On the subject of dip, I found I can make a very good French onion type dip by dicing and toasting onion, then mixing it with sour cream, onion powder, salt, and some mayo. The mayo is critical to getting the right flavor and texture.

I have my cable modem and network equipment on a backup battery that can keep them running for several hours. Amazon Basics has some reasonably priced ones that are fine. With any battery backup system like this, you’ll probably need to replace the battery every 2 or 3 years. Like all batteries, they eventually lose…

I like a few burned bits of popcorn mixed in with the rest. The bitter taste of the charred pieces are a nice contrast to the salty and slightly sweet taste of the rest of the corn.

But it’s at least 10 times better than Murderville.

This is the actual sign at the exit for my town:

Oh, I’m using an ad blocker, too. Just explaining that that’s why the (probably Amazon) links and text aren’t showing up in articles like this.

Your ad blocker isn’t displaying the link and text that are there.

Your ad blocker isn’t displaying the link and text that are there.

This definitely wouldn’t be for everyone, but I relocated the antennas for my router. For various reasons, it was better for me to leave the router where it is, but I bought some high-quality, high-frequency coax cables, and moved the antennas to the room above where the router is. For me the slight signal loss of the…

Right after Roy Orbison died in 1988, just a couple of months after The Traveling Wilburys Volume 1 was released, I bought two copies. One I listened to, and the other I left wrapped in plastic and have kept it that way ever since. It’s even still in the original Record Bar bag with the receipt. It looks like it’s…

I would think the connection is that they were protesting the killing of George Floyd? It’s a pretty obvious connection.

I think the time I laughed the most was at...Brett?...yelling, “Koala!” contrasted with what we heard him yell from the other car in the earlier episode. The show’s not all laugh-out-loud funny, but it’s funny enough in spots. I’m enjoying it so far. And I’m old enough that I don’t really know who most of these people…

Those short sticks taken to the extreme:

I guess our Illinois state dessert could be Watergate salad (a.k.a. “green fluff”)?

Kind of the opposite of the New England accent that drops Rs that should be there: “Pahk the cah.”

I don’t believe nobody has mentioned an air compressor yet. I can’t imagine going back to working on my cars without air tools. Plus being able to quickly air up tires, balls, etc., and use it to blow crud out of places crud isn’t supposed to be.

Being born and raised in the Midwest U.S., I speak basically Standard American Newscaster. :) There are still some obvious things about a Midwest accent, though. I tend to drop the g in -ing words, unless I consciously try not to: “I’m goin’ fishin’.” While I have never done this, a know a lot of people who pronounce W…

I remember Pizza Hut being one of the first places I ever had pizza as a kid in the early 1970s. Our local Pizza Huts closed over the past few years (pre-pandemic). It wasn’t a huge surprise, because the pizza wasn’t good. It’s more than 20 miles now to the nearest one that’s still open.

At work we have a mesh strainer over the drain, and that catches most of the grounds from the French press. Then I just dump them out of the strainer into the trash.

“cheese”