Well, I don’t know why but that brings a memory of what I read about Lord of the rings….

You see, back in the communist era, there were people that were writing things aligned to what the party’s doctrine was and so some idiot wrote a review of the LotR

And so in his review, sauron was a poor land owner who was struggling with adverse actions lead by the revolutionary hobbits who were ugly sinners because they were so close with each other and wanted to grab Sauron’s land.

Totally skewed view of the whole book. Now, it’s entertaining to read, hehe.

Not a movie I even heard of, but one I am very glad I saw. I highly recommend it. Oh, and be Italian!

I get home and grab my cordless drill and set to workj on the first headlamp. Wow. If you have an older car with plastic headlamps that have gotten yellow and foggy, these kits make quite the difference. And it took maybe 15 minutes to do the one headlamp.

I then move onto the second headlamp. ALmost immediately the drill starts to loose power. Now, I have known for a while that the Black & Decker 9volt cordless drill batteries I have were dieing. But not even 20 minutes? I go back inside and do some research. The drill is 12 years old. My father bought it for me as a present when he came and visited and we went to the B&D Outlet in Burlington. I decided I could not complain and that I had gotten a goodly amount of use from it. So, I do some research and decide what I need is an impact driver.

They just opened a new Lowes by my house – the Friday we left for Pennsic was opening day. I had not been in there and so off A & I go to explore the new Lowes and buy an impact driver. We quickly discover that you can get a cordless drill, and impact driver, or a combo kit. A looks at me and asks why you would need both. I shrug and, thinking I am cleverly saving money, grab just an impact driver. My choice is between a Bosch and an Hitachi. The features are almost identical, but the Bosch only has a three year warranty and the Hitachi has a ten year warranty. Home comes the Hitachi.

We get home, I set it to charge, and we go about our other business of the day (he had some sewing to get done and I went and fixed the garbage disposal). About an hour later I look and sure enough it is charged. I grab the buffer wheel go to attach it to the impact driver…. ah, thats why you would want both. Hmmm….. would have been useful if the articles I had read mentioned that the impact driver has a different and non-compatable choking mechanism from a drill and that you can’t really use one as a drill. Back to Lowes I go.

I stare at both the Bosh and Hitachi combo kit trying to decide when the sales guy wanders by and without me saying a word says ‘I’d go with the Hitachi. You cant beat that warranty, and they are getting quite the good name in power tools.’ I thank him, and back home I go.

Overall I really like the driver and drill I got. And I can’t complain too bitterly about having to replace my old Black & Decker. I was amused when the cashier tried to sell me a one year warranty extension.

Why did I try? Well, I didn’t take my work laptop home before my long weekend, so my plan was to go get my laptop and work from home.

Why even work from home? Isn’t it a snow day? Because, despite the State Police asking people to stay off the roads, our site management decided that we should be open for normal business.

I went for a haircut last night, among other errands. While I was there I picked up some new conditioner. It is by the same company that makes the hairspray I like, so I figured I would try it.

This morning, I am in the shower, and after I rinse the shampoo out of my hair I read the directions: “Massage a small amount into scalp and let sit for two to five minutes. Rinse.”

Well, I get it massaged in and begin to soap the rest of me. I am about halfway covered in soap when I realize that my scalp is tingling. I get about a third of the way into soaping myself and it becomes a desperate race to rinse all of the conditioner out. When it is finally out, the tingleing does not stop.

Squinting at the bottle (my glasses are sitting by the sink…) I read the ingredients. The crap has menthol in it! It took two hours for my head to stop tingling. What a wake up call.

Now, this is not my first bad experience with mentholated products. Oversharing alert here. When I was just barely a teenager, I went looking through the medicine chest looking for something to help, well, lubricate. The ben gay looked awfully like vaseline. Similar color, consitency, and container. And it goes on slippery. Its a mistake you make only once.