Welcome to 2013. Honeywell RTH221B Basic Programmable Thermostat

Hello everyone!

Thanks for coming back to Taste of Zach. One of my many new years resolutions is to get back into my weekly updates. I have enjoyed so many items since summer time and won't be able to review everything from memory but I am determined to get back into writing again. So to start off let me tell you about some a couple items I have bought off Amazon.

Honeywell RTH221B Basic Programmable Thermostat

I bought this product because of it's high review from Amazon and for it's price. It works fine during the summer time but after my 30 day guarantee AND now that it has gotten cold I have a problem. I programmed the thermostat to be a higher temperature in the morning. It turns out the device never tells my heater to stop running. Now this doesn't happen all the time but when it does I have to go to the circuit breaker to stop my heater from turning my house into an oven. This could be a faulty unit but Honeywell's customer service has been agonizing.

I contacted them at the beginning of November and in the last 3 weeks I have given them proof that I have purchased the item, I have told them I am past my 30 day return window and that I can't return it (that was Honeywell's first suggestion...), and recently they told me that I need to call the Technical Support office. I would be fine with this but they are only open during standard business hours(I think 9-4)... while I am working at a standard business. Also the customer support themselves haven't been helpful and my last email response was just rude.

Customer Service:  "I'm not certain how you expect this to go ... This type of thing generally requires the person seeking the information to invest in the process to some degree or extent... "
 -attn: Paul Arntzen

I have been trying to fix this problem for weeks. It is hard to ignore a problem when it changes your condo's temperature 30 degrees and wastes electricity.

What is the lesson to take away? Test all programmable settings/times (hot and cold) within 30 days and hope that, even though it worked during your testing (mine works 50% of the time), you do not have a faulty unit. Also Honeywell might as well have no customer service so don't depend on that. Look at alternatives like the Nest thermostat.

How it was consumed: via my condo built in the 80s

Rating: 3/10 not worth the time.

In Time Review

 In Time stars Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, Cillian Murphy, Olivia Wilde, Alex Pettyfer, Johnny Galecki, and Vincent Kartheiser. I knew this film could go one of two ways. It could have been the next Inception or it they could have wasted my time. Sadly this was the latter.

In Time had way too many time puns to be considered entertaining. Some of the puns are TimeKeeper, Your time is up, lets clean his clock, and many other puns that I am trying hard to forget.

Also the movie tries to be cute by having the two renegaded characters quote each other from a previous time in the movie as if it is an inside joke. "You can do a lot in a day." and "You can't steal what has been stolen" is the two I remember. This came across as trying to hard besides cute.

This movie was way too long as well. I don't think it would save the movie if they made it shorter but it sure would have helped. The movie is 115 minutes.

Another problem with the movie is that it was too preachy. I get it people in other countries are practically slaves living day to day. You can see this at http://slaveryfootprint.org . That is a pretty cool site and gets you thinking. On the other hand, this movie just makes you think "Why did I waste my time with such a below average movie if my time is so valuable?" Maybe if they didn't bluntly hammer this point constantly I would have been alright with it. I mean it is on of the messages behind the movie and it is an important message but use some more grace or art or something.

Also there is a scene in the movie where the daughter quickly guesses her father's safe combination. She says something like this "Well it isn't my birthday. You always regretted that day didn't you daddy?" That line was sort of out of no where if you watch the movie. In fact there is a time where her dad tries to save her a few times. She continues with her thought "Try 02-12-18-09. It's Darwin's birthday". Of course it is right. Who would need a second guess? The father has said that the rich and poor gap is a survival of the fittest once during the movie... obviously it is Darwin's birthday. You know all those fat cats justify their actions via Darwin's quote so why not base your safe combination on it?

At times the plot is too obvious or just straight up unbelievable. I understand it is fiction but things like when the daughter of a rich man stocks a poor guy who just received a lot of money is odd. Then by some chance Timberlake plays a few hands at one table and meets that same person when she beats her father at a poker table. Then this stranger is invited to their home where Timberlake takes the 25 year old daughter (Though she could be anywhere between 17-40 because of the physics of the world) skinny dipping outside her fathers house where he is having a party. This woman, who has never swam nor has gone in the ocean before, follows this stranger naked into the ocean. Maybe she wants to die or has mental issues but odd character actions/reactions like this takes you out of the fantasy of it.

On a similar note it was hard to provoke emotion when a persons clock stopped. I am sure a lot of directors would have this problem as well but it was another bit that was annoying enough to take me out of some of the moments.

I expected more form the guy who wrote/directed Gattaca. That movie is pretty cool if you have never scene it. I tried to give the movie the benefit of the doubt by assuming it was ruined by Hollywood suits who forced the writers or directors hand. Or maybe by a director who only like the idea of the script went on a random movie tangent but after seeing the final scene of this movie,

 SPOILER ALERT that doesn't affect the story line or matter too much


They continue to rob banks for the rest of their lives...


SPOILER ENDS

You realize that it was directed and written by the Andrew Niccol.

I have so much more to say about this movie but I am sure this will do.

Rating: 3/10 Not worth the time