Mercedes-Benz Museum, Stuttgart

On October 13, 2019October 12, 2019 By Rick McIn product endorsements, travel2 Comments

I don’t own a car and have never been into them.

But this is one of the best museums I can recall. And I was relieved to see they had not downplayed the participation of the company in Hitler’s Nazi genocide.

Emil Jillinek named Mercedes for his daughter.

It had 35 horsepower and was considered to be one of the world’s first “modern cars”.

Mercedes-Benz Museum is based on a unique cloverleaf concept using three overlapping circles with the center removed to form a triangular atrium recalling the shape of a Wankel engine.

The building was completed and opened on 19 May 2006.

… more than 160 vehicles, some dating back to the very earliest days of the motor engine …

… audio tours in a variety of languages …

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Jackery Bolt 10050 mAh Powerbank

On September 26, 2019September 23, 2019 By Rick McIn Apple, product endorsementsLeave a comment

In the tent at night I normally want to bring my phone up to full charge before starting next day. This is small, fast and easy.

fully charges an iPhone 2-3 times
iPhone cable is built-in (as well as a Micro USB if you need it)
charging for all iPhones is about twice as fast as original charger with original cable

Amazon

Click PLAY or watch a review on YouTube.

I love Sultana Biscuits

On September 23, 2019September 19, 2019 By Rick McIn food, product endorsementsLeave a comment

My favourite cookies are most often called Sultana Biscuits.

In Vancouver you can find them in speciality Asian food stores.

Superstore ~~no longer stocks them~~. Walmart no longer stocks them.

Update. Superstore in Calgary had them in the foreign food speciality aisle December 2018.

You can buy Sultanas online from Amazon.com. But not Amazon.ca.

Waitrose in the U.K. sells exactly the same thing calling them garibaldi biscuits.

Tesco U.K., the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues, also sells garibaldi biscuits.

Portable SSD drives

On September 17, 2019September 13, 2019 By Rick McIn Apple, product endorsements, travelLeave a comment

Love ’em. 🙂

Currently I’m traveling with the Lexar® Professional SL100 Pro Portable SSD.

Don’t buy the Samsung version. One of mine was bricked, incompatible with the most recent Mac OS.

500GB
USB 3.1 Type-C connects directly to my 2019 MacBook Pro
70.5g / 0.155lbs plus cable

It’s tiny. Light. Durable. Perfect.

And I paid only CAD $100 at BestBuy in August 2019.

It replaces my Samsung T5 Portable SSD 1TB USB 3.1 at CAD $239.99 from Amazon.

A Samsung software update bricked my drive. There’s been no help getting that fixed. #SamsungSUCKS

icebreaker Mereno clothing

On August 30, 2019August 29, 2019 By Rick McIn product endorsements, travelLeave a comment

Over the years I haven’t had much luck with wool clothing.

Very expensive. Yet not durable. I found holes in the garments after, perhaps, 10 wash cycles.

But last year I was convinced by an icebreaker salesman to try again. Some of their new products are mostly 87% Merino wool but with some nylon to improve durability.

It works. I’ll be traveling with 3 icebreaker tops on my next trip.

They dry more slowly than synthetic. But stink less. It’s worth it.

The one below costs US$90 or more. I got my most recent shirt for less than $40. You have to shop and wait. The icebreaker sale in my local shop only happens twice a year.