Drying Mat

The drying mats we bought recently lacked a loop.  Seems pretty obvious that something that gets wet, you would want to hang up to dry.  Fortunately, I had bought a grommet kit years ago, and Gourmet Chef Elaine remembered that I did.  I used it to create a reinforced hole near the top of the mat, and then repurposed the little blue loop to create a solution.  Grommets are really easy to install, as you can see in the YouTube video at the link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCfQU32JLDo

Turning Windowed Apps Off

Windowed apps is new feature in iOS for iPads, and it was driving me and the Mrs crazy.  When dragging a finger from the bottom of the screen, it would sometimes create a window instead of returning to the main screen. Some folks like windows and working with two or more at a time, but we never do.  But that's easily turned off by bringing up the Control Center (swipe down from the top-right corner of your screen) and tapping the icon that's pointed to by the white arrow you see in the screenshot below.  You can also turn it off in Settings, which is explained at the link below.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/123635

Beds Not For Us

We went nightstand shopping a few weeks ago at Morris Furniture and ran across the two beds you see below that we'll never buy.  The one on top has a footboard that consists of a pop-up television and a fireplace.  Gourmet Chef Elaine and I agreed long before we got married that we would never have a television in our bedroom, but even that said, this is just ugly.  

The bottom picture really doesn't do this justice.  There are sparkles galore on the headboard, lamps, and dresser that seem to be inspired by a Taylor Swift production.  We just had to ask if people actually buy it, and the salesperson said it was a very popular item.  Sigh.

If you haven't wandered around a furniture store lately, it's eye-opening to see some of these more "creative" selections.  Just be ready for some sticker shock when you see prices nowadays.

Using AI To Create Riddles

You can use AI to make up your own trivia games.  For example, I asked Google Gemini to "Create a riddle whose answer is Griffin," and it provided the clues you see below.  It then asked if I wanted an image.  I responded yes, and it created the cool picture you see below.  For example, to make a state name trivia game, try "create 50 kid-friendly riddles where the answer is the name of a state. Use all 50 states."  Let your imagination run free!

---

I have a lion’s heart and a kingly stride,

But the wings of an eagle are where I hide.

I rule the earth, and I rule the sky,

With a golden beak and a watchful eye.

I guard the treasures of ancient kings,

On four furry paws and two feathered wings.

---

A few of you will understand why I chose Griffin as the example.  For the rest, that's my grandson's name.

Big shout-out to my daughter for bringing riddle-making to my attention!

https://gemini.google.com

Chocolate Chip Cookies

The smell of homemade chocolate chip cookies filling the house on a chilly December holiday is a memory I like to collect.  The recipe at the link below promises a chewy cookie, and I must have failed at some detail, as they ended up being pretty stiff.  But that really doesn't matter unless you like eating cold cookies.  Me, I pop one in the microwave for 45 seconds, and it comes out warm and chewy.  

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/25037/best-big-fat-chewy-chocolate-chip-cookie

Cut The Cheese

One of the habits I got into years ago was buying a block of cheese and cutting it up into bite-sized pieces, as you see below.  I put them into a quart-size, zipped bag and put them front and center in the refrigerator.  Besides liking cheese, I know that most people, and children in particular, will grab the first and easiest thing they see when looking for a snack.  Having a tasty and low-carb option that's ready to eat helps me maintain a good diet.

Cleaning Refrigerator Produce Drawers

The squeaky-clean produce drawer only happened because I YouTube'd how to get the clear plastic front removed to access the trapped crumbs.  I could see that some tabs could be pushed, but the video showed how to wedge a screwdriver to pop it off, something I would be reluctant to try, fearing I would break the drawer.  I guess without YouTube, I would have dirty drawers...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_8DjB2N6e8

Greasy Filter No More

The mesh wire screen on the bottom of the exhaust fan over the stove collects a fair amount of grease.  Gourmet Chef Elaine had a lot of problems trying to get it clean until she thought of spraying it with Dawn Power Wash (obviously, after removing it).  She let it sit for a while to work its magic, then used a scrub brush and rinsed it with water.  According to the website at the link below, "Powerwash has 3 cleaning boosters not found in traditional dish soaps that remove food and grease 5X faster."  We just know it really works.

https://dawn-dish.com/en-us/products/dawn-powerwash-dish-spray

Using AI To Design A Logo

I thought it was high time to create a new logo and update the look on all my blogs.  I asked the Gemini chatbot to "Design a logo for paulishing.com that reflects the word polish."  The "polish" idea came from a play on words that I would polish my boss's PowerPoint presentations.  

Gemini produced the logo below, and I thought it was great.  I updated all my blogs, which you can see at the link below, making all their layouts the same, including standardizing the About Me, adding this logo, moving the search field from the top to the right-hand side, and keeping the Blog Archive at the bottom.  I also changed the color to Dark Slate Gray.  

https://www.paulishing.com

Bento Box

A bento is a single-portion take-out or home-packed meal of Japanese origin.  The bento box uses dividers to separate ingredients or dishes, especially those with strong flavors, to avoid them affecting the taste of the rest of the meal.  I had this Thai Basil bento box for lunch at Sky Asian Cuisine, our favorite local Japanese restaurant, and it's a very sizable mid-day meal.  It included shrimp with vegetables and two spring rolls. fried rice, and four sushi rolls with wasabi and ginger.  For $15, it was very budget-friendly as well as delicious.

https://www.skyasiancuisine.com