RichC | August 2, 2022
Learned a few interesting geographic facts about the nation of Kiribati in the Pacific Ocean from Brilliantmaps, Reddit and of course Wikipedia the other day and found the timezone oddity particularly interesting. The country is “the furthest ahead of Greenwich meantime at GMT +14, making it the first country in the world to ring-in the […]
RichC | July 21, 2022
This is part 2 (see pre-wrap-up and part 1) of our Canadian Rockies 40th Anniversary trip, but I can tell from the start that I’m not going to get very far (late and tired … and just WAY too many photos). Still, it is enjoyable to think about and remember the great time we had […]
RichC | July 14, 2022
It is probably good to have waited another day before posting in frustration over how our return flight was handled by Air Canada since we were not happy being stuck in Toronto after our final leg was canceled. To add insult to injury we already had a delayed flight on Sunday, then boarded and deplaned […]
RichC | July 13, 2022
Instead of starting a rant on our nightmare return trip from the Canadian Rockies flying Air Canada … I’m going to let the stress dissipate for a while. It was painful travel. So instead I’ll archive a couple exciting photos from Katelyn and Drew as their builder has started clearing the trees from their lot […]
RichC | May 19, 2022
Posting a couple of memory photos as a Throwback Thursday #TBT filler post after a conversation with friends last week. One had to do with text messaging, “distracted driving” and remembering my road warrior days of driving back and forth from Cincinnati and NE Ohio while trying to remain connected and productive. Thankfully all ended […]
RichC | March 31, 2022
If I were going to do a little traveling around the U.S. and Canada by vehicle, I’d like to look at something like the Bundutec “Electric Rooftop Tent” for our BMW X5 35D or maybe the minivan? Of course IF I were going to travel in the older 2002 Honda Odyssey, it might be a […]
RichC | March 20, 2022
Photo from February 2013 in Delray Beach while visiting Brenda’s parents For years … well decades really … we have been fortunate enough to escape winter in February or sometimes March or April and head to sunny or warmer climates for a week. Often it was to visit either Brenda’s or my parents who would […]
RichC | March 17, 2022
From the start of my small publishing business in the late 1980s, Consolidated Printing and Publishing Co, I have been fortunate to have worked with the Audubon Society as both a customer and board member over the decades. My kids remember hiking and taking trips tied to birds and their migration stops and even made […]
RichC | February 5, 2022
No longer am I driving 2000 miles a month back and forth to NE Ohio for work or traveling to and from western New York to check on Brenda’s parents, but I do still enjoy driving and owning a diesel vehicle. The Volkswagen Jetta TDI fuel economy isn’t a big deal anymore either, but I […]
RichC | February 3, 2022
We rarely think about that which we cannot see … but saw a photo of the earth without water or the normal colors associated with having an atmosphere on social media and thought it was intriguing. Another comment that was made was that “IF” you were to stand on Mauna Kea in Hawaii without water, […]
RichC | January 26, 2022
Brenda and I stretched out a cooler than expected weekend in Florida to get the condo ready for our Canadian renters. It worked out nicely since we had enough sun to start in order to go to the beach and plenty of time over the weekend to clean things up AND watch some excellent NFL […]
RichC | January 17, 2022
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RichC | November 24, 2021
America has split down the middle on a lot of things that many of us took for granted just a few years ago. Our individual liberty is being eroded away with the help of progressives using propaganda and the heavy hand of the “we know better” bureaucrats to seize more power every day. The mainstream […]
RichC | November 20, 2021
Brenda and I flew to Florida with a “use it or lose it” expiring Southwest Airline ticket …and hopefully as a way to earn a future companion-pass ticket (we’ll see how that goes). We were there for a long weekend and to enjoy a couple days at the condo and the beach. Unfortunately I wasted […]
RichC | November 7, 2021
Maybe it is just me, but seeing this drone photo of a Blue Whale off the coast of Western Australia was impressive. Australia is one of those countries on my bucket list, but it is such a long and expensive flight … and Australia is a huge country to visit in a single trip, that […]
RichC | October 30, 2021
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RichC | October 26, 2021
Let’s start with "we had a great time in Florida" this past week" (more to come) … but the cleanup weekend ended with a couple gremlins. I blame it on the "uncarved" pumpkins left by the granddaughters. HA! Actually there were no unexpected problem while they were in Delray Beach with us, but after they […]
RichC | September 30, 2021
"Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages. Bitter cold. Long months of complete darkness. Constant danger. Safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success." –Ernest Shackleton Seeing a colorized version of a photo on Twitter the other day from the British National Antarctic Expedition at the turn of the century triggered memories of […]
RichC | September 9, 2021
Last month when we were together with the kids, they were talking about enjoying trips to Michigan for long weekends during the summer (Drew’s parents have a house on Lake Michigan). It brought back memories for us and I mentioned that once-upon-a-time we thought about buying cabin property in the Upper Peninsula on Lake Huron […]
RichC | August 12, 2021
Today is my wife’s birthday and I do my best to remember and marked the day on MyDesultoryBlog.com. This year I remembered one of my favorite photos of Brenda from one of our cruises (actually an ani gif … wait for it) – this one is west of Gibraltar back in 2009. Since it’s from […]
RichC | June 18, 2021
Generally, I don’t use a VPN connection at home, but since I’ve been having slow connections on my laptop and iPad with VPN connections (both TunnelBear and ProtonVPN), thought I was test at home. ProtonVPN has been working pretty well and doesn’t restrict as much as the “warm and fuzzy” Tunnel Bear, but I’ve not […]
RichC | June 2, 2021
Although I’ve enjoyed summertime on the beach ever since I was a little boy (we live on a beach), there is something relaxing about seeing the photo above that a friend sent me from his families rented beach house in North Carolina … it look very relaxing. The older I get, the more I enjoy […]
RichC | May 28, 2021
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RichC | May 2, 2021
Although I know much of the country has lived locked down for much of the year, Brenda and I have probably done a little more than most. She has worked in the pharmacy without much of a break and since the COVID19 vaccinations have started, has been very busy. We had planned a trip to […]
RichC | April 3, 2021
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RichC | April 1, 2021
While cleaning up one of my old Flickr accounts where my Palm Treo 700p photos were backed up, I stumbled across one of the first photos with it I took and posted to this blog – June 2006. Even though the camera was lacking by today’s cellphone standards, I still think the Palm PDA turned […]
RichC | March 24, 2021
The more I think about it, the “lamer” it appears to be talking about shoes … but truth be told, the Sperry Topsider reviews and shoe insole posts still are in the top ten when it comes to blog numbers. I’m posting a photo of my newly arrived clearance priced Vasque hiking boots and previous […]
RichC | January 28, 2021
When searching for a photo of my 1996 Toyota 4Runner (never found one), I stumbled across a couple personal photos from 1997 and will archive them for today’s Throwback Thursday #TBT. One of “professional Brenda” dressed for the office in 1990’s style (ha!) and the other of our family on an October Hawk Migration birding […]
RichC | January 20, 2021
While talking with a customer on the phone today and talking about when I’ll be traveling to NE Ohio again, they asked me when they could get the Covid-19 vaccine? See Covid-19 Vaccination Program – LINK. So I figured it would be appropriate to include a screenshot from an Ohio-based health care provider in our […]
RichC | January 10, 2021
Thanks to my daughter Katelyn and her family, I’m in the process of reading the Tim Challies book, “EPIC – An Around-The-World Journey Through Christian History.” It is the new book I mentioned in my 2020 Christmas wrap-up post … and it has been challenging to put down. BUT … I’m sort of using it […]
RichC | October 21, 2020
A group of #carspotter buddies on social networks often share cars they admire .. so last week I included this Porsche 99CarreraS last weekend while in Florida. Nice!
RichC | October 17, 2020
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RichC | September 25, 2020
Since I posted last year about the new Real ID regulations for domestic flying and travel, I figured it was appropriate to update the one-year reprieve. Due to circumstances resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and the national emergency declaration, the Department of Homeland Security, as directed by President Donald J. Trump, is extending the REAL […]
RichC | September 12, 2020
With a few miles of driving this week (nothing like my years of back and forth to NE Ohio) … I kept an eye out for anomalies in diesel fuel price. prices. It just so happened that Sidney and Wapakoneta prices were a bit lower than either Toledo or home in Cincinnati, so I planned […]
RichC | September 4, 2020
Larry and Lin Pardey have been a couple of my sailing idols since I was in high school. Their life adventure, magazine articles and books have been a mainstay in keeping the cruising lifestyle close to my heart and in my dreams. I’ve posted a few times before regarding their philosophy and many skills, but […]
RichC | August 11, 2020
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RichC | August 6, 2020
My friend Jeff has been part of my life since college and knows WAY too much about me … both good (which he conveniently forgets) and bad (which he’s remembers all too well). We’ve always have great times together, be it in Founders Hall dorm at ONU back in college or the many years after […]
RichC | July 23, 2020
Having the comradery of social media friends who enjoy similar interests doesn’t necessarily replace face to face friendships, but at least during the Coronavirus pandemic it is a way to stay connected. There are a few of us like-minded car guys who sort of have an appreciation for the mundane cars and share stories, photos and […]
RichC | June 28, 2020
Flew on the airlines for the first time since COVID19 to Florida via Baltimore (photo BWI terminal above) last week and thankfully the flights and negotiating the airport was uneventful. Besides a computer glitch which backed up lines on check in, everything else went smoothly. It is yet to be seen if the rise in […]
RichC | June 25, 2020
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RichC | April 19, 2020
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RichC | April 8, 2020
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RichC | April 2, 2020
With “stay at home” orders issued for 3/4 of the U.S. population, my good friend Jeff Pitts has been obeying the directive and working from home. It is also giving him time to do those “I’ll get to it someday” chores like cleaning out a spare room and finally throwing stuff away. One of the […]
RichC | March 4, 2020
One has to admire the ingenuity some go through in taking their love of the classic W123 Mercedes Benz diesel with a love of cheap travel or as the RV and Van camper crowd call it: boondocking. I’ve had daydreams of converting my small utility trailer to a self-contained privative camping trailer, but find it […]
RichC | February 21, 2020
If you’ve been on the Internet for any length of time (post from 2007), you have likely used, or been marketed VPN services, as a way to secure your Wi-Fi connection (especially public hotspots) away from the office or home network. I’ve pitched them as a security precaution to my customers and use them when […]
RichC | February 6, 2020
It has been a shockingly mild winter, at least in Cincinnati this year. Generally I don’t put the snow blower on the John Deere 330 tractor until it is needed, yet this year I prepared early … and may have frightened the snow away? Having a winter without much snow is not totally unheard of, […]
RichC | January 29, 2020
Read an outstanding article in the WSJ this past week as the Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) continues to spread and take lives. It is currently a China-based virus that likely stems from bats that mutate and spread through other mammals. Efforts are being made in China to prevent spreading within their country, but with travel and […]
RichC | January 20, 2020
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RichC | January 2, 2020
Every once in a while, a story about cars and history (my memories) catches eyeballs. One such story in Hemmings Motor News last year did that for me in part because my dad had a 1972 Ford Pinto and because the Mt. St. Helens eruption in May of 1980 was a big deal news story. […]
RichC | December 18, 2019
Although my boating life isn’t quite this bad (thanks for the photo Fatty Goodlander), it is frustrating to be dealing with what I thought was an already “fixed” problems aboard Encore. Besides not using the boat often enough, the re-fixing of problems a second time is frustrating, time consuming and costly. Back in 2013 (has […]
RichC | December 14, 2019
Don’t you just hate this! Earlier this week I was driving home through construction and traffic as I headed south from Columbus to Cincinnati on I-71 (road construction is not done yet!) and I heard a rock hit the windshield. It sounded pretty nasty, but after looking around carefully from the inside, all was fine […]
RichC | December 11, 2019
Pocketknives have been part of my life since I was a 5 year old … yes, you heard that right, FIVE YEARS OLD. My grandfather gave me my first 1-inch semi-toy pocketknife when my family was still living on Spencer Street in Toledo – which means I was likely still only 4 (it was a […]
RichC | October 27, 2019
There were a few extra photos and some video of Brenda swimming on my iPhone from our Delray Beach, Florida vacation last week, so I’ll archive them and make a Vacation Part 3 post (Part 1 and Part 2). Nothing spectacular … but viewing the video and listening to the water and wave below is […]
RichC | October 4, 2019
Last week, Amazon authorized my invitation and gave me a promo code for the Echo Auto Alexa device for the car (it was a long wait, but they did discount to $24.99 for invitation holders). For the passed several months I’ve been using an Echo Input (no speaker) in my BMW X5 35d in an […]
RichC | September 25, 2019
Following up on my weekend post and a few of the projects that I’m trying to complete (or get started) during my few days in Florida is the “somewhat new to me” upholstery project. It has bogged down my to-do list schedule, but I was able to get the master bathroom corner mirrors and glass […]