Stairs Before and After

The almost last part of our basement remodeling project was replacing the carpet on the stairs, updating the once "lovely" brown shag (left picture below) with the plush High Castle gray carpet from Home Depot shown on the right.  Unlike the rest of the basement work which we did ourselves, this was installed by Home Depot contractors.  Now we have to decide on what color to stain the new handrail, which had to wait until the carpet was installed to get the proper visual. 

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Lifeproof-High-Castle-Color-Palace-Pattern-Gray-Carpet-H5199-2699-1200/313047184

Bayside 3-in-1 TV Console

When we saw this TV console at Costco and how the television could be mounted above making it look like it's on the wall and hiding all the cables inside the swiveling mounting bracket, we were sold.  We paid extra to have it assembled and delivered, money well spent for this 225-pound hunk of furniture that went down to the basement.  We just need to get the popcorn popping before sitting back and enjoying a movie or sporting event on the 65-inch 4K television.

https://www.baysidefurnishings.com/product/odessa-industrial-3-1-tvconsole

Soft Shell Crab Sandwich

While at Foremost Seafood buying crabmeat for that night's crab cake dinner, I spotted on their daily board that they had fresh soft shell crabs, one of my favorite beach lunches.  I decided to try to make my own at home and it was delicious.  Pan-fried it in canola oil with a coating of Slap Ya Mama cajun seasoning on brioche bread and cocktail sauce.  

If you think it looks a little nasty, you should have seen it raw.  Looked like something from a horror movie.

https://www.foremostseafood.com

 

Google Wifi Status Light

Seems our life is full of glow-in-the-dark annoyances, the latest in our household being the lighted ring around our three Google Wifi routers.  The one in our upstairs guest bedroom was particularly irritating, but a quick search found it's a simple matter to adjust the brightness or eliminate it altogether.  The link has the details, but clicking the top-right gear (left image below) will bring up the Device Setting screen (the right one) that has the Status light brightness slider.  All the way left will shut it off completely.

https://www.howtogeek.com/303614/how-to-adjust-the-brightness-of-google-wifis-led-lights

Zoho

Today is the first day of receiving Paul's Daily Posts from the email address of dailyposts@paulishing.com.  When Google announced it was turning down the email feature of Feedburner, I looked for a way to leverage my domain name, paulishing.com, to send these emails.  That search took me to Zoho, a free (I love free) service that unexpectedly allowed the use of custom domain names.  I could have done that with Gmail, but it would have cost money.  The free version is limited to web browsers, but that's exactly what I needed.

Setting up a Zoho account is easy, but using a custom domain name takes some interaction with your DNS provider (Google in my case) and it's not all that difficult, but it's not all that obvious for the first time techie-wanna-be.  I make house calls...

https://www.zoho.com

Changing My Posts Email Service

Effective tomorrow, Wednesday, August 11th, I am transitioning how you receive these emails.  Google is removing the portion of its Feedburner service that is currently delivering this blog to your inbox.   In its place, you will be getting an email from dailyposts@paulishing.com.  If you don't receive them, check your spam folder and take whatever action is necessary to have them delivered to your inbox.

If you don't start receiving emails, want to be removed from the mailing list, or change your email address, please send a note to dailyposts@paulishing.com.

Door Humor

I have to appreciate the humor on this emergency exit door at the McCandless Crossing's Burgatory restaurant outside Pittsburgh.  Whether the threat of doing dishes, for the rest of your life and beyond, actually changes anyone's decision to turn around and use the proper exit will have to wait for the afterlife to know.

https://burgatorybar.com

Crème Brûlée

I love a good Crème Brûlée and getting a chance to put on the crusty top by melting sugar with a blowtorch, as I did a couple years ago at a Dorothy Lane Market cooking class, was a chance I didn't want to miss.  Just look at the intense concentration as I attempt to make it just the right shade.

Do Not Disturb

I'm pretty good about setting "Do Not Disturb" on my Pixel 2 in the movies, churches, or other need-quiet places, so it surprised me when phone calls were still ringing through.  I finally tracked it down to "Who Can Interrupt", which I found under Settings ... Sound ... Do Not Disturb ... People.  I changed that from the "Anyone", shown below, to "None" to resolve the annoyance.  I can't swear it came this way by default, but I can't imagine why I would have set it this way.

 

Dayton Beer Company Rooftop Bar

Dayton Beer Company, located at 41 Madison St in downtown Dayton, opened a rooftop bar this spring and as you can see from the photo below, it's very sharp-looking.  You can get your beer from the first-floor taproom, but you might want to check out the bar on the rooftop.  While it doesn't have the selection of the main bar, the big advantage is they will serve your beer in a sturdy plastic glass, much nicer than the flimsy ones shown below.

https://thedaytonbeerco.com