I’m just wrapping up a few things before starting back at work and sorting through assorted, bills, letters etc. Last year online was another great year, mostly I started this blog to give me somewhere to collected my non-triathlon, non-work related thoughts. But since it’s also a “non-walled garden”, it is indexed by google, bing etc. it’s also a useful place to call a few things out.

Krups/Vanness

Krups coffee makers. Based on my experience I’d never buy another of these, at least not an expensive one. My Sister bought the machine as a house warming gift back in 2008; it was lightly used, maybe 3-4 times per week, and stopped working in early August 2012. I sent it to Vanness Inc. an authorized repair center in Arkansas, at a cost of $55. Initially I had a couple of emails from them about the repair, they were waiting for parts; I called, the part had arrived, the machine had a leak, another part was required; As far as I know now the repair is done and the Esspresso/Coffee maker has been resold or some such on ebay. Double #fail

Online buying

I had another good year of buying online, with one exception.

I believe I can Fly (Flight of the Frenchies), Seb Montaz-Rosset promotional video totally blew me away and I immediately paid to download the full version. Sadly despite getting a confirmation email, the link never worked, repeated emails went unanswered, and even though I only spent about the price of a movie ticket, and would really like to still see the film. I won’t throw good money after and based on the single review, am not paying $25 from amazon.com for a poor quality version. #fail

Crowdsourcing

I had mixed results with crowdsourcing this year. My Phosphor Touch watch came through and is pretty good for a first model; I’ve invested in the follow-on version and the Pebble watch. A couple of crowdsourced projects never made it including a smart home project; The jury is out on the Magnic bike light, it was supposed to ship in September and despite regular updates via kickstarter, still nothing, shipping promised in January.