We heat with a woodstove in my house. Now, you may be wondering, with temperatures in the 90s here in California, why would I be thinking about heat? Because now is the time to get our wood stock in for the fall. Everywhere I look on our nearly four acres, I see Manzanita just waiting to be cut up and stashed in our woodshed.

For that, I use an Alligator Lopper from Black & Decker. It’s an electrical chainsaw with a protective jaw so I don’t cut off a leg while doing yard work. Plus, unlike a gas-powered chainsaw, I can turn it on. But being electrical, it requires access to power. And that means sticking close to the house, where the outlets are.

I’ve lusted after a power generator with some heft, something I could carry around the property to set up where I’m cutting; but those tend to be pricey and, well, hefty.

That’s why I’m intrigued by the Xantrex 400-Watt DC Powerpack. This is a rechargeable unit that you can haul around where you need the power. It includes jumper cables, an AC charger that recharges the Powerpack from a standard wall outlet, and a DC charging cable to recharge the unit from the battery of a vehicle. It also includes a built-in air compressor with nozzle adapters.

A display tells you how much battery capacity you have left and the watts of power being drawn from its two AC outlets. Two AC outlets?! That means I could run two appliances — the Alligator and an Hawaiian ice machine I’ve also been eyeing, which, when you’re cutting wood in 90-degree weather, could also be considered a necessity.

Come July 1, those of us traveling in California will be facing fines if we drive while holding a cellphone to our ears. The fines aren’t huge — a first offense is $20, but with penalty assessments that adds up to $76. Personally, I can’t use my phone while I’m behind the wheel — I weave all over like Carol Migden on a bad allergy day. But I can’t say the same for Significant Other. She frequently calls me while I’m at my desk, and I say, “Are you driving right now?” If there’s a pause on the other end, I know what the answer is.

So it’ll be easy for me to justify the cost of a couple of new headsets for our vehicles. I’d rather it went to buying new stuff than to landing ignominiously with a small tinkle in the State of California general fund or, worse, having somebody I love plow into a tree.

I’m looking at the Aliph Jawbone Wireless Cell Phone Headset – an elegant choice SO is sure to approve of. A lot of readers have weighed in on this model, and here’s the sense I get:

This headset does an amazing job of blocking out background noise. (I’m thinking our 5-year-old counts in the backseat definitely counts in that category.)

It’s nice looking — always a good thing when you’re walking around with a dongle dangling off your head.

The sound itself gets mixed reviews. Some say it’s excellent; others call it “tinny.”

The controls are in a weird position on the device, but since you don’t really need to use them much, that’s OK with most users.

You can easily bust something when you take it out of the recharging cradle. On that recharger, apparently, the company doesn’t offer one for the car — rather an oversight.

The earpieces included with the unit are horrible. They don’t fit well, especially if you have small ears. (But even if your ear isn’t small, it’s still custom to you.) Many users seem to be replacing them with Jabra EarGels.

Well, looks frequently trumpet usability in this household. Tinny tone and lousy earpiece be hanged! California Highway Patrol, here we come…!