For Father’s Day, I got my husband the Breville ikon Die-Cast blender. It’s a fancy smoothie machine I paid $200 at a Williams-Sonoma.

After only a few uses it cracked. I couldn’t believe it, as it was so expensive and the glass so thick. I called the company, which immediately agreed to replace it free of charge. I don’t even have to send in the original.

However, the company rep admitted to me that many people have called with the same problem, which is caused when the machine’s glass is hot from being washed and then you put in ice. “But it’s a smoothie maker,” I told the guy. “You’re supposed to put in ice!”

“Yeah. If people keep having this problem, we may have to make it with a different glass,” he said sheepishly.

There’s been no recall of this product. But I was thinking how heartbreaking it was to have all this worthless heavy heap of glass and metal end up in the landfill. Nothing is made well anymore.  

A Little Hypocritical?:I was just as surprised as this Salon writer when I heard that Jenna Bush -- this is the First Daughter who was busted with a fake ID in college -- is a published author. The 26-year-old Bush, who is also engaged, wrote Ana’s Story: A Journey of Hope about a Latin American mother with HIV.

Glamour magazine asked her the obvious, if there was any contradiction between the book’s emphasis on condom use and her father’s abstinence-only polices. The First Daughter’s reply:

"I don't think so ... Abstinence is important; if you don't want any chance of getting a disease, then don't have sex. But if you're HIV positive and you have sex, you must always use a condom. You can't talk about being a teenage mother and stopping the spread of AIDS without talking about condoms."

But abstinence-only programs do not mention condoms, Jenna. OTOH, the conversation with her in Glamour magazine was smart, girl-gossipy and fun to read. I couldn’t stop reading!