Month: October 2015

What We’re Reading This Week (Oct. 31, 2015)

I love to read and I find myself tagging a lot of online articles to read later.  My first method (a long time ago) involved copying links and creating bookmarks.  After that I progressed to using the Reading List option in Safari.  After that I tried sending everything to Evernote.  That worked for a while but I found it created too many issues when I was searching for other reference items.

Enter the App called “Pocket” (which I blogged about back in 2012).  It still  does one thing and it does it very well.  It allows you to aggregate online content, tag it for the corresponding categories, and save it for later.

If you sign up for Pocket Premium ($4.99 a month) it keeps articles forever in a digital archive even if the originating page gets removed.  You also get access to some nice search and indexing features.  I’ve found this useful as many of my old saved articles are no longer available online.

Here are some of my favorite articles from the past week:

I’ll try to post some of my favorites on an ongoing basis.  Hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

 

 

Update – Our Favorite Chip Wins National Competition!

B-n-G-ChipsLooks like our favorite chip won the 2015 Lays “Do Us a Flavor” competition & the winner is from Noblesville Indiana!

Local coverage Here and Here.

Hopefully this means the Biscuits & Gravy chips will be easier to find in the local mega-marts.

Have you tried them yet?  What do you think?

 

 

Wildwood Market – Fountain Square, Indianapolis

I’m always looking for something different for lunch when working downtown. One of the many things I love about Indy are all the dining options.  It seems like a new one comes online every week so it’s fun scoping them out and adding to them to the rotation.  I had lunch with a foodie friend in Fountain Square a couple of months ago. While driving up Virginia Ave, on our way back downtown, we spotted Wildwood Market and had to stop.

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If you’re familiar with Locally Grown Gardens in SoBro you should have an idea what to expect at Wildwood. It’s a similar concept where an old Service Station type building has been repurposed as a neighborhood mini-market. What makes these places different from the chain stores (7-11 or Village Pantry) is they specialize in locally sourced items and products with ingredients you can pronounce.

From a sheer number of items, and variety, this place is amazing.  Dry goods, meats, cheeses, frozen items, and fresh bread, this place is a MUST VISIT to get all the goodies for your next picnic.  Also a good place to pickup holiday treats for the foodies in your life.

A short while back Wildwood started offering a rotating sandwich and salad of the day for lunch. Priced at around $8.00 each and full of all kinds of interesting flavor combinations it was an immediate hit for me! In fact I’m going out there at least once a week to grab a sandwich and eat it on site (several seating options) or back at the office when things are hectic.  Wildwood Market posts today’s specials on their Facebook Page every day around 11am so you have something to think about for the next hour.

Today’s Lunch Sandwich: Pastrami, Peppered Smoking Goose Bacon, Cabot Extra Sharp White Cheddar, Roasted Poblano, Creamy Red Pepper Vinaigrette, Mixed Greens On Rye Bread.

Photo from the Wildwood Market Facebook Page
Photo from the Wildwood Market Facebook Page

Pair that with a bag of McClure’s Spicy Pickle potato chips and an Oatmeal Pecan Carmel Cookie for dessert you have a great meal for around $12.50 (enough to split with a friend if you’re a light eater).

A word of warning.  The sandwiches and salads are first-come first-served and when they’re gone they’re gone.  I always try to get there by 12:30pm and have yet to walk out empty handed.  I really need to start trying the salads as they have some great combinations as well but I can’t quote get over how good those sandwiches are!

Wildwood is open Mon – Sat  10AM – 8PM.  They do a special breakfast dish as well as lunch on Saturday.

Have you been here?  What did you think?  Post your feedback below.

Wildwood Market
1015 Virginia Avenue
Indianapolis, IN 46203

Breaking Clay & Geeking Out

A client of mine took me Skeet shooting in late 2014 and again this spring. I have to say I’ve really gotten into it.

There’s a really nice range no more than 10 minutes from my house so it’s pretty convenient to go down on the weekend to make some noise and break some clay (as they say).

I ended up getting my own shotgun and everything! Like any “hobby” there are many accessories you can get.  I’m slowly starting to get all the bits and pieces together & fit in with the regulars.  Still need a vest though…

Pro Tip: Wal-Mart has the BEST prices on Ammo!  25-50% cheaper than everywhere else.

If you know me you know I’m kind of a geek (true story).  When I bought my shotgun it came with a rebate.  It wasn’t a cash rebate it was a TECH rebate!  The rebate was a “TactaCam” that mounts on the barrel of the gun & lets you shoot HD video of your hunt (or skeet in my case).

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The Tactacam can also be setup to automatically takes pictures at a rate of 1-frame a second so it works perfectly as a time-lapse camera.  Here are a few videos from our first outing:

The camera had slipped to the side and we didn’t notice it for a while.  After this outing we determined we needed to change the mounting point as well as use the closed back to cut down on the noise of the firing mechanism.

The TactaCam has a 4x zoom that’s equivalent to a 50mm lens on a 35mm camera.  That means what you see is what you get.  It’s not a wide (fisheye) view that you get with the GoPro and the picture quality is pretty amazing.

Pretty neat toy to play around with and we’re looking forward to finding other uses for the TactaCam.  Might be a good additional camera when we’re out shooting with the GoPro.