Bent Light Pole

I have no idea how long the light pole you see in the photo below has had a serious bend to it, and I would think I would have noticed this long ago, it's that out of place.  I have to assume that the power line that runs to it must have a large tree limb lying on it, without breaking it, and that force was enough to bend the aluminum pole a couple of feet.  My home city of Kettering, Ohio, has a website, at the link below, where issues can be reported, including street lights, barking dogs, potholes, dead animals, manhole covers, and illegal dumping, among others.

https://www.ketteringoh.org/report-an-issue

Expedited Service

Gourmet Chef Elaine had a horrible delivery experience after ordering an Advent calendar she found in an Instagram advertisement.  She even paid a premium for expedited delivery, only to watch it very slowly traverse the planet.  The snippet of the tracking log shown below doesn't indicate the weeks it took to travel from China (of course) to Spain, but rather the four weeks it spent being transported around Spain and finally entering the United States.  The top line shows the package in Ogden, Utah, nowhere near the intended destination.

Long story short - no more ordering via Instagram.

The Best Of 2025

As is my yearly tradition, I keep track of notable events and experiences during the year, then narrow that down to the top ten, and publish the results over on my Life Experiences blog, each with a short descriptive paragraph, which you can find at the link below.  Each of the balloons below represents one of the top ten adventures.

https://lifeexperiences.paulishing.com/2026/01/the-best-of-2025.html

Using AI To Find Stores

We're in the market for some new end tables and don't want to spend a small fortune, so I turned to the Gemini AI app at the link below.  The question I posed was "List the top five largest discount furniture stores in the southern half of Montgomery County, Ohio," and the list can be seen below, along with a little narrative and their address.  At the bottom, it threw in an extra suggestion, CORT in West Chester, that was a little outside the bounds of the question, but may be worth checking out.

https://gemini.google.com/app

Ruth’s Chris Buttery, Melted Cheese Potato Delight

Included in our Christmas dinner (which we more appropriately call a feast) is the potato casserole shown below.  Gourmet Chef Elaine used a mandolin to make perfectly thin slices of potatoes and combined heavy cream, whole milk, and shredded Gruyère cheese, shredded sharp white cheddar, and grated Parmesan into a creamy sauce.  Garlic powder, salt, and black pepper were the only spices.  Plenty of leftovers that yours truly did not let go to waste.

As often happens, the first time you make a dish, you learn how to improve it the next time, and the chef wants it to cook a little longer and use our oven in convection mode.  I can't wait!

You can find the recipe at the Instagram link below.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DR6HgL1j5qG

Volcan Tequila

Not only is the Volcan shown below a delicious tequila, but its 14.5" tall bottle is stunning.  It comes from the western Mexican state of Jalisco, where tequila is thought to have originated.  When we finish it, we will add it to our small collection of repurposed liquor bottles, which we fill with water and serve at special dinners.

Big shout-out to our friend Janet for this tasty treat!

https://www.volcan.com

BBX Pro

Forget a motorized wheelchair.  This guy is fishing at the Lincoln Park Pond in Kettering, Ohio, from the comfort of his BBX Pro.  That's short for Boomerbuggy X Pro, a micromobility scooter with an enclosed cabin, climate control, and safety features.  The Short Range model will set you back around $6,000 with a battery with a range of about 30-35 miles.  Still, you have to admit, that's pretty cool.

https://medium.com/evolve/discover-the-bbx-pro-a-mobility-scooter-that-redefines-independence-1a64a93b2b65

Radio

For no particular reason, my brain decided it needed to know why it's called a "radio", like Gourmet Chef Elaine's Sony shown below.  At first, I figured it might be an acronym like "laser" or "scuba", but that's not it.  It's derived from the Latin root word "radius," which means a spoke of a wheel or a beam of light, and words like "radiate", "radial", and "radius".  

At first, "radio" was used as a prefix, for example, a "radiophone" or "radio-conductor", anything that moved in "rays" or "radiated" energy.  While initially called "Wireless Telegraphy" and preferred across the British Empire, "Radio" was the preferred term in Continental Europe and the United States.  By the early 1900s, "radio" was crowned the worldwide winner, although still as a prefix.

By the 1920s, as broadcasting became a massive public medium for music and news, people dropped the "telegraphy" or "telephony" suffixes. The shortened version, radio, became the standard noun we use today.

Changing GMail Address

Google has announced that its Gmail users will be able to change their email addresses.  This is great news for people who have legally changed their name, for example, brides.  It could provide relief for people who regret choosing some goofy name long ago.  While you could always just set up a new email account, it's a hassle to get everyone to change your contact information and migrate calendar entries and files.  Now you can keep your single account, and both the old and new email addresses will deliver to your one Inbox.  Read the details and restrictions at the link below.

https://www.howtogeek.com/google-is-finally-letting-users-change-their-gmail-address

Standing Rib Roast

Gourmet Chef Elaine made the 6-pound Standing Rib Roast you see below, resulting in the best prime rib I've ever eaten.  The day before, she coated the meat with kosher salt and put it, uncovered, in the refrigerator overnight.  Using the reverse sear method, she set the oven at 225 degrees and let the meat roast for a little over three hours until the internal temperature reached the medium-rare temperature of 125 degrees.  The roast came out of the oven, and the temperature increased to 500 degrees.  Back in the oven for 7-8 minutes to sear the outside.  Be careful when you open the oven door, as there will be spitting going on.  All the details can be found at the link below.

We bought the roast at our local Dot's Market, where the butcher removed the ribs and then tied them to the roast.  That kept the extra flavor that the bones provide while making it much easier to carve.  Pro tip!

https://www.foodnetwork.com/how-to/packages/food-network-essentials/everything-to-know-about-prime-rib