Our mattress was on it’s last leg — The middle was sagging, the springs were creaking, and the pillow top was ripping. With a baby on the way, Mary had wanted a Tempur-Pedic bed. So off to Sleepy’s we went to test out different models and get prices.

Finding What Suits Us

We tested out every model from the Grand Bed to the Original Bed. No need to go into the differences as it can be read on Tempur-Pedic. We eventually settle on the Deluxe Bed for several reasons.

1. It was in our price range. Keep in mind that pricing has been fixed by Tempur-Pedic. So no matter where you go, the prices will be the same at all authorized distributors.
2. It was considered the middle ground between the low and high end models.
3. The support was consistent with what we were looking for.

Freebies

We were also given two free neck pillows with our purchase, a $50-$70 value for each pillow. These pillows are specifically designed to keep your neck aligned for side/back sleepers. It takes some getting used to with these pillows. Mary stopped using hers the first week. Now she’s exclusively on the Snoogle.

Sleepy’s also threw in a waterproof mattress cover. Supposedly, Tempur-Pedic is like a big sponge and getting it wet isn’t a good idea. I was never really sure if this was a sales pitch or not, but I was getting it for free so…

Taking Delivery

After our purchase, Sleepy’s delivered the bed the next day. Let’s me tell you, the mattress is surprisingly heavy. It took us some amount of time getting it to the room. After unwrapping the plastic covering, the smell of the bed hit me. Did some research and apparently this is the off gassing caused by the polyurethane in the manufacturing process. Tempur-Pedic claims that this odor is safe, but we didn’t want to take any chances. We slept in another room for for a few weeks while the odor dissipated.

Conclusion

We’ve been sleeping on the memory foam based bed for almost 3 months now, and honestly it’s the best bed I’ve slept in. I can sleep in positions where if I did the same on a spring bed I would wake up with a slightly stiff back.

I’ve noticed on cold nights, the bed is a little firmer. But once my body heat transfers to the foam, it becomes much more accommodating.

So far the bed has ben a worthy investment. I have read that the bed can begin to lose it’s shape after a few years, so I’ll have to keep an eye on it.

I enjoy home cooking, it’s just that it’s not convenient for either of us. Mary comes home late each night due to her commute. And if I took on cooking duty I would be making pancakes, a la IHOP, for dinner every night. On the scale of diversity, I think our palates would be happier with a steady visit from Ronald McDonald and the chihuahua than Aunt Jemima.

Perhaps a change in our menu carousel would be better suited for our healths. Is the food from T.G.I. Friday’s or Ruby Tuesday much more healthier? (On a side note, who are the marketing guys that decided to name their restaurants after name days?) If so, this is going to put a hurting on my wallet like Ryan Clark did to Wes Welker. I suggest that these chain restaurants call on Bragelina and adopt a 99¢ menu.

No, we need to Obamonize our economic situation. Spending $40 for dinner each night isn’t a long term solution. Perhaps I should expand my home cooking repertoire beyond one dish. I don’t want my name next to Souja Boy on the exclusive one hit wonder list. I’ve read a slew of recipes with the recent Thanksgiving holiday, but they all seem too complicated for my “Bubba Shrimp”-esque culinary mind. There must be a Cooking For Dummies book out there, but I can’t imagine it having a variety of dishes that is on par with the complexity of a peanut butter & jelly sandwich.

This diet solution needs to be addressed sooner than later. When Jagger graduates from pea & carrot smoothies, I don’t want him feasting on McNuggets and french fries. I don’t want his baby frame to support obesity. That would end his sports stardom like how Pollard ended Brady’s.

Any tips? Cash or verbal will do. In the meantime, I’m going to finish off my bacon double cheeseburger.

Mythic Paint has a large selection of colors, more than I have seen with other low VOC paints like Benjamin Moore’s Harmony or Lowe’s Freshaire. In addition, they can match any color you like. In my case, I had a local Mythic Paint dealer match a Sherman Williams color – Aqua Sphere 7613.

I really like the consistency of the paint. It rolls on nice and thick and the paint self levels very well. For comparison, I’ve used other brands like Behr and Olympic and none of them compared to Mythic. This would take me roughly 3-4 coats in order to get an even finished. With Mythic it only took 2 coats (and I would certainly hope so at $50 per gallon)

The First Coat This is the same wall as shown in the primer review for consistency. At a distance, the color is near even. Up close there are some pinholes of the primer showing through. I was painting in about 4′ x 4′ patches. There was no noticeable building up the paint overlaps. Very amazing results for the first coat.

The Second and Final Coat Following Mythic’s recommendation, I waiting 4 hours before applying the second coat. I put it on nice and heavy. Dripping was never an issue here. Now the color is very even. I’d say we’re done here. Time to take the blue tape off. This performed better than previous paints that I had used as there were only 3-4 spots where the paint peeled along with the tape. Nothing major and should be easily fixed with a painter’s brush.

Conclusion
I’m very happy with the performance of the paint. The only standing negative thing I can say about Mythic is that it is pricey. It’s almost twice as much compared to your big box stores. But I’ll certainly pay the premium if it means non-toxic air for Mary, Jagger, and I to breathe. I give Mythic both thumbs up for the 6 year research they put into the paint. They definitely brought a great product to the market.

Read part 1 for primer application images and thought: Mythic Paint Hands On Testing – Applying Primer

I’ve always been in self denial that Oreo is a senior dog. Every time I’m at Petco, I’m always indecisive whether to switch him to Wellness Just For Seniors or stick with the purple bag mix. I’m not implying he isn’t old — he’s an 11 year old cocker spaniel, the beginning of his senior years. Today I received some sad news that further confirms Oreo’s senior citizenship. He has a heart murmur, a common heart problem for older dogs.

It seems like it’s one problem after another with Oreo. All I want for him is to be healthy. So now we’ve got facial palsy (although this is supposed to be temporary), a heart murmur, and a nasty dry cough.

Poor boy. Daddy’s little puppah is no more.

I’ve started painting our basement this weekend using paint from the Mythic, who promote their brand as a non-toxic, ultra low odor paint. I have to admit that they have kept their promise on that end, but how well does its application really perform? Read on as I give my thoughts on the performance of this paint in my two part review.

Mythic’s Interior Drywall Primer can be applied to both bare drywall and painted walls. It is available in 1 or 5 gallon buckets. My basement is approximately 14×40 and I used roughly 4 gallons — 3 coats on the walls and 2 coats on the ceiling.

The First Coat The drywall is clearly visible after the first coat of primer. I was expecting a less opaque layer, but this is my first time ever applying primer to drywall, so I can’t fairly make a comparison to other brands. But at roughly $50 a gallon, multiple coats will get expensive.
The Second Coat The wall appears to be much more even. Up close the drywall is barely visible, if not at all. This is closer to the surface that I want before applying color, But there is still traces of (as the pro’s call it), photographing or joint banding — Meaning that the mud is “showing” through due to the difference in texture between drywall paper and joint compound, as well as the different absorption rates between the two. It’s not as visible head on, but it’s evident at low angles. There are some solutions to this, but at this point I’ll chalk it up as lesson learned.
The Third Coat Not much of a difference from a distance. Here the white color is much more solid than the second coat. There is still some joint banding in some areas, but I suspect that the this is partially caused by the mud being slightly uneven.

Afterthoughts
In hindsight, I think I should have tried skim coating the drywall. This involves covering the entire surface with a thin coat of joint compound, leaving a film thick enough to fill imperfections in the joint work, smooth the paper texture, and provide a uniform surface for decorating. Another option is to use specially formulated paints that act in the same manner as skim coating. But that would defeat the purpose of my no VOC painting.

As an added note to support Mythic’s claim to no odor, my father was over recently and was surprised that I had only painted a few days before and that there was no odor.

Continue with top coat application review: Mythic Paint Hands On Testing – Final Coat

The office construction has reached the point where it’s ready to be primed and painted. I was originally going to use the Harmony paint brand from Sherwin Williams, but Mary was concerned about the fumes that could be dangerous to both her, the baby, and Oreo. (Nobody cares if I breathe it in right?)

She suggested looking into Mythic Paint which is branded as a non-toxic, ultra low odor paint that does not have any off-gassing VOC’s and cancer-causing toxins that emit compared to other paints. A trip over to my nearest dealer and $500 later I’m ready to roll some paint. Stay tuned for results.

EDIT: My thoughts on the primer application can be read here.

The Camelbak HAWG MG is a very versatile hydration backpack as reviewed previously. Unfortunately, it’s just a tad bulky for short trips. Enter the Camelbak Ambush.

The bottom storage compartment is just large enough to fit a Canon 400D DSLR. And the top storage compartment fits a medium sized lens along with a few other small items. You’re not going to be able to carry any additional clothing or snacks with this backpack, but then that’s defying my definition of traveling light.

Compared to the HAWG, it’s about 66% smaller in depth and 25% smaller in width. Obviously the HAWG is the better choice if you plan on traveling with a number of lenses, but I find the Ambush to be more of my everyday backpack.

In my quest to keep Mary and the baby hydrated during her commute to work, I purchased another Camelbak hydration backpack — the Sno Angel. It is much smaller compared to previous Camelbaks I’ve written about here, (Ambush and HAWG MG) but it should be as this backpack was designed specifically for women. Camelbak claims that it was built to fit the contours of a woman’s body compared to the ruggedness of their other models.

The backpack uses the OMEGA™ HydroTanium™ reservoir that holds 72 ounces of liquid. I swapped this out for several reasons.

1.		The bite valve is unprotected. So whatever it brushes up against, you’ll soon be putting it into your mouth when you take a sip. In the image (left) is the comparison between the Hydrolink with cover (left) and the regular big bite valve.
2.		Unlike the OMEGA™ Water Beast reservoirs that I’ve been accustomed to, the tube is directly connected to the reservoir and cannot be easily disconnected. Considering that Mary uses the backpack Monday through Friday, it would be very convenient to store only the reservoir each night in the fridge. The image (left) shows the OMEGA™ HydroTanium™ with the blue tube directly connected to the barb of the reservoir. This is now just a backup reservoir as I use the OMEGA™ Water Beast exclusively.

The storage compartments are rather small. In the lower compartment, Mary can fit her sunglasses case, a pack of gum, and some pregnancy meds. In the upper compartment, which also has the opening to the reservoirs mouth, she can fit her wallet and hand lotion. The backpack isn’t exactly a storage beast, but I don’t want my wife carrying a ton of stuff during her commute.

In addition, I’ve added a pouch from R.E. Load Baggage to make access to her cellphone much more convenient to access.

In conclusion, the backpack does exactly what I need it to do — keep water accessible. Mary also likes to lean back on it during her commute as it acts like a large pillow. Bonus points. The Sno Angel retails at $49.95, but you may be able to find it cheaper as they usually update this model annually.

In preparation for our family cruise to the Mediterranean, I picked up a Camelbak HAWG MG backpack. The thought process was that I could provide water to my pregnant wife, hold my camera + lenses, and keep a sweater available. It certainly lived up to expectations.

In addition, I picked up a Domke Camera Insert to hold my DSLR and two lenses.  The size fits perfectly in the backpack. But be forewarned that the bottom of the insert is not padded. I left a shirt at the bottom of the backpack to remedy the little shortcoming.

The additional storage compartments are good too. Enough to hold a flashgun, a Giattos cleaner, keys, and some other miscellaneous items that Mary wanted me to carry for her. I also used the MOLLE straps to hold two additional sacks. It’s definitely an expandable backpack for those gear intensive travels.

With all this gear in/attached to it, the HAWG MG was actually quite comfortable to wear. It sit’s high on your back and feels like it’s a part of you. You can feel the coolness of the reservoir on your back a bit, which is great on a hot summer day. And you sweat is wicked away from the special back material.

All in all, I’d say it’s the perfect backpack for traveling and having 4 liters of water strapped to your back (or 5 with the better bottle filled up).