Hello, fellow tinkerer 👋

I’m a huge fan of Trader Joe’s, and Trader Joe’s has a really delightful podcast. A recent episode was about Unexpected Cheddar cheese. I can’t stop thinking about this quote.

you can give me good milk and I can make bad cheese, but you can't give me bad milk and I make good cheese

(I’m from Wisconsin, and we take our cheese seriously.)

No profound thoughts to share… other than that I like cheese.

1) Reflection:

I’ve been blogging for years, and recently refreshed an old post about downtime. An interesting element I added was the impact of AI on downtime. This thing that’s supposed to give us time back is actually making people work more because AI can remove all of the boring/tedious work from the workday.

I’ve talked about removing boring/tedious work for years and focusing on higher-value work. But in reality, we need mental breaks. So, no matter what you use to get rid of boring/tedious work, make sure what you gain is more downtime, not more work.

2) Tip

I recently renewed my driver’s license (fun, fun) and got the updated version in the mail. I immediately took a photo and added it to two places: LastPass (where I store passwords, credit card info, etc) and my Google Drive.

For the number of times I’m asked to enter my DL number or upload a photo, it’s just easier to have the information at my fingertips. I don’t have to get up, grab my wallet, and take a photo on the fly.

3) Product

A few things I didn’t know I needed in my life until I got them: an electric salt and pepper grinder and an electric scrub brush.

We’ve always been “manual salt and pepper grinder” people, and an electric version feels fancy (albeit totally unnecessary).

And as I was scrubbing a dirty pot in my sink, I thought, “Isn’t there an electric version of this that would break up some of this stuck-on food?” Turns out, there is! I’m not sure how I lasted 40+ years on this planet being unaware of this small thing that makes washing dishes easier.