Friday, February 8, 2019

To Stink or Not to Stink? That is the question...Lume Review

  Important: This "review" is for the Unscented version of Lume. I did NOT try the original scented version so it may be totally OK and not have the issue I raised below.

On with the story...

  My sister sent me a link to a video ad for Lume deodorant. I have to admit; it was clever and funny. I watched it a couple of times. Then my sister told me she bought some to try.
  I have been using Dry Idea antiperspirant for years. I use the unscented versions of the roll-on and gel stick where it oozes out of the top and you put it on. I have NEVER had any odor or stink emanating from my pits. Even though it's unscented, no smell; no odor.
  The drawback is that it does contain Aluminum. I hear that's bad for you. It may also be tied to memory issues and Lord knows, I have short term memory issues. Now it may just be my age but...
  Recently, I went to see my sister and all the relatives surrounding her. We had a good time (that's yet another series of blog posts that might show up some day) and while there, I asked her about her Lume. She didn't say much and the things she did say...well, I can't publish that here. LOL
  When I got home, I decided to order Lume and try it out. Let me tell you a little bit about it from reading their web site. They have two versions: A roll-on for under arms and a tube for "Private Parts", Ahem!!! The first version they produced was scented with a bit of lavender and sage. They just came out with an unscented version of both as well.
  Since I have been using unscented deodorant for years, I decided to order the unscented version in both the roll-on and tube just to try it. In a few days I received it in the mail.


Cream for "Private Parts"

  If you go to their web site, they tell you how to put it on and how to condition your skin to it. I followed the directions and went on my way to start my day.
  Now I have to tell you a side story. It warmed up here for a couple days after being 15 BELOW ZERO for a couple nights (we're in the upper Midwest).  After the warm up, we began seeing an occasional stink bug near windows. Don't squash a stink bug; they stink! You pick them up with toilet paper and flush them down the toilet. Why am I telling you this? Well, it's relevant.
  I have been working in my home office and two days ago, I thought I caught a whiff of a strange odor. FYI, I had only been using Lume for a couple days. I kept trying to pinpoint the odor and thought that a stink bug had been squashed some where. To keep this short and to the point, I finally thought that it smelled like it was coming from ME!!! WHATTTTTT? It couldn't be. I was using unscented Lume.
  Well I did some deep breaths and then smelled my underarm and CRAP! It was me!!! It was coming from my shirt's underarm area. I'm not making this up.
  At this point I was becoming confused. The only change was that I began using Lume. I did some additional snooping around and took the Lume underarm deodorant out of the medicine cabinet and squeezed out a bit and sure enough, I smelled that odor that was coming from my shirt.
  The next day, I applied a little bit more thinking I had not applied enough. That night, I went to a presentation at our library. I kept my coat on for a while and then took it off, What happened next almost floored me. I got the strongest whiff of that same unpleasant odor that make me think pigpen was sitting next to me or maybe a homeless person. There was a rather large person sitting next to me and I can only imagine what she was thinking. Thankfully, she stayed where she was. I didn't have the nerve to even look over at her. Maybe she passed out from the smell? Ugh! Well my arms clamped down to contain "it" and after a short time, the smell went away. Was my face red!
  After the presentation, I left and when I got home, I took out the Lume from the medicine cabinet and put my Dry Idea back in. Today will be the final test. If I don't smell that odor again, I will return the Lume for a refund. I have to say that the shirt I wore yesterday was navy and it had white perspiration stains on the pits and the shirt pits stunk with that same odor. Oh, did I mention that I also have a cold and can't smell anything? Well, that should tell you how bad it was!
  Now, you may be thinking, why didn't he order the scented version with Lavender and Sage? Come on! I'm a man and put on cologne. I don't want competing fragrances coming from me!
  Now about the "Private Parts" creme. I'm afraid to try that. If my pits stunk I don't want that smell emanating from my loins!!! Thank you very much! You can only return one product so the roll-on will be heading back to the Lume people.
  Now for the good news. All I can smell now on my shirt pit area is the pleasant odor of my laundry detergent. I was really hoping that this Lume product would work for me so I can get my memory back. It isn't to be. Now where in the heck did I put my coffee cup...?

Update:
  No more underarm odor when using the Dry Idea. Odor mystery resolved!


Sunday, June 11, 2017

Day 12; The Great Sibling Trip 2017 Final Post

Final Post: About Us
            We are a brother (Detroit, MI) and sister (Houston, TX) who love to travel together to parts unknown. This year my sister flew into Detroit and we began our journey West. Stops include Davenport, IA, the Amana Colonies in Amana, IA, Marengo, IA, Des Moines, IA, Omaha, NE, Grand Island, NE, Rapid City, SD, Sioux Falls, SD, several cities in MN including Mankato, MN, Wisconsin Dells, WI, Marinette, WI, Mackinaw City, MI and back to Detroit.
            We are also stopping for selfies and pictures along the way at some very interesting and unusual out of the way places that you will see in the blog. Enjoy!
Fun Facts:
  • Total Miles Driven on the complete trip: 3,319 
  • Average Miles Per Gallon for the entire trip: 56.8 MPG
  • Average Miles Per Gallon today: 53.2 MPG
  • Car being driven: 2016 Prius 4
  • Miles Driven Today: 266 Miles
  • Weather: Perfect with temps around 90
     Well, it was a LONG trip; much longer than we anticipated for two siblings. We estimated 2,800 miles before all the side trips so we drove almost 500 miles extra after reaching our destinations.
     Today was a straight drive home after breakfast. We only stopped for quick rest stop breaks. Both of us were more than ready to get home but my sister won't actually fly home to Texas until Thursday. She's ready. 
     We learned that we could travel together for a long time in the car without killing each other and yes there were arguments about trivial things but in the end, we are siblings; family; and in the end we always forgive and forget the things that annoy each other.
     We learned how useful a selfie stick can be when trying to get pictures of each other with something funny in the background and we learned that the selfie stick must be recharged!
     And now Ladies and Gentlemen, enjoy the highlights from our 3,319 mile trip...


Vulcan Hand


Literary Rest Stop
Worlds Largest Wooden Rocking Chair

Freedom Rock

Peter Toth Indian Head

Mt. Rushmore

Courthouse Rock in Nebraska


Dinosaur Park in Rapid City, SD


Near Mt. Rushmore

Mt. Rushmore

Mt. Rushmore

Wall Drug


Wall Drug

Wall Drug


Wall Drug

Wall Drug

Worlds Largest Prairie Dog

Worlds Largest Prairie Dog

Wall Drug

Minuteman Missile Silo

Wall Drug


Mitchell, SD Corn Palace

Mitchell, SD Corn Palace


Wall Drug

Wall Drug

A Town Dear to our Hearts

A Geocache Location


Amphibious Duck Tour in Wisconsin Dells

Mickey-Lu BAR-B-Q (Best hamburgers in the world!)

Mackinaw City, MI

Mackinaw City, MI

Michigan's Mackinaw Bridge 

Saturday, June 10, 2017

Day 11: The Great Sibling Trip 2017

About Us
            We are a brother (Detroit, MI) and sister (Houston, TX) who love to travel together to parts unknown. This year my sister flew into Detroit and we began our journey West. Stops include Davenport, IA, the Amana Colonies in Amana, IA, Marengo, IA, Des Moines, IA, Omaha, NE, Grand Island, NE, Rapid City, SD, Sioux Falls, SD, several cities in MN including Mankato, MN, Wisconsin Dells, WI, Marinette, WI, Mackinaw City, MI and back to Detroit.
            We are also stopping for selfies and pictures along the way at some very interesting and unusual out of the way places that you will see in the blog. Enjoy!
Fun Facts:
  • Total Miles Driven so far: 3,050 
  • Average Miles Per Gallon for the entire trip so far: 56.5 MPG
  • Average Miles Per Gallon today: 67.8 MPG
  • Car being driven: 2016 Prius 4
  • Miles Driven Today: 220 Miles
  • Weather: Perfect with temps around 80 

     Today was another busy day filled with checking out the new Navy war ships being built in Marinette, WI, driving to a new location (our last before coming home), geocaching, taking pictures of the Mackinaw Bridge and eating whitefish and pie at a great restaurant.
     Marinette is the home of a factory that builds the Staten Island ferries and for the last several years, they are building the new generation of war ships. They are rumored to go as fast as 50 knots or more.



     There isn't too much to report about the drive other than driving along the Lake Michigan shoreline is beautiful. We had a stiff wind and I have to tell you that when your drive across the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, you will experience all kinds of weather and temperatures. In our case today, we had temperatures ranging from a chilly 63 degrees to a high of 88 degrees. Unreal.
     On the way today, we turned over 3,000 miles of driving on our trip! As you can see, our average MPG during the entire 3,000 miles is 56.8 MPG.
Traveled over 3,000 miles on this trip

     We had some fun geocaching  but I managed to obtain in injury today (just a scratch but a bleeder).

Logging a geocache

Inside a geocache container












Logging a geocache

Blood on a napkin from the "scratch"

The scratch

     We then had some fun at a local Starbucks.
Bear wrestling
Sneaking up on a bear

     Ugh! One of the most frustrating things we have encountered is SLOW WIFI. Tonight is really bad. It was great before everyone checked in but now it is terrible.
     Due to the slow Internet, I'll just add a couple of pictures of the Mackinaw bridge.


Mackinaw Bridge
Mackinaw Bridge at night


Good night!






Friday, June 9, 2017

Day 10: The Great Sibling Trip 2017

About Us
            We are a brother (Detroit, MI) and sister (Houston, TX) who love to travel together to parts unknown. This year my sister flew into Detroit and we began our journey West. Stops include Davenport, IA, the Amana Colonies in Amana, IA, Marengo, IA, Des Moines, IA, Omaha, NE, Grand Island, NE, Rapid City, SD, Sioux Falls, SD, several cities in MN including Mankato, MN, Wisconsin Dells, WI, Marinette, WI, Mackinaw City, MI and back to Detroit.
            We are also stopping for selfies and pictures along the way at some very interesting and unusual out of the way places that you will see in the blog. Enjoy!
Fun Facts:
  • Total Miles Driven so far: 2,830 
  • Average Miles Per Gallon for the entire trip so far: 56.2 MPG
  • Average Miles Per Gallon today: 56.9 MPG
  • Car being driven: 2016 Prius 4
  • Miles Driven Today: 222 Miles
  • Weather: Perfect with temps around 80 

     Today was another busy day filled with driving to a new location, driving around to take pictures of houses that our ancestors lived in a long time ago, planting flowers on the graves of our father and his family, searching for geocaches and eating. Also, emotions ran high today between my sister and I. It is tough traveling together for 10 days and not have differences between our opinions of life and our lifestyle at our respective homes. In the end we love each other but when one is far away from home, sometimes you tend to miss home.

Breakfast at the Chat n' Chew in Wisconsin Dells
     Last year we ate breakfast at a place that had really good bacon and we found it again this year. We asked the waitress about the specials and she said they really weren't specials but a la carte items added together. When we got our bill, it looked like she gave us a senior discount!
Me at Myrt and Lucy's Chat n Chew

The booths all have decorations

Now featuring...

Look at that slab bacon!

Non-Specials

Waiting for our food

     
Grave Maintenance
     It is hard to get down on the hard ground and dig up grass and ground that has really gotten a good start. I brought a mini shovel and really had to work at getting the soil loosened so we could plant the magnolias that we bought at the local Menards. After planting, I watered them really well. We are hoping that they get a chance to root and grow with the local rain because there isn't anyone to water them regularly here.


Geocaching
     We did some more geocaching this afternoon. We were 2 for 4 today. Sometimes it is just too hard to look for them. For instance, one took us deep into the woods on a trail and then I had to go off the trail into deep woods for 50 feet. Did I mention that the mosquito's were really thirsty out there? I didn't feel like doing that with shorts so we gave up on it. On another I did go into the woods for a short distance and found the geocache shown below.

In the woods

Sample Geocache
Eating at Mickey - Lu Bar - B - Q
     Ever since I was young, we would stop at Mickey Lu's to get some great burgers. After all these years, it's still in business and still using fresh baked crispy buns, fresh ground beef (ground daily) and the freshest Wisconsin butter, onions, spicy mustard, ketchup and pickles.
     The owner is Chuck Finnessy and he remembers me by name when he sees me. Today was no exception. I first created a web page about them in 1998. Here is the link: http://jldr.com/micklu.html 
     Here are the latest pictures from today. Take a close look at the butter oozing out of the burger. Today I ate 4 burgers for lunch and 3 burgers for supper. I only get these once a year if that so I starve myself the day before so I can eat that many.



Outside Mickey-Lu's

The Menu (Look at those prices in 2017)

The charcoal grill


Yum!

Chuck Finessy (the owner) and me


A funny waitress


Melting slab of butter


Someone wearing a Mickey - Lu's T-Shirt