Author Profile Page for: Sharkbytes

Hobby Lobby is so confident of customer approval that they named it “I Love This Yarn.”  It pretty much lives up to that claim, I will admit.This is a 100% acrylic, 4-ply knitting worsted yarn.  That much sounds just the same as the Red Heart Yarn I reviewed earlier.  But this yarn is much, much softer to the feel.It is machine washable and dryable.  The skeins a...

Liquid Sandpaper is meant to be used as a de-glossing agent if you want to paint over a surface that has had a high-gloss coating.  I can’t tell that it works any better than a piece of sandpaper, or if it does anything at all.I had the chance to try this product by Klean-Strip on some shelves that had high-gloss enamel paint on them.  It is meant to be used on paint, varnish, e...

Athletic shoes usually have two small holes side by side at the very top, but what are those for? If you lace them in the following manner, they will be extra-secure on your feet and won’t slip as much as usual. This is especially good if you have narrow heels.Even though this pair of shoes is fairly comfortable, I wasn’t sure that I was going to be able to keep them because they sl...

Model railroading is almost as old as railroading. The first toy trains appeared in Great Britain in the 1940's. Electric toy trains that run on tracks were introduced in the early 20th century. There are quite a few gauges, but the most popular for modelers or as toys are G, O or O27, HO, and N. What’s the difference?I am an avid railroad fan. My current financial situation keeps me ...

This is our fifth scanner.  We’ve always bought cheap ones, but this time we paid for a good one and have no regrets.After years of frustration at trying to make cheap scanners do for a small business that deals with lots of images, I decided that this time I’d get something better.  It turned out that there weren’t too many choices for what I wanted.  That made...

Can Shoe Goo rescue my X-Country Ski Boots?  Read how I put it to the test.NovemberMy cross-country ski boots are old and by most people’s standards, worn out.  But they fit me, so I decided to try to repair them.  As you can see in the second photo, one toe had pulled away from the sole of the boot quite badly.  The other toe just needed sealing.I had never used Shoe ...

We’ve had this Corelle for about 30 years. It has survived three boys, hundreds of other teenagers, and many, many falls to the floor. Over that time only 2 plates have ever broken, and one bowl has a small chip.    I seriously think that you will get really tired of the pattern on Corelle dinnerware long before it wears out. Unlike the strategy of “planned obsolescence,&r...

Surprisingly enough I have an auto mechanic that I trust.  When I needed a new battery this winter he said that the best one for my car was the Wal-Mart Ever Start Maxx.I had not ever had any work done at the Wal-Mart Auto Shop, but since the price for the battery was based on turning in your old battery core, and the installation was supposedly free, I decided to let them do it.  Oth...

The Chase Amazon Visa Card gives me points which can be used on purchases at Amazon.I don’t have a wallet full of credit cards... just two: Discover and Visa.  Previously the Visa card had no reward associated with it which bummed me out because there are a lot of places that won’t take Discover, which is why I had the Visa card in the first place.Now, however, for every dollar...

I like everything about the Behr Ceiling Paint. I have used it on various surfaces with both a brush and a roller, and it performed well in every case.In the apartment that I recently painted there were both plaster ceilings, and three rooms that had been fitted with lowered panel ceilings. Of these three, each had a different kind of surface.  One was smooth, one of medium texture, and on...

These are basic boys crew socks. I wish the tops didn’t have quite so much lycra in them, but they are ok.  In my ongoing quest for socks that fit me and that I like, these are the latest selection. My feet are small, and with socks they are just between children’s and women’s sizes.  So I’m always looking for kid’s that are a little big, or adult’s...

If you have lime (calcium) in your hard water this product will clean off those deposits very well.  It does not deliver as well on its other promises.CLR (short for Calcium, Lime, Rust) promises to remove calcium, lime (redundant... lime is calcium chloride!), and hard water deposits, discoloration, soap scum and dirt.  It is non abrasive and also claims to deoderize.I tried this pro...

This charger seems to bring Nickel Metal Hydride batteries up to a full charge in the time it claims.  When I bought a new camera this spring, I knew that the batteries were going to be a serious issue because I take a lot of pictures between web site work, blogs, and personal documentation.  This charger seemed pretty expensive, but the feature that won me over in an instant was the ...

The Diamondback Sorrento is a reasonably priced mountain bike which holds up well to easy off-road or dirt-road riding.  This is not a bike for technical riders, but may be perfect for your needs if you want to do just a bit more than paved-road touring.Our family has a long history of road touring by bike.  Nevertheless, I wanted a bike that I could ride on the dirt roads near our ho...

I am very unhappy with this card reader because of its shape.  Actually, I would return it except that I bought it while traveling, and the closest Target store to us is 100 miles away.My GFM Card Reader has developed some problems and I couldn’t find a replacement locally before I left for my last trip.  So I stopped on the way to try to find a reader for SD cards.  I stop...

Caron Simply Soft yarn would make a very nice scarf because it won’t scratch around your neck, but it has no body and is difficult to work with.I bought this yarn to make a wig for a comical skit where I was Alice in Wonderland. It was great for that craft project, and the silky softness made it hang great for “hair.” But now I have about half a skein to use up. I’m sure...

If you have ants in your house that love to find the sugar bowl, drips of soda or anything sweet, Terro will corral them, “treat” them, and eventually  kill the nest.This form of Terro comes in a small squeeze bottle.  It is a clear viscous liquid.  You squeeze a large drop of the product on a piece of cardboard or foil and then place it where the ants like to travel....

Bubba Goes National is a new book by a new author of stories for pre-teen and young teen girls. Any girl who is intent on reading every book about horses that she can find will want this, the first book in the Green Meadow Series.This is Jennifer Walker’s debut novel, but it’s certain that it won’t be her last. This book has everything that the young horse lover (probably most...

These trail runners are cool and lightweight, but they are a little lower in the heel collar than I would like.  I bought these at the end of the summer at the same time as I got the Montrail Hardrock Trail Runners. I hiked in the other pair a lot, but held on to these to wear around the house because I didn’t, and don’t, think that I could hike long distances in these.First of...

Making chicken or turkey noodle soup after it looks like all the meat is already taken off a bird carcass extends the food budget for a couple more meals. And it’s easy!This is for a turkey carcass, but it would all be the same for a chicken, it just won’t make quite as much soup.After all the meat that is easy to cut off the bones is removed, break or cut the carcass into pieces th...