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Investment Business Daily, or IBD, is devoted to investment facts and teaching you how to buy stocks and mutual funds.  For that purpose, it does a fine job.   Naturally you would expect a financial publication to have a Republican slant in its opinion section.  This publication, in our opinion, is for all practical purposes, devoid of any practical level of being unbiased in favor of the Republican viewpoint.  For this reason, it is our feeling that the opinion section of this newspaper, is an embarrassment to the field of journalism and the notion that a news vehicle try to provide a balanced viewpoint.   The opinion section allegedly tarnishes the sum total score for this paper.  For investment information we recommend this paper strongly.  The opinion section is best used for bird cage liner or fish wrap.

We have a iMac 20 inch computer that was purchased September 2004.  Beginning the summer of 2008 it began to exhibit some disturbing symptoms.  It would not wake up from sleep mode.  The fans would race at high speed for hours.  Some times the computer would begin to shut itself off.  We took the computer in to the Genius Bar, at an Apple store, September 2008.  The technician looked the computer over and told us they would repair the unit for free even though we did not have any Apple insurance.  It seems that this computer had a serial number that fell within a range of computers with a known problem.  In about a week we got the computer back.  The receipt showed that the logic board and power supply ambient light sensor was replaced for no charge.  We have had the computer running for months now and the repair did solve the problem.   I wonder how many other computer manufacturers would repair a computer 4 years old.

I have previously purchased Prime headsets for my hand held radio also called a handy talky or HT for short.  I need the headset for two city RACES events a year.  Problem is that the Prime microphone fails to function properly after two events.  This failure happened twice in two years.  Buying these headsets every year was getting expensive.  I called my local Ham Radio Outlet store and explained my problem.  The salesman suggested I consider buying the Icom HS-51. It was expensive $80 but came with some neat features.  I could not find any Internet review.  I was desperate so I decided to buy it.  I have two HT units and I just love my Icom O2AT.  It is 2 meters only, really old, large, and heavy but has some really neat features that make it ideal for bicycle mobile work. The options for providing a headset for that HT were limited.   In short, I found the HS-51 to be impressive.  It was very well designed and constructed.  But I have three minor complaints.  The switch unit rotates easily from the belt clip; will not stay in place.  The Prime unit also rotates but has a positive lock function for set rotation points.  The belt clip on the HS-51 is rather small while the Prime is large.  The Prime has a much better mic switch.  The switch is a much larger button and is activated on the large flat surface of the plastic case and that switch is easily found when bicycling.  The Prime unit, I did not have to look for the switch but my hand could easily find it.  The HS-51 has a very small switch along the side of its case so one has to squeeze the case to be able to apply the necessary pressure.  The switch is also used for TOT mode.  Press the switch once and the transmitter is on.  Press the switch again and it goes off.  The unit will automatically turn off after 2 to 4 minutes if you fail to hit the switch a second time.  Now that you think the Prime might be a better headset, let me now list the over the top features of the HS-51.  It has superb audio.  There is an audio gain control.  The headset folds up.  The earphone piece is not fixed but is on a long enough wire.  The unit has TOT, PTT and VOX activation for the microphone.  The mic and headset connectors are split so it marries with more HT units.  Wearing the headset for 5 hours was almost as comfortable as the Prime.  We recommend this unit.

Glossary:

Headset = In this instance, the term headset is not only listening function but the unit also has a microphone that can be held quite close out in front of the person’s mouth for good close private audio quality.
PTT = Push to talk is a very safe mode.  The operator presses a switch that turns on the transmitter while providing audio to the transmitter but when the operator stops pressing the button, the transmitter goes off.
RACES = Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service.
TOT= Time out timer is a mode where the transmitter is turned on but will turn off after a set time.
VOX= Voice operated transmit depends upon an electronic circuit that senses when the operator talkes and thus turns on the transmitter and provides the audio out to the transmitter.  VOX is neat in that the operator does not have to press a switch allowing for hands free operation.  The down side is if the circuitry can activate when a person makes a noise that you do not want to go out over the air.   We do not recommend VOX for parades where there is high noise levels that would trigger the VOX to turn on at the wrong times.

I was having a conversation with a PTA mother as to how many parents might attend a school event I was helping to plan.  She raised a point that was most shocking to me.  We had a set number of children that were comming to the event and I naturally calculated two parents for each child.  This PTA mom told me to calculate four parents for each child.  The reason was that so many children came from divorced parents.

I must admit that I have an addiction.  I must have a Zebra coffee drink, extra hot, light whip, each day.  Because Starbucks coffee is so strong and their dark chocolate is so strong, I have settled upon the ideal coffee drink, with the help of quite a few baristas.  I love chocolate but the Starbucks chocolate needs to be toned down a bit so a white chocolate is added.  To soften the coffee flavor I ask for a bit of whipped cream. The Zebra name comes from the fact that both white and dark chocolate goes into the drink.   Unfortunately, the resulting Zebra coffee and chocolate drink is so darn good, I typically ask for venti size thus killing any chance of loosing any weight.  I also ask for the drink to be extra hot because it is so tall and just love it if the barista can hand it over at 200 degrees.  This drink, in my opinion, has become the litmus test for coffee houses.  I have found that the drink seldom is prepared correctly at Starbucks Coffee establishments.  Now here is the tip.  Albertson’s grocery stores frequently have a Starbucks stand inside the store.  I think they are trained better and take their time making the drinks properly because the results are dramatic.  The very best Starbucks is located in the Albertson’s in Brea California near the corner of Imperial Highway and Kramer Blvd.  The manager, Vickie, trains all the barista’s very well and these young people have wonderful personalities and are fun to kid around with.  A remarkable taste is achieved at this store.  Most often my Zebra will have a marshmallow taste which I take to mean that the barista has given me a perfectly put together drink.  I have never experienced this flavor at any Starbucks store where they get so slammed they cut corners in drink preparation.