Rydell.com

We are living in the automation future

Went outside with Cal to test the Christmas lights. 1. Use my iPhone to access the web console for Falcon Player so I could start the lights. 2. Realize the lights on the porch are still on. Use Home Assistant on my iPhone to turn them off. 3. Realize the

Review

Review: Exotic Pringles

Quick Pringles reviews. Carnitas taco: Tastes like pork is inside my nose. Review: 1/30 Street corn: Actually pretty good. Review: 24/30 Prawn: Just like a shrimp cocktail at Mastros! 30/30

Stye relief

Relieving Styes

I recently had a stye that looked terrible and was a giant pain. Right in the midst of peak stye, the NYTimes Mini crossword had 5 down: Eyelid irritation. Stye! Coincidence? Or the NYTimes mocking my stye style? Relief for the stye came when a friend recommended OCuSOFT Lid Scrub

Review

Review: Chicken Big Mac

Alternate title: "Joe is Hungry? More like Joe is Wrong!" On a recent trip to Ireland I was able to make one stop at a McDonald's. I wanted to see if the Shamrock Shake was available year-round in Ireland. It is not. 😦 The McDonald's

Review

Lahinch Golf Club & Pons Asinorum

I played the Lahinch Golf Club in Ireland in September 2024. On the 17th hole I discovered the hole was named "Pons Asinorum." I asked the caddies (Rocky & Olly) what that meant. Not only did they not know what it meant, they never even knew the hole

Fatboy

FatBoy Ice Cream Sandwich Quality Control Issues

We have been enjoying FatBoy icecream sandwiches for a few years. But the latest box bought in August 2024 has had major quality control issues. Almost all the sandwiches have had the "cookie" upside-down. And the sandwich I had today which prompted this blog post had one cookie

Review

Review & Scam Alert: Reese's Peanut Butter Pumpkins

Over two and a half months until Halloween and I saw some Reese's Peanut Butter Pumpkins for sale already. These looked pretty fun though because the wrapper showed Jack-o-lanterns with cutout eyes and a mouth on them. I immediately was suspicious though. Would they actually have those eyes

Review

Review: Grilled Watermelon

An Instagram reel popped up and showed someone grilling a steak and a "watermelon steak." Just a big slice of watermelon on the grill. I tried it out on July 4. It was revolting. Review: 1/248

Review

Review: Lego Planet Earth and Moon in Orbit

I haven't put together a Lego in many years. I was never that into Lego. But I really wanted this model showing the sun, earth, and moon and how they rotate. I remember a similar model in our elementary school library. Frances and I put it together together

Review

Review: Big Cheez-It® Crunchwrap Supreme® & Tostada

Always a sucker for a new weird food I was excited to try the cheez-it items at taco bell. I had the Cheez-It Crunchwrap and Cheez-It Tostada. They were both bad. Bad texture, bad taste. Bad. Review: 3/11

Cox

Cox billing department data types

Looks like Cox's billing software is not storing numbers in an appropriate format. Since my bill is negative one penny every month now I guess in 100 short months I will be owed a dollar.

Review

Review: The Art of Small Talk

This is a new audio book from Pushkin. I enjoy Malcolm Gladwell's books and his Revisionist History podcast. So I figured I would enjoy this as well. I didn't. It is just awful. The authors are making constant un-funny throwaway, banal jokes. Occasionally they have audio

Mother's Day

Mother's Day 2024

I enjoyed this Mother's Day video from a few years ago. And we had a good pre-Mother's Day Brunch at Snooze. Review: 10/10 for the company. Snooze gets a 6/7. UPDATE SEPTEMBER 2024: Snooze service is in major decline. Food takes forever to get

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

That's a clown poster, bro

Signs I have made for Bryce Harper when the Phillies have visited Angels stadium.

Dominos

Dominos: Do you want to donate or do you want to donate?

Dominos Pizza's app has a dark pattern for forcing donations. Are you excused from having a malicious UI if the UI is for a supposed good cause? I don't think so.

Review

Review: Mochinut Corndogs

I didn't realize Mochinut has more than donuts. I tried out their Half & Half. Half is a corndog and half is just cheese. It was served fresh and hot and was excellent. The outside was crispy and the "dough" was soft. The hotdog was good

Review

Review: Mr. Beast Chocolate Bars

These are bad. All of them. Don't buy. Review: 1/10

Big Sky

48 Miles at Big Sky

As a follow-up to my post about getting the most mileage at Big Sky, I completed 48 miles in April, 2024. Ramcharger + Pacifier was the most miles per minute as I expected. But it is not exciting. Cal discovered Swift + Skittles Road is also a lot of miles per minute.

Review

Review: Coca-cola Spiced

Found a bottle of Coke Spiced in Belgrade, MT. I liked it. It tasted extra "cokey." Like a stronger version of regular Coke. Review: 8/9

Solar

Partial eclipse impact on residential solar system

The eclipse on April 8, 2024 had a small but noticeable impact on our residential solar production.

Successfully fighting Youtube copyright claims

Audium publishing claimed a Youtube copyright infringement on a video I uploaded of the high school wind ensemble. I'm not sure if they are claiming ownership of 2nd Suite in F by Holst or Sunken Cathedral by Debussy. Either way, they are both published well before 1928. Youtube

Honeybaked Ham

Review: Special Mustard for Honeybaked Hams

For some reason, Honeybaked Hams stopped selling their special Champagne Mustard. I tried a few alternatives this year and found two that worked. Frost Ridge Maple Farm Champagne Maple Mustard and Honeycup Uniquely Sharp Mustard. Both tasted about the same. Decent substitutes for the original Honeybaked mustard. Review: 9/10

Review

Review: Tillamook Classic Cheddar Mac & Cheese

Tillamook ice cream is excellent. How is their frozen mac & cheese? Not great unfortunately. "A creamy sauce of aged medium and sharp cheddar topped with more cheese and the crunch of crushed pretzel and herbs." Crushed pretzel sounds interesting. But this just didn't do it

New Yorker Cartoon

Second Favorite New Yorker Cartoon

I was reminded about my second favorite New Yorker cartoon of all time. My children will not just inherit my A/C adapters, but all my old USB cables as well.

Review

Review: The Eggmazing Egg Decorator

This cheap little egg decorator has lasted four years for us now. It spins the egg around and comes with some pens to draw on the egg. The pens have even lasted four years. This year we also discussed if the Easter Bunny cares if you are good or bad