I spend way too much time looking for cool new things to add to my blog. Today’s newest addition: a movie review plugin. I love this new feature! I have the latest rating in the sidebar with a link to a full page of ratings/reviews from the entire year. You won’t see any reviews yet, but the ratings are there. I think even Rob will enjoy having this new feature.

On Saturday, just when Rob has lost all hope of ever receiving it, the fully charged battery for our Roomba arrived. It took a whole 30 seconds to update the software, then the little guy was up and running. I kept moving furniture around to let it get all those hard to reach places, and I think that might have confused it a little. But the little thing did a very thorough job of getting all the dog hair. It got every corner, it got around every table leg, and it got under every piece of furniture that had enough clearance for it.

Before I took the boys to tae kwon do today, I spent a few minutes getting the lower level ready for the Roomba to vacuum again. I moved the dining room chairs away from the table, picked up a pair of shoes, and made sure there were no electrical cords touching the floor. Then I turned it on, left, and came home to clean floors. With the daily vacuuming taken care of, I bet I’ll be up to tackling mopping and wiping the baseboards more often. Or maybe I’ve just bought myself more sitting-on-my-ass time. Either way, my Roomba is great for everyday vacuuming on our non-carpeted surfaces.

I haven’t tried the Roomba on carpeting or near stairs, though I’ve read reviews that say it handles them both well. The floors of our bedrooms have lots of clutter, so I’d have to de-clutter daily to let the Roomba vacuum daily. And I just don’t see that happening anytime soon.

When I purchased my new car last month, I opted for the manual transmission over the automatic transmission. It was a bit impractical considering that Rob doesn’t know how to drive a stick. I quickly realized another way the 5-speed was an impractical choice. That being, it’s difficult to use a cell phone while driving my new car in the city. It’s not like I’m on my cell phone all the time, but for those times I am, it’s difficult.

So I decided to invest in a good headset for my phone. I tried some of those cheaper versions, but they never lived up to my expectations. They either hurt my ear, or the sound quality was so poor that it made phone conversation too much work. It was time to look into something better. I don’t really hear very well on a phone anyway, so I felt it was important to get a headset with excellent sound quality.

I was very excited when my new headset arrived yesterday. I picked it up on the way to get the boys from school. While I waited in the parent pickup line, I plugged in my new headset and fiddled with the settings on my phone. Even though I was only hearing beeps and clicks at this point, I could tell that the sound quality was very good. I called Rob right away to find out if it sounded as good to him as it did to me.

When the phone first connected, I heard this loud buzzing sound. Rob answered his phone and heard it right away too. I tried to find out what was causing the noise. I wiggled the cord. I moved the phone further from the headset. Nothing seemed to fix the problem. Rob and I both agreed that the sound quality was supurb except for that annoying little buzz.

I called the customer support number and was surprised when a real live person answered. I thought I’d have a little time to work through an automated menu before talking to a person, so it took me a moment to figure out what to say. The woman I spoke with thought it might be a technical issue, so she transferred me to another person who answered promptly. He (Josh) told me the sound was definitely not right, and he would ship another one today. I’m still sort of shocked by their efficiency and politeness because it was just that good. I do find it a little sad that this kind of customer service, which should be common, is so rare nowadays.

I left feedback on their site about how impressed I was with their customer service. A moment later when Josh emailed me with a return authorization number, I replied to compliment him on his customer service skills. I also cc’ed the email to the address that was supposedly the company’s president. Within two hours, I received emails from both Josh and the president/CEO of the company to thank me for my kind words. Later that night I got a phone call from the customer service manager to thank me again for the feedback I left.

For anyone looking to purchase a headset, I’d recommend headsets.com for their customer service alone.

I had a friend visiting from out of town last week and he asked to see the Mega 80s since I’m always raving about just how great they are. So I took him on Friday and I asked him what he thought. He agreed. They really are THAT GOOD.

On Saturday, I had a surprise birthday party for a friend of my parents. Naturally, I thought of Lamoon Soaps as a perfect gift. I ordered a gift basket with a nice assortment of soaps, and was happily surprised when Gloria included a hand-crocheted hemp washcloth. I was thrilled to have such a nice gift, but I was also a bit jealous. I wanted to keep it for myself! If you’re looking for a really nice gift, please please please check out Gloria’s line of soaps. Do it not because she’s a friend of mine, but because her soaps really are THAT GOOD.