Ohio River Ownership

Once upon a time, the Ohio River was 100% owned by the vast British "Colony of Virginia", which then spanned from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River.  When West Virginia separated from Confederate Virginia in 1863 to side with the Northern States, the portion of the Ohio River forming WV's western border was given to them.  Congress later passed a law that defined the river's ownership to the states to its east and south, namely West Virginia and Kentucky.  So at this point, Ohio did not own any part of the Ohio River.

The U.S. Supreme Court later held that the river was owned by the states that border it and split by the low-water mark of 1793, but left it to the states to draw the final border.  Finally in 1981, after years of litigation, Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky reached an agreement.  If you want to see how that boundary shifts, use Google Maps, search for "Ohio", and zoom in on the river.

Lamb Chops With Rosemary Gravy

Chef Elaine has officially been promoted (by me) to the position of Gourmet Chef after delivering yet another outstanding dinner, this one featuring lamb chops smothered in rosemary gravy, as the drool-worthy picture below clearly demonstrates.  The lamb chops were marinated in extra virgin olive oil, finely minced garlic cloves, finely chopped rosemary leaves, salt, and pepper, then seared in a cast iron skillet.  The gravy is a simple but very flavorful combination of beef stock, flour, and chopped rosemary leaves which was simmered for a few minutes.

https://www.recipetineats.com/lamb-chops-with-rosemary-gravy

GeoBlue

Our Medicare advisor sent a helpful email with details about buying medical insurance through GeoBlue when traveling internationally.  An application is completed online with no medical questions and an instant policy issue.  Coverage is available for one-time trips of almost any duration and there is an option for a year-long policy.  As you can see below, the price is pretty reasonable for the piece of mind.

https://go.geobluetravelinsurance.com

Better Driveway

While the old Jeep was fine parked out on the street, now that we have two nice cars we decided to extend our driveway to the left and since it really needed it, replace the driveway and walkway to the house.  Just so happened that as we were considering this, we noticed a similar project going on a few blocks away and stopped to get a business card.  We received and accepted an estimate for about $10 per square foot and Mike O'Shell and his team tore up the old concrete on day one, poured and manicured it on day two, and removed the framing and cut control joints on day three.  As you can see in the before and after pictures below, they did a great job.

Free Car Washes

One of the benefits of buying our 2018 Infiniti QX60 from Evans Infiniti is their free weekly car washes, available on Saturdays until 2:00 pm.  It's just an exterior wash and that's fine most of the time, but it won't fully replace the need for the occasional trip to Soft Touch Car Wash for a thorough job.  But while I'm waiting, I get to enjoy a fresh-brewed Americano coffee, and if they're still available, a Bill's donut.  I think I'll be keeping our new wheels nice and clean...

https://www.infinitiofdayton.com

Killing The Mob

Chef Elaine and I finished the Killing The Mob audiobook on our last trip to North Carolina and like all the other O'Reilly books it was an interesting trip back in time.  It starts with the 1930s and the taking down of bank robbers such as John Dillinger and Bonnie & Clyde and ends with the internal battles of the Mafia's "Five Families", the reign of J. Edgar Hoover, and the murders of John and Bobby Kennedy.  The book gets a bit gory with the killing styles of the Mafia, so be forewarned.

https://www.billoreilly.com/p/Killing-the-Mob/Killing-the-Mob/55607.html

Roland's Seafood Grill

The fish sandwich, french fries, and healthy amount of Heinz ketchup came from Roland's, a restaurant in the Strip District in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  What was particularly exciting was that Chef Elaine and I split a single fish sandwich platter and even then we each received an entire plateful.  While there was a $3 upcharge for splitting the plate, each one ended up costing just $9.50, a real deal in these times of skyrocketing restaurant prices.

https://www.rolandspittsburgh.com

Souper Bowl

Among Chef Elaine's other talents is getting us a spot in an uber-crowded venue, in this case, the Souper Bowl bar/restaurant located a block from PPG Paints Arena.  Everyone in the arena had to vacate the premises between the afternoon and evening NCAA basketball games and when we got to the Souper Bowl it looked like no hope we could find a spot.  But my Chef found the little spot shown below that had a cash bar with a good enough selection and we enjoyed a brew while watching the Dayton Flyers make an astonishing comeback win over Nevada.  Two miracles in one bar!

https://souperbowlpgh.com

Where's The Spare

I was a bit embarrassed when my brother asked me where the spare tire was located on our Infiniti QX60 and I didn't know and couldn't find it.  The surprising answer, after looking it up in the owner's manual, is shown below ... it's underneath the car.  I think the next time I get the car serviced I'll have a technician check to make sure it's in good shape.  I might be able to get it down but there's no chance in heck that I could get it back up.

Pantone Blues

One of the fiercest rivalries in college basketball is the Kentucky Wildcats and the Duke Blue Devils and it even shows up in their selection of jersey colors.  Kentucky uses "Wildcat Blue", also known as Pantone 286, shown on the left below.  Duke uses "Duke Royal Blue", also known as Pantone 287, shown on the right below.  As a Dukie, I think 287 is far superior...

The folks at Pantone make it easy to use these colors by publishing their Pantone Matching System (PMS) which includes almost 10,000 solid and process colors.  Here are the details for those of us who are into colors.

Wildcat Blue

PMS 286 

HEX COLOR: #0033A0;

RGB: (0, 51, 160)

CMYK: (100, 75, 0, 0)

Duke Royal Blue

PMS 287 

HEX #00539B

RGB 0, 83, 155

CMYK 100, 53, 2, 16

https://www.pantone.com