Alta

Alta is one of my favorite ski slopes (sorry, no snowboarders allowed) located in Utah's Little Cottonwood Canyon southeast of Salt Lake City.   I always liked the name but thought it was a shortened version of "altitude", which it certainly has with its peak of 10,550 feet above sea level. But the name, with help of Google Translate, means "high".  So simple...

https://translate.google.com

SiriusXM on Amazon Echo

Add SiriusXM to the list of music sources on my keeps-getting-even-better Amazon Echo.  I had to upgrade my SiriusXM account to "All-Access", which saved me one penny per month, added a few more channels and the Echo. Now I can simply say “Alexa, play The Bridge on SiriusXM” or “Alexa, play channel 7 on SiriusXM”.  Seriously cool.

http://www.siriusxm.com/amazonalexa

Dangling Mouse

To save space, this mouse pad was screwed to the wall just below the monitor and the mouse is dangling in mid-air, with its cord secured with a tie-wrap above. Since this application doesn't need a keyboard, this was an innovative way to save rack space in a tight server room.

Big shout out to Tim B for truly thinking outside the box!

Parmesan Crisps

Simple shouldn't taste this awesome.  Just scoop a 1/4 to a 1/3 cup of quality grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese in a mound on a parchment-covered cookie sheet, tap it down to form a circle about 1/4 inch high and bake it for a few minutes.  Add this is a hamburger or crumble it on a salad and get ready to take your taste buds on a new journey.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/parmesan-crisps-recipe-3381387

East David Automotive

Finding a trustworthy, reliable and reasonable auto mechanic is a holy grail and we take our cars to East David Automotive in Kettering, even for the simple oil change.  It helps that they are only a mile away from home, an easy walk when necessary.

http://www.eastdavidautomotive.com

Automatically Silence Your Phone

Sorry, this one is exclusive to Android phones.

This IFTTT (IF This, Then That) applet will automatically silence your cell phone when your Google Calendar event has the hashtag "#silent" in its title, description or location.  So the next time you send out a date night invitation for a movie, add this hashtag and you won't be that annoying person whose phone goes off in the theatre.

https://ifttt.com/applets/179718p-automatically-silence-my-phone-during-calendar-events-with-the-hashtag-silent

Honey DropList

Sometimes a purchase isn't needed right now and you have time to wait for a better deal, but don't have the patience to check back every day for a price drop.  The Honey extention for Google Chrome, along with its must-have, automatic coupon code applier, will do all that checking for you. Just add a product to your Honey DropList and email notifications will alert you if price goes down.

https://www.joinhoney.com

Lorida

My recent 5-iron purchase from eBay shipped from Lorida, Florida, which I assumed was some kind of typo, until I looked it up and sure enough, there is such a place.  Lorida is located on the north shore of Lake Istokpoga about 80 miles south of Walt Disney World.  The city was named Istokpoga until 1934 when the U.S. postal authorities made them change their name to avoid confusion.  I guess all the other good names were taken or they were in a real hurry.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorida,_Florida

Elsa's Wings

My standard order for these delicious Elsa's wings is "a dozen broasted wings, all drums, with hot sauce on the side".  Paired with a couple of their famous Bad Juan Margaritas, it helps to have one of their four locations just four blocks away from home.

http://www.elsas.net

Persil ProClean

We have one of those new-fangled "High-Efficiency" washing machines which had the annoying habit of leaving clothes with a white residue from time to time. Thanks to a change to Persil ProClean, that's no longer happening, leaving the clothes clean and the wife happy.

http://www.persilproclean.com