Out-Of-Office Permanently

Originally published on August 25, 2018.

This is a rare Saturday post, but it's a one-in-a-lifetime day, that being my first day of retirement.  I posted the following as my "permanently out of the office" message before I left yesterday. 

------

I've run away and joined a circus...

Just kidding.

After working since I was 11 years old in one job or another, I've retired.  

I've traded in my alarm clock for adventures, my calendar for a second cup of coffee and morning commutes for morning exercises.  While this work journey ends with the declaration of retirement, the next journey begins, one that offers the most precious thing in life other than love, that being time.  Time to read, write, golf, explore, create, mentor, listen, give, appreciate and deeply inhale the fragrance of the roses. 

I really have loved working, mainly because of the people I've come to know and what we've accomplished together.  Information Technology was a great career choice and one that ended up being just as much a creative outlet as a technical challenge. And one that I don't have to stop because I'm retired.  That wasn't true in 1974 when I entered Wright State University, in the era of mainframes, but personal computers, the Internet, websites, mobile devices and open-source software hadn't been invented yet.  I can dabble to my heart's content.

Don't bother replying, I'll never get it.  This out-of-office message is permanent.  

Signing off ...

Paul

 

Christmas Lasagna

Originally published on December 30, 2016.

A tradition on Christmas Eve is for me to turn the following collection of ingredients into a lasagna to bake on Christmas Day. While it sort of looks formidable at first, there is really a minimal amount of chopping (onion, garlic, basil) and is mostly an exercise in simmering, boiling and layering. I've used a number of different recipes over the years, settling on this one from AllRecipes.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/23600/worlds-best-lasagna

Dueling Toilets

Originally published on September 9, 2015.

This takes the girl's trip to the bathroom together to the next level.  When the wait staff at Parlay Social in Lexington, Kentucky was asked why they built this, they explained that so many women go to the powder room together, they thought this would be a good idea.  Hum...

http://parlaysocial.com

Herding Cats

Originally published on October 8, 2014.

Hump Day Humor:

EDS's 2000 Super Bowl commercial about herding cats is one of the all-time best.  Never gets old. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pk7yqlTMvp8

Wine Away

Originally published on July 9, 2015.

There are few things in life that are just shy of a miracle.  Wine Away is one of them.  It's saved couches, wedding dresses and carpets from major red wine spills.  I don't even flinch when a glass is spilled.  Wine Away eliminates every trace.

http://www.wineaway.com

Tying Your Shoes

Originally published on Monday, July 6, 2015.

For about 40 years of my life, I tied my shoelaces incorrectly.  Then after buying new dress shoes and being unable to keep them tied, I searched around until I found this website, which explained the problem and the simple solution.  "Left over right, then right over left" has worked ever since.

http://shoeknots.com

Oldies But Goodies

Gourmet Chef Elaine and I are embarking on an 18-day road trip that will take us to Pittsburgh, Gettysburg, Monticello, Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head Island, and Charlotte.  Instead of just taking a break from this blog, I rummaged through the 2,247 blogs I've published since 2014 and selected 15 to be republished over the next 3 weeks.  

Simple Roots

Simple Roots is an Amish store located in Corwin, Ohio, just east of Waynesville on the other side of U.S. 42.  They have Amish meats and cheeses and an eclectic selection of other products.   We bought the half-pound roll of Amish butter we came for but ended up also getting a cinnamon roll with maple glaze, a bottle of Frostie root beer, a container of chili con queso dip, an apple fry pie, a jar of mild pepper giardiniera, a bottle of roasted garlic dressing, a bruschetta cheese bar, a jar of strawberry jam, three packages of microwave popcorn, and a dozen of ready-to-bake Der Dutchman snickerdoodle cookies.  

Impulse buying at its best!

https://simplerootsbulkfoods.com

Jonathan Dayton

Dayton, Ohio, is named after Jonathan Dayton (1760-1824), a man born in Elizabethtown, New Jersey, educated at what is now Princeton University, and had a political career that included serving as the Speaker of the House in the Fourth and Fifth Congresses.  His national political career was destroyed due to his affiliation with Aaron Burr, who apparently planned, but never executed, a plan to travel to the southwest U.S. to conquer Spanish lands and create an empire.  The city of Dayton is named for Jonathan because he owned 250,000 acres of Ohio land between the Big and Little Miami Rivers.  More life details can be found at the link below.

https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/constitution/bio11.htm

Tree Recognition

We first saw the sign shown below at Kettering Central Park on Lincoln Park Blvd in Kettering, Ohio in front of an old and large tree and wondered why recognizing a tree made any sense at all.  Surely the tree wasn't even aware of the sign given it's turned away from the tree and they don't have eyeballs anyway.  Later that day we saw an identical sign at the new Gentile Park on Maddix Drive in front of another large tree and figured Kettering was up to something and according to the link below, their new Heritage Tree Program is a "celebratory program allows us to appreciate the environmental and aesthetic gifts provided by the remarkable trees around us."  Up to 10 trees will be selected and provided a sign to be displayed between Labor Day and Halloween.

I have an opinion and I'll keep it to myself.  As my mother taught me, if ...

https://www.playkettering.org/heritage-tree-program

Vehicle Weight Hype

A while back I read about how heavy electric vehicles (EVs) are due to their batteries and how they would be harder on roads and that parking garages might buckle under the extra weight.  It seemed to make sense at the time but while a friend of mine and I were munching on Skyline chili dogs one day at lunch I looked up the vehicle weight of my Infiniti QX60 and his Tesla Model Y and found that I had the heavier car, 4,519 pounds versus his 4,416.  Given all the Ford F-150s, Chevy Silverados, and full-sized SUVs on the roads today, all of which weigh about the same or more than an EV, the roads and garages have already endured quite an increase and EVs are not likely to be some magical tipping point.

I guess freedom of the press includes to right to scare you for no good reason (except to generate revenue).

Dairy Queen

As is our yearly tradition, Gourmet Chef Elaine and I go to Dairy Queen and have an ice cream cone. Our favorite is the chocolate-dipped small-sized beauties shown below.  It was a nice day so we sat outside while we licked the ice cream down to the cones.  And yes, we only do this once a year, which makes it special and something to look forward to.  

Hot Pepper Relish

I had a lot of leftover peppers and decided to try this hot pepper relish recipe to use them up.  Dicing up three cups of multi-colored peppers into little bits took the good part of an hour, but the rest was just combining them with white some vinegar, sugar, chopped garlic, chopped onion, mustard seed, and salt, bringing it to a boil and then simmering for a half hour.  It is a delicious topping for a lunchtime hot dog.

https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/chili-pepper-recipes/sauces/hot-pepper-relish

Shiny Appliances

Gourmet Chef Elaine uses baby oil to keep our stainless steel appliances looking brand new and fingerprint-free.  After cleaning the surface she applies a small amount using a paper towel and it transforms a streaky mess into a perfect shine.  Baby oil contains mineral oil and that's the magic ingredient.  You can read more about why this works so well at the link below.

https://www.housedigest.com/1319288/shine-stainless-steel-appliances-baby-oil

Ohio BMV Express

I saw the Ohio BMV Express machine shown below at our neighborhood Meijer store recently, which turned out to be a convenient way to renew your car's registration.  You just scan your vehicle's renewal notice barcode or the barcode on your current vehicle registration, pay with a credit or debit card, and it will print out your vehicle registration card and license plate sticker.  

I always renew my registration online after I get the notice in the mail, but I can see this would be a great option if you need to renew immediately (i.e. you forgot) and you don't like to wait at the BMV office along with a few dozen others.  

You can find nearby Ohio BMV Express machines at the link below, which in my area appear to be limited to Meijer or Kroger stores.

https://ohiobmvexpress.com

Bald

Contrary to the picture shown below, I'm not really bald.  It's more like I elected to shave most of my head as my hair thinned to the point that I was approaching the dreaded combover look and I wasn't having any of that.  So I shaved it one day and decided that was the better of the two options.  But I never considered any other plusses or minuses to a bald head.

The biggest negative is that I get my hair cut more often than before.  After about four weeks the sides grow out enough to create a "Bozo Effect" (yes, like the clown) and it's not a good look.  So it's back to the barber for a 3-minute, $20-dollar hair clip down to 1/8 of an inch.

The biggest positive is that I don't have to shower first thing in the morning.  Sleeping on my longer hair always resulted in one messed-up hairdo that could only be tamed with a shower.  I also like that drying my hair takes two seconds with a towel and getting caught in a rainshower isn't a big deal anymore.  One swipe of the hand and I'm good to go.

Baby Blanket

I crocheted a baby blanket back in 1980 for my soon-to-be-born baby girl.  I used multicolored yarn to give it an interesting look and used the basic single crochet stitch, the only one I ever learned. I would sit in my living room chair night after night, crocheting as I watched TV, slowly building row after row of stitches until I achieved the somewhat oversized blanket shown below, which she has kept for all these years.  

Vegetable Stand

Mr. and Mrs. Barnett have a vegetable stand (bottom picture below) so far out in the country that Google Street View doesn't have it.  They have tomatoes, corn, beans, onions, peppers, watermelons, and more and it's best to go mid-week for the best selection.  It's a cash honor system, so bring enough fives and ones to make the proper deposit.  It's also good to bring your own large shopping bag(s).

The top picture below was our takeaway, with six large tomatoes, ten huge yellow peppers, and a basket of who-knows-how-many jalapenos, which cost us a total of $7.  That's a bargain!

This Google Maps link will pinpoint the address and when you get there you will turn on a gravel driveway and the stand is immediately on your left.  

https://www.google.com/maps/place/4060+Middle+Run+Rd,+Spring+Valley,+OH+45370

Limoncello Spritz

We began a recent Dorothy Lane Culinary Center class with the Limoncello Spritz shown below.  A single serving has 3 ounces of Prosecco (or another sparkling wine), 2 ounces of Limoncello, and one ounce of soda water.  You can party-size that by replacing the ounces with cups.  Serve on ice with a lemon slice and mint leaves. It's the mint that really makes this stand out.  

Rear Wiper Replacement

I've often used the phrase "It's not hard, but it's not obvious" and my recent replacement of the rear wiper blade on our Infiniti QX60 is a perfect example.  I could not figure out how to get the old wiper blade off and I've learned from experience that applying too much force is not a good idea.  So I headed over to the Perplexity AI chatbot and asked "Find me a video of someone replacing the rear wiper on a 2018 Infiniti qx60" and it returned a perfect link to the YouTube video below.  After viewing it, I understood how the blade was attached and that removing it would require a fair amount of force.  Armed with this knowledge, I replaced it in under a minute.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7oLuUksZq4

At Least We Made It

The picture below was all we saw for 2 1/2 hours on westbound I-70 back in February as we began our trip to Fort Lauderdale for a week-long cruise on the Celebrity Ascent.  The two-page blog post at the link below details the four crises we went through over the two-day journey.  The short story is we almost hit a semi, we might not have had a hotel room in Indianapolis, our flight was delayed five hours, and we thought all our luggage would end up missing.  Why when it comes to catching a cruise ship we have nothing but bad luck and stress?

https://lifeexperiences.paulishing.com/2024/08/at-least-we-made-it.html

Wobble Shims

We all have a four-legged table or chair that wobbles and we all find something to use to cram under the leg to make it stable.  In our case, it was our patio table with 4-5 paper coasters and it looked so hillbilly.  I noodled for a while and came up with several ideas, but I chucked them all when I found a 6-pack of wobble shims for $3.39 at Amazon.  Each shim is about 1" wide, 2" long, and tapers down from a 3/16" height, and is made with a rubbery, variegated surface.  I needed four shims to level the table and as you can see from the picture below, they are not hillbilly at all.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EALUQWW