There is no shortage of mirror apps for Andoid and iOS devices. Not only are they indispensable for putting on make-up--allowing for close-ups and angle-views even in an unlit room, but you can share your look instantly without leaving the mirror app.
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There can be several reasons emails just start disappearing from one's Inbox. One is the spam filter setting. If the spam/junk mail settings directs immediate deletion instead of placing in the spam folder, changing that setting to not automatically delete spam could solve the problem. And, after so changing the setting, the original problem might be fixed so you can change the setting back to auto-delete without having legitimate emails disappear.
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Many, if not most, airlines, will redeem unused tickets (for cancelled flights) for credit that typically will remain in one's account for a year. There might or might be a change-flight charge. Yesterday's post about non-refundable tickets, where the ticket cost is lost forever if one cancels the flight, related to what appears to be a new flight tier available from American Airlines, and might not apply to any other airline. We apologize to one loyal reader in particular whom we did confuse and to anyone else who might have been, and regret any confusion or consternation that we caused.
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There's much talk about Judge Thomas recusing himself as a result of revelations about his wife's role in the January 6 insurrection. Grounds certainly exist to doubt his objectivity (as well as grounds to support the view he should not be on the court at all). But, unlike every other court, when a judge recuses themself from a case, a substitute judge can take that judge's place, there can be no such substitution on the Supreme Court. Hence, while recusal does not in itself lead to a different outcome in the case in all other courts, at the Supreme Court level, it can because, with recusal, what would have been a 5-4 decision to reverse the decision below might become a 4-4 decision which would uphold the decision below.
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Loyal readers might remember the futility we experienced trying to negotiate with Amazon over a price reduction on a delivered order--a bidet attachment. Well, that futility raised its head again trying to negotiate re a non-refundable ticket with American Airlines. The person in question bought a non-refundable ticket on a flight he decided not to take. He called AA (the Gold Desk) to see if he would still get the miles for his frequent flyer account if he didn't fly, and the answer was no. He then asked why he should bother canceling the flight and letting AA rebook the seat and get double the revenue, to which the rep had no answer. But, what the rep did say was to not cancel the flight until the last day because, if you come down with Covid or some other disease or impairment, even though the ticket is non-refundable, you can petition for a refund/credit which might be granted.
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As of now, according to CDC requirements, if you are flying to (or back to) the United States from another country (even Mexico), you have to test negative for Covid shortly before your departure. So, when making your travel plans, be sure to plan what you will do if you test positive (e.g., where you will stay, what medical treatment you will get, etc). Just saying.
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Verizon has confirmed that some customers are getting spam texts, some promising gifts, that appear to come from the customer's own phone number. Do not open them and do not accept any gift offer.
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We have received pleas from many loyal readers who are concerned about the financial hit they and their heirs would take from Biden's proposal that would require American households worth at least $100 million to pay at least a 20% minimum tax on all income--realized and unrealized. We are sympathetic to these concerns and can assure all that, while this proposal might help dems in the upcoming election, it's not getting passed by the senate. Again, you can thank Senators Manchin and Sinema.
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The NFL ignored the urgings of some loyal readers and the PTI knuckleheads (who managed to have yesterday's final 5 minutes crafted onto and bump the respective portion from today's show), and agreed with the writer of this blog that overtimes, at least in the playoffs, had to give each team a possession. That's the new rule. In the post-season, each team will get one possession and, if the game is still tied, it will be decided by sudden death.
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The Fisker Ocean EV is fascinating. It comes in several trims, one of which is under $40K. But spend some time on the website and the features might dazzle you. For example: "With the Fisker Ocean’s revolutionary full-length SolarSky roof, you can harvest the sun’s rays to generate free energy to support the vehicle’s battery-powered motor. When fully exposed to the sun, the Fisker Ocean Extreme’s SolarSky can produce up to 1,500 clean, emissions-free miles per year, and under ideal conditions may increase to beyond 2000 miles – all powered by pure sunshine." Our one disappointment is that there is not a stylish sedan version akin to the Tesla 3. Indeed, it is eerily similar to the station wagons of the 1950s.
This cnet article explains how to schedule and ship packages from home ... through USPS, UPS, FedEx, and Amazon returns.
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Both Chrome and Edge are under a serious hack attack, but the good news is that emergency patches/updates are available. Your Edge browser likely has updated itself but open it and check. Chrome might or might not have but for safety sake check and update it immediately. Be sure to update Chrome on your phone and tablet as well.
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If you're watching Bridgerton, you likely are taken by the music. Here's the thing: It has no relation to the era Bridgerton portrays. It's music from today. Here are the tracks. I'm chagrined (and I bit stunned) that I had to explain this to so many people who didn't realize.
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This Wirecutter article goes into excruciating detail in evaluating the cell phone plans available from the Big 3 and from other re-sellers which you see advertised on TV. On the one hand, it might tell you a lot you didn't know but don't care about. On the other hand, it excludes plans (like for seniors) or bonus offerings (like Netflix and Apple TV subscriptions that get thrown in for no extra cost on some but not all plans. But, all in all, it's an excellent overview that just will give you choices (e.g., pre-paid plans) you might have been unaware of that could save substantial money without sacrificing service.
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I am not at liberty to tell you his name, but my superior gift of infallible prediction allows me to share this with my loyal readers: Time Magazine's Person of the Year for 2022 will be a Jewish comedian. And, depending on how things turn out in a certain area of the world, he also might be the first Jewish comedian to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Hint: It's not Don Rickles, or any of those appearing on this list.
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As the NYT reports, "[t]he Biden administration is planning to give Americans age 50 or older the option of a second booster of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna coronavirus vaccine without recommending outright that they get one, according to several people familiar with the plan. ... Much depends on when the next wave of Covid infections will hit, and how hard. Should the nation be hit by a virulent surge in the next few months, offering a second booster now for older Americans could arguably save thousands of lives and prevent tens of thousands of hospitalizations. But if no major wave hits until the fall, extra shots now could turn out to be a questionable intervention that wastes vaccine doses, deepens vaccination fatigue and sows doubt about the government’s strategy." Finally, an administration unlike the previous one, that, at least when it comes to science, knows how to chart a path right down the middle of the road.
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Put aside Biden's handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan and his handling of the war on Ukraine, one conclusion seems inescapable: When it came to the U.S. intelligence assessment that the Afghan military could hold off the Taliban for some significant time and that Russia would takeover Ukraine in days or a couple of weeks, those assessments were wrong. Makes you think.
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Putting aside the cost of buying and installing a 220V charger (which is about $1,000), here is how to compute the cost of home charging an EV versus paying for gas. Let's take the Hyundai Ioniq 5, which uses 31.6 kWh to go 100 miles. At 15 cents/kWh which is typical for late night, it would cost $4.75 (15 x 31.6) to drive 100 miles. If gasoline costs $3/gallon (of course, right now, it's over $4/gallon), a gas powered car that gets 33 mpg would cost $9 to go 100 miles. So, an EV would save about $5 every 100 miles driven, so you would recoup the charger cost in just 200 trips of 100 miles each, or 20,000 miles.
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Airlines and destinations push travel insurance. Most of it looks not worth it, especially given the exclusion for epidemics in the fine print. One newbie are "cancel for any reason" policies, which will add about 10% to the cost of the trip, and the fine print details are not easy to navigate. But, here's the good news: Take a look at the benefits afforded on your credit card, and you just might see that travel insurance is automatically included, which is perk that found its way onto many cards to encourage spending and travel during that pandemic everyone used to be talking about.
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Rose Inc has become my beauty product site of choice. One of the neat features is letting you "try on" all kinds of stuff on the website. By way of example, you can see just how flattering feathered eyebrows will look on you.
Amazon might have just made a substantial change (at least in some places including Phoenix) to Amazon Fresh ordering. Until now, one could not remove an item from an order, but one could add an item up to the time the order was being packed. It now might NOT be possible to add to an order or perhaps there was a temporary website glitch that prohibited adding to an order. In that event, all that one can do is cancel the order, add the items back into a new cart (which can be done easily and automatically with two clicks), and checkout again. The drawback is that the delivery slot you had originally chosen might no longer be available. We did our best to have Amazon revert to its former practice, and just might have succeeded, because it now appears one can add items again to an order, and Amazon gave me a $25 credit for helping them see and resolved the problem.
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It's now being reported, "Drinking coffee—particularly two to three cups a day—is not only associated with a lower risk of heart disease and dangerous heart rhythms but also with living longer, according to studies being presented at the American College of Cardiology’s 71st Annual Scientific Session. These trends held true for both people with and without cardiovascular disease. Researchers said the analyses—the largest to look at coffee’s potential role in heart disease and death—provide reassurance that coffee isn’t tied to new or worsening heart disease and may actually be heart protective."
PS: Speaking of coffee, we continue to consider the Braun Aromaster Coffee Maker to be the best, especially in terms of ease of use, saving of space, and crispness, stylishness, and timeliness of design. You can get one on Amazon for $188, but that's nuts given that you can get one on eBay for about $50 + about $25 shipping. Note there are way more white ones available on eBay than black ones, and black ones are somewhat scarce, but for too many reasons to list here, avoid the white and stick with the black even if you need to exercise a little patience for the right one to pop-up on your eBay search list.
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Southwest Airlines currently has 3 fare choices. While the exact date remains to be announced, there soon will be a fourth choice, more expensive than the cheapest option but less expensive than the other 2. This new option will give greater flexibility in changing the flight or canceling it and giving the credit to family members or friends.
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Amazon now has a shopping category called "Amazon Outlet." It boasts "over-stocked" items at "under-budget prices." I haven't looked at it at any detail yet, and without giving it the kind of rigorous examination our loyal readers expect from us, I shall defer reviewing it, but wanted to be sure you know it's there.
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As is being reported, Trump has filed a lawsuit against Hillary Clinton, the Democratic National Committee and others, alleging that they “maliciously conspired to weave a false narrative” that his campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 presidential race. If defendants’ counsel doesn’t file a Rule 11 motion with a notice of deposition of Trump to testify to the facts he knows to support his claim to meet the standards of Rule 11, it’s malpractice. And if that deposition doesn't confirm that he in fact did collude with Russia such that a malicious prosecution counterclaim is in order, it's malpractice.
[EOP]While we don't do Instagram, as a favor for our loyal readers, we have long begged Instagram to broaden the way users can sort fees, and as explained here, Instagram has listened. You can now sort in chronological order, by favorites, and by the main algorithmic method. Remember, these are photographs, so smile!
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If you're looking for something to do, or if you just need health insurance, take this job at TSA: Taking the trays back after they've gone through the scanner to their place ahead of the scanner. The job pays $25/hour, you can do it part-time, and you get a fantastic health insurance plan, and if you last 2 years, you keep the health insurance plan for life and get other benefits.
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Background: In 2021, Shohei Ohtani had what many consider the greatest MLB season of any player ever. He posted 46 home runs and 156 strikeouts in 130.1 innings pitched. No other player in MLB history had recorded 10+ homers and 100+ strikeouts until Ohtani in 2021. By comparison, in Babe Ruth’s 1919 season, considered one of the greatest in baseball history (he was a two-way player with the Boston Red Sox. Ruth), he recorded a league-leading 29 home runs (in the dead ball era) while recording 30 strikeouts when he pitched 133.1 innings.
The Ohtani Rule and Its Implication: Until now, if a pitcher was relieved, he had to sit out the rest of the game. He could not stay in the game as a designated hitter. MLB correctly saw the error of its way and adopted what is called the Ohtani rule, which allows a pitcher to be relived and stay in the game as a designated hitter (btw, the National League also now has designated hitters). While this wouldn't have mattered to Babe Ruth since designated hitters didn't exist at time, one can only imagine the difference it might have made in my pro baseball career, and will make going forward where high school pitchers often are the best hitters on the team, and now will continue honing their batting skills through college and the minors.
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We acknowledge our promise of no more posts regarding bidets or bidet attachments, but a loyal reader was devastated and distraught that we had not shared a certain pertinent priceless sketch that the loyal reader brought to our attention. So, while we regret this happened, we are pleased to say: Promise broken. Enjoy the sketch!
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An earlier blog post decried the decision of the US Attorney for the SDNY not to prosecute Trump for financial fraud purportedly because of a lack of evidence of intent. The two line prosecutors resigned over the decision. While the NYT refused to publish the letter I submitted (taken from the above blog post), it now has reported that those prosecutors "believed that the former president was 'guilty of numerous felony violations' and that it was 'a grave failure of justice' not to hold him accountable, according to a copy of [the] resignation letter" of one of the prosecutors. The refusal to prosecute is crap.
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The second season of Bridgerton will be available on Netflix starting Friday, March 25. Although we typically prefer 1/2 hour episodes to 1 hour episodes, the longer episodes work just fine for this totally entertaining series. We have apologized, and continue our apology tour, about figuring out and revealing during the first episode of the first season who Mrs. Whistledown was. In that spirit, we will say nothing more here about the second season, other than to recommend its being watched.
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A surge in blog hits was reported here where over 1,700 hits happened one day. Something's going on. Today there were over 2,200 hits, and the total for the month now is over 5,500. Something's happening here, what it is ain't exactly clear.
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The CDC apparently has issued new guidelines that allow doctor offices to drop mask mandates for doctors, staff, and patients, and allows them to dispense with any mitigation efforts (e.g., screening or testing) in waiting rooms or otherwise. So, if you have any concern about the waiting room you're about to go into for your next doctor appointment, you might check with the office before your visit because you might not get any notice from the doctor's office as to the changed conditions. By way of example, let's take Camelback Dermatology, if you are uncomfortable sitting in a waiting room where an unmasked patient sneezing creates raucous laughter, upon request, upon advising the receptionist of your unease, you might be moved to wait instead in one of the little rooms. Announcing your intention to change dermatologists is not a bad technique as well to get some personalized attention.
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The parking at LGO is very difficult. As it turns out, if you go a block North of Campbell on 40th Street (past Camelback Dermatology) to Meadowlark and turn West, you will find an adjunct LGO parking lot.
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5G devices have one substantial advantage: They enable large downloads at incredibly fast speeds. The offset is using 5G will drain the battery faster than 4G/LTE. The good news is that, if you have a 5G device, and care about battery time, you have two options to conserve the battery: (i) Set the device to "smart data mode" which will switch connectivity between 5G and 4G/LTE depending on the application (the name of this mode and how to set it vary by device); or (ii) set the device to 4G/LTE and then switch it to 5G whenever you want the faster download.
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Since this blog's inception, there have been over 7,000 posts and 275,000 hits (these do not include reading the posts in the daily emails). A typical day sees about 50 hits and a typical month sees about 1,500 hits. On occasion, there might be a 100 or more hits in one day and 3,000 or more hits in a month. Yesterday, there were over 1,300 hits. We have no idea why or where they came from or what post(s) were involved. It was weird wild stuff.
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Lesson for Non-Believers: An earlier post lamented that the Kohler San Rafael toilet in the studio could not be retrofitted with either a bidet attachment or a Kohler bidet seat. Even Kohler said it could not be done. Well, an online plumbing outfit said it could order a Kohler seat that would fit, but it would cost $180 and take 6-8 weeks to get. Amazon had it for $129 with next delivery. It's now installed and works great! So, whenever they tell you it can't be done, no matter what it is, don't believe them. Go do it!
Tip re Amazon: Say you bought a bidet toilet seat for $129 from Amazon, and three days later the price was reduced to $91. Do NOT try to get Amazon to refund the difference or even split the difference instead of both the customer and Amazon dealing with a return/refund/new order. Either do a return/refund and order the new one, or forget about it (because paying the plumber to install the new one will eat up the price break). And even you figure how you could slickly order a new one, and then do a switcheroo of just the seat for the return, that would not be ethical, and so don't do it. In the future, you might check the price of items you bought that you would be willing to do a return/refund/new order, while just don't look for orders you'd just as soon not have any such hassle with.
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Shopping at Safeway at 6:15 am has some advantages and disadvantages compared to shopping at 8:15 am. The biggest advantage of the earlier shopping is parking ... it is easy to find a close-in spot that also gives you room to avoid being dinged by someone parking too close. The biggest disadvantage of the earlier shopping is that the banana selection is not quite as robust for firm greenish bananas ... all other produce and other stuff is comparable. There might be somewhat fewer shoppers at the earlier time but the delta is not appreciable. What is striking though is that every shopper at the earlier shift was masked which was not the case at the later shift. Finally, there is less road traffic at the earlier shift, especially driving East, i.e., in the direction business commuters are going.
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Year after year, Donald Trump filed tax returns and submitted financial statements where, in every instance, the property values stated in the financial statements (to get loans) were substantially higher than the property values stated in the tax returns (to reduce taxes). But because Trump himself apparently had his accountants sign the documents, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York concluded (contrary to his staff''s recommendation, which staff then resigned) that it could not be proved that Trump "intended" to mislead the IRS or the banks or both. Put another way, according to that view, a jury could not believe beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump knew what his accountants were doing which, would be the case, only if the jury were instructed to leave their common sense at the door.
On a more serious matter, Russian missiles, rockets, bombs, and other armaments are slaughtering civilians by hitting apartment building after apartment building, school after school, and hospital after hospital. But the so-called experts on war crimes say it will take months or longer to gather evidence to prove that Putin and his generals and his army "intended" to target civilians in violation of international law. Put another way, according to that view, a jury could not believe beyond a reasonable doubt that Putin knew what his generals and soldiers were doing which, would be the case, only if the jury were instructed to leave their common sense at the door.
What makes the conclusion of these legal geniuses so galling is the refusal to recognize the last instruction most judges give before a jury leaves to decide the case, which is to "remind the jurors that they didn't check their common sense at the door."
As Charles Dickens put it in Oliver Twist in terms especially applicable here: “It was all Mrs. Bumble. She would do it," urged Mr. Bumble; first looking round, to ascertain that his partner had left the room. That is no excuse," returned Mr. Brownlow. "You were present on the occasion of the destruction of these trinkets, and, indeed, are the more guilty of the two, in the eye of the law; for the law supposes that your wife acts under your direction." "If the law supposes that," said Mr. Bumble, squeezing his hat emphatically in both hands, "the law is a ass — a idiot. If that's the eye of the law, the law is a bachelor; and the worst I wish the law is, that his eye may be opened by experience — by experience.”
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While viewership might be up, fewer knowledgeable and discerning people are watching weekly PGA events. Tiger's not being there is a big reason. Not that there aren’t great players to watch, but it’s boring to see such parity and the lack of any dominant
player or even 3 dominant players any more or for any extended time. That the best player in the world can be three different people in three weeks makes no sense, i.e., none of them actually got better or worse during that stretch. Worse, when one looks at the top 20 of this week’s PGA
leaderboard, it is impossible even to recognize at least half the names. It looks like the PGA is on a course (pun intended) to emulate the LPGA’s ability to have scoreboards
populated by a different group of unknowns each week. Professional sports without superstars struggle. The PGA might not know it, but it is struggling.
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Deep Water got some bad reviews and for good reason. If you like dark, Pinter, Virginia Woolf kind of dysfunctional but erotic relationships, maybe you will like this, or at least get past the first hour of a 2 hour movie. Otherwise, as attractive as the stars (Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas) are, and as amazing as their young daughter's acting is, sadly, this is another Ben Affleck bomb. Actually, though, the second hour might change the plot line to a mystery, but who cares.
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When it comes to toilets, our interest is not limited to bidets and bidet attachments. Indeed, we consider ourselves Renaissance Literati of the toilet. In that spirit, we have come to realize that few people know the right way to clean a toilet ... it's not as simple as it looks. So, for those giving toilet cleaning not enough attention, we share with you this excellent Wirecutter article and trust you will follow their guidelines especially before having any guests over as well as soon as just after any guests have left.
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Some loyal readers have already turned their homes or part of their homes into STRs, and many others have expressed interest in doing so, especially with their vacation homes. So, we have compiled an excellent checklist of things to consider before doing so, and we shared them with the NYT.
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Although the episodes are an hour long, based on the first episode, Inventing Anna looks like a winner. It definitely is not a "been there, seen that" drama. The acting is stellar, the dialogue is refreshing (you really don't know what's going to be said next), and the plot (the true story of a total fake) is intriguing (the opening banner to the show reads, "everything in this story is true except for the parts that are completely made up").
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Cautionary Note re Amazon Fresh: When a wrong item or a defective item appears in one's delivered Amazon Fresh order, it is easy to get a refund online. But, if an item is missing, and you go through the Order page and check "Missing Item" as the reason for the requested refund, it might not work because it codes that reason as the entire order not being delivered, in which event you have to call Amazon to process the refund. One way around this might be, instead of going to the Order page, click on Not Great for the feedback and try processing the refund for the missing item from there. Another way would be to select a different reason for the refund--it might not be accurate but it's not hurting Amazon (and, given that it saves Amazon rep's time and lets other customers get through to the reps, it actually is beneficial to Amazon).
Kudo for Amazon: We began long ago bringing and repeatedly since have brought to Amazon's attention the undue time it takes (for its reps and for its customers) to "verify" the customer caller. We spoke, and Amazon listened. Now, they will send you an email/text as soon as you're on the line and you click "confirm" and you are "verified" in a process that now takes under 20 seconds instead of what used to take 2+ minutes.
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While Safeway's delivery service makes little if any sense if you're already a Whole Foods Prime member, shopping at Safeway's self-checkout is much improved over how it had been when first re-installed. It would be nice if it had a ledge like Fry's does, but that's not an event of departure. The facility is big and bright and, with a little caution, the prices you pay will be as good as and even some instances better than Fry's, and there is a wider selection of produce, deli, and other products. The really nice thing about this Safeway is that, at least until 8:15 am and perhaps even later, there are hardly any shoppers in the store and, unlike Fry's, all the self-checkout booths are open.
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When buying a new toilet, looks, color, and cost are all factors to consider. But more important, if it is not a bidet toilet, be sure to check whether a bidet seat or bidet attachment can be added later. Otherwise, you might end up buying a San Raphael 3466-0, which is a good looking toilet for sure, only to find out there are no compatible bidet seats or attachments. And, if this is the toilet in your guest studio or studio you might have to use, your guests will not forgive you and you will be distraught when you have to use it.
As a life coach and couples' counselor, we are called on for help by couples wanting to communicate better. Our advice, which is captured here perfectly by The New Yorker, is two-fold: (i) Take advantage of modern technology as the best way to communicate; and (ii) don't hem and haw--be open and honest and always say exactly what you mean:
Good Example of Using Technology to Communicate:
A recent post here on bar shampoo touted its travel advantages (TSA won't confiscate it) and ecological benefits (no plastic bottles). A semi-loyal reader tried it, and, although he checks his luggage when traveling so that advantage was of no interest, he could not be more glowing in his review of it both in terms of how well it worked not only as a shampoo, but also for shaving, and how it was a must-buy to help save the planet from plastics. Not one to give stuff away, he's so enthused he splurged buying bars for everyone in his family. We've done some checking and the stuff on Amazon can be a bit costly, but it's available at Fry's and other such markets at quite reasonable prices.
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A University of Chicago law professor went apoplectic on the WSJ op-ed pages, writing as follows: "'[The] president of Harvard, issued a statement Feb. 28 condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine on behalf of the university. It decried the “'deplorable actions of Vladmir Putin” and asserted that Harvard has an obligation to speak out because “institutions devoted to the perpetuation of democratic ideas and to the articulation of human rights have a responsibility to condemn such wanton aggression. It seems hard to disagree, but I do. I’m no fan of Mr. Putin, and I certainly don’t want Russia to swallow Ukraine. I disagree because it is antithetical to the mission of a university to take a position on the war—even if everyone on campus opposes it." Invoking Nazi Germany usually is a mistake when making an argument. Ignoring the war to defeat Nazi Germany, as this professor does, is beyond belief.
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Hubs are great things. They let you connect 10 or more peripherals (printers, monitors, storage devices, and more) with just one cord to plug into your laptop. We have spent substantial time with Anker to figure out why the ethernet connection would not work on a particular laptop. Anker could not figure out a solution. Here's the problem and the solution: The problem is that the laptop needed an ethernet driver that the Anker could recognize, and the solution is simply to download it (just ask the hub maker which one to download or look to see if a phantom disk drive appears on the PC icon screen and, if so, open it and you'll see the driver there, and just click to install it (of course, do a restore point first to be safe)).
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We have long railed against the kind of impermissible password sharing we have seen Netflix account holders engage in. Finally, our reporting this abuse to Netflix has paid off. As this cnet article explains, your days are numbered. And we rejoice as we say to the scofflaws: Welcome to the world of us who work hard and play by the rules.
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As this article explains, it looks like Congress is not going to provide the necessary funds to adequately provide for vaccines and treatments if there is another surge which, per what's happening with the BA.2 variant in Europe and now accounts for 24% of all Covid-infections in the U.S., is not science fiction.
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Ultrabooks: For years we have been recommending ultrabooks, which are thin, light, solid-state laptops. They are easiest to travel with, boot-up in seconds, and can do everything heavier, thicker laptops can do (e.g., among other things, serve as the core of your desktop computer system). Finally, Wirecutter has listened to us and it too recommends ultrabooks. It has several top picks, which we take no issue with, but would also include the Acer Swift 3, which has the additional advantage of a 4:3 screen aspect.
Wireless Chargers: For years we have been recommending wireless chargers for convenience, which will charge most Androids and iPhones. Finally, Wirecutter has listened to us and it too acknowledges their convenience advantages. It has several top picks, which we take no issue with, and we acknowledge that their point about stand-style charges is an excellent one (and one we had not realized) because you can still use the phone while it is charging. In the same vein, there are cellphone car mounts that will charge your phone while driving, which is particularly useful in any lengthy trip where you are using Google Maps.
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Lyft and Uber have added a fee to help drivers' defray the elevated cost of gasoline. If you get anything delivered by a driver who is paying for their own gas, consider giving a larger tip to help them with their fuel budget.
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As this article explains, Tesla has just raised prices across its entire product line for the second time within a month. Tesla 3s base model now starts at $46,990, and all other trims and models go up from there.
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To my shock and chagrin, apparently some loyal readers and others have pledged to continue buying bacon instead of making their own notwithstanding that this blog explained how easy, better, and less expensive it is to make one's own bacon. In an act of unselfish thoughtfulness, this WaPo article explains the various terminology surrounding bacon, including the difference between regular and center-cut, how it can be labeled “uncured” given curing is one of bacon’s defining characteristics, and what exactly is the deal with “reduced sodium” bacon.
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If you think prepared meal delivery is too unduly expensive, consider thinking again. Here are some places to try that likely won't break your budget:
At least some insurance companies will give a non-trivial discount on car insurance if it is paid up for the year instead of monthly. This discount does not seem to apply to home insurance, but raising your home insurance deductible can produce significant savings as well.
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The Thing About Pam is a quirky murder/crime drama starring Renee Zellweger like you've never seen her before. Many would say, and I'm not one to disagree, she might be the best actor of our time. Unlike others who overdo it to get into role, and what comes through instead is their vanity, RZ becomes the character she's playing. Only one episode has shown so far, but it likely will draw you in. Best to set your DVR to record it on NBC Tuesday nights to avoid any commercials by fast-forwarding which you cannot do OnDemand or Peacock (without paying extra).
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If you got an email that looked like this, whose only content is an exclamation point (!), I have no clue what it is. It is not a post of mine to my blog. And, as best I can tell, there is no website of "inchev.com." I apologize for any inconvenience or concern.
There are various ports and plugs that go into them, including USB-A, USB-C, Thunderbolt, microSD, ethernet, hdmi, serial, parallel, and more. Here's the good news: For virtually every device that has a cable for any such port, if what you want to plug into does not have that port, there will be an adapter for the device to plug into which then has a cord to plug into whatever port that is available. And all such adapters can be found on The Amazon just by putting in "X to Y adaptor" (without the quotes) where X is the name of the plug and Y is the name of the port. By way of example, suppose your laptop does not have an hdmi port but has a USB sport and you want to connect an hdmi monitor to it--put in "USB to Ethernet Adapter" (without the quotes) and up will come a selection of these:
Many people upgrade to a new phone and just stick their current phone in a drawer. As this WSJ article explains, they could be throwing away hundreds of dollars that might be gotten by trading in the phone instead.
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Haven't been to any of these restaurants since that pandemic thing started, so this is in effect an update of earlier posts:
Scott's Generations: Hasn't changed a bit in terms of huge sandwiches at excellent prices such that how they taste doesn't really matter, but they're not bad. And some stuff is excellent--like the matzoh ball soup. They have a small area for outdoor dining, but it's even easier to phone in the order and pick it up.
Vincent's on Camelback: They might not have outdoor dining but ordering online is a snap--you just have to pick up before 5 pm (which you can schedule ahead of time). It's like the opposite of Scott's--it's not cheap and the portions are not huge (except for the flourless chocolate cake), but the food is delicious and there are wonderful things to choose from. One note of caution: They don't throw in any rolls or bread so you might ask as there does not appear any way to add it to an order. Perhaps if one asks when one picks up an order, they'll throw some in, but who knows. One other note of caution: You have to decide on a tip when you place the order, so if they mess up and don't have the order ready when you get there, there's not much you can do about it other than smile, exercise patience, and feign gratitude which isn't that hard if you have nothing better to do at the moment anyhow.
El Chorro Lodge: Although nothing can match what used to be the Sunday brunch at Royal Palms which they don't even do any more, El Chorro Lodge outside for Sunday is absolutely delightful. The food is delicious (and, yes, they still serve those sticky buns and if you ask they'll likely give you some to take home for no extra charge--leave a nice tip), the menu is not as varied as I remember but it's a perfectly fine menu selection, the prices are certainly reasonable, the setting is lovely, the parking is close in and plentiful, and the service is excellent. As good as the meal and setting are, the experience will be even better if shared with good friends who are smart, interesting, nice, knowledgeable, traveled, and engaging. Two words of caution: (i) Make your reservation as far ahead as possible (you can always cancel)--we made a reservation 3 weeks ahead and there was nothing available between 10:15 am and 12:45 pm; and (ii) El Chorro is on Lincoln Drive which has those radar cameras so be careful not to drive too fast.
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Just like tickets sold on StubHub command prices well above the box office prices, with the surge in restaurant dining, especially high-end restaurant dining, since they declared the pandemic to be over, it can be difficult to impossible to get a reservation that is not weeks or month in the future. I have idea: Create a website where people can sell their restaurant reservations. The website makes money by charging for the listing and the participants make money on the selling of their reservations, and there is nothing to stop the owner of the website from also being a participant. While Table Scalping has been around for a while, this would be just a marketplace to buy reservations and sell reservations with no membership fees for buyers … like an eBay for table reservations. One snag that needs to be figured out is that the seller actually has a reservation and doesn't sell it to more than one buyer, which might be done by having the reservation confirmation email go through the website and not directly from the seller to the buyer.
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For some reason, the NYT is reporting that it is difficult to get Astier de Villatte ceramics, which are an absolute must for hosting any decent dinner party. We are at a loss because they (along with other Astier de Villatte products) seem perfectly available through the website. Talk about fake news.
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If you do Zoom meetings and such on your laptop, and your laptop is connected to a larger monitor, for about $25, you can get a perfectly good webcam with microphone (that needs no installation beyond plugging its USB cord into your laptop or hub) so that your picture is on the large monitor. You might need to disable the laptop camera which is a snap: Start/Control Panel/Device Manager/Cameras/Right Click on Integrated Camera/Disable. Enabling the laptop camera is the same steps except on the last step click on Enable.
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Overnight guests rave about the bacon I serve them in the morning. I never shared my secret, but have decided it's time. What they didn't know is I make it myself, and what hardly anyone knows is how easy it is to make your own bacon and how much money you can save by doing so. Here's the scoop:
1. Buy pork belly with the skin on which will add flavor and help the cut retain its shape. A quality piece of pork belly should have a lot of fat and marbling. Ask your butcher to score the skin so that the brine will penetrate more easily.
2. Pour apple cider into a stock pot. Add ½ cup sea salt and honey. Whisk until salt dissolves. Place pork in pot, submerged in brine. Cover pot and refrigerate for 24 hours.
3. Remove pork from brine, pat dry and place on foil, plastic wrap or butcher paper. Cover pork on all sides with 1 cup sea salt. Wrap and refrigerate 24 hours.
4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cover roasting pan with rack. Remove pork from refrigerator, rinse off salt and pat dry. Place pork on rack. When oven reaches 400 degrees, immediately reduce heat to 250 degrees and transfer pork to oven.
5. Cook pork until an instant-read thermometer inserted into center reads 140 degrees, 4 1/2- 5 hours. Check pork after 3 hours. If it is browning too quickly, reduce heat to 175 and continue cooking until internal temperature reaches 140 degrees.
6. Once pork is out of oven, let sit on rack until cooled slightly, 10 minutes. Slice off skin and reserve for another use (like pork rinds). Wrap pork in foil, plastic wrap or butcher paper, and refrigerate overnight.
7. Remove pork from refrigerator. Slice chilled pork crosswise into strips about 1/8 inch thick. To serve, pan-fry strips in a skillet over medium heat or bake in the oven at 400 until desired doneness.
8. Sit back, relax, and bask in the compliments. Yum!
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If you haven't tried Van Leeuwen Ice Cream, you are missing taste sensations, not to mention the convenience of having fresh ice cream delivered to your door. Some of my favorite flavors are their new Pizza and Kraft Mac & Cheese, but their Pumpkin Cheesecake is yummy as well. And while I'm not a vegan, I have to say their vegan selections are awesome.
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There might be some reason to have a tower at the center of one's computer system instead of a laptop, but I cannot see any advantage in doing so. And there at least three substantial advantages to having a laptop-based system instead of a tower-based system: (i) you can travel with the laptop but you cannot with the tower; (ii) you can easily lock up the laptop when you're gone; and (iii) if any of the peripherals go down (like the monitor), you're lost with the tower until you get a new monitor, but can continue working with the laptop. Here then is how to easily set up the laptop-based system, which will allow you to un-attach it (to travel or store) and re-attach it one second:
1. Get any monitor you want that has an hdmi cable (they all do now). You can do multiple monitors if you want. The laptop can be kept opened or closed when using an external monitor.
2. Get a bluetooth keyboard (a chargeable Arteck is our favorite) (a wireless USB-dongle will work too).
3. Get a bluetooth mouse (a wireless USB-dongle will work too).
4. Get an Anker USB-C 5-in-1 Adapter.
5. Get a 10-port USB Hub (need not be powered).
6. Plug any of your non-networked peripherals (e.g., multi-function printer/scanner/copier; USB sticks; USB doggles; speakers; camera; etc.) into the 10-port USB Hub.
7. Plug the 10-port USB Hub into the Anker.
8. Plug your monitor's hdmi cable into the Anker; if you have an ethernet connection, plug your ethernet cable into the Anker.
9. Plug your Anker into your laptop.
10. To take your laptop away, all you need to do is turn it off, simply pull out the Anker cable and the laptop's power cord from the laptop--and done! To replace the laptop, simply plug in the laptop's power cord and the Anker cable, and turn on the laptop--and done!
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Every sane person can agree on one thing: As horrific the events of Ukraine are, we all can be thankful that Trump is not the president. But there is a sharp disagreement as to what the world would look like if he were. Here are the three views: (i) Russia would not have invaded Ukraine because Trump would have pulled the U.S. out of NATO, NATO would have collapsed, and Putin's dream would have come true without needing to invade Ukraine; (ii) Russia would have invaded Ukraine and Trump would have done nothing, Ukraine would be swallowed up by Russia, and NATO would have collapsed; or (iii) Russia would have invaded Ukraine and, not wanting to look weak, Trump would have taken the world over the cliff into World War III. The bottom-line, though, is clear: Under all these scenarios, Trump would have left the country, Western Europe, and the world far worse off, and freedom and democracy would have been dealt a blow from which recovery would not be easy and might not be possible.
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A post yesterday recounted the sad story of a USB-hub going kaput. Although it was bought 6 months ago on Amazon and not registered for any warranty, we sent an email to the seller asking if there was any warranty coverage. A few hours later, the seller sent an email offering a complete refund. The bottom-line is this: It never hurts to ask. Finally, when a seller does provide such excellent service, please be sure to leave a glowing review.
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If you get a rechargeable flashlight (at least one which costs under $8), which charges through a USB/micro cable from a computer, do NOT plug it in to your USB docking host connected to your charging C-port. Otherwise, it just might blow out that docking host, which will cost you $35 or so to replace, and it is difficult to describe the agony you will undergo diagnosing the issue and dealing with the warning error messages that pop up about USB overloads. Yeah, you'll get your $8 back and some vicarious remediation by writing a scathing review, but believe me, that's enough to compensate for the pain you will have undergone. Trust me, while your existing flashlight might not be the brightest bulb on the Xmas tree, if it's bright enough to let you see if your newspapers have arrived, it's bright enough.
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Amazon announced a 20-for-1 stock split and its share price leaped nearly 7%. Most people will tell you that a stock split is simply a mathematical thing which adds no intrinsic value because, while the number of outstanding shares have increased, their overall value has not changed a penny. Okay, Boomers, here's the thing: Where, like Amazon, one share of stock cost $3,000 before the split and $150 after the split, the ability of investors to buy call options on the stock has gone up substantially. It's not a be-all/end-all and it really should not be that big of a deal, but it's something. Unlike Seinfeld, the market is not a show about nothing, although if you invest in the "wrong things" at the "wrong time," you can easily end up with nothing.
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Likely because everyone has declared the pandemic over and the government has distributed less than half of the tests it has on hand, you can order another 4 free tests at Covidtests.gov . The same test kits also are readily available at local pharmacies for about $20 and on the Amazon for about $18.
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The below letter appeared in the Arizona Republic. It was submitted days before Biden's announcement. Why the Arizona Republic printed it the day after the announcement defies credulity. Maybe the editorial page staff doesn't follow the news. Worse, timely additions were submitted to the letter including suggestions of putting pressure on OPEC production and other ways to mitigate the impact on those most vulnerable and unable to afford increased fuel costs, but were omitted from the letter as it appeared in print.
You can adjust Netflix's subtitle settings for font type, size, text shadowing, or background. Here's how: Open Netflix in a web browser and select a profile from the Account page. Click on Profile/Parental Controls/Subtitle Appearance to change the settings and then click Save. This can be done for each profile on your Netflix account. You may have to reload the app on your TV for the changes to take effect. If you don't like the new setup, simply choose "Reset to default" to restore the previous subtitle settings.
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This WSJ article has a nice summary description of the various issues and additional costs involved when it comes to insuring an EV. The good news is that there's no real bad news here.
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Once you have added a bidet attachment to any toilet or toilets in your house, you will be so addicted that you will want to attach them to all your toilets, including the one in your studio where guests stay or where you stay when guests appropriate your sleeping quarters in the main house. Unfortunately, just because the bidet attachments install quickly and easily on the house toilets does not mean they will install at all on the studio toilet. Here's the deal: We have not found a bidet attachments that will install on a single piece slimline elongated toilet like the Kohler San Rafael pictured below. Unless our continued research finds a bidet that will install on that toilet, your only choice then appears to be to buy a whole new toilet seat with a built-in bidet which, unlike an attachment which costs under $50, looks like it will cost $350 or more. (not including installation).
As the Republicans respond whenever accused of rotting as a party because of the various acts of their many bad apples: "A bad apple does not spoil the barrel." It is reasonable to conclude that the Republicans are wrong when it comes to everything, but we put our horticulturists to the task of determining whether one moldy berry spoils the entire carton they came in. You can read the definitive answer in this authoritative article and just stop reading this post now. But, in deference to our less industrious loyal readers, here is the answer: "Fresh strawberries, blueberries and blackberries are among America’s favorite fruits, but their goodness can be fleeting. Within a few days of bringing them home from the farmer’s market or grocery store, it’s common to find that some gray or white fuzz has staked a claim to a berry or two, prompting many to wonder: Are the rest safe to eat? Food safety experts say that while you shouldn’t eat berries that are obviously moldy, those without visible signs of the spores are fine to eat. And luckily, unlike other food safety concerns that may be invisible to the naked eye, berries with mold growth are easy to spot."
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If you start West Side Story after 6:30 pm, given that it runs 2h37m, you likely will need two nights to get through it. But that's a minor nit complaint that should not stop anyone from watching this movie. It's a wonderful, timeless story, which I don't want to spoil for anyone who hasn't seen it or read Romeo & Juliet, but even if you know or have read the story, it's a delight to watch again. The critics who disagree with this conclusion are just wrong, although I must say Tony's voice could have been stronger. In any event, the choreography of the dancing is just dazzling, and Rita Moreno's cameo appearances are a nice surprise (although perhaps not unexpected since she was an executive producer), especially if you've seen the original movie production. Finally, everyone knows the music was written by Leonard Bernstein, but not everyone knows that the lyrics (yes, a couple of the songs are terrible, but let 'em go) were done by Steven Sondheim, which is why we again recommend in the strongest terms The Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened (Netflix).
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With everyone celebrating the end of the pandemic, I likely am the only person left who still wears an N95 or KN95 mask for any indoor stuff and for some outdoor occasions as well, and so no one reading this might have any interest. But, on the slight chance anyone reading this still masks up, you no longer are limited to black and white for your KN95 mask color choices. Some other available colors of a recommended mask include gray, purple, yellow, light blue, green, pink, and red.
The humble microfiber cloth is one of the most essential and underrated cleaning supplies. It can be used to clean some of your most precious and expensive possessions—from eyeglasses to laptops to televisions. But not all microfiber cloths are worth it. A bad microfiber cloth can be small and infuriating to use. A terrible one can even scratch surfaces with its poor construction or badly placed logos. A great microfiber cloth will easily envelop your glasses lenses and glide across the surface of your television screen. I have used these MagicFiber Microfiber Cleaning Cloths for eight years to clean test laptops, mice, and keyboards, as well as my personal phone, monitor, television, and glasses. You can get a 30-pack of 6-by-7-inch cloths for around $20 at The Amazon—the same amount Apple charges for a single cloth of similar dimensions. MagicFiber also sells a set of three extra-large, 16-by-16-inch cloths for larger surfaces, like televisions. But you’re also just fine with the smaller size.
PS: The above recommendation is not intended nor should it read to denigrate in any way our earlier recommendation of pre-moistened CareTouch Lens & Screen Cleaning Wipes, also available at The Amazon, but note these are single use only where the above can be used multiple times.
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If your current down or down-alternative pillow seems comfortable at first but sinks too low while you sleep, or if you wake up with pain in your head, neck, and shoulders, you might like a memory-foam pillow instead—they’re firmer, and they keep their shape. These generally come in four types of foam: shredded, single slab, layered, and contoured. This Wirecutter article reviews the alternatives and graces you with its recommendations.
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Surveys show that half of middle-aged adults worry about getting dementia. Fear of cognitive maladies is widespread; scientists have found that people are more scared of dementia than of other top causes of death, such as heart disease and strokes. Decades of research has made clear that cognitive change with advancing age is perfectly normal. This WaPo article has an excellent discussion addressing how someone might figure out whether they are experiencing normal aging-related memory process, or something more significant.
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Serving pizza as the main party dish is easy and no-miss but is plebeian and has an overtone of not trying. Here's what I would suggest for your post-pandemic parties: A Grazing Board such as pictured below. It's almost as easy as pizza, there's no concern with having to keep it warm, is sure to dazzle your guests, and any leftovers will stay good for days or weeks. What to include on the board is limited only by your imagination, but here is a starter list you can choose from to surround bowls of hummus, tzatziki, hibiscus marmalade, remoulade, cocktail sauce, and orange blossom honey: serrano ham; spicy chorizo; sobrasada; manchego cheese; Marcona almonds; picos camperos fat gordal olives; fresh herbs; fig salami; boquerones; chakri; Dragon fruit; torrone; pickled okra; Mohave gold raisins; pita crackers and pita bread slices; prosciutto; cashews and pistachios (shelled); and fresh vegetables and exotic vegetable sticks.
[Prefatory Note: This is NOT a recommendation and this has NOT been reviewed by our medical staff. It is noted here only to appease the apparent insatiable appetite for home health testing]
The Everlywell website has available home test kits for just about everything, including: food sensitivities; thyroid; Vitamin D; all kinds of STDs; Hepatitis C; allergies; folic acid; heavy metals; sleep and stress; cholesterol and lipids; Lyme disease; and more. They are not inexpensive. Here is an extensive review of what is involved, the costs, and the pros and cons.
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If you have a stovetop hood with an exposed horizontal surface or a refrigerator that has an exposed top, and you haven't made them part of your regular frequent cleaning routine, you might take a look at them. There could be extensive dust and even (with the hood) a greasy underlay. Water or a dusting spray is not going to do the trick. Dawn might work but Simple Green most definitely will work.
At the suggestion of a semi-loyal reader, we have looked to see if there is a non-governmental way to send or fund the sending of armaments and munitions to Ukraine, but we have been unable to find any. And while Ukraine is willing to have foreigners, including Americans, serve in its military, apparently one has to be physically fit to handle close-in combat under extreme conditions and be under 60 to qualify. Apparently, non-combat skills (e.g., provisioning and tactical expertise) are not needed or being asked for. With that, here are the NYT's suggestions to consider by anyone wanting to help.
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With tests already underway in Sweden and elsewhere, the future of EV charging is wireless. The "pads" are embedded in the road and the car charges just by being stopped on the pads. They already are nearly as fast charging-wise as a wired fast charger. Whether and when they will be commercially viable for home installation and use remains unclear. But as EVs become prolific, embedding the pads on roadways where cars stop will radically change the EV culture. We wonder whether EV owners, like many cellphone owners, just won't get the advantage and ease of wireless charging.
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As this article explains, with a couple of other narrow exceptions not relevant here, unless one has national security clearance, it is legal for U.S. citizens to join foreign militaries. While the White House urges Americans not to go to Ukraine (one can only wonder when the Biden Administration is actually going to ask or prepare for us to incur any hardship), volunteers can join the new International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine by applying through the Ukrainian embassy. And Zelensky has asked people to please come and join them in the fight. The Military Times spells out the steps to make it happen:
Whether you have a newer iPhone 13, iPhone 12, the value-packed iPhone SE or an iPhone 11 (you could also be waiting for the iPhone 14 or iPhone SE 3), one thing is likely: Your iPhone runs iOS 15. This cnet article will take you through the steps to configure the settings that could make your iPhone even better.
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If you aren't washing your fruits and vegetables, this article is a must read. In addition to pointing out why doing so is important, it gives tips on technique that are obvious once stated but likely not followed (e.g., wash one's hands BEFORE doing the rinsing, and we can thank the 2020 phase of the pandemic for teaching all of us how to properly wash our hands). One point omitted by the article is when to do the washing--with some fruits and vegetables such as apples and celery sticks, it matters little, but with softer stuff like raspberries, better not to do so until just before using, otherwise they won't keep as fresh and crispy wet as they will dry.
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No one cares, or should care, what I think of Biden's forgettable laundry-list unimaginative speech that could not have been further from what was called for given the threats to democracy around the world and in this country and to the planet. Putting aside his failure to meet the actual challenges being faced in Ukraine led by what appears to be the most inspiring leader of this century, or to even try to match what inspirational leadership looks like, if Biden was intent to spend over an hour touching every base of what would be done going forward, one can only scratch one's head as to why protecting voting rights and combatting climate change were barely mentioned. And don't get me started on the nonsense (some of it purely Trumpian) he spewed about the causes of and remedies to curb inflation. Finally, let's just hope that Biden's now second pronouncement in less than a year that we have turned the corner on the pandemic works out better than his first one did.
Sure, it's easy to criticize Biden who, to put it charitably folks, is not a gifted speaker. But it's not hard to frame what was needed for the occasion: All Biden had to do was cut his speech to 30 minutes … with 10 minutes on the country's need to bear the costs of saving Ukraine (to ward off the threat to world democracy), 5 minutes on the need to preserve voting rights (to ward off the threat to democracy in the United States), 5 minutes on what can be done now to protect the vulnerable from the menace of inflation (to ward off the threat to economic well-being), and 10 minutes on climate change (to ward off the threat to survival of the planet), and it would have been a speech for the ages. It also then might have played well, not just as this one did for most of the committed Democrat/Biden voters, but also for the vast majority of independent voters (i.e., I’m not sure the speech said anything new or otherwise changed any minds on how poorly the Biden administration is doing on most fronts) and for the great number of people who are hurting economically because of low pay and soaring inflation (given there was nothing in the speech to address what it will do that will make a difference today, tomorrow, next week, next month, or this year or in the next 2 years).
Every notable musical leaves the audience coming out singing at least one lyric. While every speech cannot be a great speech or even a memorable one, every decent speech writer should be able to craft at least one line that sears in the audience's consciousness and marks the moment, especially a moment like this with the country and the world on a precipice: "Ask not what your country can do for you;" "A house divided against itself cannot stand"; "a day which [sic] will live in infamy"; "I have a dream"; "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall." I came away from this SOTU singing a song from a different time.
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If you're renting a car, especially where you live (but anywhere), it merits checking the rates for off-airport locations. For example, renting a car from Payless (our new favorite) at Phoenix Sky Harbor (and they have no off-airport locations) is more than double the price of renting from Budget from a local pickup (and renting from Budget off-airport is 33% less than renting at the airport).
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[Prefatory Note: As all loyal readers and anyone else who reads this blog knows, I'm the epitome of optimism and good cheer. In that context, I apologize for what might be understood to be a somewhat cynical view that follows]
Requirements to wear masks or be vaccinated or test negative along with contact tracing now appear to be history, and hardly no one unvaccinated is getting vaccinated and no one unboosted is getting boosted, and the free rapid home tests are sitting unclaimed on the government website. If conduct is the guide, and preemptive of metrics, I guess the Covid-19 pandemic is no more. So there's no mistake: I truly hope it is over--or, if not over, at least demoted to endemic/flue-type status. But I cannot help but wonder, should there be another Omicron or Delta or new variant or subvariant surge, whether anyone thinks that masking up, much less mask mandates, or any of the other mitigation measures will be resumed? Put another way, when all is said and done, does anyone think that those who espoused and fostered the so-called "freedom to ignore science and put others at mortal risk" might not have won out after all?
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If you've ever connected to a wi-fi network that required a password, that password is stored on your computer. This cnet article will show you step-by-step for Mac and Windows computers how to find all such passwords.
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Vinegar is a fabulous and economic cleaner (of things like coffee makers and shower heads), but, as this article explains, vinegar can ruin your dishwasher if used instead of a commercial rinsing agent. So, either skip the commercial rinsing agent if you want to save the money and settle for less than sparkling glassware, or pay a couple of dollars and not risk having to buy a new dishwasher. If you do ever buy a new dishwasher, we strongly recommend a Bosch. We have no clue if Bosch is the best when it comes to cleaning or the best bang for the buck, but it is so quiet you can run it while dinner guests are still close by and they won't know you're running it.
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As this WaPo article explains, there is one news reporter at Fox News, Jennifer Griffin, who actually has pushed back, on the air, against Fox's punditry and falsehoods on Ukraine.
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