“Love God” skywriting and our few days of R & R in Florida

| October 28, 2010

Brenda and I are spending just a few days away from Ohio and work as we’ve often done in October and are enjoying time together in Florida. Besides relaxing on the beach, Brenda has succumbed my desire to look at a couple sailboats (we missed our annual trip to the Annapolis boatshow). The weather has [...]

Hoover Dam bypass bridge set to open next week

| October 15, 2010

Last year about this time I reposted a series of photos highlighting what a fantastic engineering project was underway in the United States. A bridge to bypass the Hoover Dam looks to be one of the civil engineering marvels of this decade. The 1900 foot span crosses the Colorado River and connects Arizona and Nevada [...]

Interesting underwater observation watercraft

| September 10, 2010

A couple sailing friends currently spending time cruising northwestern Madagascar are enjoying the area around Nosy Be. While doing a little map checking on the area, I ran across a couple interesting photos with someone doing some maintenance on a different kind of tourist oriented watercraft (click for larger image). Having just returned from Bermuda, [...]

How do airlines stack up when it comes to fuel efficiency?

| August 12, 2010

For personal transportation miles-per-gallon watchers, like many VW TDI drivers I know, an article in Thursday’s WSJ that translated US based airlines fuel efficiency into automotive MPG standards, might be of interest. In the past, frugal flyers may have looked at the numbers in order to save a buck, but now more and more travelers [...]

Wind turbine photos from Indiana

| August 3, 2010

While driving north and south on I-65 through Indiana the past couple of days I was amazed to see the change in landscape … wind turbines everywhere. We (my daughter) took a few photos while we were driving by and figured I would try posting them on Posterous and see how they display when forwarded [...]

Enjoying time with my daughter before her USMLE Step 2 test

| August 1, 2010

My daughter Katelyn and I are checked in at the Marriott in Chicago for her USMLE Step 2 testing on Monday and enjoyed an evening together. We took advantage of the 35 minute pizza baking time for the award winning stuffed pizza at Giordano’s Restaurant inorder to practice a bit more. I’m the acting patient [...]

The “show must go on” as the Tropical Storm Alex continues NW

| June 29, 2010

As the gulf coast continues to clean up oil damaged shorelines, folks in Mississippi, Alabama and Florida resort businesses welcome home grown singer/songwriter Jimmy Buffett, who with some friends will be helping to promote tourism with a free beach concert Thursday night. While oil gushes and a more noticeable oil slick moves closer to the [...]

BP Oil Spill: Two months after the disaster

| June 22, 2010

  The BP Oil Disaster is bound to be the story to remember 2010 by as historians archive this year. Like most Americans who’ve travelled and enjoy the gulf coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, I’m disgusted and saddened by the damage that is being done to the economy, coastline and ecosystem. As we [...]

Good news, bad news …

| April 30, 2010

With a new El Rancho Grande Mexican restaurant opening close to home, I won’t have to drive as far to get my chips and salsa ‘fix.’ Unfortunately being so close is going to be a real temptation. Posted via email from richc’s posterous

Less inclusive airline travel and fees for additional services

| April 29, 2010

It has become challenging to fly commercial airlines in recent year, especially since 9/11. Not only has the process of going through most airports become time consuming with all the additional security precautions, but the airlines themselves have made changes which most agree have become irritating to down right miserable for passengers, I’m thinking about [...]

The weather just won’t cooperate so we took a roadtrip

| March 12, 2010

Since the weather has been wet and windy here in Florida, we decided to take a road trip north from Delray Beach towards Fort Pierce.  Our plan was to putter along and check on a couple sailboats. We opted to drive the A-1-A route along the shore and stopped at several of the pull-offs along [...]

Irritating day of travel, but better with tasty Key Lime Pie

| March 7, 2010

We had a slow start to the day after a frustrating delayed flight out of Cincinnati — we were switched to a smaller plane. I was sardined into the just in front of the lavatory seat behind two babies (with full diapers) and a 3-4 year old (really a very good kid). Thankfully things got [...]

Rogue waves kills 2 and injures 14 on a cruise ship in Med

| March 3, 2010

A large rogue wave, actually three “abnormal” waves, hit a Greek cruise ship with 1350 passengers and 580 crew in the Mediterranean north of Barcelona, Spain killing two passengers and injuring fourteen. The Louis Cruise Line ship, Louis Majesty, has 14 decks and is over two football fields long. It hit the three 26 foot [...]

Snow beautified picturesque Glendale Cemetery in Akron Ohio

| February 20, 2010

While traveling to NE Ohio this week, and waiting to meet with my daughter for lunch in Akron Ohio, I drove through the gates of snow crusted Glendale Cemetery founded as Akron Rural Cemetery in 1839.  While steering through the snow-covered drives in serene park-like setting, I took the opportunity to capture the snow surrounding [...]

Getting your luggage “extra care” when flying

| January 18, 2010

Not my idea, but I’d be interested to know how many regular travelers have secured their computer, camera or regular luggage  by flying with a “weapon?” I might toss my Orion 12ga. flare gun in a bag and give it a try next flight.  (A weapon in a bag keeps the bag secure since the [...]

Beware of your dependence on technology next year

| December 31, 2009

A strange GPS story and follow-up courteous of the Air Forces Space Command Twitter account to usher out 2009 and welcome 2010 … Happy New Year, by the way.  GPS strands couple in snow for 3 days GRANTS PASS, Ore. – A Nevada couple letting their SUV’s navigation system guide them through the high desert [...]

The Hoover Dam bypass is a civil engineering marvel

| November 11, 2009

In a recent forwarded email there were a few excellent “under construction” photos of the bridge being build to bypass the Hoover Dam on U.S. Rt 93. The $160 million dollar project is 900 feet above the Colorado River and will more efficiently links the states of Nevada and Arizona. The two massive concrete arches [...]

The old luggage tag hint applies to GPS units too

| September 29, 2009

Here’s a safety tip that came from a “Dear Heloise” clipping set to me by none other than my mom;  no matter how old I am she never stops being a mom.  Actually I don’t think she was really thinking about me, but most likely my son and daughter …  so I’ll forward them the [...]

Preparing for 40th Annual Annapolis Sailboat Show

| September 15, 2009

I realize that the post title could be a bit misleading as I’m not “preparing as a presenter” at the 40th Annual Annapolis Sailboat Show, but “visiting” the show. Traditionally my wife and I would take a yearly trip to Annapolis toward end sailing season and enjoy the ambiance of the old city. We’ve detoured [...]

Catch up post: Driving by the Waco Field and Museum

| August 9, 2009

Last week while trekking through Ohio I detoured off of I-75 in Troy, Ohio to swing by Waco Field (1WF) and the Waco Museum (pronounced “wah-co”). Fortunately the museum wasn’t open or my detour off the interstate would have been significantly longer. It was a nice day though to take a few minutes to walk [...]

Archives: A trip 2005 trip to Calgary with my son

| August 1, 2009

While updating my blog for yet another day from our recent vacation, I noticed that backdating vacation posts was more the norm than an exception. I glanced at the “Years ago on this date” right sidebar and re-enjoyed my blog archive about summer of 2005 trip to Calgary, Alberta, which was posted in August after [...]

Finally … Vacation to Europe blog archive finished

| July 31, 2009

Whew! I’m finally up to date with our European vacation archive … and a bunch of photos didn’t make it into my14 days of blog posts. Oh well,  there are plenty to enjoy … except just this one loner photo and it will get its own post. It’s my daughter’s 23 year old “Big Bear” [...]

Arrived safely home and looking at a busy Monday

| July 26, 2009

The final flight crosses the Ohio River and lands at CVG We arrived home safely after a long day of traveling. Up at 4:45 AM in Southampton UK (5 hrs ahead of home EST) and grabbed a quick breakfast on the NCL Jade before ‘debarking’ and recovering our luggage. The trip to London Heathrow was [...]

Final night of vacation, but the time away felt about right

| July 25, 2009

Passing close enough to a container ship in the Atlantic to read containers The blog is missing a few days in posting due to a shortage of Internet minutes while on the cruise ship ($$$) and although there have been a few connections (very few public ‘free’) along the voyage, I’ve spent more time enjoying [...]

Day 13: Vigo and Baiona, Spain

| July 24, 2009

It seems like a long time ago, but as I write this post it has only been about a week since we were in Spain. Our last port of call was the city of Vigo, Spain. The west coast city and metro area is home to a half a million people with historic Kingdom of [...]

Day 12: Lisbon and Sintra Portugal exceeded my expectations

| July 23, 2009

Lisboa or Lisbon is the capital of Portugal and the wealthiest of the country. It has remained the capital city since its conquest from the Moors in 1147. The architectural style is a combination of old and new, European and Middle Eastern … especially in historic areas and in the Sintra region – both a [...]

Day 11: The Rock of Gibraltar

| July 22, 2009

We spent day eleven visiting the Rock of Gibraltar and I particularly liked learning about the history of this fortress. The huge fortified hunk of rock guarding the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean has seen it share of conquest and struggle. Over the years, a series of 32 kilometers of tunnels [...]

Another day – this one sailing west toward Gibraltar

| July 21, 2009

Today, we mark our return sail back toward the west steaming east in the Mediterranean on this near perfect day. The sky is blue, the water bluer and there is just enough breeze for a lone sailboat to make way well out in the clear horizon (digitally enlarged 300mm telephoto above). 

Day 9: I’m going back – Rome can’t be appreciated in one day

| July 20, 2009

We debarked in Chivitavecchia, Italy on Monday and headed by bus to the ancient city of Rome (Roma) and a visit to the Vatican. The thoughts that I had prior to visiting Rome  were of  just another old and somewhat dirty city, but the impression I left with was one of awe … and a [...]

Day 8: Livorno, Pisa and the Tuscany countryside

| July 19, 2009

What a wonderful day in Italy! We enjoyed a near perfect day in the Tuscany region of Italy heading from the port city of Livorno to Pisa in order to visit the famed Leaning Tower of Pisa, cathedral and baptistery. The crowds were relatively heavy, but flowed easily in and out of the key stops [...]

Desultory - des-uhl-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee

  1. lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful: desultory conversation.
  2. digressing from or unconnected with the main subject; random: a desultory remark.