GottaDEAL 2025 Prize Club Discussion Thread

[Gator Pam]

Prepare yourself!

[bluebear]

January was an eventful month.  I'm hoping for a calmer February.

My husband got sick on the 2nd, and ended up being sick for 3 weeks.

My son was in an accident (he's okay!) on the the 6th, so we've been dealing with insurance and towing and car repair places.  Next weekend I guess we're going car shopping.  He's been able to use my car for the last 4 weeks.

About 5 days later part of his phone stopped working, so that was more insurance.

We've had TWO snow events this month.  We haven't had measurable snow in about 10 years.  Snow was on the ground for a total of 6 days.  We've missed 4 days of work due to snow/ice, and 1 holiday.  

And during that, I developed a bad rash, but was unable to leave the house to go to the doctor. 

 

That's a lot for one month! 

[HomeinKS]

Yeah, it was a long month here.  On to the next soon.

[magickallight]

[ytmomof4]

Happy February! Idk y I have such a hard time getting to this thread now. But here I am I got here somehow lol

[Kanyon71]

Seemed like a REALLY long month. Glad it’s over. 

[cllehto]

Happy February!

[mcwalker]

Hello February!

[Hartcollectibles]

Happy February!!!  Only 327 days until Christmas!!!

[HomeinKS]

Happy February, I hope everyone has a great month!  

 

[msyves]

Happy February.

[giz]

Here for February!

[magickallight]

[len_mullen]

Watching Television in 2025

 

This Christmas, I got my kids televisions specifically for use as displays for gaming.  The television I selected (Hisense 65U7N) just happened to have an ATSC 3.0 tuner, so I ran RG-6 from the UHF antenna in my attic to the one of the televisions.   A channel scan found WGBH*NX, WBZ*NX, WCVB*NX, WBTS*NX, WFXT*NX, WWJE*NX, and WUNI*NX.  All were rock solid at a distance of 35 miles and looked spectacular -- at least as good as the ATSC 1.0 counterparts.  There was no interactivity that I noticed, and I was not impacted by DRM.  Nothing to motivate me to avoid or embrace Nexgen TV.

 

Apparently, I'm not alone in that assessment: ATSC 3.0: The future of broadcast TV spent another year in neutral | PCWorld

 

Quote

 

If you buy a new TV in 2025, there’s a good chance it won’t support ATSC 3.0. Many TV makers only offer it in higher-end sets, and some have even scaled back or halted ATSC 3.0 support after offering it in previous years.

 

Samsung, for instance, stopped shipping ATSC 3.0 tuners in its OLED TVs last year and will exclude them again from its 2025 OLED sets. (The company still offers ATSC 3.0 on its Neo QLED line.) LG won’t be bringing ATSC 3.0 back to its TVs this year either, after dropping support in 2024 sets over a patent dispute.

 

ATSC 1.0 isn’t going away anytime soon. FCC rules require broadcasters to simulcast their main stations using the old standard until at least July 2027, and at the current rate of ATSC 3.0 adoption, an extension seems possible.

 

 

BUT, I still watch broadcast television.  These days, for the most part, my antennas are streamed to my televisions (and other devices) via the Sling TV app and AirTV Anywhere whole house DVRs.  A bonus of this arrangement is that I can watch one stream out of my home.  I have four of these and share these out-of-home streams with siblings and offspring.

 

I would say that about 20% of my viewing is broadcast television -- news in the morning and when something is happening, sports on occasion, current network offerings (I love Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage), and syndicated programming.  I enjoy Pluto TV as well.  From time to time, I survey other (FREE) streaming television.

 

Last week, I spent some time exploring Roku TV.  I found the Live TV Guide and the Graham Norton Show channel.  Graham Norton is the best talk host since Johnny Carson.  He's an Irish guy who hosts a talk show in England (which is funny to them).  Like Carson, he has the gravitas to entice the big stars to cross the pond for an interview.  Also like Carson, he is always very well prepared and gets a great interview out of the most interesting guests.

 

Tubi TV is streaming the Super Bowl in 4k next weekend: How to Stream Super Bowl LIX for free on Tubi

 

Happy New Year!

[bluebear]

Happy groundhog day!  Our local groundhog also saw his shadow, so 6 more weeks of winter.  This has already been a winter-y winter for us, so I'm not surprised.

 

And 10th Happy Birthday to my grandson!  Woohoo!

[Kash]

I was hoping for an early spring. Lots of travel plans the next month or two. 

[cllehto]

Happy Groundhog Day!

[bossy1]

Checking in for Feb......Happy Groundhog  Day!... but I'll take the Buckeye Chuck forecast(early Spring) over the Pux. Phil(more winter) forecast.

[Gator Pam]

Eek!

 I’m a day late!!!

[Gator Pam]

I decided to do the Meyer Lemon Cheesecake with Blueberries for the bake-off. I’m very glad I did a practice run; several of my experiments did not work out.
 

Fresh out of the oven and topped with sweetened sour cream and zest.

 

The first lesson learned was to not use parchment paper around the sides. I thought it would help the sides look smooth rather than blurry, but the sides actually came out pocked as I pulled the parchment away.

 

Removed from the push pan and plated for the three day rest.

 

After “aging” for three days and ready to be decorated.

 

I’m really terrible at decorating. This was taken immediately after decorating. Lessons learned here is to use a narrower tip to pipe the lemon curd, define the shape of the heart more with the whole blueberries flooding with the pie filling, and to not use the candies Meyer lemons at all. Their texture does not compliment the cheesecake at all.

 

The decorated cheesecake after being refrigerated for a couple of hours. I think I’ll also make the heart in the middle a touch larger, to emphasize the shape more.

 

One last top view before slicing.

 

An interior view and three slices.

I tried to a blueberry pie filling swirl, but the filling all sank to the bottom and made the crust a bit soggy. I saw a technique where one takes half the batter and flavors it, fill the pan with alternating scoops of the batters, and then swirl it together. I was concerned that method would turn the entire cheesecake purple, but it has to work better than what I did.

Now to decide if I want to experiment doing it that way on my entry cheesecake, or leave out the swirl completely.

 

A close up of a slice.

 

Lessons learned from this practice run:

If trying to swirl, use the half and half method and hope for the best since I don’t have the funds to do a second practice run.

Do not use parchment around the sides of the push pan for a cleaner edge.

Enlarge the heart in the center.

Do not use candied lemon slices for decorating.

[ilikefree]

February is here!