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