eSpring Water Treatment

The Hogalbee family has been testing the eSpring Water Purifier for six months now. It is the first in-home system to combine ultraviolet light technology with a patented multi-stage carbon block filter. Of the various configurations, we bought the under the counter model which hides the system under the sink. It tapped directly into the cold water line and supplies clean water through an auxiliary faucet. The only electrical requirement is a regular grounded outlet.

The system installs easily and works well for water pressure anywhere between 15 psi and 125 psi with a high flow rate. Each replaceable filter is designed for 1320 gallons. It is the first in-home system certified to meet the following three international standards of water quality by NSF International: Standard 42, improves taste, odor and clarity; Standard 53, reduces health effect contaminants; Standard 55, reduces microorganisms with UV light.

Claims which I cannot measure but which have been independently verified are that eSpring destroys more than 99.9999% of bacteria, more than 99.99% of viruses and effectively removes more than 99.95% of cysts as well as over 140 health damaging contaminants including disinfectant by-products, many pesticides, lead, mercury and radon. At the same time, it does not remove such beneficial minerals as calcium, magnesium and fluoride.

What I can verify is that using the eSpring is much more convenient than bottled water and it is far less expensive. The water that comes out of my faucet is clean and tastes like pure water. I keep my eSpring pitcher filled and in the refrigerator and refillable eSpring water bottles chilled and ready to travel. Ice cubes, soups and foods cooked in water now all taste better.

Last year, I replaced my septic tank. Although I have nearly an acre and a half of land, there is really no other place to position it other than close to the well. I would never be allowed to put it there if this was new construction. Now, however, I know that protozoan parasites that can cause disease cannot get into my water supply. No waterborne parasite larger than one micron can make it into the water I drink. Microcystin, the most common form of algae toxin is likewise unable to get to me.

Although there is a lot of open land around me, there is another house quite close to me and to my well and it has asbestos siding. It is good to know that my eSpring is rated for removing asbestos as well as vinyl chloride and chloramines. Likewise, I am protected from lead, mercury, radon, radon by-products and Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether.

The base is constructed out of study high impact plastic. The UV bulb only switches on when the water is running so it does not heat the water or waste electricity. We will have another six months before the monitoring device is scheduled to alert us to change the filter but I played with it to see what it would entail and found replacement to be simple and to not require any tools.

Here at Hogalbee’s house, we are extremely pleased with the eSpring system. We are enjoying the benefits daily and have not found anything about it that is less than perfect. Hogalbee highly recommends this product.

WILLIAMSBURG VA Stephanos

Hogalbee here exploring the historic Williamsburg/Jamestown area. After an educational tour of the Jamestown settlement, Branilicio and I were craving a quick bite and began browsing through the Sunny Day Colonial Guide. We are familiar with Sunny Day from their money saving coupon guide to Ocean City, Maryland. A little random page flipping brought us to Stephanos of South Henry Street along the edge of William and Mary College on one side and Colonial Williamsburg on the other.

Stephanos occupies a beautiful space in a retail complex with dark wainscoting and dark wooden cabinets setting off muted beige walls. The tables and seating looks like it would be at home in a corporate cafeteria. At the booths, the décor begins to break down with the upholstery splitting open liberally.

Ordering is done at a walk up counter. Maybe I am old fashioned, but I find it a little presumptuous to be handed a bill in which I am expected to calculate my tip before the service has been rendered. I usually like to see what kind of service I get before I reward it.

We skipped the pizzas and pastas and stuck to the sandwich menu. I opted for the Chicken Philly while Branilicio settled on the Turkey Grinder. The sandwiches arrived on toasted soft rolls. There was no option on bread. When the sandwiches were brought to the table they were tasty but certainly nothing special. What they mainly were was small. While many sandwich shops brag on the abundant size of their product, Stephanos never will with their current offering. Brandilicio, who can never finish a meal, found the size just right, but they are four to four and a half times costlier than a Quiznos Sammy, not much larger and not as tasty.

Branilicio gives Stephanos three smiles out of five.

§§§


I gave them two.


§§

HOTEL Hampton Inn of Downtown Albany

Hoagalbee is here today Readers, but very tired. I should have slept soundly in my king sized bed in the downtown Albany Hampton Inn after free vodka at the Stoli event I was brought into town for. How the designers of this hotel created the acoustical feats available is simply amazing. I put my head down on my pillow and found I could suddenly follow the conversation of three people smoking on the sidewalk one hundred feet below me through closed windows on a cold winter night. Being tired, I dozed off in short order only to be awakened an hour later by what sounded disturbingly like a cartoon duck with comically oversized web feet pacing on the bathroom tiles. I checked it out and found the sound seemed to come from the ceiling of the next door room’s bathroom. The noise went on and on for another twenty minutes before suddenly stopping. Before I could get back to sleep, the garbage trucks began. For some reason, my vantage point allowed me to hear them all the way from State Street as they made each stop north of Capitol Hill. In between garbage trucks, a street sweeper slowly made its way toward the hotel slowing growing louder with each passing block sounding ominously like an electric car driven by a murderous Ed Bagley Junior out to cut my throat. I got an hour of sleep disturbed by dreams of actors and ducks working against me.

For a hotel which makes efforts to give a high end appearance, the lack of any sound buffering is curious. The hotel maintained an immaculate lobby and took care to use color schemes in the rooms that appear upscale. Perhaps I have been spoiled by Wyndham resorts and their affiliates but I found the room to be on the small side. Oddly, for the care given to the hotel, bumpers were not installed in the hallways and the housekeeping carts had dug long scratches into the wall coverings on most corridors.

The reason for my stay at this particular hotel was that the owner, Vista Host Hotels was curious about the location's customer service level and comp’ed my room in exchange for my looking into the situation without the staff's knowledge and providing my feedback. The staff was all pleasant and polite but this hotel scored very poorly on the standards I was asked to examine.

I was asked to call the front desk and present a problem which they could easily remedy. It was hoped that I would be referred to by name, apologized to for the problem and thanked for bringing it to the desk clerk’s attention. None of these things happened. Although the room contained a warning not to open the door for anyone claiming to be hotel staff unless they wore a uniform and a nametag, a young Hispanic man dressed in jeans and a hooded sweatshirt and not wearing a nametag was sent to my room to resolve my problem. While he resolved the issue, he did not provide the pleasantries the owner was looking for.

When I went to check out the fitness center, I passed the laundry facilities where two employees were have a very loud and very heated conversation regarding someone pretending to be pregnant. The language was saltier than when I accidentally step on Branilicio’s feet.

Also, for some unknown reason, my car moved from spot 42 to spot 40 in the rear parking lot during the night.

The Hampton Inn had so much potential but it never rose up to meet it. Wonderful décor, but nothing to protect it from the staff dragging a cart along the wall. Careful maintenance, but nothing to buffer noise. Pleasant staff but a lack of pleasantries. A comfortable bed that I could not sleep in.

I was too tired to ask Branilicio what she rated the hotel but I could only give it two smiles out of five. One of the stars was strictly for the breakfast.

☻☻☺☺☺

TAVERN Town Tavern of Sand Lake, NY

Hogalbee here and I had dinner last night at the Town Tavern in Sand Lake New York. Sand Lake is a small bedroom community where state routes 43 and 66 meet. As Branilicio and I walked in a little after four in the afternoon, nine men were sitting at the bar and the talk was heavy on construction. Town Tavern pulls from a crowd of dedicated loyalists. Eleven televisions surround the bar area with an emphasis on sports and the staff puts an emphasis on making every sporting event a focus.

While the Town Tavern may be the dominant sports bar in the area, it is so much more. Where else in such a small town could you find amaretto bread pudding prepared onsite? Or homemade blueberry cheesecake? All salad dressings are made from scratch in the kitchen. Two appetizers were on the special board. I was not in the mood for mussels and my sidekick it not one for portabella so we ended up with mozzarella sticks. Branilicio opted for Mom’s Meatloaf which came with mashed potatoes and stuffed zucchini. The meatloaf was billed as two slices and when it came each slice was an inch and a quarter thick. She raved about it but it was the homemade gravy that made it. I looked over the wide selection of Panini’s and specialty burgers. For the sake of the review, I went with the sandwich named for the venue, the Town Tavern burger. It was a juicy burger served with chipotle pepper, roasted red pepper and pepper jack cheese. The waitress warned that it was hot. I am not shy about a little heat so I dove in and found it delicious. The heat, however, proved to be cumulative so by the time I was halfway in, I lost the flavor and was thankful for the basket of bread on the table. The sweet potato fries also came with a full flavored chipotle sauce which was delicious. I am no friend to greasy French fries but I had to dig into these.

The Town Tavern boasts two floors of dining including two levels of balconies overlooking the Horse Heaven Brook and separate dining rooms available for reservation. The building had, for many years, served as a blacksmith shop and was completely restored two years ago given a hunting lodge feel with knotty pine walls and eight inch polished plank flooring. The tables are a highly varnished wood. The only non wood surface is the downstairs dining’s tin ceiling. Looking up through the central open ceiling floor, you find a taxidermist was busy filling the space with mounted animals. The only drawback to the dining décor was the seating. Unless you are at the bar or at a high top table, you will have stack chairs such as I used to sell at Ames for 12.88 apiece to rest on. While not especially uncomfortable, these chairs are better left to the community center’s meeting room.

Branilicio gave the Town Tavern four out of five smiles.

☻☻☻☻☺

MOVIE Cloverfield

Hogalbee here and I’m just back from a matinee showing of “Cloverfield”. If you are looking for a movie with a clear and orderly start or stop, you might be better off at “27 Dresses”… unless you aren’t a woman. Seriously, Dude, that looks like a clear and unadulterated chick flick so stick to “Cloverfield”. Last week, we saw “Juno” and for a full hour the wall separating me from the next theater rumbled and shook so I was mildly intrigued.

This movie from producer J. J. Abrams, is entirely seen from the vantage point of a camcorder video shot by friends gathered for a party and chronicles the destruction of the island of Manhattan by a mysterious monster. The first thing the viewer sees is the video starting with a Department of Defense overlay reading that it was from a camera found in the sector formerly known as “Central Park”. You get a pretty good idea that the folks you meet along the way may not fair very well.

You might be able to be interested in the lives of the pretty young actors and actresses as they prepare for and attend their party if it was not for the fact that you knew devastation was coming. As they try to hook up, you are looking at your watch wondering when things will start to explode.

Never having seen “Lost”, “Alias” or “Felicity”, I am not truly familiar with Abram’s work. (He is making the next “Star Trek” movie.) The videocam technique was reminiscent of “The Blair Witch Project” but was more enjoyably done. No one walked out of the theater today looking angry or confused. Of course, it was a Tuesday matinee so there were only two other couples there.

This is not a monster movie and the action does not center around the monster. With only a couple exceptions, when it appears it is glimpsed moving between two skyscrapers and the person holding the camera is probably running or, occasionally, falling. This is the story of a group of people reacting to the destruction of the world they know. Even though you only get to see them through the video camera, you learn what makes each character tick as a person.

Branilicio accompanied me to the movie and see gave “Cloverfield” 4 out of 5 smiles.

In the interest of full disclosure, Regal Cinemas provided popcorn at no charge. All other food and beverage was smuggled in from the dollar store.

☻☻☻☻☺