A Few Ways to Make Life a Little Easier
New and unusual are the words in products this month--from a wearable computer that counts how many calories you burn each day to a spray-on cleaner for artificial plants to a combination umbrella/ball retriever for golfers.
There are also an efficient, secure electronic pet door, a simple device to tie down car trunk lids over bulky loads and a new type of vacuum tool that cleans hard-to-reach nooks and crannies.
Questions on Calories Can Go to Waist
Plenty of diet books and nutrition tables can tell you how many calories are in a piece of chocolate cake. With CALTRAC, a mini-computer that clips to a waistband or belt, you can get feedback any time, not only on how many calories you’ve taken in that day, but also on how many you’ve burned.
The technology-shy needn’t be nervous. This machine is easy to operate and comes with video instructions as well as a manual.
Log in weight, height, age and sex and CALTRAC does the rest: It monitors your movements and measures the calories you burn through any activity, even sitting in a chair.
Included with the package is a fitness guide written by Gregory Ellis, a research scientist and exercise physiologist.
CALTRAC ($89.95 plus $6.95 shipping and handling) is available from Muscle Dynamics Fitness Network, 20100 Hamilton Ave., Torrance, Calif. 90502; (800) 522-5872.
Keeping Fake Flowers as Fresh as Daisies
Simply Silk, when sprayed on artificial flowers and plants, removes dust and dirt without you even having to wipe the leaves.
Made by Botanical Science in Santa Ana, the liquid product is organic and biodegradable and doesn’t stain or leave oily residues. It also has no unpleasant odor. You can spritz as often as needed.
Simply Silk is available at Price Club and Costco in a two-quart twin pack for $9.95. Or it may be ordered from Botanical Science in a one-quart package ($6.25 plus $1.50 for shipping and handling); twin pack ($13, plus $1.50 shipping and handling). Contact Botanical Science, 3421 Fordham Ave., Santa Ana, Calif. 92704; (714) 432-7771.
A Shield From Rain and a Golden Retriever
Golfers should find Fido, the Ultimate Retriever quite fetching. This is a large golf umbrella with a telescoping extension concealed in the shaft that will stretch nine feet to get a ball in a lake.
Fido has a nylon canopy that expands to 62 inches and weighs only three pounds. It comes in blue, green or red with white. There is a locking system on the frame that has been “designed to defy any fierce wind,” according to the manufacturer.
In its role as ball retriever, Fido’s telescoping aluminum rod extends easily. A removable fluorescent plastic cup for snagging balls snaps onto the tip. (The cup is visible in murky water where you wish your ball was not.)
Fido, which attaches to the side of a golf bag like a regular golf umbrella, is available nationwide in selected pro shops or from Hammacher Schlemmer’s stores or catalogue ($49.95, (800) 759-5700). It can also be ordered from the manufacturer, Tech Sport ($39.95 plus $6 shipping and handling), 82 Birch Ave., Little Silver, N.J. 07739; (800) 535-3629.
Pet Decides Whether It’s Coming or Going
Speaking of Fidos, there’s Solo Pet Door, a new doggie door that can let all your animals in and out efficiently. Or it can let the dog out and keep in the cat.
Billed by its manufacturer as “the Rolls-Royce of pet doors,” Solo Pet Door isn’t cheap--the price ranges from $245 for a door for an animal weighing up to 20 pounds to $395 for a 100- to 150-pound canine. But it provides a high level of convenience and security.
Made of gray-tinted shatterproof plexiglass with a bronzed anodized aluminum frame, the door slides up and down. When tripped by an ultrasonic sensor on a pet’s collar, the door stays open about seven seconds--two seconds to open and two to five seconds to close after the animal has exited. Only an animal with the sensor can activate the door. There is also a manual on/off switch so owners can keep a pet in or out without removing its collar.
When it shuts, the door automatically locks into a slot to weather seal the opening. It can be programmed to integrate with a home security system.
The door will remain open if a pet stands in front of it, but it is “highly unlikely” another animal could get in or out during that period, according to inventor Henry Solowiej. “Nothing is 100% infallible,” he adds.
Solowiej recommends Solo door be placed in an outer wall rather than a door and says installation is not difficult. “Most homeowners put it in themselves,” he says. The electric mechanism can either be plugged into a wall socket or wired inside the wall during installation.
Solo Pet Doors are available from Solo Inc., 10882 Wilson Ave., Alta Loma, Calif. 91737; (909) 989-9999.
Getting a Lock on Transported Items
Tying down a trunk lid or hatchback for transport of a large item can be frustrating. Check out TrunkLok Extender, an inch-wide yellow nylon strap with sturdy plastic covering a stainless steel loop on one end and a snap hook and buckle on the other.
It attaches to the trunk-locking mechanisms of all Japanese makes and most American and other foreign autos and its length can be adjusted from 8 to 35 inches.
“It takes less than 10 seconds to attach and adjust it,” says inventor Tom Chung of AirDome Inc. in San Diego. “And once it’s locked, you don’t have to worry about it. With a rope or bungee cord, you’re always concerned it will loosen or come off.”
TrunkLok Extender ($12.95 plus $4 for shipping and handling) is available through some auto parts catalogues or can be ordered from AirDome Inc., 7955 Dunbrook Road, Suite A, San Diego, Calif. 92126; (619) 536-2353.
Finally, Corners Can Get a Clean Sweep
Quick Sweep is a crevice tool that cleans difficult-to-reach places such as crown moldings, ceiling corners and air vents.
Unlike most vacuum cleaner attachments for this purpose, which have one skinny slot to suck in dust, this device has a five-inch brush with 36 soft bristles.
Quick Sweep ($9.99) fits any vacuum cleaner that has a hose measuring 1 1/4 inches in diameter. It is available at most Kmart and Wal-Mart stores or may be ordered from IdeaWorks, 74-940 Highway 111, Suite 121, Indian Wells, Calif. 92210. Add $2 for shipping and handling.
