On The Fly

In this episode - Your AC Adapter . . . Do you typically carry a laptop, tablet, or phone daily? If so, it's likely that you also find yourself having to lug around a cumbersome charger block. Have you ever stopped to consider how these charging blocks actually work? When you plug your laptop charger into a nearby outlet, it converts the electricity from the wall into the type of power that your laptop needs to function. That’s the obvious answer; here’s a more detailed one. Step-Down Transformer: The charge cycle typically starts with a step-down transformer. This component reduces the high voltage (120VAC) power from the wall outlet to a lower voltage suitable for the laptop's needs. The typical voltage of a laptop battery depends on the specific type and configuration. Most laptops use lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, which typically have a nominal voltage of around 3.7 to 3.8 volts per cell. The actual battery voltage can vary since laptop batteries are composed of multiple

In this episode - Family Stories . . . When you travel, you will frequently meet new people, and the conversation may lead to the question, "Where are you from?” “Cuba,” - then I wait for their expected response. “Havana?” They ask. “Nope, Havana is about 19 miles from Cuba on the Illinois River.” “Cuba, Illinois.” Hah, ha! People furrow their brows, squint their eyes, then smile as they finally get the joke. This always elicits a chuckle and sets a friendly, humorous tone for the conversation. What reminded me of this, you ask? When handed the microphone, this was my running joke at the annual Ball Family Reunion on Saturday, August 12, 2023, hosted by my aunt Deanna Ball in Fairview, Illinois. I’ll admit this was probably the first reunion I’ve attended in about 50 years. Followers of my blog may know that my father's side of the family had nine children: Lawrence and Helen Ball's kids, who lived in rural Canton, Illinois. As each sibling married, they had, on average,

In this episode - A Michelin Star . . . A Michelin-starred restaurant is a distinguished dining establishment recognized and honored by the Michelin Guide for its exceptional quality and influence in the culinary industry. The Michelin tire company in France created the Michelin Guide in the early 20th century (1900) to encourage people to travel and wear out their tires, thus boosting the demand for replacements. However, the Michelin Guide has evolved over the years into a symbol of Culinary Excellence and a Quality Standard in the restaurant industry. In 1926, the guide began to award stars for fine dining establishments, initially marking them only with a single star. Five years later, a hierarchy of zero, one, two, and three stars was introduced, and in 1936, the criteria for the starred rankings were published. I get it; some people may only see Michelin Star restaurants as expensive ($$$); allow me to share our experience. We recently celebrated Lori's birthday at Jeune

In this episode - Ticklish Trivia . . . In the distant annals of history, around the 4th century BC, the illustrious Aristotle, in his contemplative wisdom, mulled over a quirk of nature: the peculiar vulnerability of human beings to tickling. His reasoning? Humans have finely-tuned skin and an exclusive laughter privilege over animals. Though Aristotle's ideas may have veered off-course like a compass in a magnetic storm, they set the stage for a procession of thinkers like Descartes, Spinoza, Galileo, and Darwin to wade into the ticklish terrain. Fast-forward through the ages, some 2,500 years of intellectual wrangling, we find ourselves still perched on the precipice of tickling enlightenment. A question persists: why, oh why, can't we tickle ourselves? It's a conundrum that's laughed in the face of time, and we're none the wiser. Theories as diverse as ticklish sensations emerge from this tapestry of tickling contemplation. One hypothesis paints tickling as a fa