely into the opposite end of the marker so you don't lose it while you are writing.

- I like that fact that the color of ink in the marker is clearly indicated on the pen body.



Dislikes:

- The chisel-point tip on these markers is too fine. When a marker is brand new you have plenty of ink, but because the ink tip is so fine you have to hold the pen at a particular angle to get a wide enough like to make a bold mark that is wide enough for students at the back of a 100-seat lecture hall to see. Then by the time the pen nib gets into a workable shape to produce a nice heavy line every time you shortly run out of ink.



All in all, these are very good pens, but not without some minor issues, thus 4 stars for teaching. These would be worthy of 5 stars if they were used only for personal in-home white message board use.



I hope this was helpful.



Write-on! Expo 7-Piece Original Dry Erase Organizer Kit

The markers are dark and clearly visible, while the eraser is fairly thorough. The box comes with a plastic-molded container (as you see in the picture), with double-sided tape for easy, stable, mounting on a wall beside the whiteboard. For the low price, this is unbeatable.

They write consistantly well. Seem to last fairly long. The price is good. The eraser works as well as most other dry erase markers.



They got here fast...



I'm not sure what else to say about dry erase markers...

I use these for whiteboard teaching presentations. I love having the additional colors of Orange and Brown to the standard primary colors.

If you do any sort of technical presentation where having multiple colors is useful, this is a great purchase. I've been using EXPO markers for many years and they've never let me down. Good quality markers at a reasonable price shipped free; there's no down side to buying these.

i've been using these for a couple of weeks. At first they worked out great. Now the ones that I've used for a couple weeks aren't working so well. And whereas at first it was easy to erase the markings, now it's much harder. The ones that I've used for a couple of weeks are harder to write with and much, much harder to erase.



I understand that felt markers don't last forever, but it's only been a couple weeks.

Dido on James Stein comments.



The markers are dark and clearly visible, while the eraser is fairly thorough. The box comes with a plastic-molded container (as you see in the picture), with double-sided tape for easy, stable, mounting on a wall beside the whiteboard. For the low price, this is unbeatable.

I put this up in my room next to my whiteboard. The adhesive is small, so I had to reinforce it, but other than that the markers are new and the eraser is of decent quality. Cant beat it for the price! - Dry Erase - White Board - Boards - Dryerase'


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Classical Music - music, compilation


I was pretty impressed by this sampler, which contains some real gems and exposed me to some music I had never heard before. While I didn't find every track to my taste, as far as free samplers go this is a very nice one. Here's a rundown by track and composer:



1. Chris Brubeck - Danza del Soul: Celebraçion de Vida. This is a jazzy orchestral track with a Latin groove by Chris Brubeck -- Dave Brubeck's son. I hadn't heard Chris Brubeck before and I was pretty impressed.



2. Matthias Pintscher - Sonic Eclipse: Occultation. An avant-garde piece, a little too wild for my melody-loving, pedestrian tastes. If you like composers such as George Crumb or Pierre Boulez from back in the 1960s, you might enjoy this one.



3. Camille Saint-Saëns - Allegro Appassionato in B minor. Excellent performance of this short Romantic work for piano and cello.



4. Bach - Variation No. 10 (from the Goldberg Variations). Excellent performance of this excerpt. I enjoyed the way the pianist was able to bring out the cut-off, staccato feeling of harpsichord notes although playing a grand piano. Very precise reading, not a flowing Romanticized one -- which is just fine by me for Bach.



5. Beethoven - Symphony No. 2, 3rd movement. A fine performance.



6. Giuseppe Ferlendis - Oboe Concerto No. 3 in C Major, Adagio. I had never heard of Giuseppe Ferlandis before -- an oboe player from Mozart's day. This is a pleasant piece for oboe in a light Classical style. I'm glad to have heard it here.



7. Gustav Holst - Mercury, The Winged Messenger (from The Planets). Again, a fine performance.



8. Claude Debussy - Arabesque No 1 in E from L 66. Made me remember once again why I like Debussy's piano style so much, with all its watery-sounding whole-tone runs. A pleasure.



9. Pietro Mascagni - Scene from Cavalleria Rusticana. An excerpt from a live performance at La Scala. The sound is not perfect, and I don't much care for snippets of opera taken out of context, but well performed of course.



On the whole, a fine experience and I particularly enjoyed the Brubeck, Saint-Saëns and Debussy, and the chance to become acquainted with the Ferlendis. Allegro Classical Summer 2011 Sampler

Reviewers here seem to be pleased with this album. I certainly don't want to take away from the enjoyment people have gotten from this album, but I wasn't very pleased with it myself. I found all the music to be given performances that were decent, but not much more. At the same time, you don't pay anything for the album, so you might as well download just to see what you think. It can always be sent straight to your recycle bin if you don't like it.



But if you want good Classical music that you don't have to buy, there's an album that does a much better job than this one. It's the Linn Records Sampler, which is still available here on Amazon. Just type in "Linn Records 'Label of the Year' Classical Highlights" under the MP3 download category and prepare to enjoy a full of CD of great music!

Allegro Classical Summer 2011 Sampler is a beautiful music album and the best part is it was a free download to my Kindle. The album contains music by Beethoven, Bach, and Debussy plus other classical pieces. There is one jazz piece by Chris Brubeck, Dave Brubeck's son that has a latin feel and is very good. It is an excellent ablum for pleasant listening.

I think Classical music should always be free. How could anyone ever pass up Camille Saint-Saëns? This is the first batch of songs I've downloaded from Amazon and based off this I will continue to download more. - Compilation - Music'


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