Useful Stuff #2

Thursday, April 17, 2008 -- Vancouver, WA

More stuff we'd have a hard time doing without...

6) Convection/Microwave Oven: Nearly a miracle. When ordering the bus-house, we traded the standard oven for more storage space and haven't regretted it at all. The Convection/Microwave Oven does everything we need an oven to do, and more. A very useful and space-saving device.

7) Miller Amazing Magic Table: If you aren't familiar with this thing, check out the website www.amazingmagictable.com. It can be an end-table, a serving table, a hobby or craft table, a coffee table -- we're using it all the time. It'd be hard to get along without one. And it's small and well-built.

8) 4 cup Braun Drip Coffeemaker: Where'd we be without morning coffee. This thing is small and makes just the right amount of coffee for us. It makes enough for me to have two cups and Dar to have one. Often, we'll make two pots during the morning and having that fresh second pot sure beats the burnt-tasting coffee that's often swimming in the bottom of a larger coffeemakers pot. For us, it's perfect and something we'd have a heck of a time doing without.

9) Clothespin Downspout: What the heck is this? An idea born of necessity in a very wet climate, we've learned that by simply clipping an old-fashioned wooden spring-clip type clothespin on the small and rather ineffective downspouts of the bus-house, rainwater from the roof is channeled a little further away from the sides and everything stays cleaner.

10) GPS System: We have two GPS systems. This one is designed for vehicle use and has mapping and routing capabilities. Although I rarely use the routing capabilities (turn left in 200 feet...) I find other features invaluable. It helps the driver plan turns so you're in the correct lane for that entrance ramp to the freeway; it displays a moving map of where you're at so you can see intersecting roads, rivers, lakes, towns along the way; it's a trip computer that keeps track of driving time, miles driven, average speed, etc. Not a real necessity, but I've found it a very useful thing. The other unit is a simple lightweight handheld GPS that we use for hiking, biking, and exploring.

Even more useful stuff to come...

T