I mentioned last week that I have often meant to document smashburgers here on Uncorrected. I tried again tonight and was reminded why, despite my intentions, they don’t lend themselves to a photo procedural: things get fast near the end.

I did get some staged shots tho:

Weigh ‘Em Out

I make 2 oz patties, and each burger sammich gets two patties.

Prep the Garnish

I chop lettuce and make a copy of In and Out Burger’s Animal Sauce. I also slice up some onion and throw them on the grill while the burgers sear. Each sandwich gets a slice of Cooper Sharp.

I chopped some peppers-jalapeno, long hot, and cherry-up and let them sit in a pinch of salt and acv.

Bacon and Buns

I crisped up some bacon from the butcher and toasted the buns.

Hulk Smash!

I use a cast iron press and a piece of parchment paper to smash the burgers on the hot griddle.

Pre-assembly

Here are the two extras, unadorned, which ended up in the fridge. The pace kept from taking a pic of the finished product. Here’s one from March though.

Holy crap it’s hot out there. Here are some things for your consideration on this blistering Sunday.

feedle

Feedle is an RSS search service, billing itself as a search engine for blogs and podcasts. The obvious expectation would be that you could search for blogs and podcasts and add them to whatever RSS source you’re using (Feedbin over here). But each search generates its own RSS feed, so you can subscribe in your RSS reader to the search results. Very cool.

Swimming Pools!

I have always been a swimmer. Both of my parents could swim. We spent a lot of time at the beach and a local swim club when I was a kid. It’s something you take for granted but it’s a valuable survival skill for sure, and a tremendous source of pleasure. It’s good exercise, too. I had a couple of friends in the neighborhood growing up whose fathers installed in-ground pools, so I was lucky enough to always be able to find a cool place to swim in the summer.

I’m pretty sure Rhonda and I installed our pool back in 2012; it’s a memorable time not only because we opened it for the first time, but because a derecho hit this corner of southern New Jersey while we were filling it up, and it was a hell of a storm, with multiple days of power outages and considerable damage (not our property, fortunately). The pool, only partially full, served as a tank of water from which we could bail water to keep the toilet flushing. Not exactly the first week of ownership experience we were looking forward to, but it was helpful.

Anyway, we’ve replaced the liner once, but otherwise it’s pretty much still the same setup. I used to be neurotic about maintenance, but I’ve mellowed some over the years. Despite the apparent complexity, you can effectively manage your pool using bleach (which is chlorine), baking soda, and borax. These three ingredients, alongside a basic test kit, are all you need. And once you’ve dialed in the alkalinity and pH, they tend not to move around too much, so it’s really a matter of keeping the pool chlorinated. As with cars and lawn mowers and everything else that we rely upon for a more convenient and efficient life, the internet abounds with people who are happy to document and explain complicated things so you don’t have to figure them out for yourself. I used Trouble Free Pool and the Pool Calculator a lot when I was first getting started, and while many of the lessons have stuck and I operate from a place of experience now, I still rely on the calculator to get things up and running.

The kids, not being kids anymore, don’t spend a lot of time in the pool; we tend to sit in there on Sundays in the summer, draining spritzes and hanging out before dinner. It’s really nice and warms my heart to see the boys trundle out after Rhonda and I have been floating around in there.

Pool Calculator

I mentioned the Pool Calculator above; it’s worth the measly 10 bucks a year to subscribe. You can create a profile with your pool settings and come back to it all season for advice on how to dose your pool water to keep it safe and clean. There’s an app, but I tend not to use it. I don’t recall it being intuitive, and my pool isn’t so far from my Mac that I can’t just pop back inside to update my entries.

Aaron, our youngest son, graduated high school last Tuesday. It was really hot and they moved the ceremony back to 7pm to beat the heat. It was still plenty hot at 7 pm but that was a smart move.

I usually just take my iPhone with me if I plan to take some pictures, but for an event like this, I typically pack up my Olympus E-PL5, which is a 3/4 mirrorless I got over ten years ago. One of the main reasons I take it is because I have a cheap-if-effective zoom lens for it. So for a situation where I’m physically back in the bleachers on the football field, but want to get a nice shot, I can.

This is a pic I took of the school principal at the beginning of the ceremony. That’s probably full magnification. Pretty amazing to me; it’s very clear (not always a given, depending upon the steadiness of your hands).

That’s one use case for the E-PL5, but my favorite usage is sneaker zoom using the Lumix G II prime lens I bought. It cost more than the camera back in 2015 when I purchased it, and it takes wonderful shots. As with the zoom lens, it’s not good for everything, but it’s perfect for portrait-style shots.

I caught myself at one point totally in everyone else’s way: a bunch of parents were taking pics (with their phones) from a distance back, but I was up in the kids’ faces because that’s what you do with a prime lens. I said sorry and backed up after I got my shots, but I love the results I get.

Today, June 28th, is the seven-year anniversary of my first Uncorrected post: 2018’s Essential Software list. I get a kick out of my nod to it being originally posted on Nonjo.com; that was my (and still is) my Tumblr blog, and it’s where I wrote until I moved to WordPress and started Uncorrected. I read or heard somewhere where Gary Veynerchuck said, “Your Tumblr Won’t Get You Paid,” so I thought maybe I should move my site to something more serious. It still doesn’t get me paid, and it costs a lot more, but hey: I like it.

Ruben Schade notes that macOS Tahoe will be the last release of macOS to support Intel Macs, but pauses to wax ecstatic about OS X:

Mac OS X had its golden era on the Intel platform. The best versions of the OS were released during this time, which perhaps says more about modern macOS than anything else. The last great, serviceable desktop Mac—the original Mac Pro—also sported Intel CPUs.

Panther and Snow Leopard are good memories for me.

And here’s a link to my Intel MacBook Pro I had at work.

I often have the urge to document some of my dishes, including ribs and smash burgers. They’re dishes we don’t have often but require a number of steps. Today, making baby backs, I tried to be mindful of the stages and taken pictures accordingly. Behold.

Trim the Ribs

Ribs have a membrane of the interior (bone) side that you can peel off. I have a pairing knife I use; I slide the knife up between the membrane and the bone on a few ribs and then use a paper towel to get a good purchase on it before slowly peeling it off. You know you’re getting good at it when it only takes a pass or two to remove the whole membrane.

Apply a Rub

I do “wet” style ribs with jacked bottled barbecue sauce, so I’m not sure that this step is necessary, but I do it anyway. I’ve been getting a good store-brand rub for pork that isn’t too salty, and we all enjoy pork prepared with it.

Set up the Smoker

I follow two methods of smoking, straight from the Virtual Weber Bullet: the Standard and Minion methods (increasingly the latter). Today, I filled the charcoal chamber with Kingsford briquettes and some smoke wood, added a little bit of lump to round out the kitty, and then lit a small amount of lump in a chimney starter using these starters.

Once the lump was ablaze, I dumped them on top of the unlit coals in the smoker, assembled the rig, and added the meat.

Time to wait.

Smoke the Ribs

The ribs went on around 11:30 am. The smoker slowly came up to about 212 degrees Fahrenheit while we ran errands.

At 14:30, I pulled the lid off of the smoker and flipped the ribs. Looking good! The temp came up to 235 or so after all that oxygen rushed in.

Sauce

I brushed some KC Masterpiece straight from the bottle as the ribs finished. I use the “tear test” to see when they’re finishing up. If the meat separates easily from the bone, you know you’re good to go. These were good to go.

Serve

You don’t have to let the ribs sit before eating them, but it doesn’t hurt. I had a glass of Pinto Grigio to drink with mine.

Now we’re talking Jersey summer weather: hot, humid, oppressive. Today’s a bit less hot than forecasted, happily. The paradoxical sameness of winter, where despite the thermostat moving in the opposite direction, the upshot–staying inside–becomes preference. Friday started out sweltering, but turned into a memorable evening. Once the pool is open, we’ll be inclined to spend the day in our tiny oasis in the blaze. For me, today, though, I’m smoking some baby backs. See you on the other side of an Aperol spritz.

Auburn Road Winery

I am as much a creature of habit as I am an explorer. Routine has its delights, yet novelty beckons. To obey the latter, we found ourselves at the delightful Auburn Road Vineyards recently. We tried the barrel reserve Chardonnay and the dry rosé, along with the burrata salad and a pizza. The Chardonnay was surprisingly bright and crisp, not as much to Rhonda’s taste (she digs “buttery” wines), but I enjoyed it. The rosé is an exemplar of the local style. The vineyard is quietly ensconced among the wandering fields of Salem County, said terroir a common sight for me in middle school when my parents would drive to and from the Eastern Shore each weekend to sail.

And we still roll through on our way to Delaware and other Eastern Shore locales.

The whole experience was a blissed-out delight.

2022 Mini Cooper S Hardtop

Poor Aaron: our youngest son got a taste of freedom in getting his drivers license and a car to enjoy for the last three semesters of his high school career. An otherwise uneventful accident saw his car eventually totaled by the insurance company, after months of repair attempts, during which time he was reliant upon the largess of friends with wheels.

Nevertheless, insurance money in hand, we hit a local Mini dealership Friday to check out a 2022 hardtop coupe. I didn’t realize it was an S until we got there.

Aaron drove the car and loved it and I did, too. It looked great and was a good for fit Aaron. We made the purchase and it’s been fun snapping pics of this cool little go cart in the driveway.

I got a chance to drive it briefly after the ride home and it’s a very nice car indeed.

Ruchi Indian Restaurant

After many hours of car shopping, Aaron and I hit Ruchi Indian Cuisine for a late lunch. We both had the lunch special. I love an utterly mysterious dish that you may not identify before, during, or even after service. Just try everything.

Rhonda and I attended the 25th Anniversary Celebration of Bellview Winery this past Friday night. I was really looking forward to this all week. We sipped some wine we don’t often (or ever) try, including the excellent Traminette, which we agreed was both of our favorites.

It was an eclectic crowd for sure; we had a nice time catching up with familiar faces. There was cheese and other nummies in the winery house, and canapés from Top Shelf Mobile Cuisine.

I was padding back to our table and stopped to snap a couple of pics of the vineyard during the golden hour. And it struck me that I love spending time at a place that looks like my backyard.

It’s nice out here.

I’ve used Tripsy to plan a few trips since I heard about it on a podcast. It’s an iOS app that runs on your Mac, so Tripsy is everywhere.

In Tripsy, you create a trip specifying dates (or leaving it open) and add all manner of trip-related data to it: notes, emails, expenses, map locations, and more.

One of my favorite features in Tripsy allow you to forward any emails you get regarding reservations or other bookings to Tripsy, so it’s all collected in the app. I’ve done similar things using links or pdfs, but this is far superior. You can save map locations, emails, files, and take basic notes, all organized into your trip.

But what’s more, it parses the data for, say, your hotel reservation, and adds that to Tripsy as a booking. It’s not just a copy of the email. Which it then sends off to its own calendar, should you agree to it.

I find Tripsy pricey for my usage, but I have to admit I like using the app. Instead of notes in Notes and PDFs in Finder, and emails wherever, Trips gathers it all up for you.

Happy Father’s Day! I usually barbecue for this holiday, preferring the satisfaction of DIY to something prepackaged. Not always my wont, but for this day, it is. Here are some things to check out.

iPadOS 26 Developer Beta

After resolving not to install iPad betas anymore, I found myself installing the iPadOS 26 Developer Beta on an older M1 iPad. It’s terrific and I’m looking forward to the full release in the fall.

I will admit that the windowing doesn’t make a ton of sense to me on an 11” screen, but it absolutely shines when plugged into a display (which I did). I found myself forgetting for a moment that I wasn’t using a Mac until a few keyboard shortcuts that don’t exist on the iPad didn’t work. It’s gonna be interesting.

Files is a revelation, and the new menu bar is revealing and helpful, but stays out of the way when you don’t need it. It doesn’t require a keyboard, either.

Fathers Day Toy Show

I’ve been taking the boys to this version of Bob D’Amico’s toy shows since 2022. It’s outside, and fairly close to home, both of which are plusses. We blast up to the show early and get home stat.

I’ve been taking Joey and Aaron to toy shows since 2011, and they’ve been a mix of magic, wonder, and meh at the same time. This year’s show was an eclectic mix, as ever, with a lot of vinyl thrown in, much to Aaron’s delight. I’m glad we went.

Bellview Winery’s Astraea

Rhonda and I wandered into Bellview yesterday afternoon to fill our growler, and the dry white we’ve been enjoying (Hyancinth) was replaced with Astraea. We tried a sip and agreed to a growler full. It’s a light, citrusy wine perfect for the dog days of summer ahead.

A few months ago, my oldest son, who is in college, reported that his electric scooter wasn’t working. He uses it to get around campus, which I thought was a great idea when he first ordered it, as it was a quick way for a commuter to get around on campus. (Another part of me isn’t sure why he needs a scooter, because there’s nothing wrong with walking, but hey.)

Anyway, I did a quick search via ChatGPT to see what might be the problem (the display/control board was flashing an “E1” error), and while some of the solutions might have been achievable by us by jiggling a wire or resealing a connector, I suspected it might have something to do with the electronics, which I wouldn’t be able to diagnose without more know how (electric scooters don’t have ODDB ports, at least not this one).

In any event, I figured, let’s give it a shot and dig around. We took off some of the fairing, inspected the wires, and even pulled out the battery pack hidden behind a long metal plate, to check and see if there was any evidence of where or damage to the battery.

I had some things I wanted to do that night for work, and then maybe do some reading and writing for myself, so at first I wasn’t all that excited about getting into this project. But moms being moms, I could sense Rhonda’s worry about him not having it in the cold, so I thought it would be worth diving into the project for a little bit, seeing if we can solve it.

We all row in the same direction, as a mentor once said to me.

What ensued was a fairly classic dad thing: showing Joey the difference between some of the screwdriver heads, such as Allen or hex keys versus Philips, the different sizes of each, and how different kinds of wrenches can get you more or less torque, depending upon your need. We even got to use my Makita drill driver to pull 16 screws from the bottom of the scooter to expose the battery, which tool comports with one of my pieces of fatherly advice: don’t buy a cheap drill.

I did everything I could to show Joey what I thought we should do, but let him go ahead and try it himself. And I got to thinking how much that’s what dads do. Dads aren’t always good at everything that moms are . But we can be great at showing you how to do things, to show you how things work, and when you can’t fix or control or directly manipulate, show you some other problem-solving tricks.

Sure, no dad is going to be good at all of those things, and plenty of moms are resourceful in this capacity. I think trying to inspire a sense of adventure and a willingness to try and explore are more important than necessarily demonstrating victory or success every time. That’s a dad’s job. And I’m glad I get to do that.

And I’m glad I got to learn that from someone else growing up. Thanks Dad!

Related: 8 pieces of life advice from dads and Journal article on Theory of Change