Reviewing the Conbola Portable Cordless Fan with Lantern

The Conbola cordless fan was recommended to me by a friend who is an avid gardener and lives in a state that is farther south, with a warmer climate, than where I live. She used the fan while gardening on warm days. I may live farther north but I can't stand our humid and hot days. This fan made this summer's camping trips so much more comfortable. 

The Conbola Portable Cordless Fan

The Conbola Portable Cordless Fan is advertised as a durable, portable fan that can be used while camping, garages or jobsites, fishing, and in combination with beach umbrellas. This fan can also be used in kitchens, at desks, and in any area that you'd like just a bit of a personal breeze. It is a quiet fan. Our building at work is an older building with heating and cooling issues. I know that I will take this fan with me to work so that I can work at my desk in comfort when the building feels like a sauna. I am not exaggerating. Almost anyone who works in an old building 

• Portable; cordless
• Quiet Fan; four speeds
• LED light; 3 settings
• 270 degree rotation
• hooks for hanging
• 24 - 48 hours of operation
• USB-A port that can be used to charge your other devices
• rechargeable, USB C, 25400mAh Battery
• charging cord included

This fan comes in different styles. I choose the fan with the USB-C charging system. Before camping trips, I am able to fully charge the fan at home then pack it in with my camping gear. There is also a solar recharging version if you would prefer. 

Camping

I have never enjoyed hot and humid weather. But I love to go camping. I prefer primitive campsites which means in a tent, or a sleeping bag on the ground. Maybe in the back of the bed of the truck. Definitely, without water or electrical hook-ups for RVs. I'm older now, so I have an A-frame, pop-up camper which provides some conveniences but I still choose the secluded sites with no water or electric hook-ups. 

This summer I was thrilled to have a Conbola fan with me. On one particular camping weekend, the weather was hot and humid. Even while I was parked under a thick stand of shade trees, I had a hard time being comfortable. But I had the Conbola fan in the pop-up camper. This fan moves far more air than I had expected. And the battery lasted much longer than I had expected. Initially, I ran it for only short periods of time (an hour at a time) to try to ensure having a fan for the entire weekend. After that first day, I ran it for hours at a time, with confidence. 

Portable Cooling on the Homestead

I may decide to use this fan in the winter to better circulate the hot air from the woodstove. I had also thought that this little fan would be perfect if I still had rabbits. Rabbits have fur and are easy to keep comfortable in cold weather. But rabbits are like me in that they don't do as well during hot summer days. Rabbit owners are often sharing tips with each other to help keep their rabbits cool. This fan would easily hang on their cage and provide a cooling breeze (note: under roof or other protection. I do not believe these fans are water resistant).  I imagine that there may be other situations in which pets and animals would maybe require cooling. And, as my gardening friend demonstrated with her Conbola fan, some folks benefit from taking a fan with them while gardening. 

As a Gift

This fan would make a great gift! I'm thinking of dorm rooms, craft/art studios, attic bedrooms, folks who have booths at summer festivals, and people who like to be prepared for low or no power emergency situations. Or, do you know people who live in the same home and participate in "thermostat wars" because one person is too cold and one is too hot? This would make a great gift for the person who prefers to have a personal breeze blowing. I am positive that you are able to think of someone who would put a quiet, cordless fan to good use. 

Related Links

I found my Conbola Fan on Amazon during a time that the price was reduced. 

If you prefer to shop the Conbola website, you will also find a large variety of their fans, lighting, and energy storage.

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN), Esty (Awin), and/or Zazzle Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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The Day I Started Questioning Time: A Journey That Began at Eight Years Old

 

I've Been Obsessed with Time Since I Was 8 Years Old

That sounds like a strange thing for an eight-year-old to say, doesn't it? But I remember it vividly. 

I was eight, my brother was six, and we were trying to let Mom sleep in. 

Our mornings were often filled with old Shirley Temple movies and wild imaginations. We'd turn a blanket into a "boat," grab canned goods from the kitchen, and pretend we were setting sail — sometimes to escape danger, sometimes just to explore.

One morning, standing in the hallway, I asked my brother a question that still echoes in my soul today:

"Why are you you and me me?"

He probably shrugged it off, eager to get back to our blanket boat, but that question never left me. Even at eight, I felt the weight of my own existence — this sense that "I" was something separate and conscious, and that somehow Time and existence were connected in ways I couldn't understand yet.

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When Time Became a Fascination

As I got older, that awareness of Time grew into an obsession. 

Not the kind that makes you late for appointments or stare at clocks (though I've done both), but the kind that makes you wonder: what exactly is Time?

I became drawn to time travel movies and stories that twisted the rules of reality and blurred the boundaries between "then" and "now." They weren't just entertainment for me — they were portals into possibilities. I didn't separate the spiritual from the scientific; I was open to it all.

Can we move through Time? Are we souls who return again and again? Or are we simply fleeting passengers on a one-way track? I never dismissed any of it — God, aliens, reincarnation, time loops, you name it — because every theory felt like it was reaching for the same truth.

Now, as an adult, I believe our souls are timeless. The "me" I felt at eight still feels like the "me" I am today — wiser maybe, but still that same spark. 

The answer to "why are you you and me me?" has softened over the years into something beautifully simple: love and kindness are the only measures, Time is the vehicle. You are always you, and I am always me.

I've come to understand (for me) that we are always our spirit, always our consciousness, always us. It's never been a crap shoot, which is one of the things I felt at 8 years old, that I no longer feel at 65 years old.

No matter who we are, where we came from, or where we go, it's love and kindness that anchor us. When we step away from that, Time loses its purpose, the vehicle stalls — it just becomes noise in the background instead of a rhythm in our heart. The rhythm of growth NEEDS love, it NEEDS kindness. The rest IS noise that only slows our learning down.

---

Writing My First Poem About Time When I Was a Teenager in the 1970s

By seventeen, I could already feel Time slipping by. I remember taking the train from my small town to Toronto to visit a friend — about a three-and-a-half-hour ride. Somewhere along the way, watching the world blur past the window, I wrote a poem about Time.

It was the 1970s, and I was a teenager — but even then, I felt the strange ache of hours passing too quickly (crazy, I know! I was so young yet felt the ticking clock). 

Later, in my thirties, I rewrote that same poem, layering it with the wisdom and wear that life had given me. 

In my fifties, I revised it once more, adding even more perspective, as if each decade had given me a new lens through which to see Time.

If I am gifted more Time, will I revise the poem again? I think about that.

Below is that poem, one that has traveled with me for nearly 50 years now — a kind of map of how Time has shaped me.

TIME'S GIFT

Time heals
Promising closure
Shrinking scars like popping bubbles
As it prepares our gift
Time's benefaction is objectivity to our past
Building an awareness of yesteryears
Defogging our vision for truth
Generously donating our package of clarity

Time lies only to those
who misuse its precious moments,
Lines entrenched on our face
can devour redeemable blemishes
By gracefully accepting our package
healing eyes can widen to witness dissipating mist

Time promises blessed tomorrows
Let us put away our spinning wheels
plunge forward with our lesson
accept our bequest from Time, and yes!
We will have morning smiles

By Barbara Tremblay Cipak, Copyrighted

50 Years of Poetry - We Will Have Morning Smiles - Available on Amazon

Time Travel Movies and Timeless Lessons

It's fair to say I've seen nearly every time-travel movie ever made. 

I seek them out, not for the science fiction, but for the spiritual resonance they carry. There's something about them that feels true on multiple levels.

Many philosophers suggest that Time isn't linear — that everything, past and future, is happening all at once. Whether that's scientifically provable or not doesn't matter much to me. What matters is that it feels right.

The only real Time that exists is this moment — the present.

When I first read that idea, I couldn't quite grasp it. 

"What do you mean, only the present exists?" I'd think. We have memories, plans, regrets, and hopes — of course, Time is more than just the present.

But as I've aged, I've come to understand what it really means:
You can reflect on yesterday and plan for tomorrow, but you can only live in the present.

This very moment — writing these words, breathing this breath — is Time. Everything else is memory or imagination. 

It took years, but I FINALLY understand that at my core.

---

When Time Stands Still

Living in the present doesn't mean ignoring the future or the past. It just means that you live fully in the moment you're in — even when that moment hurts.

Life has its seasons of chaos and heartbreak, but even in those times, I've learned that joy can still exist. It might be quieter, more fragile, but it's still there — tucked into laughter through tears, or a single kind gesture that reminds you that love never disappears, it just changes form.

That's where Time stands still — in those sacred, love-filled moments.

---

Closing Thoughts: What Time Has Taught Me

If Time has taught me anything, it's that every second matters — not because we're racing against a clock, but because each moment is a chance to choose love over fear, kindness over indifference, and presence over distraction.

Maybe that's why I've always been obsessed with Time.

Because somewhere deep down, I knew it wasn't about minutes or hours —
It was about being alive in them.

Blessings, Love Barbara xxoo

P.S. I've written a flash fiction story about the concept of life, lessons learned, and ultimately Time and what matters available here on ReviewThisReviews - you can find it here.

A Video I Created at 60 Years Old, Sitting Quietly With My Mother

My mom passed away in 2021, and she will forever be a part of my every breath, in this life and beyond. This video remains my current reflection on what Time means to me, now that I am 65 years old.

If I were to revise my above poem, "Time’s Gift" again, I’d add the message from this video: that life’s lessons matter, yes, but it’s the love we share and receive that truly sustains us and moves us forward.

Dedication – With heartfelt appreciation to my fellow writers at ReviewThisReviews.com, and especially to Sylvestermouse and Margaret, whose friendship and creativity continue to light the way. Time has been my friend because you are in my life.

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN), Esty (Awin), and/or Zazzle Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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Love in the Present Tense - Book Review

Love in the Present Tense is an inspiring story of love in all its many forms. 

Synopsis of Love in the Present Tense by Catherine Ryan Hyde

Love in the Present Tense

Pearl is a street kid who, on her 13th birthday, becomes pregnant and accidentally kills the baby’s father, a police officer. She spends the next five years moving around, trying to keep hidden from the police who search for her and attempting to keep baby Leonard safe. Eventually, her past catches up with her and she never returns after leaving Leonard with her neighbor, Mitch.

Mitch is far from the ideal caretaker--he’s having an affair with a client’s wife--but he and Leonard must find a way to bridge the gap between them as they bond as parent and child. As time goes on, Leonard becomes very close to Mitch, but he never stops feeling Pearl's presence in a tangible way: her 'forever love' for him.  And Mitch discovers that taking care of Leonard is the best thing that ever happened to him.

The story's characters include a tough teen (Pearl), her sweet son (Leonard, age 5 at the beginning of the story, smart and loving and suffering from a degenerative eye disease), and the 25-year-old neighbor, Mitch, who maintains a home business. 

Summary

Narrated in the alternating voices of the principal characters, this novel is an examination of relationships and special bonds. Events go back and forth in time from one chapter to the next. Mitch and Leonard grow up together, through the power and the magic of the human heart.

Author Catherine Ryan Hyde once again gives us an astoundingly wise portrayal of human nature. 

*Review of the novel, Love in the Present Tense, was written by Wednesday Elf

 

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Wednesday Addams American Girl Doll Review

Wednesday is a popular Netflix series based on Wednesday Addams of the Addams Family. The first season, which aired in 2022, saw Wednesday, who is played by Jenna Ortega, try to solve a murder at Nevermore Academy. 

The series received positive reviews from the critic with Wikipedia saying that it was "the second most watched English Netflix series." The second season was released in 2025 and the show has since been renewed for a third season.

DOLL DESCRIPTION

The show is popular enough to have created some interesting merchandise including the American Girl doll named Wednesday who appears here on this page. The Hollywood Reporter says that the American Girl doll company has “gone goth.” For this doll, American Girl partnered with Amazon MGM Studios.

Packed in a special collector box with a certificate of authenticity, she sold for $295 U.S. According to American Girl Fandom, she was released on July 21, 2025 and sold out six days later on July 27, 2025. The limited-edition doll, with a run of 6,000 individually numbered dolls, was available on both the American Girl and the Amazon websites. 

Wednesday is like many other Truly Me American Girl dolls, measuring 18-inches with opening and closing eyes, a vinyl head and limbs and a soft body. This doll, of course, looks like the Wednesday character that many love. She has black pigtails, bangs that are called ‘curtain bangs', painted eyelashes, feathered eyebrows and freckles. Her black velvet dress has a white sateen Peter Pan-style collar and long sleeves. The dress features an embroidered pattern that looks like a floral print and has interesting black buttons. She wears black tights and panties and shiny black patent kitten-heel Mary Jane-style shoes. Her accessories include a Thing figurine, two bags of piranhas and a fake silver-colored obsidian necklace.

Better Homes and Gardens predicts that, at least in part because of the popularity of Wednesday, this Halloween will see a trend to “dark academia, gothic, Victorian, and downright spooky style and decor.” I agree and think that this doll would make a great part of anyone's Halloween decor collection. Plus, because of the fact that it is a limited-edition doll, I believe that it will increase in value in the years to come. 

UNBOXING VIDEO

Here's a short video unboxing of Wednesday:

BUY WEDNESDAY

Since Wednesday is sold out, you will have to look to resellers to find her. Click here to find your Wednesday Addams American Girl doll on eBay. If you can get your hands on one of these dolls, you’ll be doing the Wednesday Dance for sure!

OTHER MERCHANDISE

Other Wednesday Addams toys have included a Monster High doll and a Fisher-Price Little People figurine set.  You will find thousands of new, used and vintage Wednesday Addams-themed merchandise on eBay by clicking here. I even saw a pair of Dr. Martens Wednesday themed boots!

Don't miss out on the Wednesday merchandise at Amazon, either! Click here to see the collection there. 

Happy Haunting!

Brenda

MORE HALLOWEEN & AMERICAN GIRL DOLL READING:

Play-Doh's Count Creepyhead Playset.

Discover Jim Henson's General Mills' Monsters Cereal.

What is Summerween?

American Girl Doll Items in my eBay store!

American Girl Doll Sewing Patterns.

A Locker for American Girl Dolls.

  

 

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN), Esty (Awin), and/or Zazzle Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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Cute Blue Owl Collection - From the Heart

My cute blue owl design is one of those designs when I just have a general thought in mind, which is one of my favorite ways to create.

I find it more freeing, and I am especially pleased when it turns out really well, i.e. to my liking. That is not always the case. But it did happen for the blue owl design.

I began with a general sketch of an owl and then continued using my paint brush. One side looked bigger than the other; no problem, I just made adjustments and continued with the flow. That is what is so great about it; designing this way, I get to go with the flow. And like I said, sometimes it turns out really well.

My first cutesy product that I made was general in nature, a Hello postcard was first.

Cute Abstract Owl Custom Postcards
by CherylsArt

Then I made three birthday products with my blue owl painting. Approximately two weeks after my creations, six of the Hello postcards were sold. Yay. I didn't give it much thought and went on to whatever else I had going on.

It wasn't until over a year later that a set of my blue owl birthday stickers sold. This time, it got my attention. 'I should see what kind of owl items are being purchased on Zazzle.' Wrapping paper was one of them, and I had already designed a blue owl product on tissue paper. Okay, that's it. I'll make a birthday suite featuring this cute, adorable, blue owl.

And sometimes, that is how it goes for me. I don't always have everything planned from the start. It just kind of unfolds in due time.

This is how my flow unfolded for this Cute Blue Owl Birthday suite. Hope you like it. The products include wrapping paper, tissue paper, paper napkins, paper plates, birthday invitations, and more.

Cute Blue Owl Birthday
by CherylsArt

If there is an additional product that you would like me to add it to, let me know in a comment below.

Cheryl Paton

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN), Esty (Awin), and/or Zazzle Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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