Apps and Making a Murderer

Today feels like a Saturday. I stopped caring about what day of the week it is sometime in the last month as I continue to find my retirement stride. The day of the month has come to mean more to me because retirement bank deposits find their way into my account once each month on the 1st. I'm being more careful about my purchases than I used to be when I was employed and surprisingly, I don't mind the added discipline. It's not the hardship I imagined it would be.

I stumbled onto a new photo editing app the other day called Super Photo. (Android or iPhone download links) The "painting" filter renders some very cool images. Here's a collection of photos I've edited with the app. There's a free version and most of the photos in the collection I linked to were edited using it. The only drawback is that you're limited by the file size rendered. I purchased the app for $4.00 and in addition to getting larger file sizes, I also have access to all of the (over 1600) filters.

I was having some serious connectivity issues with my LG G4 phone I bought a couple months ago. It was continually dropping the wifi signal in our home whereas none of our other wifi-enabled devices were having a similar problem. It was frustrating to me so I went online looking for posts from others experiencing the same thing and to see if there was a fix from LG. Maybe all phones have a bevy of people with connectivity issues but I only did a search for LG G4.

I did some research and found that the "HappyGilmore guest network" I'd set up (only because I could) with our Belkin router had a dedicated amount of bandwidth set aside for it; bandwidth that was ultimately taking away from our "HappyGilmore" connection. I deleted the guest network and noticed a marked signal improvement all throughout our home, including the basement where I'm now getting a signal within the normal range where I was getting none before the fix. And best of all, my connectivity issues are no more.

I downloaded a free app called Wifi Analyzer and among its features is a signal strength indicator. Start the app on your smartphone and walk around your home to get a feel for where your strong and weak areas are. There are several other features of the app that are worth checking out. Sorry, iPhone users but the IOS counterpart app called WiFi Explorer will cost you $14.99. It comes with some glowing reviews if that helps.

Rachel texted us a few nights ago with a suggestion to watch Making a Murderer on Netflix. It's the true story of a Wisconsin man who spent 18 years in prison for a rape he didn't commit. There's much about his prosecution that points to a corrupt local sheriff's department for his imprisonment and he eventually files a lawsuit for damages. In the middle of the lawsuit, he's suspected of the murder of a woman whose body is found on his property. Is he actually guilty this time of a horrible crime or has he once again been set up?  It's compelling. Watch it.

I was out with a group of fat-bikers last Sunday along the Minnesota River bottoms. Lots of fun! (video below). 18 of us got together last night for Fat Tuesday at the same location to try and trudge our way through 6 inches (18 cm) of fresh snow. We did 5 miles but it felt like 20. I fell a number of times as the snow grabbed my front wheel and took it in a direction other than where I wanted to go. I wasn't going fast enough to hurt much and all of my falls had me laughing. The entire ride was a lot of work but it was fun!

A pub-crawl with other fat-bikers is in the works for New Year's day beginning in Hopkins and riding to Surly Brewing Co. From there we'll go to Steel Toe Brewing before returning to Hopkins and a stop at LTD Brewing. It promises to be a good time.