Surf And Turf

Part of our order with D'Artagnan was two 6-oz Wagyu filets and two 6- 7-oz lobster tails.  Gourmet Chef Elaine cut open the lobsters, boiled them for two minutes, and low-broiled them for another two minutes.  The filets received the normal treatment of four minutes in a cast-iron skillet, followed by four minutes in a 425-degree oven.  Add a little melted butter and we're eating like royalty.

https://www.dartagnan.com

Medicine Cabinet

The recessed medicine cabinet in the upstairs bathroom needed to be replaced, and after much measuring to make sure we got the exact width and an acceptable height, we settled on this all-metal, thin-black-edge, big mirror choice you see below.  Inside, it has three shelves, including one high enough for Gourmet Chef Elaine's tall hair products.  I had to cut a couple of 18"-wide 2x4's, screw them into the vertical studs at the top and bottom of the opening, cover them with pieces of drywall, and patch, sand and paint them.  The cabinet slid right in and four screws are used to keep it in place.  

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D22HYF9X

Transition Strip

We recently had our upstairs bedrooms carpeted, and as you can see in the first picture below, the old wooden transition strips did not do a good job of covering the seams. We were concerned that over time, they would fray even worse.  I was fortunate to buy new transition strips that were a bit wider, as shown in the second picture.  But what you can't see is that the metal U-shaped channel the transition strip gets secured to was not tall enough to reach.  I figured that I would just buy a taller channel, but I couldn't find any at Home Depot or Lowe's.  I resolved the issue by buying a 1-inch-wide, 1/4-inch deep piece of wood from Greive Hardware, cutting it to the proper width, removing the channel, screwing the wood into the floor, screwing the channel on top, and pressing the transition strip into place.  While it took ten times longer (at least) than I thought it would, the result was worth it.

Dustin Miller

After the new carpet, chairs, and bedspread, the paint on the walls of our bedroom and dressing room had to change, and we opted for Sherwin-Williams Cashmere brand paint.  The two darker accent walls in the picture below are Aleutian, described as a cool denim blue that settles on your space like calm personified.  The other walls are Alabaster, a warm, cozy, peaceful white.

The painting was done by Dustin Miller, who does a lot of painting jobs for friends of ours, and he did a great job, finishing in one day.  If you find yourself in need of a painter, I'll be happy to send along his contact information.

https://www.sherwin-williams.com/en-us/color/color-family/white-paint-colors/SW7008-alabaster

https://www.sherwin-williams.com/en-us/color/color-family/blue-paint-colors/SW6241-aleutian

Apple Mail Inbox

A recent update to Apple Mail on Gourmet Chef Elaine's iPad resulted in a significant amount of additional content for each email, as shown on the left side of the first screenshot below.  The first two lines of the email were added below the subject line, and a totally worthless picture, initials, or a star occupied the space on the left side of the sender's name.  Calling upon her technical support staff (i.e., me), a quick solution was found.  The culprits were "Shown Contact Photos", which was turned on, and "Preview", which was set to "2 Lines", as shown in the second screenshot.  In the third screenshot, you can see the changes to those two settings that resulted in the condensed left-hand panel shown in the last screenshot.  

Happy wife...

Breakfast Sandwiches

Gourmet Chef Elaine makes the best breakfast sandwiches, and we have them nearly every Sunday for lunch.  It's a toasted English muffin with a slowly cooked sunnyside-up egg, a slice of American cheese, and either oven-cooked bacon or skillet-fried sausage.  It's better (and bigger) than every other breakfast sandwich I've tried.  Lucky me.

Beer Hat

Sitting out in the sun at a Dayton Dragons baseball game is a great way to spend a couple of hours, but if your beer is also in that sunlight, it can get warm quickly.  Years ago, I developed the "Beer Hat" you see below.  You take the free (I love free) program they hand you when you enter the stadium, crease it both lengthwise and widthwise, and slide it between the seatback and your beer.  Depending on the angle of the sun, you may need to rotate it ninety degrees so that the program completely covers the beer.  You'll get around 15-20 minutes extra cold beer time, assuming, of course, your beer lasts that long.

Require Touch ID

This is an iOS feature that I wish Android would copy.  Require Touch ID is exactly what the feature is; when you tap an application icon, it requires you to touch your fingerprint to the iPhone/iPad's fingerprint reader before the app will launch.  To set up this feature, long-press an icon, which brings up the option menu shown below, then tap "Require Touch ID."  This feature would be useful for a shared iPad to keep prying eyes out of your email or apps like Reddit, which has both useful information and a seedier side.

Information on how to set up Touch ID can be found at the link below.

https://support.apple.com/guide/ipad/set-up-touch-id-ipadcb11e17d/ipados

Paragon

It's been several years since we last had our living room's sofa, love seat, and La-Z-Boy deep cleaned, and we again went with Paragon.  It's a one-man show, and he has a Better Business Bureau rating of A+.  It took a couple of hours of effort, and the furniture looks new again.  

https://www.paragoncarpetcleaning.com

One-Minute RipOff

Somewhere down in the fine print of our Frontier flight itinerary, it states that we need to check in 60 minutes before our flight is scheduled to depart.  We didn't know that or what that would entail, and we found out the hard way.  We had already self-tagged our bags, but when we finally reached the agent, his computer would not allow him to accept our bags because it was 59 minutes before departure.  That meant we had to have TSA hand-check our bags and remove items that are not allowed on a plane.  I'm guessing that since we have TSA PreCheck and the TSA agent had some history with people getting screwed by Frontier, he did a quick check and all he took was our creamy sunscreens, irritating but no big loss.  Then we had to have our bags gate-checked and Frontier gobbled up another $25 per bag, even though we paid the baggage fee up front.  My opinion of Frontier is summed up in the AI-generated image below.

Sheet Pan BBQ Chicken

Sheet pan equals easy cleanup.  Add aluminum foil and it's even easier.

I can't been to describe how delicious this dinner that Gourmet Chef Elaine baked recently was.  She started with a rub for the chicken thighs that had paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, kosher salt, brown sugar, and ground black pepper.  She added some broccoli to the corn on the cob, red onion, and zucchini to the original recipe at the link below.  35 minutes in a 375-degree oven, then basted with BBQ sauce (Heinz Original Sweet & Thick is our fav) and broiled for a couple of minutes until it begins to char.  This guy had two helpings before I managed to push myself away from the table.

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/bbq-chicken-sheet-pan-supper-21102040

Modelo Oro

We are not fans of light beers, but recently we were introduced to Modelo Oro and it's pretty tasty.  90 calories and 3 carbs usually mean the flavor is closer to water, but this one delivers a real beer taste. Oro is the Spanish word for gold, and that well describes its color when poured into a glass.  We haven't found this at bars or restaurants, but we'll be keeping a keen eye out for it.

https://www.modelousa.com/products/modelo-oro

Floridian Aquifer

In our rental condo in Panama City Beach, Florida, we encountered an unexpected bathroom feature: two shower heads, one in front and one behind.  That's way different than the low-flow pieces of s#^t you find in most places.  Every time we asked for a glass of water at a bar or restaurant, we were served with a 32-ounce monster of a drink.  Maybe being right on the Gulf of America meant no issues with the water supply.  Well, there are no issues, but it's not the Gulf; it's the abundance of water is thanks to the Floridian Aquifer, which spans an area of about 100,000 square miles in the southeastern United States. It underlies the entire state of Florida and parts of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and South Carolina.  It daily provides 3.64 billion gallons of water, about half of which is used for irrigation and one-third for the public water supply.  Read more on this monster water source at the link below.

https://www.usgs.gov/mission-areas/water-resources/science/floridan-aquifer-system

Battery Share

My Google Pixel 7 phone supports Battery Share, which allows Qi-certified devices (like Gourmet Chef Elaine's iPhone 16e) to wirelessly charge by laying them on the back of my phone, just like you would use a wireless charging station.  That's pretty handy if she's low on juice and I have some to spare.  You can also set a limit on how low your battery can go before (see the Stop sharing battery slider in the screenshot below) before it automatically stops wireless charging.  I'm generous, but taking my phone down to 10% is not going to happen.

https://www.tomsguide.com/phones/android-phones/how-to-charge-other-devices-with-pixel-wired-wirelessly

No Dirty Birds

Over the pool at Treasure Island Condominiums in Panama City Beach is the mesh of very thin wires, as shown in the picture below.  From eight points on the building to eight poles on the far side of the pool, these wires were 100% effective in keeping birds from making a mess.  From our 19th-floor condo, they were completely invisible, preserving the beautiful views unobstructed.  Pretty clever!

https://treasureislandresortrentals.com

The Grand Marlin

Our final night in Panama City Beach, Florida, saw us try The Grand Marlin, an upscale seafood restaurant, for dinner. My appetizer of a half dozen oysters is shown below, and they are some of the largest and most delicious oysters I've ever had. On the left is my entrée, rare Yellowfin Tuna, one of their specials that changes daily depending on what the boat brings in.  If you're looking to dress up and have a special dinner, this place is for you.

https://pcb.thegrandmarlin.com

Grand "Blue" Lagoon

I like trying something different quite often, and the Grand "Blue" Lagoon you see below, from Schooners in Panama City Beach, was certainly that.  It's an upscale combination of Patrón Silver Tequila, Grand Marnier, Blue Curacao, Lime Juice, and Agave Nectar served on ice with wedges of lime and lemon.  Just the thing to drink while staring out at the waters of the Gulf of America.

https://www.schooners.com

Sandbar Cruise

We spent a leisurely 2 1/2 hours on the floating tiki boat doing a Sandbar Cruise around the calm waters between Panama City and Panama City Beach, Florida.  We stopped at Sandy Point for a walk around its beach and watched the rougher waters of St. Andrews Bay.  The captain was very informative, alerting us to the various sites and their histories.  It's a BYOB tour, but mid-afternoon is too early to get serious about that, so a tall mug was all we brought aboard.  

https://cruisintikis.com/panama-city

Lawn Mower Blade

I took our lawnmower to Greive Hardware for a full tune-up, and they replaced the spark plug, changed the oil, and sharpened the blade.  I normally just remove the blade and sharpen it, like I did late last summer.  They let me know that I had reattached the blade upside down and that the mower would work much better now.  Properly installed blades lift the cut grass upwards so the mower can cut them again, hence, that's why it's called a mulching mower.  I think it's a design problem when a blade can be installed upside down; it should really just go on one way.  Lots of mower blades have something like “Grass Side” stamped on the blade, but if ours did, it's either worn off or painted over so many times it's gone.  I now know that the bent metal on both sides of the blade needs to be pointed up to be installed properly.

https://lawnmowerguru.com/which-side-of-the-lawn-mower-blade-is-up

White's Illusion

Look at the darker gray bars in column A and then at the lighter gray bars in column B.  Your brain sees them as different shades even though they are identical.  This is an example of White's Illusion, where an area's lightness is influenced by the part of the surroundings to which the area appears to belong.  In column A, the gray bars appear to be part of the long horizontal black bars; in column B, they appear to be part of the long horizontal white bars.  If you believe your eyes are different, do what I did: take pieces of paper, cover the black and white portions, and watch as they become the same shade.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White's_illusion

Honey Rainbow Carrots

Bugs Bunny might like his carrots raw, but I'll take mine as you see them in the picture below.  Gourmet Chef Elaine bought multi-colored carrots and coated them in a blend of honey, olive oil, cumin, salt, and pepper.  30 to 40 minutes in a 425-degree, preheated oven is all it takes.  The simplistic recipe is at the link below.  Colorful and delicious!

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/239779/honey-roasted-carrots-with-cumin

Tequila Sunset

The Tequila Sunset you see below was my choice for an afternoon sipper at Cantina Del Mar in Panama City Beach, Florida.  Like its cousin, the Sunrise, it features tequila and grenadine but replaces the orange juice with peach schnapps and pineapple juice.  Its presentation is enhanced with a pineapple wedge and a skewered maraschino cherry.  Will be making a few of these as the summer temperatures arrive at home.

https://cantinadelmarpcb.com

Porcupine Grass

At the northwest corner of our backyard, we used to have Viburnum bushes, but they were half-dead, and we decided to rip them out and replace them with a variety of Purcupine grasses seen below, specifically Miscanthus sinensis 'Strictus'.  It's similar to Zebra grass, but its stronger blades keep it upright in windier conditions.  It's a variegated variety, which is prettier in our opinion, and these should grow 7-9' tall, spread out, and eventually make a nice visual barrier that will provide additional privacy.  You can expect additional blogs, maybe yearly, as they grow up.

More information on caring for Porcupine grass can be found at the link below.

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/foliage/maiden-grass/growing-porcupine-maiden-grass.htm

Yellow Battery

At the top left of the image below, you see a battery level of 83% and a yellow background.  That background happened on Gourmet Chef Elaine's iPhone 16e a couple of months ago, and I had no clue of its meaning.  A quick search found that a yellow background means the iPhone is in low-power mode, and that can reduce or eliminate functions that eat up the battery.  For example, the Auto-Lock delay is reduced to 30 seconds, 5G is disabled on some models, and background refresh processes like email fetch and others.  We have no idea how that turned on, but I suspect an overzealous button-pushing finger.

Read more, including how to turn it off, at the link below.

https://www.howtogeek.com/846726/why-is-my-iphone-battery-yellow

Tipped House

We were strolling down Gulf Drive from the Treasure Island Condominiums in Panama City Beach toward Schooners restaurant and found the house in the image below.  Its tilted fate is due to a tornado that ripped through the area over a year ago on January 9, 2024.  The locals told us it's still in place because insurance companies are arguing over who covers what if its demolition causes damages to the house it's leaning on.  Not only that, but the same house, years before this incident, had another issue that caused it to lean against the house on the opposite side. 

At the ridiculously long Google Maps Street View link below, you can see what the house looked like in August 2023.  You can also click on "See more dates" to get a few other views.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Schooners/@30.1406788,-85.7535722,3a,75y,229.11h,87.7t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1soYtLIHFfPMZzTp8IymX1Ew!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D2.303273399880922%26panoid%3DoYtLIHFfPMZzTp8IymX1Ew%26yaw%3D229.11314069825033!7i16384!8i8192!4m6!3m5!1s0x8893863247a05acf:0xfe3dec11a232f3cd!8m2!3d30.1411659!4d-85.7544332!16s%2Fg%2F11b778pjpz?hl=en&entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDUxNS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

Soft Shell Crab

My first candidate for dinner of the year is the fried soft shell crabs you see below from Uncle Ernie's in Panama City, Florida.  Two very large crabs, lightly breaded and served with remoulade sauce, were absolutely delicious.  We returned a couple of days later for lunch, and I had the soft shell crab sandwich, which was also very good.  You can look at their complete menu at the link below, which will surely make you drool.

 

https://uncleerniesbayfrontgrill.com

The Rosary

I'm not entirely sure if the drink you see below, called "The Rosary," is named as a twist on the rosemary garnish, or if you'll be saying prayers because it's so good.  It's Woodford Rye bourbon with a rosemary simple syrup, Angostura and orange bitters, garnished with rosemary and served in a smoked rosemary glass over a large cube of ice.  I had a couple at Uncle Ernie's.  More on that tomorrow.

https://uncleerniesbayfrontgrill.com

Digital Driver's License

Ohio drivers can add their state-issued Driver's License or ID card to their iPhone digital wallet.  Those of us on Android can only hope we'll get the same treatment soon.  This allows you to keep your physical driver's license and not hand it over as you're used to doing.  The major place where this may be handy is at select TSA airport security checkpoints, currently numbering more than 250 airports across 15 states, and includes my most often used airports, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) and John Glenn Columbus International Airport (CMH).  When available on my Pixel 7, I will load this just to maintain my image as a geek.

More information, including how to use your Apple Watch, is at the link below.

https://bmv.ohio.gov/dl-mobile-id.aspx

Can I Lick It

Somebody took the Periodic Table of Elements and created the "Can I Lick It?" version below.  It makes sense that all the elements that are present in the air (e.g., nitrogen, oxygen, argon, neon) are safe, but it is a surprise that yttrium (Y) and cerium (Ce) are OK.   I would stay away from licking lithium (Li), osmium (Os), and any of the other yellow elements, even if it's listed as "not a good idea".  Interestingly, fluorine (F) is a "really shouldn't" when fluoride, the negatively charged ion of fluorine, is used in toothpaste and drinking water.  Overall, there are a lot more "OKs" than I expected.  

https://imgur.com/gallery/can-i-lick-b605IbZ

White Foam

Part of the benefit of writing this blog is that I'm always looking for the next topic, which in turn makes me curious and questioning about everyday things I see.  So after sixty-nine-plus years on planet Earth, my brain finally got around to asking this simple question: Why is beer foam white?

Whether it's a light, yellow lager like in the image below, or my favorite, a black Guinness stout, the foamy head is white.  And when the head slowly settles, it turns back into the beer's color.  

In truth, beer foam isn’t exactly white, but because it's so much lighter than the beer below it, it appears to the eye much more white than it is.  That effect is called “White’s Illusion”, named after Michael and Tony White, not the foam's color.  More on that in a future blog.  Beer foam appears lighter because its structure is almost impenetrable to light, and the reflected light is scattered in all directions, making it appear white.  The same effect as the top of a cresting wave will be white as light is scattered by millions of tiny water droplets.

https://www.brewingwithbriess.com/blog/what-is-the-color-of-foam

Birria Tacos

I'm the type who loves to try new items on the menu, and when I spotted the new-to-me Birria Tacos on the menu at Cantina Del Mar in Panama City Beach, Florida, I decided to give them a try.  WOW, WOW, WOW!  The Birria-style meat was full of flavor, and after it was dipped in consomé sauce (that bowl at the bottom right), the flavor was off the charts.  Those three tacos were more than enough for a meal, but I made I didn't leave a morsel behind, barely touching the rice.

https://cantinadelmarpcb.com

Funky Monkey

I had the Funky Monkey shown below at Lizas Munchies at the Treasure Island Resort Condominium in Panama City Beach, Florida.  While not the best one I've ever had, this frozen blender drink features the awesome combination of banana and chocolate flavors, a couple of rums, and coconut milk.  You can see the full recipe at the link below with a better picture, including a banana garnish.  Can't wait until the temperatures here reach the 90s.

https://www.rumtherapy.com/2015/04/funky-monkey

Block Juice Jacking

I got a couple of the USB devices you see below from Technology First, a local trade organization I've volunteered my time for the past 20+ years.  All it does is allow the two power pins to pass through while blocking the two data pins.  Juice Jacking is the term for hacking into your device while appearing to be a free and easy way to charge your device.  By blocking the data pins that can't physically happen.

If you're the paranoid type or simply want to eliminate a real risk for a few dollars, you can pick up a 2-pack for $10 at the Amazon link below.

https://www.amazon.com/Rixmie-Elimination-Transfer-Possibilities-Juice-Jacking/dp/B0DQTWPQBT

Unlimited Essentials

I use Google Fi as my wireless carrier and, until recently, didn't rack up much for data charges, but now that we're traveling more often, my monthly bill reflects that increase.  When I spotted the new Unlimited Essentials plan, I found a solution.  The plan includes unlimited calls, texts, and data, with 30 GB of high-speed data in the U.S. for $35/month, plus taxes and fees (of course).  That cost will be a few dollars cheaper as my average bill has been for the last 16 months, and it will be nice to have it the same every month and not have those annoying larger surprises.  I gave up a couple of features that I hardly ever use and will easily live without, like free calling to Mexico and Canada.  I can always use Google Voice if the need arises.

Google offers a few other plans, which you can read about at the link below.

https://blog.google/products/google-fi-wireless/10-years-unlimited-essentials

Honey Points

Gourmet Chef Elaine and I use the Honey browser extension to automatically find coupon codes on our purchases.  Most times it finds nothing, sometimes it finds enough to pay for the sales tax, and every once in a while it unlocks a $30 or even $80 discount.  Recently, she received an email saying she had received some Honey points, which led me to see if more points had accumulated.  As the screenshot below shows, she had accumulated $144.77 in redeemable points.  That's the happy kind of surprise that can make your day.  We transferred that money to PayPal and from PayPal to our credit union.  

https://www.joinhoney.com

Panko Shrimp

A single 2.5-pound box of Costco's Panko Shrimp gave us four dinners.  These are fairly large shrimp in a crunchy panko breading (a Japanese breadcrumb made from crustless white bread) and their secret blend of spices.  In the link below, they describe how to make your own at home, which they fry in oil.  Gourmet Chef Elaine baked the Costco ones, so it's a bit healthier.  Quick and easy main course.  

https://kitchenjournal.net/how-does-costco-cook-panko-shrimp

Lawncare

It's been a bumper crop of dandelions this spring, and many houses would appear to be in competition for the award on who can grow the most.  But we have a clear winner, and it's a lawn a few houses east of us.  The sign you might not be able to make out in the picture below is from PureLawn Organic Lawncare.  We have know way of knowing how old that sign might be, but we're hoping it's in the last few days.  If so, this is a really bad way to advertise, and it might have been wiser to wait until the weeds at least began to die before planting the sign.  

Day Of The Week

For whatever it's worth...

I grew up (that's debatable) in an age without a computer (I'm old) in my pocket or within shouting distance, so I learned ways to solve problems in my head.  I still do that for things I want to calculate without a computer's aid.  One common question that I have a quick in-my-head solution is what day of the week a future event will occur.  For this example, I'll use the question "What day of the week is October 8 (i.e., my birthday)?"

I solved that quickly using two numbers:

1. Which day of the week is the current month's 7th, 14th, 21st, 28th (which I remember)?
2. The number of days in each month (which I know by heart)
• 31 for Jan, Mar, May, Jul, Aug, Oct, Dec
• 30 for Apr, Jun, Sep, Nov
• 28 or 29 for Feb

May 2025's 7-14-21-28 dates fall on Wednesday, so

• Since May has 31 days, June's 7-14-21-28 will fall on Saturday (+3)
• Since June has 30 days, July's 7-14-21-28 will fall on Monday (+2)
• Since July has 31 days, August's 7-14-21-28 will fall on Thursday (+3)
• Since August has 31 days, September's 7-14-21-28 will fall on Sunday (+3)
• Since September has 30 days, October's 7-14-21-28 will fall on Tuesday (+2)
• Knowing October 7 is a Tuesday, my birthday will fall on a Wednesday

The reason for using 7-14-21-28 is that I know that sequence by heart, but with any other, I have to do the addition, but the solution will work for whatever sequence you want to use.

Scrape The Shoe

In high school, I would run on the pavement at Deweese Parkway in North Dayton, a few blocks from my childhood home.  It was common for me to run at a 5:05-minute pace, which is middle-of-the-pack on a high school track team.  I also ran very quietly, not sure why, but if I was coming up on you from behind, I could very easily scare the living crap out of you.  It's difficult to yell a warning when you're pushing your limits, so I developed the "scrape the shoe" method as a warning, starting about 20 yards away and continuing until the person would turn around to find out what the noise was and see me coming.

Recently, I employed the same method, but I was walking towards a woman who was walking their dog with her face buried in her smartphone.  I wouldn't have really cared all that much if I startled her, but you never know what a dog will do when approached.  A couple of scrapes, she looked up, got her dog next to her, and let us by.  I'm glad there were no smartphones back when I was running Deweese Parkway.  I probably would be the cause of many broken phones.

Mainframe Computers

When I began pursuing a Computer Science degree at Wright State University way back in 1974, there wasn't an Internet, personal computers, or smartphones.  In the basement of their library, there was an IBM 360-65 mainframe computer like the one in the picture below and rows of dishwasher-sized removable disk drives and reel-to-reel tape drives.  Starting my sophomore year, I worked for the computer center as a student programmer, and unlike most students on campus, I was able to go into the computer room and see all the hardware that ran our class-project programs.  After my junior year, I took the open junior systems programmer job and really began to sink my teeth into the layers of technical details involved in these "Big Iron" computing beauties.  The YouTube video at the link below is a tour of Clemson University's Computer Center in 1970 and explains a lot about mainframes.  

Big shout-out to my buddy Nick for this blog idea.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnSmme5s8Zc

Halved Baked Potato

Here is a simple way to make a perfect baked potato.  Cutting the potato in half lengthwise reduces the baking time.  Placing them face down on a cookie sheet allows the skin to get crispy.  Just rub them in oil with a little salt and pepper and use parchment paper to make cleanup a breeze.  All the details and thoughts on jazzing up your potatoes can be found at the link below.

https://www.chelseasmessyapron.com/baked-potato

Bad Wrap Job

While stopped at an intersection a few weeks ago, we noticed the incredibly bad wrap job on the van you see below.  The "Premier Health" at the top had the left side too low, and the "Infusion Therapy" in the middle had the left side too high.  I can't fathom a reason why they accepted such a bad job and didn't have them correct it.  This is the kind of bad marketing that leads you to wonder how good they are at their day jobs.

Coming In Closer

We like to use the self-service kiosks at Meijer, and while we were checking out on a recent visit, I positioned our small cart, as you can see below, to get it closer and make the process easier.  While we were doing that, a lady saw it and said that for all the years she's used the kiosks, she had never seen a cart in that position, how that would make things much easier, and thanked us for the tip.  Sometimes, paying attention to how others do things can really pay off.

iPhone 16e

Gourmet Chef Elaine's iPhone 11 was due for an upgrade, and we planned to do this sometime in 2025. However, with the unknown factor of tariffs flying around, we figured sooner was safer than later.  Her new iPhone 16e is shown below (with our grandkids, of course), has twice the storage (64GB->128GB), four times the camera resolution, and is 80% faster.  The folks at the Apple store transferred all the photos, contacts, etc., but couldn't transfer her cell phone number since it was with Total Wireless.  Best, and most unexpected, was the $130 credit for trading in the iPhone 11.

She called Total Wireless to get the number transferred and was met with an accent so thick that everything he said was almost incomprehensible.  That's when her technology assistant (me) took over and took it over the finish line.  

I can't wait for an English-speaking Chatbot to do this kind of support.

https://www.apple.com/iphone-16e

Homemade Sign

We saw the sign shown below as we headed out on one of our three-mile walks, and I was curious to know what was below the "T" written on top of the piece of tape.  How did they misspell "ESTATE"?   What could the hidden letter be?  I was so tempted to pull the piece of tape off to satisfy my curiosity, but I resisted, not wanting to mess up their sign.

On the way back, I wanted to snap a picture and from the other side of the sign, I had my answer.  It was the letter "A".  They apparently wrote "ESA", immediately realized their error, and used tape to hide and write over it.  

Encrusted Mac & Cheese With Bacon

Every January our local Dorothy Lane Market grocery store has their BaconFest event.  Just some of the selections are a Butterscotch Bacon Tart at the bakery, a Bacon Ranch Cheese Ball at the deli, a Cajun Bacon Cheddar Sausage at the meat counter, and a Bacon-Wrapped Sea Scallops in the seafood section.  We walked away with some of the Encrusted Mac & Cheese with Bacon you see below, which was awesome.  

https://dayton937.com/dayton-dining/baconfest-is-back-at-dorothy-lane-market.html

Flexible Tailpiece

I mentioned in last Tuesday's blog that I needed to buy a longer PVC tailpiece.  I expected to get one that was longer than needed and cut it down to the size needed, but what I bought is what you see below, an accordion-looking tailpiece that extends from eight to twelve inches.  The other advantage of this design is it can be bent to handle misaligned plumbing connections.  More product details can be found at the link below.

https://www.doitbest.com/product/400649/do-it-best-1-1-2-in-x-12-in-white-plastic-tailpiece-400649