Cat Houses

It looks like a high-density feline metropolis has sprouted right in front of the picture window.

I often wonder what people are thinking, and that certainly applies to the front porch you see below, which, unfortunately, is at the west end of the street we live on.  Is the purpose of all the cat houses and platforms to provide a home for stray cats, or perhaps they think this is decorating at its finest?  At the top, you'll see their Christmas lights are still strung, and the sign to the right of the picture window says "Home Sweet Haunted Home."  Sigh...

Cordless Electric Scissors

It wasn't until the electric scissors you see below went on sale for about $25 that I decided to buy.  While you can use it to cut wrapping paper, fabric, and many other things, there are two things that I'll use it for the most.  First, cardboard boxes.  I recently used a carpet knife to cut down the boxes our new nightstands came in.  Pulling that razor blade towards me over and over to make small enough pieces to fit into the recycle can was both dangerous and exhausting.  Second, plastic clamshell packaging.  Our heavy-duty kitchen scissors can barely cut the stuff, and ripping it apart leads to enough injuries that OSHA releases an annual clamshell packaging injury report.  I haven't tested cutting really heavy-duty plastic yet, but I believe it should work.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GD7MF41Z

Using AI To Diagram A Sentence

There seems to be no end to what Chatbots can do, and this example might take you back to the horror (or happiness) of grade-school English class.  Diagramming teaches the logic of language.  It forces you to categorize every word and sharpens your ability to write with more clarity and precision.  I asked a few chatbots to "Diagram the first sentence of the Gettysburg Address," and ChatGPT gave the nicest result, shown below.  I didn't know English could be this complex.

https://chatgpt.com

How the structure works

Main clause

• Subject: our fathers

• Verb: brought forth

• Direct object: a new nation

Verb modifiers

• Four score and seven years ago (time)

• on this continent (place)

Modifiers of “nation”

• conceived in Liberty (participial phrase)

• dedicated to the proposition… (participial phrase)

Object of “to”

• proposition

Clause modifying “proposition”

• that all men are created equal

Beef Barley Soup With Prime Rib

Put leftover prime rib to a delicious use by making a big pot of Beef Barley soup.  Butter, celery, carrots, garlic, and onion are cooked until almost brown.  Add beef broth, prime rib, apple cider vinegar, ground thyme, and barley, and cook over medium heat until the barley is tender.  The recipe at the link below also calls for "broth", but only beef broth was used.

It's more of a cold winter day meal, but it's so good I would never turn a bowl down.  Gourmet Chef Elaine hits another one out of the park.  Lucky me.

https://www.delishscript.com/beef-barley-soup-with-prime-rib-recipe

MyChart End-of-Life Planning

As I blogged a few weeks ago, we updated our end-of-planning documents.  Our lawyer's recommendation was to make a copy for our family doctors so they could scan it into their system.  But I found that the MyChart app, part of the Epic system that all our local health providers use, allows you upload documents in their "End-of-Life Planning" section, including our Living Wills and Health Care Power of Attorney.  We now have access to those documents via our smartphone's MyChart app if they are ever needed.  I think this is a good idea for everyone.  If you have a MyChart account, you can use the following link to find the right section.

https://www.mychart.org/Features

Jar Lifter

The worst part of canning is lifting the jars out of the pot of boiling water.  I've used a variety of methods, including, most recently, a pair of channel lock pliers.  That scared the geebers out of my friend who was watching, and I didn't think much of it either.  The easy-to-grip handles are designed for minimal force and maximum jar security, and its springed hinge pops open for effortless jar placement and removal.

A big shout-out to Dan and Kim for this perfect gift!

https://www.amazon.com/Ball-Secure-Grip-Jar-Lifter/dp/B0107Z5B4C

Weather Apps

I've used The Weather Channel app for many years, and it always had pop-up advertisements, but recently those have become more frequent, full-screen, non-closable videos that roll on up to thirty seconds.  It was time to look for a new app, and for my Pixel 7 phone, I found that Google has its own app, with zero ads.  For our iPads, I found Apple has its own app, again with no ads, and that's what you see in the image below.  To top that, Apple includes that app as part of my Mac.  While I find The Weather Channel to be a notch better, those ads were driving me crazy.

The link to the Apple Weather app for iPhones and iPads is at the link below.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/weather/id1069513131

Mandolin Glove

I watch a fair number of cooking shows, and it drives me crazy to watch a chef use an uber-dangerous mandolin barehanded.  Not us.  We use the NoCry Cut-Resistant Glove, which you see in the picture below, for vegetables too small to use the guard that came with the mandolin.  I use this when I slice jalapeno peppers for Cowboy Candy, and it has saved my index finger a time or two.  A link to the glove is provided below.

https://www.amazon.com/NoCry-Cut-Resistant-Gloves-Performance/dp/B00MXUHHGK

Hallaca With Chicken Potato Salad

The outside of the large dumpling you see below is folded plantain leaves wrapped around a stew of meats and vegetables.  It's a popular Venezuelan dish known by many Latin American names, such as ayaca, hayaca, guanimo, tamal, and guanime.  It's accompanied by a mound of chicken potato salad and avocado slices.  I'm really taking a liking to Venezuelan food and might have to try out Latin Arepas in Springboro, but Jorrge's will also be my go-to.

https://www.facebook.com/jorrgescantina

Bite-Sized Cucumbers

I like sliced cucumbers in my salad, but I loathe buying a large cucumber and slicing it into bite-sized pieces.  I also end up throwing most of it away.  Recently, at our local Meijer store, I saw packages of tiny cucumbers like the ones below.  I just grab a couple, slice them into tiny rounds, and add them to my salad.  You can also munch on one as a snack or include them in a lunch bag.  I never thought to look for small cucumbers, even though they make pickles the same size.  Duh...

https://www.sunsetgrown.com/sunset-unveils-pop-its-snack-sized-cucumbers