ezGIF

Following on from yesterday's post, the QuickTime screen recording was saved as a ".mov" file and I needed an animated GIF for the blog.  That was accomplished by ezGIF, a free (I love free) online tool.  I uploaded the file, trimmed a bit from the beginning and ending and downloaded the result as the needed GIF.  Easy peasy.

https://ezgif.com

Mac Screen Capture And Record

One of the handier features included with the macOS Mojave (aka 10.14) is launched using the Shift-Command (⌘)-5 keyboard shortcut, which brings up all the options you'll need to record video and capture still images, either portions or an entire screen.  Capturing the animation below required the use of this feature in combination with the other screen recording option, QuickTime, and a third component to create this animated GIF, which will be covered tomorrow.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208721

Dayton Blue Star Mothers

Leftover halloween candy is a yearly tradition, overbuying to make sure you never run out but never knowing how many kids will make the rounds.  Left with three bags of Hershey, Snickers and other goodies, and not wanting to pack on more pounds, I did a quick internet search and discovered that they could be donated to the Dayton Blue Star Mothers, and they will include these in the care packages they send to troops all over the world.  Win-win!

The drop off is at 6661 Clyo Road in Centerville Ohio, in the front, left corner of the KHN Medical Building.  Just one more opportunity to donate this year, Saturday, November 17th, from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm.  And I now have a yearly reminder on my calendar so I never forget.

https://bluestarmothersdayton.com

Zemore's

Tucked in the shops at the southeast corner of Wilmington Pike and SR-725/West Franklin St. in Bellbrook, Ohio, Zemore's has a most exciting menu to go with a glass of wine or other beverages.  Below is the delicious small plate of crab empanadas in red sauce I had a couple weeks ago, paired with a glass of 1000 Stories Bourbon Barrel Aged Zinfandel from their 2016 vintage.  When the chef/owner was trained at the Culinary Institute of America, it has got to be great.

https://www.zemores.com

Wet Shoes

Consequences are a part of growing up, parents helping children to develop self-control by being able to envision how their decisions play out over time.  One such child had the habit of leaving their shoes wherever they took them off and no amount of telling them not to proved useful.  So one night, after he went to bed, I put his shoes on the back porch and it took him twenty minutes the next morning to find them.  Didn't quite get him to change his behavior, so the next time the shoes were thrown in the yard.  Obviously capable of learning, he found them quite quickly this time.  Not quite getting it, he left them in the middle of the living room a third time, and again I pitched them into the backyard.  The next morning he easily found them, but as it had rained overnight, they were quite wet.  He never left them in the middle of a room again.  

PST Bridge - For Mac

Another one of those free (I love free), high-quality utilities that serves a specific purpose, this one being to open and peruse PST (Personal Storage Table) files, in other words that file type Microsoft Outlook stores your emails in.  Convert the files to a Mac format or just browse using its included interface.  Available in the Mac App Store by following this iTunes link.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pst-bridge/id457503727

Linux on Chrome OS

The most recent Chrome OS update (70.0.3538.76) on my Acer Chromebook 14 has enabled Linux support, providing local installations of free (I love free) applications such as LibreOffice (Office Suite), GIMP (Graphics Editing), Audacity (Audio Editing) and Atom (Source Code Editor).  While the Chromebook is great for everyday tasks like email, web browsing, web-based apps and some local lighter-weight apps, it's nice to have some some super-powerful utilities at my traveling fingertips.

https://support.google.com/chromebook/answer/9145439

Disguised Signs

I been at the Fraze in Kettering hundreds, if not thousands, of times, mostly as a stop for water during a run, but also for many concerts and festivals.  Until a few days ago, I had never noticed the restroom signs cleverly, and perhaps too cleverly, included at the bottom of two of these banners.  Fortunately there's a less obtuse sign just to the left of this picture, pointing the way to the best restrooms at any venue. 

http://fraze.com

Brussels Sprouts Harvest

We harvested, with the assistance of our little neighbors, one of our two Brussels Sprouts plants.  Standing over four feet tall and with a three foot stalk, it delivered about three cups of the mini-cabbage-looking vegetables.  First coated with olive oil, garlic powder, cayenne pepper and sea salt, they were baked with bacon slices and diced onion for 30 minutes at 400 degrees.  Out of the oven, they were topped with pine nuts before serving.  Yummy!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brussels_sprout

Solar Panels at Curran Place

I missed this article on the naming of the former NCR HQ, now Daniel J. Curran Place, and that the University of Dayton was installing 4,026 solar panels capable of generating 1.26 megawatts of power in the front lawn of the building.  The picture shows just one small part of the solar array and a nearby sign stating "Prairie in Progress" can only mean this will turn into a beautiful landscape.

https://udayton.edu/news/articles/2018/03/melink_solar_array.php