CONSUMERS : Music-Loving Kids Can Step Out in Style
Kids interested in “fashionable” music may want to check out the latest in portable sound--mini-speakers that look like clip-on pins to brighten up a shirt, hat or even their hair.
Soundwear, created by Nasta Industries in New York, comes in 14 different styles, including a jazzy jukebox, a colorful sneaker, a baseball and bat, a smiling mouth and a yellow and orange guitar. They plug into any Walkman-style cassette player or radio. If you have a low-output unit, you may need a Soundwear Expander for better amplification. An Expander amplifier ($13.99) will also enable you to play four speakers at once from one Walkman. Soundwear AM/FM radios ($22.50) include the fashion speakers.
Soundwear speakers, which Nasta representatives say were created “especially for kids ages 5 and up,” cost about $8.99 each. They’re available nationwide at Toys R Us and Target stores. If you can’t find them in your area, contact Nasta Industries, 200 5th Ave., New York, N.Y. 10010; (212) 929-8085.
For Water Savers
If you’re interested in conserving water without investing in expensive devices that are time-consuming to install, consider the Mini-Flush Water Saver for your toilet tank. It’s inventor, Charles F. Stevens, calculates that the small device can save between 2.3 and 5 gallons of water per flush, depending on the water capacity of the toilet.
Constructed of heavy plastic, it can be installed in most toilet tanks in less than a minute without any tools. The Mini-Flush consists of two basic parts--the float, which rides at water level in the tank, and the actuator, which fits over the flow pipe. The actuator is threaded into the float, so that when you flush the toilet and the water level descends, the Mini-Flush also descends and forces the flapper valve to close prematurely, conserving water that would normally be used.
And, according to marketing director Matthew McCroskey, “with this device, you don’t reduce the amount of head pressure--that caused by the weight of the water--so it gives you the normal amount of flushing force.”
Consumers in areas where water conservation measures are required by law not only save water with Mini-Flush, McCroskey added, but expensive plumbing bills for retrofitting high-volume-use toilets into low-volume ones.
To order, for $14.95, plus $3 shipping and handling (Californians add 6% state tax), contact Mini-Flush Co. Inc., 3960-K Prospect Ave., Yorba Linda, Calif. 92686; (714) 993-7332 or toll-free, (800) 969-0693. Allow two to four weeks for delivery.
Puzzling Legalese
For lawyers and judges, law students and professors, or just plain language buffs, there’s “The Attorney”--a new crossword puzzle book that weeds the Perry Masons from the rest of us by asking for legal terms and Latin phrases.
The first book of an upcoming series from Puzzles for Professionals, the 42-page volume contains 12 puzzles, with solutions and detailed word explanations for each puzzle in the back of the book. Can you answer in two letters, what is the Latin abbreviation for “a court of first instance”? Or, in two words containing 15 squares, what is “a formal response to a pleading which claims that the complaint contains defects”?
The Attorney was written by semi-retired certified public accountant David Traeger of Downers Grove, Ill., who says he chose a legal theme for his first book, “because I had to deal with a lot of attorneys in my work. I have a feeling for what some attorneys are concerned about, and I have a love for the language. So, the only requirement I needed was to get some law references.” His next crossword will be aimed at doctors; third, accountants.
The Attorney is available nationwide in various collegiate bookstores; in the Los Angeles area at Fowler Brothers and Law Distributors Inc. in Gardena; in the Chicago area, at Marshall Field, Kroch’s and Brentano’s. You also can order it for $10, plus $1.25 postage and handling, from David Traeger, Puzzles for Professionals, 6106 Carpenter St., Downers Grove, Ill. 60516.
Low-Cal Breakfasts
Weight Watchers Frozen Foods, which has offered low-calorie food products to weight-conscious consumers for 21 years, is introducing a microwavable breakfast line with between 170 and 270 calories per serving.
According to H. J. Heinz Co., manufacturer of the Weight Watchers foods, the 13 different breakfast items can be microwaved in less than 3 minutes. For example, sweet rolls take 30 seconds; pancakes with blueberry topping, 1 1/2 minutes; egg, Canadian-style bacon and cheese muffin, 2 1/2 minutes. People on low-salt diets, however, should check each item’s sodium count. Most are on the high side.
Weight Watchers Microwave Breakfasts will be available nationwide in supermarket chains and other food outlets. Suggested retail price will be between $1.49 and $1.89.
