Review: Koa Wood Ring - Offset

So, once upon in my 'About' I mentioned I was not a review site.  But since then I have reviewed a few things.  Some things I have purchased and some things I have not.  I like to pride myself in honesty and when I review something; purchased or not I am quite upfront.

I recently have been given the opportunity to review a Koa Wood Ring, graciously provided by: Altin Place out of Los Angeles, California.  The ring I chose to review was their Offset, I thought it a little smarter than their other rings.  As pictured above it has an etching of the Hawaiian Island, which the Koa wood is derived from.  I thought that was a sweet little touch to the VERY, light weight, titanium ring.  The beauty of the Offset is you can wear it with the wood band close or away from the body.  I would interchange this as well as the finger I wore it on.

Being married, I did not replace my wedding ring with the Koa ring but I did rock it on the right hand on both the ring and index finger.  It was light-weight, smooth around the edges and easy to live/sleep with.  All of those qualities are something that potential wedding bands should possess.  As for wear and tear, here is the break down.  Keep in mind I have worn the ring for only a month.

I am a potter and have removed the ring when throwing pottery (makes grooves in my pieces) to keep the clay from drying out the protective layer around the wood.  But I have used it while trimming, glazing and other pottery related activities... it has held up like a champ (showering doesn't seem to cause problems either).  I also like to travel and had the chance to take the Koa Ring to below freezing levels in the Arctic; the ring stood up like a champ.  As titanium has a tendency to do as it does; scuff.  But as I see it, in a wedding band, it means it weathers the good and the bad just like a marriage does.  If you want flawless go for a lighter on the pocket-book tungsten ring.  But if you want high quality and beautiful shine through the scuffs of life go with the Koa (or gold/platinum).

Like I have said, I have only had the pleasure of wearing the ring for a month and have not seen any defects or downfalls to the ring yet.  This ring, as per the website has an unbeatable warranty, "Not all wood rings are created equal and many just won't look as good 5 years, or even 6 months down the line. But this line of titanium and koa rings and wood wedding bands for men come with a Lifetime Guarantee."  How often can you get that kind of guarantee with anything?!  If the company gets me back in another 6 months or even 5 years I can provide further data.

If I was a gal that needed a matching theme thing to happen I would for for the: bangle, ring, earring combo.  Alas I don't wear earrings and bracelets get in the way of my work.  But as far as a ring goes, this one has yet to get in my way and it looks good.

Basketball Bollocks

Andy did not want to do basketball.  But since we had given him the choice to choose a sport and he didn't make a choice, we did.  And we told him that after this season if he still hated it he wouldn't have to do it again and could choose a different sport.  He reluctantly agreed to continue forth with basketball through the Boys and Girls Club.

The first meeting we attended actually took less time than actually getting there.  And I was okay with that, however the notice for the meeting specifically stated: Your student will not receive their jersey if the meeting is missed.  They didn't hand out any jersey's and the meeting basically was a quick review of the paperwork I already had.  Basically it was a meeting for a man to read the rules off of a piece of paper we already had from when we signed up for basketball.  Then he directed everyone to pick up a copy of the rules which we already had gotten during sign-ups.  They didn't even give us a schedule for when games or practices would start, we were told we would be contacted.

Too Good To Be True

Usually when you think it's too good to be true, it is.  And in this case it really was too good to be true.  Though there was still that little silver lining that made the phone/phone service acceptable.  Or at least acceptable for my foreign exchange student.

Just a little back story, I have hosted 11 exchange students from different countries.  During that time only one owned a cell phone that they used here because he was a long term student.  He used it to keep in contact with his friends he made here and on rare, RARE, occasion contact the mother-ship.  Another student who was short term had a mini breakdown or culture shock or something.  The girl broke down crying about day 6 and insisted on calling home.  I think the tears and look of desperation caused me to break down and put international calling on my cell plan.  NOT CHEAP!  This was about 6 years ago, maybe things are different now.  I also kinda broke the rules as we are not supposed to have the kids contact the mother-ship.  But ya know what... 13 year old kid half way around the world, scared and homesick.  I broke the rules.  Whatever!

Review: Steamers of Pismo

I am a fairly easy going restaurant patron.  I don't nit-pick everything to death but I do appreciate good food and good customer service.  I usually complain about how horrible service is at places I have eaten at.  I really should point out the good ones.  They deserve the good AND free advertising since they are good; just like Steamers.  My sister and I were looking for a place that served oysters on the half shell.  We drove roughly 30 minutes, to Steamers of Pismo, in order to appease our urge for oysters on the half shell. 

Chinatown, San Francisco

After the 10k run it was time to eat.  Not just a nibble, I mean eat!  I had my mind on dim sum the whole time I was in SF and I was ready to get to Chinatown to replace the calories I had worked off.  I deserved it right?  We ate at the Imperial Palace Restaurant, their reviews are not so great but I had eaten there several times before and never had a problem.  Thirty bucks for us to eat until we felt like we were about to pop and I even had beer!  I don't know about you but that's a damn hell of a deal!  I was obviously so hungry I failed at taking pictures of the mighty feast.  My sister was able to snap a few teaser shots.

Eating in Little Italy

When my sister told me we were going to San Francisco, we discussed places to have dinner.  She was very keen on having some Italian food.  She is currently taking Italian at school so she wanted to try some of their food.  I am going to admit, I am not a huge pasta or pizza fan.  But that's nothing a little cheese with an extra side of cheese and wine can't fix right?  I want to apologize in advance for the lack of pictures.  I was starving, and was the only one that did any of the 4 hours of driving.  Did I mention the hike through Lombard Street was before dinner?  I know my sister was constantly killing her iPhone taking pictures but I don't have access to her phone and she hasn't posted pictures for me to steal from her.  She emailed me her iPhone photos, so I will be sure to credit the pictures she took.

Pilfered from their website.

Dear Mc Donalds #2,

Post-production title: Dear Susie, when will you learn?

On my  lunch break I decided to run to the optometrist to get my new glasses.  After I got my glasses I figured I would stop at my closest fast-food, filth-hole and you were the closest one.  I should have known better from previous experience that your sandwiches are terrible.  I should have ordered a soft-serve ice cream cone because you have yet to find a way to fuck that up.  But no, I was stupid again (or just maybe a little insane). I decided to try something I had not tried from your selection of over processed filth.  I wanted to try your Filet-O-Fish sandwich.

Light, flaky white fish.  Tangy tartar sauce and melty cheese.  A delicious favorite at 380 calories.

Clerks (AV Edition) Part 3

Now back to our normally scheduled programming and the final installment of my adventures as an AV clerk.  You can read about Part 2 and Part 1 if you feel the need.  My 3 part saga was interrupted by life and work and mostly just life.  But now for what you have all been waiting for, the end! 

So upset, I am shaking!

I woke up today in a great mood.  On my list of things to do:

• Go to work.
• Go to the courthouse and pay my fine like a responsible person who fucks up is supposed to do.
• Get my dogs some flea medicine and food.
• Go back to work.
• Fix up lasagnas tonight to give to a few people that have been promised some.

The doctors have been telling Porky Pies!

Or if you much prefer: I have health insurance and my doctor wants to take advantage of the ability to bill them (and me) for whatever the fuck they deem 'necessary'.

A little back story: I am unhealthy or as my husband says, "You don't have the superior Scandinavian genes like I do ". I grew up having asthma this kinda puts me at risk for catching pneumonia easily from simple chest colds. I have had anemia and I guess it's kinda common in my family? I don't know, all I know is my sister had it and I am over it now. Diabetes also runs in my family, so keep my weight down in hopes of never getting it.

Now that I have had time to reflect...

I will share my story of utter dunces at a restaurant. First there are a few things you must know:

1. I like booze, so when I go out to eat, I drink it.
2. I am not a fussy or picky eater. If I asked for my salad without tomatoes and it you brought it with.... I am going to save myself the headache of having them remake it (and probably spit in it) and just pick them out of my salad.
3. I don't super customize my order. Generally I order as it appears on the menu and maybe get a side of sauce to compliment what I am eating.
4. I tip well, I am not a chintzy person. I KNOW where I live these servers make their living primarily off of tips.

So with all of that shared I will now tell the tale of the WORST dining experience in my life. (Okay maybe one of the top worse... the other was breakfast and my coffee cup had lipstick on it. The waitress wiped it off with her apron and called it "fixed". But I digress and that's a whole other story for another time.)

Dear Me n Ed’s Pizzeria,

Please consider training your employees on how to use the order manager. A little extra training to your employees would assist in their confidence, expedite orders and ultimately allow your employees to get off the phone and MAKE the orders.

Sincerely,

Starving Susie