13 Things I Learned This Summer

As my summer comes to a close (school started Monday), I find myself reflecting on the season that was. While I didn't do much this summer (besides flying to Ohio), I did learn a few things along the way. Here is a list of some of the tidbits I picked up, in no particular order (and for Thursday 13).

1. Trashie.io 

I was in the car with my father, driving back from lunch, when the ad came on the radio. (I couldn't find a link to the ad, but here's their YouTube page.) An easy way to dispose of old clothing so it doesn't end up in a landfill. (And you earn gift cards per each bag you send in.) Sign me up. 

I have sent in one bag and one electronics box. It does cost, so that's a con. But I've been meaning to clean out my closet, and this makes it easy for me. It's just what I needed. 

2. Midnight Burger

Before my flight, I went in search of podcasts to download so I had something to listen to while crocheting on the plane. And I found this gem. It's currently in its fifth season, but I'm still on season one. 

Midnight Burger is the name of a diner that opens at six every evening. Where it'll be when it opens is anyone's guess. 

I did not expect to find a radio-play-type sci fi show podcast, but, then again, I am a total newbie with regards to podcasts, so I didn't know what I'd find. 

3. Apple Pay

On a whim I set up the wallet on my iPhone. And now I use my phone to pay for everything. It really is very convenient, although I understand why some might not want to use it. 

4. Airplane ticket on Apple Watch

I got an Apple Watch back in November, mostly to track my steps for the WeWard app. It turns out that there is so much more I use my watch for. 

When flying to Ohio, I added my tickets to Apple Wallet (as I had done in the past), and lo and behold, my boarding QR code just popped up on my watch. I did not know it did that. Now I know. 

5. Middle nephew is interested in astronomy

Just being in the vicinity of the family that I don't get to see that often teaches me so much. Middle nephew is now 16, and just in passing his mother mentioned how he's thinking of studying astronomy when he goes to college. And that just blew my mind. (I had similar aspirations at his age. Note the name of my blog. That's not an accident.) 

You better believe I asked him some follow up questions. I hope he does pursue the study. (Things got dicey for me in my twenties, and while I finished my bachelor's in physics, I did not go on to my masters as I had originally hoped to do.) 

6. Deadly Dowagers

While in Yellow Springs, Ohio, we ended up in a comic book store. They had a section of games. And I found this one. I was going to leave it behind, but SIL convinced me to go back and get it. We were going to play it, but we never did get around to it. Maybe next year... 

7. There's a castle in Loveland, Ohio

I already wrote a blog post about this. It was fascinating. If you missed the post, please check it out. 

8. Packing serving size containers

I don't know why this never occurred to me before. Game changer. 

I like ice cream. But I don't like scooping it into a bowl. Silly, I know. But, that is enough for me to not get ice cream unless it's in a smaller (and more expensive) container. Then it occurred to me that I could get the ice cream and repackage it in smaller serving-size plastic containers. 

It makes it so much easier. For me. I do something similar with cereal. This is more a neurospicy hack than something most people would even bother with, but it was new to me this summer, so on this list it goes. 

9. Making s'mores in an air fryer

We got an air fryer about a year ago. I've been learning how to make things in it. 

Put one marshmallow on a graham cracker. Set the temp for 375 degrees F. Let it heat until the marshmallow turns golden brown (about 3 minutes, but I watch it). Take out of air fryer, and put chocolate and second graham cracker on top. Squish and eat. 

10. Poaching eggs in the microwave

I learned scrambling eggs in the microwave a few years back. Why not try poaching them? 

I've only done this a couple times, but I learned quickly to poke holes in the yolks as the first time I tried it one of the eggs exploded. All over me. It was a mess. 

I've been doing 3 minutes in the microwave (in water), but I like my eggs well done. And covered, because exploding eggs. 

11. Jack in the Box and In-N-Out developed drive thrus at about the same time (but independently)

The Food that Built America has been a favorite of mine for a few years now. The current season started recording on my DVR in March (maybe February or April? I wasn't paying attention), but I didn't start watching the episodes until June. That was one of the tidbits from one of the episodes. 

12. Europeans love ranch dressing

I enjoyed seeing travelers enjoying the U.S. during the World Cup games. And this cracked me up. There were news reports of people trying to check this in with their luggage. 

I can't stand the stuff personally, so send it all overseas. I'm good with that. 

13. FAA regulations mandate pilots must retire on their 65th birthday

I learned this while eating lunch in Nashville Airport, but I already blogged about that. 

Blogging Maintenance

School started back up this week, so this is my last blogging nuts and bolts post of the summer. So, a few reminders: 

Now is a really good time to refresh your sidebar. When was the last time you went through and made sure all the gadgets were working? Is there anything there that's out of date? You should check it out periodically, so why not now? (Or find a time of year when things are slow for you and set yourself a reminder to do it then.) 

I've spent this summer trying to figure out how to help those bloggers who can't log in to comment on Blogger. If you've had this issue and figured out how to fix it, why not write your own blog post about it? I guarantee there are bloggers who would appreciate the insights. 

I collected all my blogging nuts and bolts posts into a page with a link at the top of this page. Feel free to reference it whenever you have need. 

And if there's any topic that you would like me to address, let me know in the comments. If I can answer the question, I will. Vacation weeks throughout the school year I will be in need of topics to blog about. Also, I'll need topics for next summer.

Happy beginning of the school year to those who celebrate. 

Unsurprising Turn of Events

Just a little post today to link to an article: Opinion | Executive Order on Vaccines Bypasses Evidence-Based Process That Has Kept Kids Safe.

If I had more time, I'd spend it writing a longer post bemoaning the anti-vaxxers. I might even have pondered the anti-science people and how the regime is pandering to them (although, I think many of them believe some of this stuff). There are studies that show right-wingers are more likely to react to things from a position of fear, and the whole anti-vaccination push feeds into those fears. 

I have such high hopes for myself when it comes to writing Tuesday blog posts, and then when it's time to write the post, I chicken out. Maybe next week? 

I might be a bit scarce this week as school started, and, well, I have a feeling this week is going to be kind of busy for me. Explanations should be forthcoming next week.

The Next Step

Step 1: Complete oval to desired width of sweater. 

✅ Complete.

Step 2: For back of sweater, continue working the top half of the oval until the color of yarn is the same color as the outer round of the front oval. 

While working the top half, flatten the side of the oval. 

And... That's my next little puzzle. I know the basic formula. As I get to the edge, I work shorter stitches. Each row I'll start further back as the edge becomes flat rather than curvy. But I have to eyeball it, and this is not quite right. 

I have some wiggle room as this part will be in the seam. 

Anyway, the back needs a bit more length while the front is going to have a deeper neckline. I kind of have it worked out in my head, but we'll have to see if the actual physical piece works out the way I planned. 

At least I have now completed the ovals. Now it's just a matter of figuring out how to assemble them. Progress. 

The Reluctant Sweater: 

• Questionable Quality
• Planning and Research
• And It Begins
• Watching the Increases
• Second Sock Syndrome
• The Wavy Second Side
• Which Way Now?
• Vacation Crochet
• Modifications
• Pondering
• Summer Crochet
• Slow Going
• Doing the Math

The Color Quizzes: What's White?

I bet you thought we were done. Nope, not quite. There is another color we have not hit yet (via Quizly). White. 

What's White?

I got 19 out of 21. A few of these weren't as obvious as you'd think. How did you do? Let me know in the comments.

Teacher Reels 13

School starts back up next week. Now that I've had the summer to kind of cleanse my palate (so to speak), it's time to remember what I'm in for. (Not that I'll necessarily have work next week, but...) This is a Thursday 13.

1. Mr. Jahn @JahnifestDestiny

Can confirm, sometimes it's just fun to listen to them talk. 

2. Amanda & Zach Smith @amandasindallas

How was your day? Nice he gets to give a snapshot. I could totally see a kid doing this.

3. Educator Andrea @educatorandrea

"Wandering around asking people for Cheetos and Takis while we're reading about the Holocaust..." Been there.

4. MyTeacherFace @MyTeacherFace

Sometimes we can say the weirdest things. Teenagers...

5. Mr. Firth @Mister_Firth

Sometimes we really are in tune with the kiddos.

6. Gabe Dannenbring @gabedannenbring24

"Stop touching each other." Yup. And "It's on the board." Said frequently. 

7. Sam Salem @samuelsleeves

He's a sub and a comedian. And I absolutely want to do this. (The thing in the video, not being a comedian. I'm no comedian.) 

8. Mr. Moore Taught Me @MrMooreTaughtMe

Yup, everyone absolutely chimes in. Well, the ones that we're not talking to.

9. Levi Hawk @levihawk_teaching 

They absolutely think they're hiding their phones. They're not. They're obvious.

10. Coach Russo @MrRussoHealth

I mean, I haven't seen a dab in a while, but the rest of this...

11. Talana @Talanagram

Can confirm. Asking a class to quiet down does not work. 

12. Gregisms @Gregisms

The elementary kids say the darndest things.

13. Philip Lindsay @Mr_lindsay

I have yet to meet a student who says they're locking in actually lock in.

Why do I do this job again? 

Feed Reader Accessible

Whenever I get a comment from a blogger I have not met before, the first thing I do is to add them to my Feedly. (I talked about this last year.) Whether or not we end up regularly interacting, it's easier to have access to the latest posts without my having to search for them every time. (I especially do this in April, because otherwise I would not be able to keep up.) 

But this doesn't always work. 

I already wrote about how I can't do this if I can't find a link to the blogger's blog. But I ran into another issue not that long ago. I easily found the blogger's blog, but Feedly could not add the blog to my roll. 

Uh oh... 

When I'm visiting other blogs, I use my feed reader. They're all collected in one place for me. I don't have to go searching. I don't have to keep track of anyone's schedule. If a blogger who's been dormant suddenly reappears, I see the post. If a blogger took some time off, I'm not hitting up their blog daily only to find no new post. 

The system isn't foolproof. Sometimes the feed reader won't update in a timely fashion. I generally have my posts publish at 6 AM Pacific Time. I've had my posts show up hours later. But generally, to keep up with dozens of blogs, the system works well enough. 

Unless I can't add the blog to my feed reader. 

I went looking for an alternative. Did the blogger have an email subscription? No? 

So, how am I supposed to remember to check this blog? I'm going to have to hope that they comment on my blog when they have a new post?

This is why today I'm asking you: is your blog is available to add to a feed reader? 

It is generally a good idea to have ways for a reader to keep up with your blog. If you look at my sidebar, you'll see several options for mine. 

"Subscribe To" is one of the options when setting up things for the sidebar. "Follow By Email" is via Follow It. I created an account, and they provided this graphic for the sidebar. (I did a post about adding gadgets to the sidebar a while ago.) 

The "Followers" is also a selection in the sidebar tools. "Follow on feedly" and "Follow me on bloglovin'" I got from both of those readers. If you click either of them, it'll help you add my blog to your account there (or you could set up an account there to follow my blog and all the other blogs you follow). 

Since everyone blogs differently, I've tried to have as many options as I know about so other bloggers can keep track of me easily. (If there's another option I don't have, please let me know in the comments so I can add it there.) 

And so, it might be time to check to see if your blog can be accessed by the feed readers. 

Is your RSS enabled? Blogger help has an article for your reference. 

Go into "Settings" and scroll down to "Site Feed". 

As you can see, I have "Full" enabled. You have a choice:

"Full" means that if someone goes to the feed reader, they can see my full post. "Until Jump Break" and "Short" mean that the feed reader only shows a short portion of the post. I generally click through and go to the actual post on the blog, because you can't leave comments on the feed reader. But, some might just read the post and not interact, so I can see why some might not want to enable "Full". 

And that should do it. It's easy enough to check that it works by uploading your blog to the feed reader of your choice. (It's a good idea to do this as it's a good check for you. I've caught issues with my blog a few times.) 

Do you use a feed reader? How do you keep track of the blogs you follow?