Friday Hodgepodge

Four Things

1. I am in the process of replacing my laptop and will need to be able to use Windows from time to time. Almost by accident, I learned that I might be able to install Windows 11 without additional payment by using a Windows 7 Pro license I bought eons ago. I'm leaning towards dual boot, rather than virtualization.

2. As with almost anything that reaches fad status, might it be time to forget about "checklist productivity?" It's certainly easy to find articles that deride the whole idea or think pieces about the blind spots of its major proponents.

I have yet to find a productivity system that has everything figured out and I adopt things that actually help. When Getting Things Done had its day in the sun, I adopted lots of it, but not all. And I kept only parts of that, often modifying those.

Case in point: On a recent bit of traveling, my evolving checklist for travel saved me from (1) forgetting swim gear, (2) being without soap during my very early morning routine, and (3) forgetting to tell my wife to put the trash out the day before my "garbage day" return. It also helped me remember which exit number to take for the best pit stop in Tallahassee and it will help me remember a handy alternate route I found in a town I often visit the next time I'm there.

Checklists don't solve every problem, but it is just as ridiculous to dismiss them as it is to expect them to be a panacea.

Image by me. Feel free to use it yourself. Attribution appreciated.

3. There's nothing like making what I regard as my signature dish (scroll down for recipe) at a family gathering and see practically everyone go for seconds. I do not solicit compliments for my cooking, but one of my brothers called this crawish etouffee a "home run."

I don't make this at home very often because my wife, a super taster, very easily gets put off by shellfish that are off in any small way. (I have, over the years, had this happen with crawfish and shrimp, and never noticed a problem myself.)

I made double the recipe at the link for a group of twelve and, despite the seconds, there were lots of leftovers.

The recipe reflects my background as a geek and as a Southerner: I dumped the commonalities of over a dozen recipes into a spreadsheet so I could "average" them and I picked a few distinctive touches in the process of making my own recipe.

4. For comic relief, see if you can guess the answer to this question at Stack Exchange: "Why do people not notice our enormous, prominent, clear and contrasting purple banner?"

There is even a term for it, as you might guess. As a bonus, the questioner includes a screen shot with the ineffective signpost circled in red.

Yep. I'd have missed it, too!

-- CAV