Not to get all Marie Kondo on you, but every time I pickup the Dexter-Russell All-Purpose Turner (not spatula), I’m happy with my decision to spend a little extra. And I would place this solidly in the “buy it for life” category of purchases.
Pancakes. Pancakes.
Plus, it turns me into a pancake making machine.
There are multiple styles, but I chose the 5 inch, “all-purpose” version and purchased through Amazon, but available elsewhere.
Purchase Date: October 2018 Summary: Definitely a worthwhile purchase.
Pros:
Solid, well made cooking utensil
Beats the pants off a plastic spatula
Thinner metal blade with rounded corners and beveling slides under food
Made in the U.S.A.
Really not that expensive
Looks good too!
Cons:
For the grill, you could use a longer handle (12” overall)
We’ve had an unstable relationship with our Keurig for a while now. Actually, our Keurig machine seemed to prove fairly durable compared to some family and friends that seemed to go through the machines on a relatively frequent basis. But the plastic waste we were putting out on a daily basis from the single serve cups always made us uncomfortable. Sort of a guilty pleasure. Without any pleasure.
So, the Keurig was sent to Goodwill.
And, we’ve started using a pour over setup for our weekday routine (we always make a full pot of coffee on the weekends). That’s a Hario V60 and Bonavita gooseneck electric kettle.
If you need some additional prompting, here’s a stat for you:
“While Keurig does sell some recyclable K-Cups, as well as a reusable mesh cup for ground coffee, 95% of the K-Cups they produce cannot be recycled and aren’t biodegradable. “ – Impacts of Materials on Society (https://rampages.us/materials/2015/10/13/796/)
We took advantage of my business trip in late July to the Los Angeles area to take a family trip to Yosemite National Park (https://www.nps.gov/yose/index.htm). While not necessarily the closest option, Mrs. SFTE had never been and I was there only once for about a day back when I lived in San Francisco. So we decided to go for it.
Given that we had limited time and the trip was multi-purpose, I think
we did a pretty solid job of seeing a solid portion of the park.
Day 1
We left the Los Angeles area around noon and had a pretty hefty drive up to the park.
We stayed in the cabins at Camp Curry (formerly Half Dome Village). No, not real camping, but convenient, since we didn’t really have gear.
Home sweet home!
Day 2
We have some friends that worked in the park for a while, so we asked them about areas that would provide a good feel for the park given our limited time but also help avoid the heat and the crowds.
They sent us up to Toulomne Meadows. I’d highly recommend making the trek up there.
And then finished with a hike through the Wawona Grove of Giant Sequoias.
Wawona Grove
Day 3
We decided to take on Yosemite Valley. First up was the Mist Trail – all the way to Nevada Falls. The above average snowpack meant the water flow was still impressive.
Nevada Falls, Liberty Cap, Mt. Broderick & Half Dome
We got an early start, but to avoid the crowds coming up the trail, we descended via the John Muir Trail.
Super proud of Little SFTE. She handled the hike like a champ.
Top of Nevada Falls
Once we got back to the valley, we walked over to the visitor’s center and grabbed a pizza and ate it by the river. There was also a river bath – but no pictures were taken.
Valley Floor
Day 4
Unfortunately, we had to head back to Los Angeles to catch our flight. On the way out of the park, we checked out El Capitan.
Climb on, kid!
El Capitan
And, we stopped by the Mariposa Grove. As expected, it was super crowded, but still worth a visit.
Mariposa Grove
Summary
It is difficult to describe the scale of the majesty of the park. All I can really say is that you need to go see it for yourself. I just kept muttering “this is freakin’ amazing” at every turn.
There’s not much we would do differently. We’d like to come back and spend more time up in Toulomne Meadows and try to camp up there.
MARGINal – “I believe we are seeing the mother of all shifts from a focus on growth to margin.”
Behind SaaS’s Choppy Day – “The broader selloff, however — coupled to an implied revenue multiple compression — paints a stagnant picture for SaaS companies more generally.”
Why Hard Training Makes You More Impulsive – “Now we see that the arrow goes both ways, and that bolsters the idea that mental and physical exertion both draw on the same finite well of… something.”
Stamina Succeeds – “the most successful have a lot more energy and stamina than do others.”
Microsoft, Slack, Zoom, and the SaaS Opportunity – “This is why companies like Zoom and especially Slack are so valuable: they create new customers who are primed for growth; Microsoft, meanwhile, is mostly keeping its existing customers in-house.”
Note: This is based on when I read the article, not necessarily when it was first published. Unfortunately, my backlog of things I would like to read always seems to dwarf the amount of time I can devote to reading.
