I have one like this. They are cordless, a loop of cording fits in over the black gear and hangs down 15 inches or so. You pull on this loop to crank the blinds up and down. If you turn the black gear, the blinds should lower. The catch with replacing the cords is that they are one continuous loop, without any kind of knot. They are fused or something like that to make them smooth to run thru the gear. These blinds are nice since they don't have long cords hanging down to deal with. HTH

"Now I am planning to test my house for Radon. I don't have a basement but the townhouse was built on a concrete slab. Where do you suggest I test? And since this is a 2 level townhouse, do I test upstairs as well as on the 1st floor?" On what level are the entranceways to the townhome? If they are on the first level, I would check both the first and second level. This is due to constant ventilation of the first floor area when opening and closing the doors, so the upper level may actually have a higher radon content. If the doors are on the second level, as I've seen sometimes, then checking the lowest living area should be sufficient. As for the granite, this is some of what I've found: Granite is a normal, geological source of radiation in the natural environment. All of the minerals in granite contain some radioactive elements: the white or pink feldspars contain potassium-40 (which is also present in bananas and kiwis, as well as salt substitutes), the black biotites and horn-blendes contain potassium-40, uranium ore and thorium, and the small inclusions of minerals such as zircon, apatite, etc. contain uranium and thorium. The inclusions can contain the highest amounts of radioactive materials. From this I would say the radioactive content can vary greatly within a small area. We have responded to several people's requests to test their granite, and none have registered any radiation levels of note. But, they are few and far between, as Dr. Llope has found some, so the only way to be certain is to survey the granite for radiation. But the chances of your granite being of radiological concern are very slim. Joel

Right as I mentioned my phone has the ability to create a hotspot for tethering but the unite provides more connections to it and also as shown in the article (pictures of speed tests) has much much better speeds and a very long lasting battery (very similar to using a home router). Using the cell phone for tethering multiple devices is often slow going and can not last as long as the battery on the unite. If I only used it rarely that would be ok but when we are traveling I am on the unite exclusively for the entire trip long term and the difference between it and the phone hotspot is significant and worth the price for it. Verizon has a similar offering too. I was curious if there were any other stand alone options other than ones that had to be part of an existing phone plan as I have now. That way I could go with a cheap cell phone plan and a separate stand alone wifi device plan. I have seen that you can get the unite as a prepaid version and use the cards you buy for minutes. That is something I am looking at. I would ideally like to separate the two so I can really drop down in the cell phone rates since we really don't use them much. I like having my smart phone but I can live with less there but not with out my portable wifi device. I did try just using the cell phone hotspot tethering but it just does not compare to using the unite. It is provided in my plan and on my phone so I can use that option anytime. Once you have experienced the difference between those 2 options it is hard to not have the unite and just go with phone hot spot.

Consider this a CONSUMER ALERT! I believe it is important to put this information out onto the internet on any consumer site for those who may be considering the purchase any greenhouse. DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT do business with the Green House Mega Store / International Greenhouse Company or any of its affiliates. If anyone has posted any positive reviews on this company they are friends, family members or employees or they have never bought a greenhouse from them. These are my main complaints; the product I purchased was a hobby greenhouse for my wife, the reviews, price and information about this greenhouse made it appealing. The greenhouse arrived in two separate packages, one contained the plastic panes the other had the aluminum pieces for the frame. They use a strange plastic boxing material, the one that contained the aluminum was shredded when it arrived. My wife and I opened the package and found most of the aluminum was fine however some of the pieces we dented on the ends and some had other minor damage I corrected/fixed with a rubber mallet. We proceeded to put the greenhouse together which from the onset we recognized it was a piece of junk, very flimsy, poorly manufactured and not what was represented in the advertising, and the direction stink. Half way through constructing this junk we decided we should return it for a refund and consider a different greenhouse…this is when all of my problems started with this company. I contacted the Customer Service department to see if they would send UPS to pick the greenhouse up for a return and a refund, eventually after much frustration I was put in contact with Sam George who is somehow related to David George the President of this company. Sam was not very responsive when I first tried to contact him and he did eventually answered my emails. After I described my experience and disappointment with their product and that I wanted to return it, he explained I would have to pay for shipping the merchandise back and pay a 15% restocking fee which he reduced to 10% after my objections to their absurd policies (he thought this was a kind gesture)…in one email Sam instead of trying to work with me suggested I keep the greenhouse because the cost of returning it would be too expensive…WHAT?! Basically he believed by making it difficult for me to return the item that I would just keep it because of the hassle. Sam further stated that once a package is opened then returned to them they charge a restocking fee, I tried to explain to him one of the packages was shredded, unusable to return any items, and I further stated how can any consumer decide if a product is usable, damaged or a decent product without opening the package? Any consumer is immediately put at a disadvantage when they order any product from this company, any consumer would have to refuse the package when delivered by UPS at the point of delivery and never open it to have any chance of getting a full refund and not paying any shipping fees. I believe the company intentionally makes this process difficult so you are stuck with their merchandise whether you like it or not. I believe they have deceptive and unfriendly policies which are not geared to help a dissatisfied customer and are only concerned with making any margins/profit at any cost to the consumer. Not only did I pay for shipping, this company will make money from the 10% restocking fee, then they will repackage it and sell it to some other uninformed consumer, this is a win situation for this company while the consumer is taken advantage of at a huge cost to the consumer. Because of where I live I buy most things over the internet, I have literally spent thousands of dollars buying anything you could imagine, some things so large they had to be crated. I can honestly say I have NEVER been treated so poorly by any company when I needed to return an item, in fact I have never had to pay for shipping any item back or was ever charged a restocking fee. Every company I have dealt with has been respectful and did everything they could do to make sure they could correct any issues I might have had, and understood I would always be a loyal customer because of good customer service. Conversely this company is the opposite of anything I have ever experienced. READ their supposed “NO-HASSLE” return policy, I find it ironic this company has the nerve to post on their website a “NO-HASSLE” return policy. Their “NO-HASSLE” return policy cost me hours of aggravation, hours of my time packaging and driving to a UPS shipping depot, $136 to ship the merchandise back and a 10% restocking fee – As a side note to shipping this piece of junk merchandise back, the shipping outlet charged us extra because the shipping material I was able to reuse for one of the packages was determined as insufficient packaging material - I worked for UPS for 10 years and I agree the material is not good. This company operates on deceptive unethical principles and policies and will do nothing for a dissatisfied consumer and in fact does everything possible not to help a consumer. STAY AWAY from this company, we reordered a different greenhouse from a different manufacturer and company, the greenhouse was more expensive however the quality does not compare to the junk this unethical company is pedaling. I actually called the new/different company I bought the new greenhouse from before I ordered it, what a difference in customer service! They were so kind and helpful, and after I explained this dilemma with the Greenhouse Mega Store they even discounted my purchase! These unscrupulous people who run this company should spend a month of training with this other store to learn the value of customer service and try to acquire some usable people skills. If you still do any business with the Green House Mega Store / International Greenhouse Company or any of its affiliates after reading this then it’s on you because you have been fairly warned.