iPhone Camera Delay

Perhaps your fingers are so talented that you can take an arms-length selfie while simultaneously firmly holding your iPhone and pressing the shutter button, but the rest of us are at serious risk of taking a terrible picture or worse, dropping our phone.  After recently witnessing a near-disaster I asked myself if there might be a way to use a countdown timer and avoid pressing the shutter, and sure nuf, there is.  As the link below will explain in more detail, you just launch Camera, tap the up-arrow icon at the top of your screen, and tap the timer icon at the upper right.  That will bring up the screen you see below where you can select either a 3 or 10-second delay.  After tapping the shutter button a timer will count down to zero when your picture is taken.

https://www.howtogeek.com/833693/how-to-use-the-iphone-camera-timer

Locking Your SSN

The recent data security breach at National Public Data exposed 2.9 billion records, including names, email addresses, phone numbers, mailing addresses, and Social Security numbers—pretty much everybody.  As a result, we created free (I love free) accounts at the three credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion) and froze any access to our credit reports.  In addition, we used the U.S. government's myE-Verify service (link below) to prevent access to our Social Security Numbers, which stops anyone from using your SSN to apply for a job and having their wages reported under our numbers.  

Setting up accounts at the credit agencies is pretty straightforward, but tedious.  Setting up a myE-Verify account requires answering four questions that are designed to prove you are who you say you are and those can be pretty difficult, so I suggest you pull one of your three credit reports and have it available when answering those questions.  

https://myeverify.uscis.gov

Slow Cooker Carnitas

Originally published on March 31, 2017.

This crock pot is filled with pork shoulder, spices, onion, lime juice and a squeezed orange, and then the orange is thrown in to boot. Eight hours later the meat was shredded and broiled to a crisp, then put on tortillas with guacamole, sour cream and cheese. Shortly after that, I was in the most pleasant food coma.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/scottloitsch/carnitas

1977 Dayton River Corridor Classic

Originally published on May 23, 2018.

My first half-marathon was the inaugural Dayton River Corridor Classic, held on the afternoon of Saturday, October 29, 1977.  My pace was about 8:08 per mile over those 13.1 miles and not being used to that kind of distance, I was sore for several days after.  The soreness fades, but being part of Dayton's running history lasts forever.

Mike Leach On Weddings

Originally published on November 29, 2017.

This is a perfect summary of what happens during wedding planning, with some advice on how us men can cope, delivered by Washington State football coach Mike Leach.  Spot on funny.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGIap2_tmng

Call Me Maurice

Originally published on October 5, 2015.

My most recent t-shirt addition, which a few people might get, is a line from The Steve Miller Band's song "The Joker".  And no, "pompitous", as in the "pompitous of love" is not a real word.

http://www.zazzle.com

WizTree

Originally published on June 20, 2018.

I've been a big WinDirStat fan for years, but WizTree has won me over with its blazing performance, taking a fraction of the time to display every file on a disk drive in the same three-panel format. The graphical display is the best way to find those huge files you once needed but now just take up space.  WizTree is free (I love free), but you can show some love by clicking on the Donate button at the top right.

http://antibody-software.com

Tomato Tart

Originally published on August 11, 2017.

This is better than the best pizza I've ever had, and a lot less work. The choice of cheese is important, and asiago fresco is awesome.  I suggest avoiding a mild cheese like mozzarella. This is best as a summer treat when tomatoes and basil are at their best.

Ingredients

• 1 sheet of frozen puff pastry, thawed
• Parchment paper
• ⅓ cup of basil pesto 
• 2 cups asiago fresco (or provolone cheese), grated 
• ⅓ cup grated parmesan cheese, plus 2 tablespoons 
• 2 large heirloom tomatoes, thinly sliced (9 slices)
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Sea salt 
• 5-6 basil leaves, sliced thinly

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees
• Place the puff pastry sheet on parchment paper and roll out to 12" x 12"
• Spread a thin layer of the pesto on the puff pastry 
• Sprinkle 2 cups of asiago fresco (or provolone cheese), then the parmesan cheese over the pesto
• Place the tomatoes in a single layer on top
• Grind fresh pepper on top of the tomatoes
• Sprinkle the additional 2 tablespoons of parmesan cheese on top of the tomatoes
• Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 20-30 minutes or until the puff pastry is puffed and golden brown
• Remove from oven
• Top with a drizzle of olive oil, sprinkled sea salt and basil leaves
• Cut into 9 squares

Mom

Originally published on December 21, 2016.

At Christmas, I miss my mother the most.  1985 was our last Christmas together when I was a young man of 30 years.  Hard to believe I've now spent more than half my life without her.

This picture dates back to Mom and Dad's wedding in 1950. She was a beautiful lady, inside and out.

Squeezing Lemons

Originally published on April 16, 2018.

I've always squeezed lemons and other citrus using a press with the fruit pointed down, like pictured at the bottom right.  But while watching Trisha Yearwood's cooking show, in the blink of an eye, I swore I saw her squeeze it upside down.  A quick back-it-up then play-and-pause and sure enough, I see that the fruit should be pointed up instead, like the picture at the bottom left.  A quick test showed that I get about 25% more juice, and a lot less mess, using what seems to me to be the upside-down way of doing this.