Randy Walker

If you're running Boot Camp, it can be a pain to restart your Mac running Windows: you either have to go to Startup Disk preference pane and change your startup disk or you have to remember to hold down the "option" key when you start up your computer and then click on your Windows disk to start from it.

From the Windows side, it's easy: Apple provides a Boot Camp app that runs in the task bar. All you have to do is right-click it and choose "Restart in OS X" and you're good to go. Why can't it be that easy under OS X?

With the AppleScript I came up with, it is!

Be advised that I am not an AppleScript expert. I pieced this together from code snippets I found on the Internet and changed to meet my needs. It works for me. There is no guarantee that it will work for you. I am not liable if it does not work for you or if it damages your computer or data. Proceed at your own risk! You may use this code free of charge for any purpose.

set adminpass to "YOURPASSWORDHERE"
 
tell application "Finder"
	set iconPath to (get name of startup disk) & ":Applications:Utilities:Boot Camp Assistant.app:Contents:Resources:DA.icns" as alias
end tell
 
set askRestart to display dialog "Restart in Windows?" buttons {"Cancel", "Restart"} default button 1 with icon iconPath
set doRestart to button returned of askRestart
 
if doRestart is equal to "Cancel" then
	quit
end if
 
if doRestart is equal to "Restart" then
	do shell script "bless -mount /Volumes/BOOTCAMP/ -legacy -setBoot -nextonly; shutdown -r now" password adminpass with administrator privileges
end if

Open This Code in AppleScript Editor and change the text YOURPASSWORDHERE to your administrator password. If you've changed the name of your Boot Camp volume, you'll need to change BOOTCAMP on line 15 to the name of your Boot Camp Volume.

Once you've done this, just save as an Application to somewhere convenient then drag it to your Dock. When you click on it, you'll get this:

Click the "Restart" button to restart your Mac running Windows or click the "Cancel" button to quit this app.

I made these delicious beauties tonight for dinner:

Roll out your crust. Top it with a couple of tablespoons of Sweet Baby Ray's Honey Barbecue Sauce. Cover it generously with mozzarella cheese (2 cups per pizza) then lay down a nice layer of thinly sliced red onion. Arrange slices of chicken breast that have been poached in chicken broth and then shake on some McCormick Grill Mates Roasted Garlic & Herb Seasoning. Bake in a 500º oven for 13-14 minutes. When it comes out, sprinkle it with chopped cilantro.

I went to the Armada Fair a few weeks ago and saw this beauty:

It turns itself into ketchup!

After work today, I went out to dinner with my boss, her husband, my roommate, and some coworkers. We went to Sagebrush Cantina in Lake Orion for Mexican. Later, we went exploring some of the local shops: Prime Time Comics & Cards, Little Monsters toy store, and Poppyseed deli (for ice cream).

Normally, Little Monsters isn't open when we want to visit, but there was an in-store event happening, so the shop was open. I'm glad it was, because there, I found Ickee Stikeez and instantly fell in love.

Stikeez are collectible toys from Zing Toys distributed in plastic bubbles. They are tiny, squishy, characters mounted on suction cups. You're supposed to stick them to a hard surface then pull on them so that the suction cups make a "pop" sound. It's addicting and the characters are cute to boot.

Amie and I each bought four and Michael and Julie each bought one for themselves. Michael also bought two for Stephanie and Julie got one for each of her children.

After trading, I ended up with a pink The Drip, an orange Dandriff, a red Mouch, and a purple Nummymuffin. If you check out the website, you'll find some information about each character: where they hang out, what skills they have, their likes and dislikes, and of course, their "Ickee Factor".

As Michael drove us home, I searched the Internet using my phone and learned all about Stikeez. I can't wait to get more!

Right now,  farm animal, jungle wildlife, and ocean life Stikeez are available in random assortments from the Zing Toys Store. It doesn't look like Ickee Stikeez are yet available for online purchase.

Check out Stikeez and Ickee Stikeez now!

Wow, I can't believe it's been well over a year since I posted here! For those of you who want to know, here's what I've been up to.

In December 2009, I became the office manager of Gladwin County's Michigan State University Extension office.

In August 2010, I left the MSUE and became an e-learning content developer at Dow Corning.

On May 13, 2011, I had my wisdom teeth pulled.

And finally, last weekend, I moved in with my old university roommate Michael to start my new job as a technical writer at Chrysler.