Observations – Page 5

2021 Week 33 – Keto Curious

Last weekend I suddenly became curious about the Low-Carb (Keto) lifestyle. After watching an online video about Carbs, I started doing the math and realized I was consuming more carbs than I realized (a LOT more).

The COVID-19 shutdown has allowed me to cook more and, after finally finding an upright freezer available for sale, purchase more food for bulk storage. This was mainly for convenience, variety, and to reduce the waste of leftovers. However, when I checked the freezer and pantry, I realized how many Carbs were in my diet. So I decided to try an experiment… Reduce Carbs from my diet for 2 weeks.

As of today, I’m one week in, and I have to admit, I’m feeling GREAT! I’ve dropped a few pounds, and I have more energy. Of course, I’ve had a few Carbs now and then, but I’m making a conscious effort to try this for 2 weeks and decide how to go from there.

If you’re interested in learning more about the Kato diet, the video below does an excellent job explaining how things work.

You can find endless resources on YouTube as well as your local library. But, these days, you don’t even need to visit the actual library; you can check books out digitally using the Libby app and read on the free Kindle software from Amazon.

That’s it for this week. If you’ve done Keto or are currently living the lifestyle, I welcome your feedback! I’ve never “dieted” in my life, so this is new to me, but I’m really excited to see the results!

2021 Week 32 – Back to School (and WORK)

Hard to believe it’s August already & even harder to believe school has started in the area. A lot of businesses are continuing their “back to work” initiatives and the increased traffic during the daily commute is noticeable. Downtown Indianapolis is slowly starting to come back to life but it has a long way to go to get anywhere close to where it was pre-covid, if it ever does.

Another thing that can’t be missed is the number of “Help Wanted” and “We’re Hiring” signs in just about every business. Every place I go out to eat you can tell they’re under staffed and over worked. If you can afford it, please tip generously and be patient if things are a little slower than usual.

I have a few new food places I want to check out in the coming weeks. The Amp Food Hall at 16-Tech and the new Brozinni’s location in Speedway. My Son & I visited Barbecue and Bourbon a few weeks back and we were so busy eating the amazing food I forgot to take any pictures. This means I need another visit…

And finally… Earlier this year North Face rejected a custom jacket order from an oil company & got caught “Virtue Signaling” in a very humorous way.

2021 Week 25 – Like Golf but Better

Over the winter I watched a lot of YouTube & I stumbled upon some interesting ones regarding Disc Golf. I’d seen the baskets around various parks in the past and had never really seen anyone playing. Enter COVID-19 and Disc Golf becomes one of the fastest growing outdoor sports in the world. According to the Professional Disc Golf Association the sport saw an 84% new player growth in 2020.

There are over 10,000 courses throughout the world and most are completely free to play, unlike Ball Golf that can run you $100 a round (and take up a good chunk of your day). You can get started in Disc Golf with a single Disc that costs $10 or a starter set of 3 Discs for under $30. Scoring is can be a simple as a piece or paper or with the use if an app such as UDisk (also reporting record growth).

UDisk is a mobile app that lists Disc Courses around the world with reviews and course conditions updated by players. It also allows you to see the Disc Course layout and distances to the baskets. Lastly you can use UDisk to keep score and track your progress as you learn the game. For $15 it’s one of the most useful apps I’ve used, let alone pay for.

Playing Disc Golf is similar to Ball Golf where each player tries to get their Disc in the basket with the least amount of throws. The holes are rated with Par’s like Ball Golf and other rules such as Water Hazards and Out of Bounds are similar. I’m not nearly ready yet but there are Disc Golf Leagues all over the place & they seem to be very active. I’m going to try my hand at joining one this fall once the summer travel settles down. If you’re looking for a new sport to try & don’t think you can beat Disc Golf as a way to get outside and get some exercise while playing.

And finally, I visited Micro Center in Cincinnati last weekend and picked up a 7-inch touch screen for one of my Raspberry Pi devices. If you like to tinker, or know someone who does, a Raspberry Pi is a great gift. It’s an inexpensive (under $50) computer on a board that can be “hacked” to do just about anything. I’m going to build the real-time weather station shown in the video below.

2021 Week 16 – Hey Y’all!

Kickstarter has some interesting projects. I’ve backed several over the years and have mostly been happy with the end products (a few were failures and never got enough funded to get off the ground). A new one caught my eye a few months ago called Tidbyt. Tidbyt is a retro display kind of along the lines of a lite-brite that we all had as a kid. It’s “connected” and can be customized to display all kinds of data from weather to stocks to transit timetables. If all goes according to plan it will start shipping in September. I’m looking forward to setting one up as a weather station and clock!

If you have pets do yourself a favor and locate at least 2 emergency pet hospitals that are open 24-hours and make sure this information is easily accessible. It’s also a good idea to know where they’re located so you know how to get there quickly. We had a situation where one of our pets needed emergency care and the first place, closest to our house, had a 5-6 hour wait to see a Vet. The parking lot was full of people sitting around on lawn chairs! We identified an alternate emergency facility about 30-min away that advised they had a 1-2 hour wait. It still took almost 6-hours to get the exam and necessary medications. Current protocol requires you to call from the parking lot and stay there the entire time you’re waiting for triage and treatment.

And finally, I’ve really been enjoying the “Bless Your Rank” food review show on the “It’s a southern Thing” YouTube channel. It’s helping me get some ideas of snacks to try when I make a trip down south later this year!

Bonus Episode!

2021 Week 14 – 72 Sat / 21 Thu

You have to love Indiana weather. We were enjoying 70-degree weather last Saturday & woke up to 21-degrees and flurries on April 1 (no joke!). At least we’re finally into April and spring sprung on March 20th. This next week is supposed to be back in the 70’s. I’ll take that!

A week after I get signed up for the Johnson & Johnson “One-and-Done” Covid-19 Shot news breaks that up to 15-million doses are being recalled because of formulation issues. I was able to get my vaccination at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway last week and it was one of the most organized things I’ve done since the Eli Lilly drive-up COVID testing last May. Kudos to the IMS staff, Indiana National Guard, and IU Health for making that an amazing success.

I love cooking shows and spend a lot of time watching my favorites on Youtube and Food Network (PBS too!). I discovered a new chef (new to me) last week that I didn’t realize I had been reading about for years.

J. Kenji López-Alt is a restaurant owner and Chief Culinary Consultant at the Serious Eats website. He also just published a book called “The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science“. I really like his Point-of-View (POV) video style and his more advanced cooking techniques like this one:

Finally, I have some camping trips coming up and will be reviewing some new gear I’ve picked up in the past year. Look for those in the coming weeks. Enjoy the amazing weather this week!

2021 Week 13 – Sweet 16

So we’re down to 16 teams in the NCAA March Madness Tournament. It’s been a year of upsets as some of the top teams (including ALL of the Big-10) are knocked out. It’s going to be an exciting weekend along with an even more exciting round next week!

YOU get a Shot, and YOU get a shot. Ads of March 31 anyone 16 years old and above is eligible for a COVID vaccine. I’ve been trying to get one for a while now but the demand far outweighs the supply. Governor Holcomb just announced there will be a mass vaccination clinic at the Indianapolis motor Speedway starting on 4/1. I’m scheduled to go on 4/2 for the J&J shot which I’m assuming will knock me on my butt the following day. Good thing there’s basketball to watch!

If you know me you know I have a few hobbies. Camping, Hiking, Cycling, Kayaking, Photography, Cooking (and eating)… I have a new interest this year and it’s Disc Golf. I’ve only just started but I’m very intrigued with it and have a few trips coming up that I plan to play while out and about. I like that it’s an inexpensive sport to get into and the courses are 95% free or only $5-6 where there is a fee. That makes it very accessible to people and easy to walk away if it becomes boring. I’ll keep you posted on the progress.

Speaking of Disc Golf I found an app called UDisc that makes finding courses and leagues, scoring games, and tracking your stats possible (and fun). All that for only $5 a year (it even has an Apple Watch app included! It’s well worth the price and I’ve really enjoyed using it so far!

Finally, for my Mac friends out there here’s a short video explaining 13 Keyboard Shortcuts you might not know about.

https://youtu.be/m6UJRd8SdQo

2021 Week 8 – MORE SNOW!

Well the snow arrived last week and it actually matched the forecasters predictions! We ended up with about 9 inches in central Indiana and it brought the region to a halt for about 24-hours. This is one of the first big snowfalls we’ve had in several years. In fact this system was so big they got snow and sub-zero temps in TEXAS!

Clancy’s is BACK! – I grew up in Noblesville and we had at least one Clancy’s hamburger joints in town, I remember going there for a tasty burger every once in a while. That same family is back with a new location at the Garage Food Hall in the Bottleworks District downtown. I’ve eaten there a few times and it’s as good as I remember as a kid!

Classic Clancy “Topper” with their delicious crinkle cut fries.

Speaking of food (shocker I know) I’m planning on checking out a place called Indy Tacos this week. I see them mentioned all the time on the Indianapolis sub-reddit as a legit option when looking for delicious Mexican food. More to some next week!

Finally, it looks like Alton Brown is getting ready to release another season of his Good Eats reboot. Food Network practically taught me how to cook and Alton is one of my all time favorite cooking celebrities. I’m looking forward to the new season!

2021 Week 2 – One Down, 51 to go!

After almost 2 weeks off work in December I’m ready to get back to work and make it a productive year! This week was going to be heavy on Sports until the attack on the Nation’s Capital. I thought I had seen it all in 2020 and this just topped it. I can’t believe the protesters made it all the way into the gallery. There was talk about an elected official who was part of the crowd so it’s going to be interesting to see if he was the one who opened the doors to get people into the secured areas…

The college football championship was set last week. Notre Dame was blown out by Georgia and Ohio State showed Clemson who’s boss. The Championship game is Monday evening & it’s going to be a good one. My $ is on Ohio State to take home the trophy.

Colts make the playoffs! It was a game that was a LOT closer than it should have been but the Indianapolis Colts are heading to the playoffs!

Update: Their game against the Bills yesterday was a disaster. Some really questionable plays that will most likely be a topic of discussion for fans in the weeks to come…

Finally the NCAA Tournament is going to be played in its entirety in Indiana. That’s a huge win for the city and state. It’ll be nice to see Indy in the National spotlight again.

21st century predictions. They were close to what we have today!

I didn’t take a lot of pictures this week & what I took isn’t anything that any of you would find interesting. I’ll try & do better next week.

Finally, I’ve been playing with a new (to me) distribution of Linux called “Elementary.io“. I installed it on my old 2012 Mac & it’s brought new life to the old hardware. If you’re used to the Mac OS and have an older MacBook not being used this is worth checking out. Installation is very easy and you can be up and running in 20 minutes.

2021 Week 1 – Happy New year?

So how was your 2020? It was an interesting one to say the least. Something we’ll all remember the rest of our lives. My New Years resolution is to try & revive the blog with a weekly posting format that will allow me to build each post as the week progresses and publish the summary once a week.

The following is a 2020 recap by month via pictures I took along the way. Warning, there will be a LOT of food pictures. If you follow me on Social Media a lot of these are re-posts but I’m adding more context. You can click on each one for a larger image.

January 2020

Finally made it to Working Man’s Friend for a legendary burger. Why did it take me so long to visit?
Celebrated a successful 2019 with the team from work (Cowboy Ribeyes at Sullivan’s)
Started playing with Sports Betting (have turned $50 into $400 this year).
Had the best Calamari EVER at King Dough.

February 2020

Interviewed the founder of Clustertruck and got a behind the scenes look at the downtown operation.
Made a killer Deep Dish Pizza to celebrate Super Bowl LIV.
And some homemade Coconut Marshmallows for for people at work.
Correctly guessed the winner of the Daytona 500 and turned $5 into $53.75.

March 2020

Covid is starting to get a lot of coverage in the news and we start testing a new video collaboration tool called “Zoom”.
The Covid Memes also start to become a daily sight.
Last burger and Fry combo at Kreuger’s in Indianapolis (they closed after this).
I put the 3D printer to use and start printing sanitation hooks for friends and family.
The Work From Home revolution begins as office parking lots start looking like a late Friday afternoon every day of the week.

April 2020

Found a new casserole that is the definition of Comfort Food.
Got a free speed bump on the home Internet so working from home was lightning fast!
Baked bread and ate a LOT of BLT’s throughout the year.
Had to upgrade the home networking setup to make the speed boost more usable.
Took advantage of a new Kincaid’s butcher shop opening up right down the street (Spud Buddies and Flank Steak).

May 2020

Early in May I had a Covid-19 scare and proceeded to the Lilly testing sight in Downtown Indianapolis. Test was negative.
Added some flair to the Zoom background in my makeshift dining room studio.
Continued to help keep Kincaid’s in business.
And the BLT’s were the go-to meal when working from home.
Operation American Resolve was a tribute to the front line healthcare workers.
Followed by a Blue Angel’s tour of the USA. They flew right over my office when they visited Indianapolis.
Civil Unrest brought out the ISP Chopper to keep an eye on things downtown (Flight track from Flightaware).
The Rose Bush in the front of the house decided to flex and brightened up the landscape.

June 2020

In June I set off to Indian-Celina Lake in southern Indiana for some camping. It was nice to have the campground pretty much all to myself!
The guys at work decided it was time for some Socially Distant Golf so we hit up a small little public course on the east side of Indy.
My Son wanted Pizza one night so we made pizza!
Bought a new Police Scanner to keep up with all the things going on downtown.
The YoHo General Store in Solsberry, Indiana was a place to stop for lunch…
…While I visited the Tulip Trestle in Bloomfield.
George Floyd mural on Mass Ave in Indianapolis (not my photo).

July 2020

Right before the July 4th Holiday we received bad news about Kincaid’s. They would end up being closed much longer than they anticipated (until October).
We celebrated Independence day with a BBQ chicken on the Big Green Egg.
Once of many beautiful sunsets from the backyard in 2020.
Introduced my son to the Soft Shell Crab roll at Ocean World in Indianapolis.
Lucked out on an NBA wager to end the month.

August 2020

I found and tried the “Danzig” of wines (80’s music reference if you didn’t know).
Discovered COCONUT ALMONDS! These are addictive & don’t last long after bring purchased.
Re-visited an old friend at Shapiro’s Deli. They took a big hit in 2020 but were still producing a quality product when I visited.
It was time to update my Avatar.
Speaking of visiting, we took a road trip to Gas City and tried Payne’s Fish and Chips. The Fattoush salad was delicious and they cook up a mean plate of food. Well worth the visit if you’re in the area!

September 2020

Took another trip to Indian-Celina Lake early in the month.
Tried to predict the future and placed a $5 bet on Notre Dame to win it all (they play in the semi-finals on the day I’m writing this post).
Took another camping trip a few weeks later. This time a multi-day, multi-state adventure. Starting in Madison Indiana at Clifty Falls. Just in time for the first Presidential debate. Bingo cards from the No Agenda podcast.
The next day I headed farther south to Mammoth Cave. I hadn’t been there since I was a kid. I picked a great time to visit. The crowds were non-existent and the camping area was wide open.
You aren’t allowed to burn regular firewood at this park so you have to use Bio-Blocks. I was skeptical but they actually worked great!

October 2020

Continuing the multi-day, multi-state adventure I started the morning with a drive to Nashville, which is in the news the week I write this because of a huge explosion.
While looking for a BBQ place for lunch I drove by Hugh Baby’s and the smell drew me in.
I ended up ordering the Mushroom Swiss Smash Burger (with SMOKED MUSHROOMS) and it was one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had. I still have dreams about it 3-months later.
Traveling northwest to Land Between the Lakes I drove around a corner to find a giant Minecraft looking structure. Turns out it’s a Charcoal Blast Furnace. I ended up seeing several of these on my travels and each one was just as interesting as the last.
Woke up to a COLD morning at Land Between the Lakes, probably because I was camping lakeside.
That afternoon I drove up to Garden of the Gods for some breathtaking views.
After arriving home I turned on the first episode of Ted Lasso (best show of 2020 in my opinion) and proceeded finish the season by the next day.
The following weekend I met some family in Auburn to tour the Cord Duesenberg Museum. It was HUGE and totally worth the 2-hour drive from Indianapolis.
Work had me downtown a few days later and I just had to stop in and get some Bison Meatloaf at St. Joseph’s Brewery.
Oct 31 was a sad day. The BEST James Bond (Daniel Craig is a close second) passed away at 90 years of age.

November 2020

Indianapolis continued to be boarded up because of the threat of election day violence.
Left the office & had a Weinermobile spotting!
Discovered a clever artist in Indy (@itghostwithoutsaying on Instagram).
The Cobb Salad at Bru Burger, it’s a work of art.
Red Bird in the front tree, trying out the new iPhone 12 Pro.
Hoagies & Hops was selling Taylor Ham (pork roll) and I could not pass up making a classic sandwich (pork roll, egg, & cheese on a Kaiser roll).

December 2020

I think I found the Cookie of the year
2020 even caused Trader Joe’s to shut down
I decided it was time to make some chicken stock for some upcoming soups and stews.
Even though most agree Die Hard isn’t a Christmas Movie I thought this was funny.
And last but not least, The Oatmeal figured out how to properly end the year.

Well if you made it this far THANK YOU for sticking with me. After realizing I was neglecting the blog I felt it was time for a super post to get caught up. As I said above my goal is to post a weekly summary with all of the things I found relevant throughout the week. We’ll see if I can actually pull it off.

It will be interesting to see what reverts back and what stays the same. I think working from home, for some, is going to be the new norm. I can’t help to think masks will be part of our way of life for years to come, especially during flu season. I’m glad we all made it through 2020 and I’m looking forward to, hopefully, getting back to the way things used to be.

See you next week!