RichC | December 23, 2011
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides Can I handle the seasons of my life? Landslide – Stevie Nicks in 2007 (originally 1975) We didn’t put that much time or effort into including a thoughtful letter with our Christmas cards this year, instead we merely included a collage of photos (below). That said we [...]
RichC | December 18, 2011
It doesn’t get much better than this … our son Taylor is home from college for Christmas break and after living off campus decided to make dinner for his parents. What a treat to know that he can cook well enough to take care of himself and enjoys making dinner for us. In appreciation I [...]
RichC | December 12, 2011
During a little channel surfing this weekend spotted an interesting and educational segment on Australian Cattle Dogs. It interested me because our 14 year old Tootsie is Blue Heeler and the comments were very characteristic of her breed. She is a good pet, but I can attest to the warning regarding “need for exercise” and [...]
RichC | December 10, 2011
After a few flurries and cold temperatures last night, we woke to the first ice on the small lake in front of our house this morning. Brrr … I’m not ready for winter yet. Preparing for Christmas on the other hand, is in full swing as I hauled home a tree last night finishing [...]
RichC | December 5, 2011
After weathering the hot summer and safely making it through hurricane season, our sailboat Encore demonstrated that wind and rain from “unnamed storms” can still find its way into a closed boat. One of the port above the book rack dripped some water onto a few books … a couple of them headed straight to [...]
RichC | November 30, 2011
Its good to archive a few photos from a family gathering … in this case Thanksgiving at my brother’s house last week. Besides enjoying the time with family, we checked out the new man-toy in Ron’s barn – a new John Deere mower. A few new markers for the 2011 Thanksgiving holiday: the “no [...]
RichC | November 19, 2011
As mentioned before, I’m not an active Facebook user but I do check in on my account whenever I receive the cursory email (too many from FB BTW). After noticing an incorrectly tagged photo …twice ….yesterday I made a couple wisecracks to my nephews about it. At about the same time I was sorting through [...]
RichC | November 18, 2011
Our old house and 5 acres of property on Stow Road in Hudson Ohio On my trip to NE Ohio this week I had both the chance to enjoy dinner with my daughter in Columbus (always a pleasure) and meeting with Mark Goloback, an old friend from when we lived in Hudson, Ohio. I recently [...]
RichC | November 14, 2011
A popular Rolling Stones song came on the radio this weekend and triggered memories as music often does. I remembered my daughter in her car seat when we were out driving and thought … “we may not have been the best parents.” We would sing the chorus to the Rolling Stones song (below) when she [...]
RichC | November 11, 2011
After a couple of busy days traveling, last night found me swapping cars and scrabbling to get back to Cincinnati. Unfortunately in the confusion, I left behind my computer bag … it goes something like this: 8AM – text my daughter that we need to return the rental car by 5:17PM and head to Marysville [...]
RichC | October 17, 2011
By now most in America have at least acknowledged that there are legitimate protests movements in several cities including NYC; some protesting are anarchists and anti-American types looking to hijack any radical movement, but many are legitimately angry with the state of our nation, the partisanship that favors and bails out the Wall Street banks [...]
RichC | October 8, 2011
My wife and I have been discussing our house. As the kids move out and frequent gathering of friends coming over dissipates… or will hopefully be in the next couple years … we wonder just how necessary it is to stay in our bigger house. We both have things we appreciate about the home we [...]
RichC | October 3, 2011
Ben, Emily, Chris and Jerry Skinner – October 2, 2011 (click for larger) We enjoyed my nephew Ben and Emily’s cool (45 degrees) but sunny Sunday morning wedding at the Darby House near Columbus, Ohio this past weekend. They were the "picture-perfect” couple and exchanged personal vows on the terrace overlooking the beautiful setting. My brother-in-law [...]
RichC | October 2, 2011
Friday night and Saturday morning gave me a few more hours to disassemble the MBG engine once again, although this time I also removed the head. As noted previously, the #2 intake valve was sticking in an open position taking compression to zero. Under further inspection, I can see that it doesn’t seat correctly … [...]
RichC | September 27, 2011
Nationwide Children’s Hospital applauds the House of Representatives for voting in favor of H.R. 1852 which reauthorizes the Children’s Hospitals Graduate Medical Education (CHGME) program. The bill, which was introduced in May of this year by Representatives Joe Pitts (R-PA), chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee’s Health Subcommittee, and Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), ranking [...]
RichC | September 27, 2011
Get the latest Flash Player to see this player. [Javascript required to view Flash movie, please turn it on and refresh this page] I’m posting my MGB idling problem to the MG Experience forums in hopes to gain a little help … if you’re “just a car guru” and have some advice I don’t mind [...]
RichC | September 21, 2011
I’m traveling in Ohio this week with a “pleasure stop” for pictures at the Cleveland Clinic [sarcasm] – MRI of my malfunctioning shunt (btw, all was normal in my noggin’). The imaging was precautionary after my July tympanic steroid injection – all was a follow up due to my decade old Endolymphatic decompression and shunt [...]
RichC | August 13, 2011
After noting the increase from Netflix back in June and being pretty frustrated at the “percentage” increase in price, we’ve still opted to stick with Netflix as a streaming only service. If the need arrives to see a new release, we’ll pick it up a Redbox or a local video store … perhaps encourage some [...]
RichC | July 27, 2011
After an evening mowing the backyard grass on Tuesday night, a cooling dip in the pool was in order. The 90 degree water was a bit warm, but still felt refreshing. Besides cooling off, I “launched” (chuckle, chuckle) our hard dinghy we call Trinka and “moored” it in the pool. It is out of place, [...]
RichC | July 26, 2011
After spending the weekend cleaning and “rebending” our Brenda’s bumped and bruised Toyota Rav4 into to some semblance of its former self … it now has a new piece of glass (opted for the $191.25 “real thing” rather than tacky Plexiglas). I can highly recommend Rich at Kiss Auto Glass for his quick service and [...]
RichC | July 24, 2011
It was a hot Saturday to be working on the Toyota Rav4, but I figured it was best to use the extra day just in case there was a complication. Instead of having the insurance company fix our car, we have opted to go the salvage title route and accepted the insurance company’s check after [...]
RichC | July 11, 2011
Since my wife Brenda rarely reads my blog, I think I’m safe talking about her birthday and gifts that are gadgets. I will probably get chastised by both men and women alike in repeating the similar mistake year after year by giving her something technology oriented for her birthday, I’m doing it one more time. [...]
RichC | July 7, 2011
EDIT: Adding insurance photos over the weekend. All is well with Brenda after she was rearended tonight, but unfortunately her much loved Rav4 didn’t fare as well. As if the damage wasn’t enough, the age and 240,000 miles has me wondering how the repair will be handled. Besides the rear window, the rear door, spare [...]
RichC | June 27, 2011
Stressful but exciting is what I remember upon leaving college and beginning to make my way in the world. I’m not sure that I would want to do it again, but it was great to believe that opportunities were there for those who worked hard for them. Now … I’m not as sure about the [...]
RichC | June 23, 2011
Subject line stated in a Jerry Seinfeld voice … Yes … I stopped in on my daughter this week while traveling and enjoyed seeing her new apartment a bit more organized that when she moved in. The new “orange” wall was bold for my taste but brightened her living room and kitchen up. We enjoyed [...]
RichC | June 4, 2011
I was feeling melancholy last night after posting the fifth straight down week for the benchmark Dow Jones Industrials, and it got me thinking that there aren’t all that many more years before this ‘pirate’ (moi) hits another milemarker? There just isn’t that much more working time left in me to complete “the planned” retirement [...]
RichC | June 2, 2011
I felt a little guilty talking about my daughter’s new ‘digs’ yesterday since my son has settled into his new shared house (3 guys) while taking summer classes Miami University in Oxford Ohio as well. In fact, he had us over and grilled brats, dogs and burgers – quite the host! Thanks Taylor! We had [...]
RichC | June 1, 2011
It was a hot day to move, but a fun father/daughter time as Katelyn moved from her old ‘digs’ in Kent, Ohio to her new Columbus area apartment. It was in part sad (leaving friends and the comfort of known surroundings) after spending 7 years of college and medical school in NE Ohio, but exciting [...]
RichC | May 25, 2011
After 6 years and over 2600 posts to My Desultory Blog, I’ve finally decided to use a few dollars from my Google’s Adsense earnings (small as it is) to register the domain name mydesultoryblog.com.
RichC | May 22, 2011
The day arrived and disappeared in an instant … with a wonderful ceremony, I might add! On Saturday, May 21st my daughter Katelyn officially became Dr. Katelyn Corbett, M.D. She was presented the degree of Doctor of Medicine at the commencement ceremony from NEOUCOM (now NEOMED – Northeast Ohio Medical University). We had a perfect [...]