Swipe Actions

I recently found that I can perform actions in the Gmail app by swiping left or right on a message.  I went into Settings, selected "General Settings", and then selected "Swipe actions" to see how they were set.  Both left and right swipes were set to Archive, so I changed the left swipe to Delete, as shown in the screenshot below.  The other options are Mark as Read/Unread, Move to, Snooze, or None, but they were of no interest to me.  For more details, including pictures, please visit the link below.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-to-configure-gmail-swipe-actions-on-android-and-why-you-should

Speed Bumps

A few weeks ago, we discovered the speed bumps shown below had been installed at our local Costco Gas station.  It makes me wonder if this was a reaction to an accident or near-miss, to try to slow people down, or to deter tailgating.  Just one more sign that there are enough stupid people to require something like this.  Sigh ...

Rest Area Vending Surprise

On our way to Pittsburgh, we stopped at the Ohio Rest Area just east of Columbus and found the odd-looking vending machine you see below.  It turned out to dispense Naloxone (aka, Narcan), a nasal spray that can block the deadly effects of opioids and save a person's life.  The sign on the machine said to push a selection to view the price, and out of curiosity, I did.  It dispensed the package immediately, so the price is zero.  It appears two other people were equally curious, as we found three packages had been dispensed.  

This started back in 2023, and 130 boxes with Naloxone have been installed at 65 rest areas statewide.  Naloxone can also be ordered online and delivered to their home.  More details can be found at the link below.

https://recoveryohio.gov/home/news-and-events/all-news/governor-announces-overdose-reversal-drug-at-ohio-rest-areas

Ohio Welcome Center

Coming into Ohio from east to west on I-70, the rebuilt Welcome Center, near mile marker 210, is now open, and it's a beauty.  There are native Ohio plants and landscaping, dog-walking trails, and rocking chairs.  The inside is adorned with Ohio history and unique places to visit, and, of course, the usual concessions.

The only Rest Areas on I-70 that are still under reconstruction are west of Columbus near mile marker 71, and after a long period of inaction, they're making progress on these.

https://www.transportation.ohio.gov/traveling/rest-areas

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.