Wherein we explore the wonders of chicken and waffles, kindling crackers, LED headlamps, and AI-generated images…and more!
Category: Tools & DIY
Artificial Agave Angst
Ever had a brilliant idea that turned out to be absolutely the wrong thing to do? Welcome to my world.
R&om Thursday
It’s World Ampersand Day, and that’s reason enough to write about r&om things. (Get it?)
Random Thursday: The Home Improvement Edition (Pt. 1)
Where in an inordinate amount of time is spent on inconsequential garage “upgrades.”
Camera Ciao
My DSLR died a week or so ago. Well, I guess that’s a little dramatic. In reality, it suffered a fatal injury. Uh, that’s not much better, is it? OK, what really happened is that one of the electronic contacts that lets the camera communicate with its Compact Flash Card — the medium on which… Continue reading Camera Ciao
Team Up to Mess Up
Alert Gazette readers will recall that many (most? all?) of my DIY projects either end up badly, or at best take a distressing turn somewhere in the process, requiring a significant recalibration and/or assessment of just exactly why I thought I was competent to achieve the task at hand in the first place. (For proof,… Continue reading Team Up to Mess Up
Random Thursday: The Truly Random Edition
Happy Thursday, y’all! Today is National Chocolate Day. And is it a coincidence that it’s also National Internal Medicine Day, as well as National First Responders Day? I think not; you should take comfort in knowing that if you overindulge in the food of the gods, *someone* has your back. Or insides. Or…whatever. The Horseshoe… Continue reading Random Thursday: The Truly Random Edition
Random Thursday: The Tuesday Edition
Hey, it’s been awhile! Glad you stopped by, although I’m not fooling myself by thinking it’s for any reason other than you’re bored to death by social distancing and the continuous stream of bad news on the doorstep (quick…name a song with that phrase!). Regardless, I’m happy to see you and to serve you some… Continue reading Random Thursday: The Tuesday Edition
The Hapless Mechanic — Part 65,784
I think we can all agree that most new or new-ish cars are not designed to permit under-the-hood maintenance by the average owner. I suspect that’s not a big deal for most of us. Modern engines are marvels of complexity, but also are (usually) such paragons of reliability that the lack of specialized training and… Continue reading The Hapless Mechanic — Part 65,784
Paint a fireplace? Sure…why not?
One of the [many] features that attracted us to the house we bought a few years ago was the massive stone wall in the living room/den. The fireplace centered on that wall was well-used, judging by the soot marks on the pale firebrick. It’s a wood-burning fireplace; our house is all-electric except for the cooktop,… Continue reading Paint a fireplace? Sure…why not?