Wednesday, July 31, 2024

Our20Days Vlog

Dave Poole, a friend and work colleague back in our MeadWestvaco days, has a Vlog (video blog) at the link below, and recently I've been a weekly guest, at least as much as our travels permit.  We talk about a variety of topics from technology to cocktails and Dave edits them down into the final product.  The videos are available at the link below or on the YouTube channel @Our20days.  




Tuesday, July 30, 2024

Carrying Cash

Look at the picture below of the doors to the Speedway on July 19, 2024, in Lore City, Ohio (I-70, exit 186) and you'll see four "CASH ONLY" signs taped to the glass.  Not pictured is a sign that the ATM was down, so there was no way to get CASH.  Fortunately, Gourmet Chef Elaine and I carry CASH regularly, so filling up the tank wasn't an issue.  However, for other travelers, this likely caused some panic.

This outage was the result of a bad Crowdstrike (a cyber-security firm) update that caused millions of BSOD (Blue Screen Of Death) crashes on Microsoft Windows computers.  While the final details are not known, there are two major reasons this caused such a widespread outage.  First, Crowdstrike rolled out this update way too fast.  While it's imperative to get important security updates distributed rapidly, you must start small.  I like the "order of ten" approach.  Roll it out to 10 systems first.  If no problems are reported in an hour, bump it up to 100 systems.  Then 1,000, 10,000, 100,000, etc.  Six hours after you started, you're up to 10 million systems and eliminated the risk that this type of catastrophic failure could happen.

The other major reason this update could cause such an impact is the design of Microsoft Windows.  The code that Crowdstrike uses runs as a kernel process (i.e. has complete control) and if it crashes, Windows crashes.  Other major operating systems, like MacOS and Linux, don't allow that, offering safer ways to do the same thing.  I could go on about why Microsoft chose their design, but they've been making the same mistake all the way back to PC DOS.  As they say, a leopard cannot change its spots.

But the moral of the story is ... CARRY CASH! (at least a little).



Monday, July 29, 2024

Licorice

A Spanish-speaking native of Venezuela recently asked me why some English words sound like they are, for example, licorice.  I had no explanation for why the third syllable, "rice", is pronounced, "rish".  While seeking an answer, I now wonder why "pressure", "sugar", and "issue" all have "h" sounds when no "h" is present.  It appears this is wrapped up in centuries of history as words changed with the most common pronunciation in a country usually winning out.  

But ask a native of England how it's pronounced and you'll likely get "licoriss", no "h".  Sigh...


Friday, July 26, 2024

Sous Vide Baby Back Ribs

Gourmet Chef Elaine's regular baby back rib recipe is fall-off-the-bone delicious every time.  However, we tried something different on a 90+ degree day when having the oven on for hours was not desirable.  We first submerged them in our Sous Vide pot for about five hours at 165 degrees.  Then the fully cooked ribs were slathered in BBQ sauce and finished off on the gas grill until perfectly charred.  



Thursday, July 25, 2024

Migration Pinot Noir

I was shocked when I saw these bottles of Migration, one of our favorite higher-end Pinot Noir's, being sold at Costco for just $39.99.  Migration is one of several labels in a group which includes Duckhorn, Paraduxx, Goldeneye, and their most widely available brand, Decoy.  Notice that these brands all revolve around ducks in some manner, for example, Goldeneye is a species of ducks that have a gold (or amber) eye.  This is a real deal as the cost on their website is listed at $46.00 plus shipping.  




Wednesday, July 24, 2024

Killing The SS

The latest audiobook Gourmet Chef Elaine and I listened to during a road trip to Buffalo is Killing the SS by Bill O'Reilly.  It's the eighth book we've selected from his "Killing" series.  It details the searches for SS leader, Heinrich Himmler, "Angel of Death" Josef Mengele, Martin Bormann, Klaus Barbie, the evil Adolf Eichmann, and many others.  Some were caught quickly while others escaped to friendly South American countries for years or decades, some dying of natural causes before they could be captured.  



Tuesday, July 23, 2024

Fun Guns

People who live in Texas obviously think a little differently about guns when there's a store named MyFunGuns.  Hailing from the city of Waco (there is a joke here I'll avoid), they offer all types of rifles, pistols, and shotguns, along with ammo and accessories.  They even have a blog that discusses firearm laws, gun maintenance, and safety.  I doubt I'll see anything like this in Ohio .. ever.




Monday, July 22, 2024

Govee WiFi Water Sensors

They say that timing is everything and in this case of buying a pair of Govee water sensors, our timing was perfect.  The two little white sensors shown below are placed in front of the furnace and water heater.  They communicate via a gateway box to my smartphone to relay messages when water is detected.  I bought them right after fixing the clog in the condensate tray.  

A week or so later, after returning from a trip to Buffalo, I received an alert and initially thought the condensate tray was plugged up again, but digging into the alert, it was the sensor for the water heater.  I went to the basement and found a small amount of water on the floor.  Since the water heater was over ten years old and we were planning to replace it this year, Gourmet Chef Elaine called our plumber and he replaced the water heater by the middle of the afternoon.  

This story could have ended up a basement-soaking mess, but the timing of deploying the sensors, the small leak occurring while we were home, and Chuck being available immediately made for a fairy-tale ending.




Friday, July 19, 2024

Est Est Est

Est Est Est is an Italian restaurant in Downtown Dayton, located on the south side of the historic Arcade.  My choice for dinner was the delicious braised short ribs with demi glaze, garlic broccolini, and fontina gnocchi.  They have a large wood-fired pizza oven, a variety of pasta, and Happy Hour specials.  Explore the menu at the link below.

Update: As of July 20, this restaurant is closed.




Thursday, July 18, 2024

Cooper's Hawk Wine Tastings

One of the benefits of our Cooper's Hawk Wine Club membership is a pair of monthly wine tastings.  Each tasting consists of eight small pours and you can follow that month's recommended selections or make up your own slate.  While I normally go exclusively reds, I changed it up in July and went all whites, including a taste of sparkling wine, oaked and unoaked Chardonnays, a Gewurztraminer (my fav), and a few others.  For some reason, I think I can get through these tastes in 45 minutes, but as Gourmet Chef Elaine and I get talking, that's nowhere near enough time.  Next time I'll shoot for an hour and pay more attention to the clock.




Wednesday, July 17, 2024

Snaking The Condensate Drain

As I mentioned yesterday, we had water leaking around our furnace which I thought was strange as the furnace doesn't have a water feed to it.   The technician monitored the various pressures involved and looked for a cause, but other than the clogged compressor, couldn't find one.  He even poured water down the external drain pipe (the piece of white, vertical PVC pipe shown below, and it flowed out to the drain without an issue.

But it only place water could be coming from is the evaporator coil and collected by the condensate tray.  From there it flows through a short piece of pipe to reach the drain pipe.  I figured that must be the place it was clogged, but what did I have that I could snake down and around the pipe in tight quarters?  The answer was a long, plastic wire tie.  I worked that into the pipe and sure enough the water started flowing and gurgling.  Problem solved.  Lots of learning on this problem, helped by the drawing of the air conditioning system at the link below.


Tuesday, July 16, 2024

Cleaning The Compressor

Chalk up another thing I never considered: cleaning the vents on the air conditioning compressor.  I was amazed at the amount of grass and other gunk that was clogging the cooling fins, which was causing the unit to exert extra effort to remove heat from the refrigerant.  The trick is to hit the vents at an angle to dislodge the waste from the fins, not shoot the water directly at it.  While this didn't resolve the water leakage issue we had (more on that tomorrow), it noticeably reduced the noise the unit was making.  It's now on my twice-a-year list of home maintenance chores.




Monday, July 15, 2024

ManaBloc Plumbing System

The device below is a ManaBloc Plumbing System.  Instead of a set of continuous hot and cold water pipes, the house's hot (red) and cold (blue) water comes into this junction and is distributed via PEX piping to each appliance, shower, dishwasher, etc. via its own feed.  Water can be turned on and off here eliminating the need for individual shutoff values which always seem to be in places difficult to access.  You can read more about ManaBloc and its benefits at the link below.




Friday, July 12, 2024

Doubledays

When I received the Buffalo Chicken sandwich below the two monster chicken breasts were stacked on each other and I immediately knew what tomorrow's lunch was going to be.  I don't know if the picture really shows their true size and between them, it was close to a pound of chicken.  I do know that the side of mac-n-cheese was both delicious and unnecessary.  So if you're really hungry, Doubledays is the place to go.




Thursday, July 11, 2024

Pantalones

Pantalones Tequila is the brainchild of Matthew and Camila McConaughey and is the smoothest tequila I've ever had.  We had to bring the one you see below back from Texas as it's unavailable in Ohio liquor stores.  It's 100% blue Weber agave and aged for 15 months.  The Anejo version below has flavors that include vanilla and a sweet combo of butterscotch with brown sugar and won double gold at the 2024 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.  This one should be used for sipping only.  Using it in a margarita would be a sin.

More information and to see if you can order it online is at the following link.




Wednesday, July 10, 2024

Zoom, Zoom Grandpa

Texas is just a bit different and nothing in the picture below would tell you, but the speed limit on this road is 70 mph.  In this stretch of road, traffic would take off for a mile or two, hit 70 mph, and then hit the brakes for the next stop light.  Stretches of the road where there were no stoplights and had a wide median were marked 75 mph.  Residential speeds were either 30 or 35 mph instead of our familiar 25 mph.  Not only are things bigger in Texas, they're faster.


Tuesday, July 9, 2024

Covered Garage

Several houses in the Pebble Creek neighborhood in College Station, Texas featured a garage design we had never seen before.  As you can see below, this house has a three-car garage with the roof extending about six feet in front of that to provide shade for another three vehicles.  Keeping your car out of the sun when it's nearly 100 degrees and under a bright blue sky is a really good idea.  Jumping into a car after it has been subjected to this kind of temperature is a bad idea.



Monday, July 8, 2024

Lost Airpod

On our Southwest flight to Texas, the airpod in Gourmet Chef Elaine's left ear fell out and disappeared. We looked everywhere, under the cushions, on the floor, and between and beneath the seats.  Several passengers and a flight attendant joined the search, lighting up their smartphone flashlights.  Nothing.  

After exhausting all possibilities, we returned to our seats, resigned to have to buy another pair. But then Elaine checked a place only she could check, at least in public, and found it ... in her bra. 

I had to make sure that all the people who so graciously helped in the search knew it had been found and of course, they wanted to know where we found it.  We shared where it was found and one guy immediately asked who had found it.  That cracked everyone up.



Friday, July 5, 2024

Kielbasa

Gourmet Chef Elaine sweetened up some Kielbasa with brown sugar for a nice change of pace.  The Kielbasa, which was fully cooked, was placed in a frying pan with a little water and covered to get it steamy hot.  When hot enough, the water was drained, brown sugar added, and stirred to get the Kielbasa coated.  This made a great dinner but with some toothpicks could serve as an appetizer.



Thursday, July 4, 2024

Gavi

We're not big white wine drinkers and we only have a few favorites like the bottle of Massone Massera Gavi shown below that we can only find at Dorothy Lane Market in Centerville.  It comes from the Piedmont region in northeastern Italy and is made from the Cortese grape.  Best served very cold, it's crisp, refreshing, and bone dry.

I recently took a couple of bottles to a party along with several better-known whites (e.g. Chenin Blanc).  Nobody knew what Gavi was and neither bottle was opened.  My feelings, and taste buds, were not hurt when I had to take them home.  If you're ever offered a chance to try Gavi, you should certainly say yes.


Wednesday, July 3, 2024

Killer Windex

It's summertime and that means, despite your best efforts, flies will find their way into your home.  Gourmet Chef Elaine's answer to that is not smashing them with a flyswatter but spraying them with a shot of Windex, even if they are flying around and not stationary.  The fly is grounded and easy to finish off with a paper towel.  It's a brilliant hack and while Windex says it kills 99.9% of germs, it's 100% effective on flies.

Tuesday, July 2, 2024

The Naughty Bench

The swimming pool at Walnut Grove Country Club recently added a red and black bench, as shown below.  It's located next to one of the lifeguard chairs and its purpose is to give misbehaving children a place for a ten-minute timeout.  It allows the lifeguard to keep tabs on the offender without distracting them from keeping eyes on the pool.  But just knowing that acting up will make you the unwelcome and very public center of attention should be enough to get children to obey the lifeguard's directions.  Brilliant!

Monday, July 1, 2024

Black Barn Pickleball

The field shown below was the location of Smiley's Golf and Baseball Center on Linden Avenue which closed nine years ago and has been an eyesore since.  A few months ago the twelve acres were purchased by Black Barn Pickleball with the intent to create the largest indoor pickleball facility in Ohio.  They may also include some outdoor courts as well.  More information is at the link below.