Netgear Wireless Range Extender

I purchased this WN1000RP Netgear Wireless Range Extender from Fry's Electronics. It was on sale for like $15 so I thought it would be worth the investment if it did what I needed it to and what it's supposed to do.

So, let's start off by me trying to be a little more fancy with this one and do an unboxing video. Below is the quick unboxing video just to show what's in the box...Exciting to say the least.

The set up was pretty easy for this device. I think even your 70-yr-old grandmother could do it. Simple, I like it. However, after that, it basically went down hill.

If you look at the above image, the labeled signals of "wireless router" and "range extender _ex" are within my home and are the home wireless router and the WN1000RP range extender. What do you see? Five bars on the router and four bars on the extender? Not a big deal right? Except for the fact that I was sitting about two feet from the extender and the router is about fifteen feet up and thirty feet back on the second floor. If anything, the range extender should be showing a minimum five bars! Oh yeah, all those other signals are the various signals outside of my home and of my surrounding neighbors.

So, in my real-life non-scientific test, the range extender already fails for the purpose I purchased it — to extend my wireless range. Okay, it does extend it but it doesn't provide the same signal strength or more of the wireless router itself.

About two weeks later, I tried to connect to it, which I did, but it was no longer connected to my wireless network. I reset it and reinstalled it to no avail with connecting to my network and the Internet. So, I effectively had a plasticky 2 1/2" by 2 1/2" square brick plugged into a wall outlet. You ask why I don't return it. Well, I bought this and didn't get around to using it until about fifteen days after purchase. It then failed which was about thirty days after purchase. The Fry's return time period had passed. It has since been recycled to some electronic graveyard.

If I can save anyone time, effort and money, you should avoid the WN1000RP Netgear Wireless Range Extender no matter how cheaply priced you find it. The $15-$30 you may have saved ends up being wasted if it doesn't work for a longer period of time.

Vertskebap - Dallas (Preston Hollow Village)

Saw an article yesterday about a grand opening of a "new" restaurant called Vertskebap. I found out that it's new to the area but there are a few locations already in Dallas/Fort Worth locale. It seems to have started in Austin and has expanded across the state.

The article said that the restaurant would be giving one free entree per patron from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. I've never heard of the restaurant or what they serve but you give me something, something real like this not a sample, and I'll try it...within reason of course like drive time, waiting in line time, etc.

During my searching mentioned in the first paragraph, I looked to see what the food offerings were. They sounded tasty enough and the drive was about ten minutes from my homestead. I mentioned the freebie offering to my kids and the oldest was cool with it but the youngest already had plans. I ended up taking two friends of my oldest. Why not? I wasn't paying!

The restaurant is located at Walnut Hill and Central Expressway/US75. It's been a while since I've been near this location and it has changed quite a bit. They've got a whole little shopping center there now with a Trader Joe's, Blue Sushi Grill (or something like that), another small market/grocery place and a few others I don't remember or are coming soon. Quite a change from the apartment complexe and hotel that used to occupy that corner years ago.

So, we did our customary slo-mo drive by to see how busy the place was. Through the windows, the line looked long but not too long. We decided to at least walk in to check the wait.

The line wasn't too bad so we got through fairly quickly. Again, not knowing about this restaurant or how it works we just went with the flow. Turns out the flow is just like a Chipotle, Qdoba or even a Subway. You pick one of their items from the menu (or you can build as you go) and you move down the assembly line until you get to the end where they wrap your sandwich or wrap and you get a drink or not and pay.

I ordered The Texan with beef & lamb which is described by the menu as: Beef&Lamb or Chicken, Spring Mix, Tomato, Cucumber, Corn, Onion, Jalapeño, Spicy Red Sauce. My oldest got The Verts Original with chicken and the friends got something but I didn't ask what. The line movie fairly fast. Again, the options are a panini-like sandwich, wrap or salad. The salads that other people ordered looked tasty and the wraps looked just like a burrito. Maybe if I go back, I'll try one of those. Watching how they prepared my sandwich along the line, it looked like eating was going to be messy but I wouldn't know for sure until I got it home. It also made me wonder if it would be like most burritos or pita-like sandwiches where the ingredients don't necessarily mix or stay together. Instead there are layers of items that one can't eat all or mostly together.

By the time I got home, The Texas was a little softer than it probably would have been if I ate it right after buying it. Letting that slide, I think it was pretty good. I wouldn't say I have to go back because it was so good but it was definitely worth free. I wouldn't say I won't go back if I had a craving for a meal like it or if someone asked me to come along. I just don't think it won me over to eat there again and again. Now, I will probably try it a couple of more times just to taste other items but after that, if those don't really WOW me then I won't return again...not because the food was bad but it's just not one of the foods I crave now and then.

While they last, articles can be found here and here.

Pluckers - 3rd visit

Went to Pluckers this afternoon for lunch with my kids. We decided to try the all-you-can-eat option which is only available on Mondays and after looking at the website is only every other Monday. Anyway, I decided the all-eat may end up being a better deal. I may have mentioned the "buffet" in my previous post but now the price of 20 wings is like $19.99 and the "buffet" is $18.00 for a many as you can eat which could be ten wings or fifty wings.

After receiving our food and me diving right in (I was starving as I anticipated eating here all morning), I kept a count of all the wings I put away. Turns out that the starting tray for the buffet starts with twenty wings. I ate all twenty and the waitress asked if I wanted her to start on my second flavor tray of wings. I told her that I was going to wait a little bit — I was going to quit like the wimp I was because I figured that I already got my monies worth.

About ten minutes passed and my kids were dying out on their own progress. They had such high hopes at doing some serious damage. However, they didn't do too badly and ended up with putting away like ten wings.

The waitress came by again and asked if I was ready but I said that's I'd probably just pick off their plates instead of wasting the wings. The waitress said that she could get my kids some to-go boxes for their leftover wings. I was like, "WTF!?" If I would've known that I could take them home (which is perfectly logical versing wasting ANY of the wings), I would have put in my second tray order of wings! So my kids got their leftover wings to-go but maybe this bit of knowledge will come in handy if I decide to try the all-you-can-eat wings again. This may be a while since after eating so many wings that even just the thought of a wing made all of our stomachs curdle.

Funny thing is that I just reread my previous Pluckers post and I mentioned something about our odd waiter we had at the time. This guy was still there, still weird and still somewhat clueless. Our table was close to the front near the hostess table so I heard him ask the hostess, "How long has table [so and so] been there because they really need to go?"

Oh and also, the wait was about fifteen minutes. We went around 2 p.m. on a Monday before New Year's Eve/Day and it was busier than I expected and thought it would be.

Just in case you needed all this information.

Lunch at The Banh Shop - Dallas (SMU Blvd)

Had lunch at Banh Shop today with a close friend. It recently opened and he texted me last week to see if I wanted to try it out. After I got home from work that day, I received the restaurant flyer in the mail which made me think that was why he suggested it. The flyer contained a coupon for a free side or dessert with my sandwich or wok'd bowl purchase.

So, today was our lunch date. I mentioned the flyer and coupon to him and he said that he doesn't remember seeing a flyer but probably got it. He mentioned eating at this place because he had driven by it once or twice and realized it was new and wanted to try it out.

That's what we did. I was looking at the menu inside the restaurant and was thinking about getting a wok'd bowl. He was sure he was getting a banh mi and decided on the grilled steak. I figured I'd try the sandwich too to compare it to Rollngo since I've had three different sandwiches there.

What you see above is menu item #1 Grilled Steak Banh Mi and a side of summer rolls which were free with a coupon.

I believe I've said this before but I'm not a food tasting expert. I like what I like and that's all that I know. That being said...

The grilled steak banh mi was good. Was it better than Rollngo? I can't really say yay or nay since it's been sometime between the sandwiches I had at Rollngo and this one. What I do recall is that the bread on the Rollngo sandwiches was harder than this one from Banh Shop. Does that make one sandwich taste better than the other? I don't think so. Again, the Banh Shop sandwich was good. Was it goo enough to make me want to come back and try it again or another one? Probably not.

The summer rolls were good. I haven't had any summer rolls from Rollngo and I don't even know if they make/sell them. So, I compare them to the summer rolls at Pho Is For Lovers. I feel like the Pho summer rolls were better and the family really likes the pho at Pho so we may not ever need to go to Banh Shop as a family.

So do I recommend this place? Sure...to try especially with the free side or dessert coupon. I more than likely will visit Banh Shop again just to try one of their wok'd bowls as they looked/sounded good.

Jake's Burgers and Beer - Dallas (Skillman & NW Hwy)

A coworker and I went to eat at Jake's Hamburgers. It's not the first time we've been but it was the first time for me to order #14 The Works — described by their menu like this:

"warning" this is not a diet aid! everything in the kitchen. double meat, double cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato, pickle, onion, mayo, mustard, and ketchup.

Funny thing is when I ordered The Works, the cashier asked me if I wanted any fries or onion rings. I laughed and said that I think the burger may be more than enough to fill my belly.

The photo doesn't properly show the size of this burger but it was fairly stacked! I have had a couple of different burger styles from Jake's and they all pretty much are the same taste but with some slight variation in sauces or condiments that tweaks the flavor. The Works is basically the same as the others I've had taste-wise but for the price and the size, it was worth the try.

It may just be me but I still don't like those places that don't have a really good combo price for a burger, fries and drink. Unfortunately, I think that's the new way of doing things. My first experience with this type of a-la-carte pricing was when they opened a Twisted Root near my work. The price of the burger looks good but then you add a side of fries and a drink, then the costs becomes like $15 for ONE person to eat. That's too much damn money in my opinion especially when the burger was like $6.95.

Sorry for the tangent, back to The Works...

As mentioned, I didn't order any sides. However, my coworker had ordered some onion rings which I was allowed to partake in eating. I didn't eat many onion rings as for the first time after eating my burger, I felt very comfortably satiated and didn't want to overdo it.

So if you have the opportunity, try The Works from Jake's Hamburgers. Again, their burgers don't vary too much from one to the other: It's typically meat, cheese, lettuce, tomato, mustard, ketchup. They change it up by adding Thousand Island Sauce, hickory sauce, or the like. This is just a pretty good-sized burger, tasty and priced well.

Kicker HP402B CUSH Full-Size Headphones, Black

I got an email deal alert from Rakuten.com. It had the Kicker HP402B CUSH full-size headphones (black or white, I purchased black) on sale for $29.99 with free shipping. I don't need another damn pair of headphones but I just couldn't resist. I did some Googling and a lot of the reviews were positive. They all essentially said that they are pretty damn good for the price. The prices I've seen them for and others have quoted in their reviews are around $80-$100. Amazon had them for $79.95 at the time I purchased. In the Rakuten deal, they had them for $30 off with the free shipping making them $29.99. I figured it was a good deal to try them out like the many others I've done for a lot less (see here, here and here).

The free shipping made delivery on these about a week——I ordered in the late evening on a Wednesday and got them at my door via USPS a week later on Thursday. I think that's pretty good for free, standard shipping. Plus, I wasn't in any hurry to receive them so I didn't need to pay for any faster shipping.

I didn't know what to expect. I know of the Kicker brand for like boom boxes and shit like that for car audio but didn't know if it was the same brand. After receiving the headphones, it looks like the Kicker logo on them is the same that I've seen on the car audio products. Here nor there, I really didn't care what brand they are just as long as they performed well.

So, first some photos:

So far I've listened to music and watched movies on my iPad as well as watched movies on my desktop PC. I've found the sound to be pretty darn good! The bass is pretty good and sounds fairly deep. The treble isn't bad either and it doesn't effect my ears like some ear buds do — sometimes I get a static, scratchy sound in my inner ear which I think comes from too much treble.

The ear muffs are pretty comfy. They're soft and create a good seal. I tested the sound leakage with my youngest. I was listening to music fairly loud on my iPad and my youngest was up on the stairs about twenty feet away and six feet up. My youngest said the music could not be heard but coming down the stairs and closer to me, the music could start to barely be heard. When my youngest was right upon me, the music was a little louder but still pretty muffled. When I took the muffs off my head, the music could be heard pretty loud and clear. That was pretty cool.

I listened for a few hours before my ears started to get a little hot and irritated. I think that's probably because a few times I laid on my side to listen and one ear muff could push up from the pillow to be tighter on my ear. I think if I was just wearing them while walking around or something that the comfort would be much longer.

Overall, I really like these Kicker CUSH headphones so far. They sound good. They feel good. And I got them for a heck of a deal. I think they have some newer versions but you really can't go wrong with this model.

Enemy (2013), Hours (2013)

Enemy (2013). This movie was kind of weird and kind of slow. It gave me this eerie Donnie Darko vibe in the sense like it was a meaningless, pointless movie that just dragged on but the viewer hoped there would be a time when the light bulb went off and they'd be like, "AHA! That's what it's about!" That shit never happened with this movie either.

I don't know why Jake Gyllenhall picks to do movies like this. Does he think they're artsy or something? Who knows. I can only think that other watchers, viewers and fans of Jake were constantly saying, "WTF! This movie is confusing the shit out of me!"

Really the movie made me feel like I was sick. You know like that feeling that you want to get up and do something but the flu, fever or whatever has you so jacked up that you just want to sit because you get dizzy and decide to just vegetate? I don't know I just can't explain it well enough.

Melanie Laurent plays Gyllenhall's character's girlfriend. They have some kind of weird relationship like she wants more but he doesn't or he wants more but she doesn't. They screw and she doesn't like to stay over. I don't know the premise or reasoning behind any of it and I don't think it's explained. She's kind of hot but their sex is boring...maybe that's where the story lies. I very well could have just not paid close enough attention. Again, who knows.

Sarah Gadon plays the other Gyllenhall's wife. She's kind of hot too. She's pregnant. They show her naked. I don't think their relationship is good.

I think the movie may be about having a doppelganger and thinking that their life is better than yours for everyone involved. The men switch lives and the women both know or eventually find out that their man is not their man but he looks like their man but he treats her different and that's the telling factor.

Anyway, I guess I could re-watch it pay closer attention but it just wasn't that intriguing to begin with so it may never happen.

Overall verdict: I would say rent something else. I just wasn't feeling this movie but again, I watch movies somewhat distracted because I'm doing usually doing something else while watching.

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Hours (2013). This movie was somewhat intense. It's pretty much a one-character movie—Paul Walker's. There are some filler characters to help maintain interest or to help build the story but if the movie was 100 minutes long, I'd say that 90 minutes was just Paul Walker's character and his newborn daughter.

My first thought was that there was no way that the hospital's policy would be to basically say, "Oh well, sorry your baby's in an incubator and it's an archaic one at that but your newborn's probably going to die." Isn't that anti-Hippocratic oath? Also, surely there would have been some nurse or doctor who had the huevos to stay and make sure the newborn baby had every chance it could to live.

Anyway, it wasn't a bad movie. It had a lot of 'oh shit' moments where one thing gets 'fixed' and another thing goes wrong. This added to the intenseness and sort of teetered the line between 'that could happen' and 'that's bullshit'.

Overall verdict: I would say rent it from Redbox for $1.50 or stream for free. It has some good parts.