I've switched! From Remember the Milk to Workflowy for my to-dos

For organizing myself, I use my to-do list, and have done for years. I had it in my paper binder/organizer for years, then in my old Palm Pilot for many years, till 2010, when I switched to an Android phone, and also switched to the Remember the Milk task tracking app. It was a great app, very full-featured, with great support and a great website. It was a paid app, $25/year. I sent in a few tips for their "Tuesday Tips" contest, and one of them won a year's additional membership! That was exciting.

Anyway, I'd been thinking for a while that the app was a little too restrictive. For instance, I wanted to order the things on my to-do list. But other than setting a priority of 1, 2, or 3, that wasn't possible. You could hack it by putting fake letters in front of the to-do (for instance, a - buy bananas would sort over b - call mom). But that was pretty unsatisfactory. They had developed a new version, which included hierarchy and sorting, but I wasn't successful using it.

So after a lot of searching around, I've moved completely away from a to-do app at all. I'm now just using Workflowy, an online outlining tool. And I love it! It's a completely different concept from a to-do list. Instead of a list of to-dos, with various attributes like priority, due date, etc, it's a hierarchical information manager, with a great interface, very clean and minimal. One of my top level hierarchies is To-Do. Indenting/outdenting, moving things around - it's all very easy.

I'm sold on it. It's a free product until you add more than 500 list items a month, and once you get over 450 a month, there's a very sleek unobtrusive message box at the bottom telling you "450 of 500 free list items added". I'm skirting on the edge now, but I'm going to have to upgrade to paid membership pretty soon, which I'm okay with ($50/year).

I don't only use it for outlining, but also for tracking and organizing all kinds of things. For instance, my new business SQLPracticeProblems is managed almost entirely in Workflowy (a different section from the to-dos).

I don't use some of the more advanced features (tags, etc), but I may work up to that at some point. Right now I'm enjoying the flexibility of using an outlining tool, instead of a to-do app. I briefly considered OneNote, but it's a little too feature-rich and cluttered.

Actually, just now I did a tiny bit of research, because it strikes me that $50/year, paid every year, is actually a good chunk of money. I just took a look around at some other tools. So far, none have struck me as the right combination of usability and a clean/uncluttered look.

A few notes on our summer trip to Europe

We've been back for 3 weeks already, but the first 2 don't count since I got a massive sinus infection that only released its hold on me after I started taking antibiotics. I'm feeling peppy now, so time to jot a few notes before everything fades. I also put up a few select pictures here.

My original goal was to try to recapture the experience of living overseas, that we had in Geneva a few years back (http://vasiliksinswitzerland.blogspot.com/). Kind of like a mini-sabbatical. I thought and researched a lot, but it turns out that kind of experience is really difficult to reproduce on a short-term basis, with a family. Maybe impossible. Yes, you can plop your family down in a new location, but unless you have some kind of connection there (school, work, family) I think you'd feel isolated and disconnected, if you were to stay there any length of time. I'd be happy to hear from people who discovered otherwise.

So, what we ended up doing was pretty much a regular touristy trip, just spending more time than most people would, in the various locations we stayed at. And that worked out fine.

Here's a few general impressions:

- There were next to no tourists in Belgium. At least, in the locations that we went to. I wonder if lots of people stayed away, spooked by the recent terrorist activity?
- The police presence in Brussels was very, very high. Possibly this was because the Brussels airport was where the recent terrorist attack took place.

But in a town less than a half hour away, Ghent, you saw almost no police, even at very large public gatherings (the Ghent Festival).

- The people in England were, in general, really friendly. People walking down the street would sometimes nod and smile at you. And we got into multiple longer chats with people. That didn't happen elsewhere. Apparently this is characteristic of northern England (which is where we stayed).

- England really seems to have a sex-segregated drinking culture. In England, on a Friday or Saturday night, you would see many large groups of people, either men or women, but usually not mixed. They were very carefully dressed, and it really seemed like a big deal. Also I saw lots of groups of women, wearing a colored sash indicating they were in the same group (like a "hen" party, or somebody's 40th birthday celebration).

- I would love to go back to Ghent and York, those were some of my favorite places. Central, friendly, easy, loads and loads of things to do. Both university towns.

What would we do differently? I should have stressed out less over not having everything planned. If you don't go to the main tourist locations at the very most busy times, you don't need to plan so far in advance.

Also, I should have tried harder to find quick-drying clothing. Since I was washing everything by hand, and then trying to hang things in the hotel rooms or apartments we were in, drying time was a major hassle for some things (I'm looking at you, 100% cotton). I did use the tips I wrote about in my article on hand-washing clothing, and that helped.

I had an ant stuck in my throat

Here's what happened.

We were on a camping trip to beautiful Fort Stevens, Oregon, and my son Peter and I were picking blackberries and thimbleberries along a trail. We had just encountered a nice big patch of ripe thimbleberries, and were eating them avidly - they have a great taste, a little nutty, with a touch of honey. Thimbleberries are native to the Pacific Northwest, and you'll never find them in stores, because they're extremely delicate and usually get a bit smooshed when you pick them.

Obviously there was one ant that thought as highly of thimbleberries as I do. While eating, I got a scratchy feeling in my throat, like something wouldn't go down. I thought I had perhaps eaten a bit of dried leaf stuck to a berry, or swallowed an insect. It wasn't painful, but it was uncomfortable and didn't go away.

We biked back to our campsite, my throat still feeling weird. I gargled, and then tried eating a piece of bread to push whatever it was down my throat. No luck.

I had my husband Eric look at it. He said "There's a black thing in there". I had the kids, with their sharp eyesight, look at it. They told me that there was an ant stuck in my throat! I looked in the car mirror, and it was pretty visible, clamped onto my uvula, which is the dangly thing hanging from the back of your throat.

Can you see it back there? By the way, on the right that's a silver filling, not a rotten tooth.

Now you can see it, right?

I tried getting a spoon and scraping it off. Major gagging was involved, but I wasn't able to scrape it off. I tried wrapping a napkin around a spoon, and scraping it off, to give it a little more friction. Still no luck.

Then I just reached back into my throat with thumb and forefinger, and pulled it off. There was a little tug as as I pulled it off - it was clamped on pretty well!

It sure was a relief to get the ant out of my throat. I had no problem ignoring my gag reflex - having an ant in my throat was a powerful motivator!

And it's out!

How to create a shortcut on your Android phone to a Google drive doc

The shortcut to my Google doc is in the bottom right corner, above the email icon

I wanted to create a link on my phone recently, to a Google drive doc that I wanted to have quick and easy access to. It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be, so I thought I would repay the world a favor (considering how often I go to the internet for help) and write up how to do it. It's actually very easy once you get past a couple gotchas. This is on Android version 5.1, I'm not sure what other versions it works on.

Step 1 - Go to a blank space on your phone home screen, and long press on the screen.

Step 2 - You'll get a screen that has, on the bottom, the choice of Wallpapers, Widgets, and Settings. Choose Widgets.

Step 3 - Now you get a list of all the widgets that are available. Scroll down until you see Drive (Google Drive).

Step 4 - On my phone, all I saw was 2 options, Drive 4 x 1, and Drive scan 1 x 1. This puzzled me for quite a while. Finally, I realized that you can scroll off to the right, and I found Drive shortcut 1 x 1. Touch and hold on this.

Step 5 - It may look like nothing is happening here, but after a few seconds, it should bring up your Google Drive. Find the document you're looking for, highlight it, and click Select.

Step 6 - You should now have a shortcut on your phone home screen for this doc. Enjoy!

My craft foam sun visor for ultralight backpacking

In the desert, with my sun umbrella and sun visor

I get big kick out of making my own backpacking equipment, and this was a fun little experiment which turned out well.

Before I went on a desert backpacking trip to Joshua Tree with my friends Jean and Kelly, I made this sun visor, which weighs in at 8 grams. It's made of craft foam, which you can buy at Michael's or Walmart for about 15 cents a sheet (which is enough for one visor). Here's a template that you can use to cut it out.

Once I had it cut out, I poked a hole in the ends, and strung some elastic through, so it would fit on my head properly. It worked really well, and was much sturdier than I thought it would be. Another part of my defense against the sun (very important in the desert!) was a very lightweight umbrella, which I just held in my hand as I hiked.

One thing to consider when using this is that it doesn't protect the top of your head, in case you sometimes get a sunburn on your part. That wasn't a problem for me because I was also using the umbrella, and this visor was just a backup.

Me with my ultralight visor

Just started podcasts - loving them!

I'm late in arriving at this party, I know, but I've just in the past months started listening to podcasts. And...I love them! Mainly what I love is that it's a different - much, much slower - way of getting information, that doesn't require me to stare into my laptop. Which I do far too much of.

I started listening to podcasts because I was intrigued by some of the subjects on The Voluntary Life - but it turns out it's only available in podcast format, there is no transcript or blog. I played around with a few podcast apps, and ended up using Podcast Republic, which seems adequate.

The main reason I'm enjoying podcasts so much is that it's a way of dealing with my information/screen addiction (I surf the web far too much) that allows me to be doing something else at the same time - cooking, cleaning, playing K'nex with the kids, etc.

Also, interestingly enough, I treat the information I get from listening to podcasts differently from what I get reading an article or blog post. It takes so much longer to listen to a podcast that I actually absorb much more information, and take it more seriously.

One more bonus with podcasts is that the kids are exposed to new ideas as well. They hear what I'm interested in if we're all hanging out in the kitchen and I'm listening to a podcast. Good extra!

I love cooking in the microwave!

In the past few years I've been gravitating much more to cooking in the microwave. There's many recipes that involve lots of stirring and monitoring when cooked on the stove top, that cook away happily in the microwave with no more than an occasional stir.

Microwave chocolate cornstarch pudding

Here's a few of my favorites :

Microwave Pudding: We used to make instant pudding but this is so much better. I started out making the stovetop version, but the microwave version is so much easier, and you don't have to stand there the whole time, stirring.

Microwave scrambled eggs: This is my latest greatest favorite microwave recipe. I had tried microwave scrambled eggs many times, but always in a cereal sized bowl, which is a big mistake. Now, after some research online, I make them in a mug. Two eggs, scrambled, with a crumbled slice of cheese, in a coffee mug. Maybe some ham bits as well. Cook for 30 seconds, stir and break up chunks, then another 30 second, stir, and perhaps another 10 seconds. Heavenly! Such an easy hearty meal.

Microwave Peanut Brittle: People absolutely LOVE this this peanut brittle. It looks long and involved, but doesn't really take that long. Here's my version.

Microwave Cornbread: Cornbread usually does taste better in the oven, because of the browning. But it only takes 5 minutes in the microwave! And I put it up on AllRecipes.com, as well, and got 81 reviews!

Microwave popcorn: No need for bagged popcorn, this container works great, and I've used it for years - Nordic Ware Microwave Popcorn Popper

Microwave cheese crisps: I absolutely love these! Many years ago I went to someone's house for dinner, and as an appetizer the hostess made cheese crisps, but on the stovetop. They were delicious, like slightly browned crispy cheese. Well, in the microwave, they turn out great, and are so easy! Parchment paper is the key.

Microwave potato chips: just slice them very thin (we use the mandolin), brush some oil on them, and cook in the microwave until crispy and brown.

Microwave mug cake: truly a great idea, this was the rage on the internet about 5 years ago. There's some wonderful and luscious chocolate mug cake recipes out there...if you ask me, though, the key is no egg, and a spoonful of peanut butter or nutella. This recipe is the one I started with.