Who can read what's in your wallet?

Since the mister and I are headed off to scary foreign places soon, we each invested in brand new passports, complete with RFID reading capacity, in order to prove our identity to those who may question it. RFID, or radio frequency identification, chips sends out a radio frequency, go figure, with information about the object or person with the chip. RFIDs are used all over to keep track of things, for example, in industry to track orders and shipments, in medicine to track samples, medications, and lost patients, and in agriculture to track live stock. Now they are also used in credit cards to offer a swipeless option. Some parents may want, or probably already have, to inject one into their kids. Great technology, right?

From my vast 10 minute search about these chips, I learned that card readers for such things range from a piddly $10 on up. What's the big deal? It means that Joe Nobody can buy a reader and, if your card has the chip, he can get close enough to you (as in 20 feet) and 'skim' your information. And you won't feel a thing. What a cozy world we live in! While not many cards use this technology just yet, some do and US passports do as well. How do you protect yourself? Don't carry one of those cards, or ask the bank to replace it with straight plastic, or buy an anti-RFID wallet. For passports, the US government was kind enough to slide and extra layer of metal into the book itself that is supposed to hinder, not prevent, would be thefts. How nice.

So, what type of shield works best? According to Consumer Reports, of the 10 products available on the market when the article was written, the homemade aluminum foil and duct tape sleeve worked better than 8 of them. Maybe I will make an aluminum foil helmet next to prevent someone reading my brain...though they may not find much useful information...

Any security people care to comment?

Button on the belly

Lately, my husband has discovered a disturbing problem. He has found it increasingly difficult to locate my bellybutton when he feels it needs a poke. Now bellybuttons have been a favorite landing spot for pokes since my early childhood, to the point where my brother and I contemplated manufacturing bellybutton protectors. (And as an older sister and aunt, I strive diligently to keep this noble tradition alive, sans protector.) But not only has my husband found it difficult to correctly locate said bellybutton, I have found that the general shape and placement of the little button seems to be changing along with the marked changes in my waistline. We have made great strides in overcoming the need for prefab, zero nutrition foods in our house, which has contributed somewhat to our overall health and well-being, yet still, my waistline seems to be changing shape at an alarming rate. Am I ill? Have I contracted some incurable disease that damages the general structure and shape of the innocuous button? Do I have a parasite? If so, it is a very large parasite. Imagine how Grover will feel if I try to use his bellybutton resting place. Whew!

Not my actual bellybutton

Upon seeking medical advice from a competent and well-informed friend, she suggested that I might have "the infamous Little-Puking-Ball-of-Flesh parasite!!!! I had two of those once. They're not bad once you get used to them. Especially because you can get big tax breaks if you get one removed." One can only hope that those tax breaks still apply upon its removal. Tomorrow we set an appointment to find out of the Ball-of-flesh parasite is of the male or female type.


Any prognostication? Prediction? Unwanted advice?

The wobble in the gobble

Imagine walking into the kitchen just as the most succulent looking turkey comes out of the oven. It's brown and crispy skin glistens as steam rises from the warm meat. Take a sniff. Ah, delightful! Too bad you still have to wait another 20 minutes before digging in.

That is what happened in our house this weekend. My resident-chef husband cooked a delicious bird for our April Fools dinner. No joke. He followed a recipe by Gordon Ramsey, plus or minus a few things. It was wonderful. Sorry no picture. It would only make you hungry.

Some changes he made, were to cover from the beginning with foil and bake on 350. Somehow he didn't mind that we did have bacon either. The last 30 mins, he basted and left the cover off for the rest of the time. We didn't let it rest for 2.5 hrs, nor did we follow the gravy recipe. The turkey was good enough.

Sugar + Water + 6-year-old = ?

Thirsty? Try a nice cool refresher. Um yum! Want a sip? What?! Your straw is broken?

April fools!

This year, my sister and I made a ’secret drink’ for dinner, made of ‘sugar and water‘ she explained, as she tried so hard to keep it secret. I even considered making blue or clear jigglers for ice cubes, but decided it wasn't worth the effort this time around.

Want the recipe?  Check the back of the gelatin box. Then add straw. Or dress it up with a strawberry on the rim.

(Helpful hint: Try not to shake the tray too much as you serve. It kind of gives it away.)