Wireless Networking Wonder

This afternoon I had a chat date with a friend at her house, but I almost didn't get there on time. After lunch I got caught up in some To-Dos and had to scramble to get out of the house. It wasn't until I was walking up to my friend's door that I discovered that in my rush I had left my cell phone at home.

In my mind I like to think I'm not dependent on my phone, but today I learned that's not true.

• My friend lives in a multi-unit building with a buzzer system, but she prefers to have me text her when I get there. Today I had to navigate her automated system, which is more complex than I'm used to.
• At the end of a lovely visit my friend pulled out her calendar to set a date for our next time together. I realized that without my phone I could only guess when I was free.
• I usually text Hubby Tony when I'm on the way home, but today I just headed that way.

Wikimedia

When my car got close to my condo something surprising happened. Our unit is on the second floor, and there is a garage underneath the building, so on that side it is three stories tall. The primary bedroom's two windows overlook the driveway. As I pulled into the driveway and started towards the garage I was amazed to see the pop-up on my radio screen that my car had connected to my phone. The connection only lasted for a few seconds before it disappeared.

Once I got upstairs I found the phone on the vanity in the primary bathroom, which is across the bedroom, through a doorway, and catty-corner from the window.

That made me wonder just how far the range of a car Bluetooth was. Google told me it was around 30 feet (9 meters). Assuming each floor of my building is nine feet tall it would be 27 feet up in the air. The bathroom is approximately 22 feet from the window. That means the car 'found' the phone that was 49 feet away. 

Five years ago today: Civic Duty Completed

Yea For Us!

Hubby Tony and I are celebrating a milestone wedding anniversary this month. Forty-five years is a long time! A couple of weeks ago Tony told me he had an errand for us to run together. He kept me in the dark about what it was, but by the time his car pulled into the jewelry store lot I figured I knew what was up.

My original engagement/wedding band set came from the store where a friend's father worked. Both bands had split shanks (bands that split into two strands at the top) which nestled together beautifully. After the wedding I had them soldered together and the two became one ring.

On two different milestone anniversaries Tony traded in the engagement ring diamond for a larger one. I am thrilled with the ring as it is now, but for this latest milestone together we chose two stackable rings with rows of chip diamonds and attaching them to either side of the old ring. Every time I look down at my finger I am amazed at the difference.

Photo makes everything look huge. Trust me, it's not

 

Some time during our trip to California Tony looked down and discovered his plain gold wedding band had fallen off. It's not the first time it's been misplaced in the last 45 years, so after putting out some feelers he came home and pulled out a replacement he purchased a couple of decades ago. However, after losing some weight the replacement is now too large for his finger.

The first time it happened the original turned up and Tony happily went back to wearing it. I told him if this time if it didn't I would take him to the jewelry store for an upgrade.

Five years ago today: It's A Ruby Kind Of Day

Chock-Full Of Fun

Hubby Tony and I made our last trip to visit our kids and their kids in mid-May. Several weeks ago I realized I needed to have more grandchild hugs before they started school. Tony booked a flight, we packed our bags, and we were on our way to California for a week, where we spent three days with each family.

At Son Tony's, when he was unexpectedly called into work we helped out when DIL Ie had errands to run. The other days we hung out, played games, assisted with errands, tagged along on a family field trip to a park/farmer's market, and went to the nearby elementary school to ride bikes.

At Son Brian's we played games, worked on a large communal jigsaw puzzle, and went to a movie with DIL Nicole and the kids. On each of our two weekdays Tony and I had the mornings free. One day we visited Saratoga, went hiking at Villa Montalvo, and picked Grandson Jay up from his summer program early for some Grandma/Grandpa time.The other day we walked around the Santana Row shopping area and had lunch, then went bowling with Son Brian and Grandsons Ell and Dee.

I couldn't believe how fast the time flew, but all of a sudden it was time to repack the suitcases and head home. As I was getting ready to head to the car Dee asked me when our next visit would be. That got me thinking.....

Five years ago today: Meramec Caverns

Enquiring Minds

The other day I happened to come upon an upscale, perfectly put together woman. Her face was toned and tanned, and I suspect the beautiful highlights in her long hair came straight from the salon. The tiny designer logo at the waistband of her jeans let me know they cost many times more than mine, and based on the little bit I know about fashion the rest of her clothes did too. 

Other than the large diamond on her wedding ring, the jewelry she had on was subtle but definitely meant to impress. There were six or seven thin bracelets on one wrist, and four or five on the other. Most of them were gold, and several were diamond. Her ears sported large diamond studs. There were several thin chains around her neck, some of them holding small charms.

The woman walked past me and turned the corner. Even after she was gone from sight I kept thinking about all that jewelry. Did she have 'people' to do all the work around her house so she didn't have to worry about getting her jewelry dirty? Did she leave it all on or take everything off and put it back on every day (which would take a very long time)? Did she change the pieces out everyday or keep the same ones like a jewelry uniform? 

Five years ago today: Thought You Could Hide?

Too Busy!

Some weekends are so jam-packed there's no time for anything other than a joke....

An elderly couple were killed in an accident and found themselves being given a tour of heaven by Saint Peter. “Here is your ocean-side condo, over there are the tennis courts, swimming pool, and two golf courses. If you need any refreshments, just stop by any of the many bars located throughout the area.” “Heck, Gloria,” the old man hissed when Saint Peter walked off, “we could have been here ten years ago if you hadn’t heard about all that stupid oat bran, wheat germ, and low-fat diets!”

(Images from Microsoft Bing)

Five years ago today: Recent Randomness From My Phone

Guess Where This Dish Is From

Son Donald introduced me to Foodguessr, an interesting virtual game that tests your knowledge of world cuisines. The goal is to identify the country of origin of dishes from around the globe based on a photo and clues.

The first screen has a photo of the dish, the ingredients, and the basic description. Based on the information you type in where you think the dish is from. If you get the country wrong, it tells you how close to the correct country you are (on a hot/warm/cold scale) and what direction to move.

In each round there are five chances to come up with the right answer. After two incorrect guesses, the name of the dish is revealed. After five incorrect guesses, the answer is revealed.

The dishes range from easy (it only took me a few seconds to look at the photo and read the description of a brain sandwich to know it was from the United States) to hard (who knew that a dish called Potjiekos, with ingredients listed as meat, onions, vegetables [such as pumpkin, corn, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, tomatoes], spices, cooking oil, dessert wine, and Dutch-Malay spices came from South Africa?) 

Five years ago: 50 Life Lessons

Late July Collection Of Randomness From My Camera Roll

This tee shirt makes me feel thankful that our lawn service comes in the afternoon 😀

A sign at a restaurant host station

 The car from the Good Burger movie is on display at a local hamburger place

 I wonder if 'paws' was a typo, or if they're trying to rebrand chicken feet

Foster Cat Pimento didn't look too happy to be discovered under the bed

Five years ago: Inquiring Minds Sometimes Ask Preposterous Questions

Banana Ball

For the past two nights there's been a new baseball game in town. Banana Ball, as played by the Savannah Bananas barnstorming team is a fast-paced and entertaining game. Hubby Tony and I were lucky enough to attend last night's game.

The view from our seats

Because the team is so popular, just getting tickets was an adventure. Both Tony and I entered an online lottery for the opportunity to buy tickets. Tony's name was chosen. After navigating a verification process, he was assigned a time where he could log in and purchase tickets. St. Louis had more entries into the lottery to buy tickets than any other city on this year's tour.

Banana Ball is played in Major League stadiums when the home team is on the road. There are three potential opponents for the Savannah Bananas. In St. Louis they were facing the Party Animals. 

The games were originally scheduled for early April, but due to severe weather that weekend they were canceled and rescheduled for mid-July. I figured it would be hot and sticky. It was. The game started at 6:30, but the doors opened at 4:30 and for those so inclined there was a pregame event outside the stadium at 3:30. We chose to go out to dinner with some friends and arrive an hour before the event started.

The Savannah Bananas are often compared to the Harlem Globetrotters of basketball, who combine athleticism and theatrics. Banana Ball is fast paced, and has some unique rules. Last night's experience is almost impossible to describe, but some of the things I most enjoyed were:

• A DJ who played a continuous stream of popular and oldies music, encouraging people to sing and dance along when they felt like it. 
• Choreographed on the field dances between some of the innings (and sometimes even during play). 
• Trick plays, like a player bobbling a fly ball before catching it inside his shirt, or someone doing a flip before catching the ball.
• Crowd interaction events between every inning, some with babies, some with children, and some with adults. 
• The Dad Bod Cheer leading Squad, who lived up to their name. 
• Guest appearances by two retired Cardinal pitchers. (On Friday night there had been one, and in addition the Savannah Banana's starting pitcher was a local.) 
• The World's Tallest Baseball Player (10-feet 9-inches tall on stilts), who actually came up to bat.

The huge strike zone is between his knees and shoulders

The Savannah Bananas won the game in the ninth inning, and we joined the rest of the sold out stadium inching their way slowly to the turnstiles. The heat and humidity was even worse in the enclosed stairwell, and I was thrilled to see the exit. I was even more thrilled when I got home and jumped in the shower!

Fun. Funny?

Yesterday Hubby Tony and I were trying to beat the heat by coming up with inside plans for the afternoon. He remembered he had some money left on a movie gift certificate, so we decided to go see the latest Superman movie.

I'm not the biggest fan of superhero franchise cinema, but this one has gotten pretty decent reviews, and has the added benefit of being directed by James Gunn, a hometown boy.

I ended up enjoying the movie, which had all the requisite elements. Good guy battles bad guy, almost doesn't pull it off, but in the end wins. There was a lot of technology, a lot of CGI, and a little love interest between Clark Kent and Lois Lane. Krypto, the Superdog, provided some comic relief.

After dinner I was checking my computer, and I got an email with a timely joke.

A man walks into a bar and sees a weird guy sitting at the counter. He goes over, sits down and asks the guy what he is drinking.

"Magic Beer", the guy says.

The man thinks he's a little crazy, so he walks around the bar, but after that there is no one else worth talking to, goes back to the guy sitting at the bar and says, "That isn't really Magic Beer, is it?"

"Yes, I'll show you." The guy takes a drink of the beer, jumps out the window, flies around the building 3 times and comes back in the window.

The man can't believe it: "I bet you can't do that again."

The guy takes another drink of beer, jumps out the window, flies around the building three times, and comes back in the window.

The man is so amazed that he says he wants a Magic Beer, so the guy says to the bartender, "Give him one of what I'm having."

The bartender gets the man a drink and he takes a gulp of the beer, jumps out the window, plummets 30 stories and breaks every bone in his body.

The bartender looks up at the guy and says, "You know, Superman, you're a real jerk when you're drunk!"

Five years ago: Just Like That The Day Was Filled Up

A New Source For Recipes

After dinner last night I started thinking about tonight's meal. After digging around in the kitchen I found three inspiration ingredients: frozen polenta, a partial head of red cabbage, and a half container of ricotta cheese.

I fired up the computer and typed the three inspiration ingredients in the browser search bar. That usually leads to a list of website links, but this time there was an AI Overview recipe at the top with links below. As I read through the recipe I found a couple of strange things, but the basic recipe didn't seem half bad, and I decided that I would make it for dinner.

The dish was a winner! Here's the recipe; my additions, observations, and random thoughts are in pink 

Google AI Baked Polenta with Red Cabbage and Ricotta

For the Red Cabbage:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 white onion, thinly sliced
• I added 2 cloves of garlic, because why not? 
• 1 small head of red cabbage, chopped
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar (or to taste)
• Salt and pepper to taste

For the Polenta:

• 1 cup polenta (coarse or medium grind)
• 4 cups water (or chicken/vegetable broth for added flavor)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter

For the Ricotta Topping:

• 1 cup fresh ricotta cheese
• 2T lemon juice
• Lemon zest (from about 1/2 a lemon)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Scallions, chopped (for garnish, optional)
• Toasted sunflower seeds or pine nuts (for garnish, optional)
  

Instructions

Prepare the Cabbage:

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over high heat.
2. Add the onion - sauté for 2 minutes. (I also threw in the garlic, and sauteed both for 4-5 minutes).
3. Add the cabbage, stir, and cook for 5 minutes, allowing it to brown slightly.
4. Reduce heat to low, add 1 cup of water (which wasn't in  the ingredient list) and 1/2 tsp salt, cover, and cook for about 40 minutes, stirring occasionally and checking polenta (cabbage!) for tenderness. (My thinly chopped cabbage was done after 30 minutes)
5. Halfway through cooking, add the cider vinegar and sugar.
6. Remove the lid and cook off any excess liquid before serving.

Make the Polenta: (I've never tried to make this in the oven, but will definitely think about it next time. However, I've cooked enough to know greasing the dish would definitely be a good idea.)

1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit (200 degrees Celsius).
2. Place polenta, 2 tsp salt, and 4 cups water (or broth) in a heavy-bottomed pot or ovenproof baking dish and stir.
3. Cover and bake for 45 minutes, allowing the polenta to simmer and absorb the water. No need to stir.
4. Bake, uncovered, for another 15 minutes, until the top is browned. Finish with a generous amount of pepper.

Prepare the Ricotta Topping:

1. While the cabbage roasts, combine ricotta, lemon juice, lemon zest, pepper, and salt in a bowl and whisk to combine.

Assemble and Serve:

1. Unwrap (strange choice of word?) the cabbage.
2. Spread polenta onto a plate. Add cabbage on top.
3. Top with scallions, sunflower seeds (or pine nuts), pepper, and additional butter if desired.

Image not AI generated!

Five years ago today: Just Me, Myself, And I