2024 February Update

What’s Going On:
I just got back from a 10-day visit to Thailand! It was a LOT of flying (24 hours each way) but worth every minute of the journey once I arrived. I have a 2-part blog post I’m working on this month and should have the first part out in the next week or so.

March is somewhat of a quiet month, but as the temps warm and spring gets closer every day, it’s time to start planning some outdoor activities. I reserved a campsite for an overnight trip later this month to try my hand at a Ham Radio Parks on the Air activation. This combines my love of the outdoors with my newly refreshed passion for Ham Radio.


What I’m Buying:
Woot! is an overstock site connected with Amazon, and it occasionally has some really good deals. Earlier in February, I bought a refurbished Dyson V10 Animal for less than half the cost of a new unit. It’s an older model but better than the V6 I purchased years ago. It arrived in generic packaging, but there was no indication the unit had even been turned on, let alone used at any time. I was immediately impressed with the increased performance of the V10 and am very happy with the purchase. The V6 still has some life, so it will be used for smaller house tasks, including cleaning the cars.


What I’m Eating:
Lots of Thai food while on my trip. I flew Turkish Airlines, and their in-flight meals were very tasty. I was pretty impressed with the quality and quantity of the food served while we cruised at 35,000 feet. It was funny to see the standard USA chains on my layover in Istanbul. Burger King & McDonalds were prominently placed through the airport and had a lot of customers.

I went almost two weeks without eating American or processed foods and could feel a difference in just a few days. For some reason, I always assumed Smoothies all had dairy (something I avoid) and quickly learned that was not true. I enjoyed several fruit smoothies while abroad and also enjoyed their incredibly low price. We’ll see how well my blender holds up after my next smoothie supply run to Costco. I might be in the market for a Vitamix in the future…


Where I’ve Been:
I saved about $1000 on my airfare (and a 2-hour flight leg at each end) by flying out of Detroit. It’s only a 3.5-hour drive from my house and was worth it. I used some of the savings to upgrade my seats for the 4 flight legs. More on that in a future post…

I only had one stop in Istanbul, Turkey, before I went to Bangkok, Thailand. Once in Bangkok, I met my brother, and we took a short flight up to Chiang Mai, where we stayed for most of the visit.

Toward the end of my trip, we returned to Bangkok for a few days before I hopped on an early morning flight to return to the US.

I returned to Detroit via Istanbul again and landed around 7:30 pm. Customs was a snap, and I was returning to Indy by 9 pm. I arrived home after midnight and was still pretty awake, even though I had been up for approximately 36 hours. Once settled, I slept like a rock and enjoyed the extra day of PTO on my return. Adjusting back to Indiana time was more complicated than I thought, considering I didn’t have any issues adjusting to the 12-hour time change in Thailand.


What I’m Watching:
I downloaded a lot of content to my iPad Pro for the travel legs and consumed quite a bit. YouTube always has something to watch, and I wanted to watch a few movies on Netflix. Being able to download content to your device is a great feature that I wish more streaming services would provide. The in-flight entertainment was available, but I only used it once to watch a soccer match live at 38,000 feet.


What I’m Reading:
I also read a lot while held captive in the air. I have a bad habit of pinning articles to “read later,” and I had a lot to choose from. I also worked on a few books using the Amazon Kindle. The Art of Invisibility by Kevin Mitnick kept me entertained for a few hours before I switched over to a copy of Essential Thailand by Fodor’s Travel Guides.


And Finally…
This was quite a mystery. How does a 200-foot broadcast radio tower disappear without a trace? Check the comments on the article for details (and the answer to the mystery!).

2023 Week 27 – Gettin’ Stuff Done

What’s Going On:
It’s going to be a busy week as people return from vacations and deadlines start to loom. Last week was a 3-day week, and with so many people out of the office, it was a good time to get caught up on some low-priority tasks and prep for some big meetings coming up next week.

I’m still using a combination of Todiost for work tasks, Apple Reminders for personal tasks, and Evernote for capturing everything else. It’s worked very well this last year at my new job, and if it ain’t broke… The Getting Things Done (GTD) methodology, first released in 2001, is still the key to my productivity.


What I’m Eating:
I received my order from Enso Supergreens late last week. I will agree with the review I read leading me to this AG-1 alternative. Supergreens is a VERY fine powder that mixes very well with liquid. I’ve been using Oat Milk and a Milk Frother I picked up from Amazon, but any shaker-style bottle will work.

Once mixed, Supergreens has a creamy, minty & slightly sweet taste. It reminds me of a melted Shamrock Shake from McDonalds. It’s also a lot less grainy than the AG-1 samples I previously tried. This is something I can see myself drinking daily and actually enjoying it. Eventually, Supergreens could replace the daily multivitamin and probiotic I’ve been taking for the past year. I’ll report back in a few months and let you know if I’m still drinking it.


Room Service on Wheels, a delivery-only service in Fishers, has expanded its location and opened up a brewery called King Jugg Brewing Company with a lot of outdoor seating. I visited this week and found they didn’t have any of their beers available yet (next week, I was told), but I stuck around for lunch.

I had anticipated getting their chopped salad, which looked very good on the menu, but I pivoted last minute and went for the Tenderloin.

I was told the Tenderloin is marinated in buttermilk, and each one is hand-breaded to order. It arrived piping hot, fully dressed with LTMOP and a side of house-made chips. A little piece was hanging out the side of the bun, and I gave it a quick sample. DELICIOUS! Nice, lightly seasoned breading and a tender pork cutlet. This was an enjoyable sandwich; I will say it’s the best Tenderloin in town. I look forward to returning soon and ordering it again, along with one of the new house beers,

I immediately sent a picture to my friend Rick, the “Tenderloin Connisour,” and told him he needed to check this place out for his All Tenderloins, all the Time review website. I’m curious to hear his feedback & read his review.


What I’m Watching:
I just finished The Bear on Hulu last night. Pretty intense show that people “in the industry” seem to enjoy. If you like drama and food, you should check The Bear out.


LOTS of YouTube videos have been streamed this week, concentrating on Amateur Radio equipment and licensing. I’m determined to get my license upgraded soon.


What I’m Reading:
2023-2027 General Class Study Guide by Gordon West – Study guide for the General Class Amateur Radio Exam. The FCC updates their questions every 4-years to keep with changing times so you have to make sure you have the right study guide. July 1, 2023 was the start of the new 4-year calendar so my timing for getting back into the hobby was perfect. After taking several on-line proactive exams I realized I didn’t know as much as I thought I did and needed to bone up on the tech before attempting to take the test. This is going to be a project I hope to complete this summer.


And Finally…
Following up to last weeks Nuclear Sub tour we give you Mike Rowe on a Nuclear Supercarrier!

2023 Week 26 – It’s Not Easy Being Green


What’s Going On:
It’s the weekend before the 4th of July, and a couple of weeks ago (while I was on my road trip), the Leadership Team at my office decided to give everyone an extra day off (July 3), so it’s a much appreciated 4-day weekend for this guy. Unfortunately, the weather has been anything but ideal, with rain and thunderstorms every day since Thursday and more on the way tonight (Sunday).


What I’m Buying:
Study Guide for the Amateur Radio General Class License Exam – Even though I didn’t get on the Air during the Annual Field Day, my interest in Amateur Radio is starting to pick up again. Like most hobbies, there are usually varying levels of participation, and in the Amateur Radio community, that can be classified through the different levels of licenses you can earn. Each license allows you to do more on the radio and talk to people farther away.

I’ve had the basic license for years that allows me to talk to people locally, and I have always wanted to upgrade my license to gain more privileges. I took a couple of practice exams online and quickly learned my knowledge was limited, and I needed to do some studying.


I stopped in the Sierra store again and picked up some lightweight shirts for the summer at deeply discounted prices. I’m still amazed at the prices and selection at the new Sierra store. If you’re in the area, it’s worth checking it out.


What I’m Eating:
Do you know what’s better than the Chicken Salad Sandwich at The Garden Table on Mass Ave? The Chopped Cobb Salad with a SCOOP of Chicken Salad at Garden Table on Mass Ave!


A coworker gave me a couple of his Athletic Greens travel packs to try. If you’ve spent any time on YouTube, you have never seen this product sponsoring all kinds of content (especially travel and outdoor channels). This stuff is not cheap at just under $100 a month, and they don’t offer samples for you to try before committing.

As I mixed the contents of the green packet into 8 oz of cold water, I was hesitant about what I thought it would taste like. It’s very dark green, and I expected something in the broccoli family of flavors. Surprisingly, the taste was very light with a touch of sweetness (like watered-down pineapple). It can be a little chalky if you let the powder settle out of suspension (especially the last little bit), but it was not awful to drink, and if you believe the hype, it has a lot of health benefits. I could see this replacing my daily multivitamin and probiotic I take each morning.

If you want to learn more about the “Greens” powder revolution and a review of the top contenders, check out The Ultimate Greens Power Test. This was a comprehensive evaluation of 11 different Greens powers with a lot of detail in the decision-making process.

I’m going to order the winner of this test (Ensō Supergreens) and compare it to Athletic Greens. At $39.99 a month, it’s a lot less expensive and might be with the hype! I’ll report back after I’ve used it for a few weeks.


What I’m Watching:
AirNow Interactive Map
Given how the air has been full of SMOKE from the Great White North this past month, I watched this website daily to see if things were improving.

The Bear on Hulu
In its second season, The Bear picks up new challenges as the team tries to rehab its space and open a new restaurant.

Jack Ryan (Final Season) on Amazon
The Final Season just started this past week, and it hit the ground running with a great storyline. I’m going to hate to see this one end.


What I’m Reading:
In addition to the Study Guide mentioned earlier, these articles caught my attention this past week.
Why Was Benjamin Franklin’s Basement Filled With Skeletons?
Americans have ‘tip fatigue,’ resent ‘tip creep.’
What you need to know about Indiana’s new laws taking effect July 1, 2023


And Finally…
Inside a Nuclear SUBMARINE! | USS Indiana Tour

2023 Week 23 – Pack it Up!

What’s Going On:
Finishing the preparations for an upcoming road trip to West Virginia. It’s a combination of camping and a few hotels. The goal is to visit the world’s largest radio telescope in Green Bank, WV. Details to come!


What I’m Buying:
I love over-engineered items, and Yeti products are just that. Some would say overpriced, and I’m not going to argue with them, but the gear is rock solid. I have several tumblers, wine mugs, and even their folding camp chair (it’s amazing). I had a bunch of Amazon credits from my Amazon Credit Card, and after talking to the owner of a 36 oz Rambler with the “Chug Cap,” I decided to pick one up. Yeti designed this one right. It’s roughly the same circumference as a Nalgene, so it fits perfectly in the cup holder extender I have in the Subaru. I did an Ice Test, and it kept ice for several days (almost 3), so it’s sure to help your drinks stay cold on all but the longest road trips.


What I’m Eating:
Nothing too exciting this week. Several meetings ran into the lunch hour, so I ordered a few sandwiches at work. Jimmy John’s has their Summer Wraps back on the menu, and the Chicken Caesar is my favorite.

Potbelly has a “Clubby” on the menu as a limited-time offer, and it was a nice change from the Wreck I normally order.

What I’m Watching:
Top Chef World All Stars just ended, it was the 20th season for the franchise, and host Padma L announced she would be departing the show. She has hosted all but the first season. It will be interesting to see who takes her place in season 21


What I’m Reading:
After finishing, and really enjoying “Falling” by T.J. Newman, I moved to her next book, “Drowning: The Rescue of Flight 1421.” It started off fast and pulled me into the story immediately. I’ll probably have this one finished by the end of my trip next week.


And Finally…
The History Guy’s latest video should be very interesting to travelers. “ORD Stands for Orchard: A History of Airport Codes” gives you some insight into the 3-letter airport codes that sometimes make no sense.

2021 Week 50 – Kindle Upgrade

I’ve been an Amazon Kindle user ever since V2 was released in 2009. That version had a keyboard and built-in cellular modem that allowed you to transfer data and download books anywhere, anytime.

Amazon Kindle V2 in 2009

The Kindle e-reader does one thing and, in my opinion, does it very well. It provides a distraction-free reading experience. OK, two things, you can carry a huge number of books with you at any time. This is handy when you want to read a couple of books at the same time, depending on mood and energy. It makes no noise, it has no pop-up messages, and it’s already ready to pick up where you left off in your last reading session.

I eventually upgraded to a newer version and then another. The low $100-125 price and ever-increasing screen resolutions and lighting options made the upgrades worth it. We lost the cellular modem years ago, but with WiFi being so accessible, it’s something you really don’t miss. I typically like to read in the evenings where it helps me unwind. On occasion, I can use my phone to finish a chapter or launch the Audible version of a book where it syncs with the text copy for easy switching between the two.

My last Paperwhite was starting to get a little sluggish, and I realized after 5-years of ownership I was no longer getting updates with some of the newer software features. After doing a little research, I found that I could trade my old unit in for a new one and get a 20% discount as well as a few dollars for the unit I was turning in.

2021 Kindle Paperwhite

The 2021 Kindle Paperwhite (as reviewed by Wired) is the best Kindle e-reader to date. The screen is larger, and the screen resolution looks like you’re reading a paper book. Backlight options include a warmth mode that tints the screen to ease eye fatigue at night. It’s all automatic based on the sunrise/sunset in your area. You don’t really notice the screen color until you turn it off.

Now that it’s getting cold out, and dark early, I’m spending a lot more time reading in the evening, and I’m really enjoying this upgrade.


I wrote about the Grammarly app in Week 42, and I’m happy to say after the 90-day initial trial, I renewed for another year. It’s been beneficial in my personal and professional life. You might have noticed some improvements in the blog posts too. I was missing some necessary punctuation in my writing. Some obvious (bad editing) and some not so obvious. They just released a new Desktop app for the Mac that allows it to work in ANY application. It was previously limited to its own app outside MS Office apps. Now it works right inside my email program and makes editing on the fly much smoother. At $150 a year, it’s not cheap but, if written communication is an important part of your life, it’s worth checking out to see if it can be helpful to you.

And finally… The limited series show “True Story” on Netflix was a surprise hit. Kevin Hart was excellent in his role, and the story moved very quickly through the seven episodes. Each episode is only 30-minutes, so it’s a pretty quick watch & easy to binge on a rainy day.

https://youtu.be/QP1PAEaszVM

That’s it for thie week. Christmas is less than 2-weeks away! I should probably start shopping or something…

Triple Click iPhone Home Button Trick

Trying to get back into the blogging habit after a long hiatus.  Too many distractions with the amazing summer weather we’ve been having this year!  I’m working on a recap of what we’ve been up to & should have it up here in a week or so.

BUT, for now I’ll publish a draft I had sitting in the queue and hopefully it’ll come in handy for some of you.

I don’t know about you but in my world manufacturers and restaurants have this silly habit of using smaller and smaller fonts everywhere.  Case in point, try looking at the IMEI number on the back of your iPhone.  It’s TINY!

BUT, I have a solution to share with you that I’ve used for a while now.  It’s call the Triple-Click-Magnifyer and it’s amazing!

1. Touch the “Settings” icon on your iPhone’s home screen.

2. Touch the “General” button followed by the “Accessibility” button.

3. Touch “Triple-click Home” (or “Accessibility Shortcut”) located at the very bottom of the Accessibility screen.

4. Tap any of the accessibility options to assign that option to the Triple-click Home function. A check appears next to the option to indicate you selected it. If you select more than one option, the iPhone will ask you which one you want to activate when you use the Triple-click Home feature.

I only use the Magnifier option at this time and it works amazingly well.  It’s not the same as firing up the camera and zooming in.  It allows for much closer focus and an almost unbelievable amount of zoom.

Now all you need to do is unlock your phone and quickly press the home button 3-times.  That’s it!

If you found this tip helpful let me know in the comments section.

Goodbye Pocket, Hello Instapaper!

apps-pocket-iconAlways looking for interesting online content (and a place to capture it) I’ve been using the Pocket application since 2012.  I even upgraded to the Premium version for around $5 a month which gives you some nice auto-tagging, searching, and archive functions.

I was actually preparing to return to the free version of Pocket because I wasn’t using the advanced features as much as I thought I would.  I save the articles I want to keep long-term in Evernote so the archiving features were not a benefit.  I’m still trying to adopt the whole tagging concept too so that was another feature that was wasted on me (I’m a Folder organizer, always have been)…

instapaper-logoThen Instapaper decided to eliminate the cost of their Premium services… (Whoah, game changer right?)…

Well I had to at least try it out.  I’ve seen the Instapaper icon as a “save for later” option all over the Internet for a while now.

I’ll have to admit I’m pretty impressed with how Instapaper works.  It does a MUCH better job saving articles in their original format than Pocket did and it beats Evernote hands down with inline videos and graphics.

Other features include “Speed Reading” where each word flashes on the screen at a speed you select.  It’s a little awkward at first and causes me to read out loud, for some reason, but it does what it’s supposed to.

Another option I just discovered allows you to tilt your phone to auto-scroll the article you’re reading.  The more you tilt the faster the scrolling rate.  It takes a little bit to get used to but works great when you’re sitting in your favorite chair relaxing.

If you’re a fan of offline archiving/reading of online content you should really check out Instapaper.  You can even import your Pocket library into Instapaper and not miss a beat.  It’s a really solid product and you can’t beat the price!

Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below…

What We’re Reading/Watching/Buying in December

It’s been a busy month and Christmas is less than a week away (so is a much-needed week off work for yours truly).  As I get older the years just keep speeding up & I don’t know of any way to slow them down!  It’s just the opposite feeling from when I was a kid where the years dripped slower than that bear bottle full of honey.

The Great Cord Cutting Project of 2015 is going better than I could have ever expected & there’s no going back.  I’m spending some of that old evening TV time trying to keep up on the articles I’m always collecting via Pocket.  Some items recently clipped include:

pcq8qzR9iThe Kindle is getting a workout too with several books being read in parallel.  Just depends on what I’m in the mood for.  Stephen King’s 11/22/63 and Andy Weir’s The Martian are both fighting for my attention.
I’ve also taken the opportunity to really dig into what’s available on the streaming services I subscribe to, particularly Netflix and Amazon:

  • The Man in the High Castle (Amazon) is an alternate history story that has the Germans and Japanese wining WWII and taking control of the USA.  It’s a pretty dramatic series that’s full of twists and turns.
  • Narcos (Netflix) depicts the story of Pablo Escobar and the DEA agents assigned with bringing him to justice.  I’m not going to lie, you have to pay attention to this show.  Mainly because it’s 90% Spanish with subtitles.  And a Gringo like me needs them.  No Sprecken la Espanola

belkin-be-F5L171tt-1I’ve been helping keep USPS, FedEx and UPS in business with lots of holiday purchases for friends and family.  Along with those items I picked up a new Keyboard/Case for myself and my iPad Air 2.  The Belkin Qode Ultimate Pro is a great replacement to the Logitech keyboard cover I was using with the last iPad.  It’s a little pricy $150 but It’s currently on sale now for $130.  I’m working on a review but let’s just say that after a few days using it I’m a fan.

25475-inset13After a glowing review from a co-worker I also ordered the Hamilton Beach Breakfast Electric Sandwich Maker.  Seriously, I did!  I’ve see this gadget before but didn’t think it would be any good, especially costing under $30.  Well I’m told this thing really works so I had to see for myself.  When I happen to eat breakfast the egg and cheese (with various meats) is my regular go to.  Delivery is scheduled for Monday so we’ll see how it goes Tuesday morning when I fire that baby up and make my first sausage, egg and cheese muffin.

No matter your religious preference (or not) I hope everyone is gearing up for a fun holiday season with friends and family.  If you get any good tech gadgets or kitchen toys let me know!  I’m always looking for ways to give Amazon more money.

What We’re Reading This Week (Nov. 22, 2015)

reading20It’s about an hour before kickoff of the Colts vs. Atlanta game and time for another installment of what we’re reading this week.

  • Yesterday TV Chef Mario Batali came to town for a book signing at the recently opened Market District in Carmel. Liz Biro at the Indy Star had the chance to speak with him and ask a series of great questions from her readers.
  • A NY Times journalist made the trip to Cuba to try and snag a box of hand-rolled smokes from the source and wrote an interesting piece on what it’s like to visit.  Cuba is on my bucket list & I want to make it there before it gets commercialized.
  • The anti-encryption debate heats up in the days after the Paris attacks.  It doesn’t help that ISIS claims to be using Apple’s iMessage for communication.  Wired has a piece on the state of Operational Security (OPSEC) and what the recently released guide being used by ISIS could mean for all of our privacy going forward.
  • And finally this week Medium has a Long Form article about a depressed photographer and his 40,000km trip around the world that took an amazing 4 years to complete…  On a bicycle!  Great images in this one.

That’s it for now.  Fingers crossed that Matt Hasselbeck can pull off a win this week!