Winners and losers By William C. Altreuter and Catherine Berlin Contest Winner! Congratulations to Sandra Hodala, the winner of Spree’s Wrong Tool for the Job contest. Ms. Hodala captured the spirit of our competition with her essay about the frustrations of yard work: I haven’t used yard tools much until recently, and I’m much too afraid of them (the gas-powered, the electrical kind, or the sharp kind) to do something foolish. But it’s hard to be a single female homeowner trying to cope with all the things a house needs. Just last week I had to learn how to use a riding lawnmower because my mower man quit while I was away for a month. I returned to a jungle, and shrieked when I saw it. It’s hard to find folks to do yard work; heck, it’s hard to find someone who will return phone calls. So I overcame my fear of flammable liquids and heavy machinery and slid into the operator’s seat. I scotch-taped the operator instructions to the steering wheel and jerked across my lawn. Wearing safety goggles, a wide-brimmed cap and jeans tucked into my socks (to avoid flying, biting, and disease-carrying insects), I bore no resemblance to the proverbial farmer’s daughter. Once the lawn was mowed I proceeded to learn to use the electric trimmer/edger, but now I have grass clippings all over the driveway and sidewalk. I’m not good with a broom; making wide sweeps from side to side produces nothing but blisters. I’ve considered attaching an extension cord to my hairdryer to blow the clippings away, but I’m afraid the motor will burn out after fifteen or twenty minutes. All I’m trying to do is keep up with the neighbors (lawns). Please take pity on them (and me) and award me the Broom/Hard Surface Sweeper. (And could you please throw in a husband who knows how to do this stuff better than I do?) For her efforts and her neighbors’ tolerance, Ms. Hodala earned the Black & Decker Broom/Hard Surface Sweeper. Black & Decker doesn’t make husbands, which is probably good news for their quality control department, but Spree’s Eligibles issue is just around the corner, and a woman with a tractor and a new Broom/Hard Surface Sweeper sounds pretty eligible to us. Congratulations also to Paul Habermehl, the winner of the Black & Decker Alligator Loper. Mr. Habermehl’s entry related the tale of his “cousin’s friend” who was trying to take a car tire off its rim: He looked around the garage for a tire iron to break the bead, but couldn’t find one, so he decided to improvise. The only likely tool at hand was a five-pound sledgehammer. He swung it hard at the tire. The next thing he remembered was coming to on the garage floor with a dent between the eyes and a pounding head. Thanks, Paul. The right tool for that job was probably Frey the Wheelman. Enjoy your Alligator Loper, and keep it away from your “cousin’s friend.” Thanks to all who participated, and special thanks to Black & Decker for sponsoring our contest. ReSource Power Station Traveler Sometimes the solution to having too many things is one more thing. When my wife and I take car trips we each have a phone. She has a Blackberry. The satellite radio plugs into the lighter, and I want to have my iPod charging. If there is a daughter on board that means there’s another phone (and usually another iPod) running its battery down. I suppose the solution is to shut up and drive, or maybe listen to AM radio, but it’s the twenty-first century, and we live in the land of entitlements. Anyway, the Power Station Traveler is a combination purse and powerstrip that holds three electronic gadgets and uses one outlet to charge them all. It’s a conservative-looking black bag, so you can bring your gear with you when you make a stop. Have your wife carry it if you think it looks too much like a purse, or tell everyone you’re European. —W.C.A. Cy-fi Wireless Sports Speaker On the one hand, one of the simple pleasures of a bike ride is how quiet it is. It’s so silent that I frequently startle wildlife. On the other hand, sometimes only tunes will keep your legs pumping, and using earbuds or headphones on a bicycle is wicked dangerous. There is also a sense in which riding down the street playing your music is like walking down the street with a boombox, or driving around in a Camaro playing rap that shakes windows. We oughtn’t be public nuisances, after all, and imposing your personal cacophony on the rest of the world is worse than being a cell phone pest. On the other hand, our music is pretty good, and the Cy-fi is pretty cool. It’s a wireless speaker that mounts on your handlebars, which means that your iPod can go in your pocket or backpack. Even cooler is the fact that you can broadcast to other Cy-fi users in your peloton. Something about that appeals to the control freak in me. Recommended for cyclists who call “shotgun” because they want to control the radio. www.mycyfi.com, $199.95. —W.C.A. TownHaus Dog Crate Dog experts tell us that dogs like crates, that it is the place where your pet can feel secure. People who take this sort of advice to heart have big wire cages with a blanket on the floor where their pets sleep. Granted, cage is a bad look: S&M without the fun. We’d always figured that if dogs want that cave feeling they could sleep under the dining room table, but the people at Den Haus had a different solution. These are dog crates that are also end tables, and it is worth a trip to their webpage (denhaus.com) for the images. They are available in several styles, each with panels to completely enclose: The TownHaus is vaguely Arts and Crafts, the ZenHaus is sort of like what Eero Saarinen might design in hell. We can imagine encountering something like this in someone’s home. You barely know them and you are sitting on the couch with a drink while your host goes into the kitchen. “Did you hear something?” “Like a whining?” “Yeah, like a dog.” “These people don’t have a dog. Look at this place, it’s like a museum.” “What’s that thumping?” Or how about a cat’s paw that appears out of nowhere blindly searching for the salmon plate. Or the nervous dog whose owner keeps the alarm clock on the top surface. Seriously, why can’t the dog sit on the couch like everybody else? $399–$525, depending on style and finish. —W.C.A./C.B. Kurgo Dog Travel Accessories Although the company name makes me think of a surly dog on the lam, Kurgo is all about quality care when your pet is out of the house. My favorite: the backseat Wander Hammock. My dog has a love affair with Hoyt Lake, never understanding why the fishes and the ducks won’t chase her, and destroying my car after each unsuccessful play date. The hammock suspends itself to the front and back headrests and covers all the area that a dog in the car is going to ruin with hair or mud. Then there are the soft portable water sacks that keep my perfect pooch hydrated after a hard run escaping the dog warden at Rumsey field. From the Skybox Booster to the Auto Zip safety belt, this company is looking out for the dog in transit. I found Kurgo at Animal Outfitters (884-2420), along with a flyer for pet photo day, November 29. I’ll take my dog to it, dressed in jailhouse stripes. www.kurgo.com. —C.B. SUBSCRIBE NOW Back to the Table of Contents Back to Top