Random Advice Needed

[lesliepear]

1. I got a 10 gallon fishtank, filter and hood on freecycle the other day. I've rinsed the fish tank and tossed out the colored gravel (it had some sort of bronwish crystals mixed in it - maybe salt?). I did keep the various decorative things that were in the tank - rocks, fake plants etc. I've refilled the tank partway and left it in my shower to make sure it isn't leaking. I plan to go to the local fish store (not a chain) and show them the filter and hood and see if the filter works - I need a bulb for the hood anyway. Any other advice on cleaning out a fish tank and setting it up? I'm looking for easy to care for fish - now that Alan's older, I doubt he'll dump the whole container of fish food in the tank this time (which did in our first goldfish when he was 3!)

2. Does anyone have a GPS? I'm seriously considering one. I have a good sense of direction but some travels lately have made it desirable to have on-the-fly routing, especially in the dark. I like this one I saw at Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-Widescreen-Bluetooth-Navigator-Refurbished/dp/B000YE99NQ/ref=br_lf_m_1000284401_1_4_ttl?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&s=electronics&pf_rd_p=448571201&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_t=1401&pf_rd_i=1000284401&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0JRHSE1Z211SV95YYZ68

My husband wanted me to check this one out:

http://www.amazon.com/TomTom-ONE-XL-Widescreen-Refurbished/dp/B000XABAG0/ref=br_lf_m_1000284401_1_2_ttl?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&s=electronics&pf_rd_p=448571201&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_t=1401&pf_rd_i=1000284401&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1JWKM5T8W7SY7E2FFJX7

I probably will get it at Amazon unless there is a super black Friday deal as I have over 125.00 in gift certificates. I'd really like one with traffic info as one trip we do every year (back and forth to Ithaca) has a section of highway (I-81) perpetually under construction it seems.

Any advice?

Comments

[kukla-red.livejournal.com]

I can't help with #1 but I will say I love my GPS. I have Magellan 1600, which I don't really recommend. It seems to have some hangups, but I've made it work. It was very cheap - I got it for about $120 last December on one of those Amazon gold box special deals. It works, but there seems to be an issue with the battery life - it doesn't seem to realize that it is charged when it should be fully charged so it keeps turning itself off at inopportune moments.

That being said, I LOVE having it. It has helped me tremendously and I've loaned it to my sister-in-law when she drove down to PA for the Obama campaign and when we had friends in from England last year who needed to drive to New Jersey for a wedding. It helps with my Freecycle(TM) pickups - no more wandering around dark streets peering at non-existent house numbers!

Definitely get one. Check out www.epinions.com for product reviews before you buy.