When pigs (or pugs) fly …

| April 11, 2015

Perhaps there is a little innovative Cincinnati (Porkopolis) marketing inspiration here?

Clearing snow again and again this February weekend

| February 22, 2015

  As predicted, we pick up our share of snow in the Cincinnati area on Saturday. I was hoping to make it through the winter without having to put the chains and snowblower on the old John Deere, but realized Friday night that it was not to be. Thankfully all operated as it was suppose […]

Bridge being dismantled collapses in Cincinnati blocking SB I-75

| January 20, 2015

The Twitter updates last night kept me up late than usual as I contemplated how this would impact traffic on I-75. The heavy construction north of Cincinnati has been challenging the last year or so and having the old Hopple Street overpass pancake collapse on the southbound heavily traveled interstate highway is going to be […]

So much for cheering on global warming. Winter has arrived.

| November 17, 2014

I was hoping the global warming climate change gurus were right … and that at least those of use living in the midwest would have a little longer autumns and milder winters. Just joking, if you are planning to remind me just how serious an issue climate change is. Nevertheless, winter weather has arrived in […]

Most of the country is feeling an early autumn deep freeze

| November 14, 2014

It’s official … the weather has turned cold in much of the country… Taylor in Williston, ND is below zero already; Katelyn and Drew in Minnesota are near the single digits (photo from Katelyn’s Juke) and here in Cincinnati I’m showing about about 19 degrees early Friday morning. I know it happens every year (2010), […]

Service call frustrations and personal rant … deuxième partie

| July 9, 2014

Cable and phone companies generally get the bad rap for arranging questionable appointments and providing disappointing in-home service. Well a third company is in contention for the top spot: AE Door & Window. Last week we had another spring break in our garage door (different one) and since we could drive a different car, this […]

Entertained by Dennis Miller and Bill O’Reilly in Cincinnati

| April 26, 2014

In keeping with my springtime mood and a slight (ok, big) twist on some oldies music with a “December 1963” Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons music video below… “oh what a night” we had at the Taft Theatre in Cincinnati last night. It was a good time being entertained by a couple “oldies” themselves […]

The winter that will not end adds another inch of snow

| April 15, 2014

From weekend spring brush clearing to snow. It doesn’t look as if the 2013-1024 winter wants to leave? I was out feeding Tootsie this Tuesday morning in just a sweatshirt, and although it wasn’t necessarily springtime warm, it wasn’t really “wintery cold” either. The fresh overnight snow was wet enough for packing so it gave […]

As the song goes: It’s beginning to look a lot like Easter …

| March 26, 2014

Ok … so I have the holidays confused, but then so does Mother Nature. While driving around on Tuesday afternoon the squalls started and figured it was a perfect opportunity for an animated GIF. We can’t seem to shake off winter.   I expect to see a few flurries when I’m in northeast Ohio (had […]

The worst of our record cold has passed … at least for now

| January 8, 2014

According to Ohio River watchers, the “formation of river ice is rare” and has happened in only 14 winters of the last 140 years of record keeping in Cincinnati. For some the recent cold temperatures has triggered memories from 1977 and 1978. Photos from the past and stories of the river freezing over due to […]

Cincinnati style chili: “diarrhea sludge, garbage-gravy”

| October 18, 2013

Deadspin‘s Albert Burneko is not fond of Cincinnati style chili … be it on a hotdog or on pasta … and isn’t shy about dissing it. Something tells me if he ever visit Cincinnati again that he’ll be wearing chili. A word of advice if you ever come to town Mr. Burneko … don’t wear a […]

Met up with a high school/college friend after 30+ years

| August 11, 2013

Thanks to Facebook, I had a chance to meet up with a friend from high school (and grad school) that I haven’t seen in 30+ years. We had a mutual love for photography and both headed in different directions after school. She married and moved to Cincinnati and I married and started life in Cleveland. […]

Sprint LTE testing in and around Cincinnati Ohio

| August 9, 2013

A friend of mine (thanks Tim) mentioned that it looked like Sprint was testing their LTE setup along I-75 in and around Cincinnati. I’ve been trying to remember to check it when in West Chester after hearing it was on north of the I-275 outer belt. so, while in town this we I remembered as […]

Obit: Gary Collins memorial gathering 1-2PM July 1, 2013

| June 28, 2013

My condolences to the Collins family on the passing of Gary Collins after his accident last week. Gary’s love of aviation (EAA Chapter 174) and his passion for Corvair conversions was an inspiration to all of us who loved antique and grass roots experimental aviation. He was enjoyable to be around and our EAA284 chapter […]

Weed Man does an obvious upsell or perhaps bait-and-switch

| June 25, 2013

When a deal seems a bit too good, there is probably a reason to be skeptical. Now to be fair, I knew that for $25 I was not going to get my yard completely treated, but was expecting this Cincinnati area Groupon deal to be a way for Weed Man to demonstrate their professionalism and […]

Spina Bifida lip dub effort at Lakota East #wewantellen

| May 20, 2013

My son mentioned a video produced by his alma mater, Lakota East High School, and after first thinking it was just another goofy video, I realized that the community and student body effort was a lot of work – I even watched it to the end as the music gets more appealing to those of […]

Archive: A video project for a Planning class by Taylor

| May 16, 2013

As Taylor wrapped up his senior year in college and reviewed his posted grades for the last time, he read me his 20-some page capstone paper and showed me a video he did for another class. I enjoyed the history lesson …

A Miami University graduation milestone for Taylor

| May 12, 2013

We proudly celebrated my son Taylor’s Miami University’s college graduation this weekend at Yager Stadium in Oxford Ohio and later with more family downtown Cincinnati for dinner. Brenda and I enjoyed seeing our son and his fellow college graduates in their caps and gowns enter the stadium, even if the weather was on the cooler […]

Aerial slideshow from Katelyn and Drew’s Wedding day

| April 23, 2013

After the big wedding weekend (4/13/2013), my daughter Katelyn and husband Drew, no longer fiancé Drew, left the Savannah Center in a helicopter for a short flight looping counter-clockwise from West Chester, Ohio. They circles south over downtown Cincinnati, the Ohio River and then looped back north over Kings Island, Mason, our house in Liberty […]

Travel press for Cincinnati and Taylor’s upcoming graduation

| April 21, 2013

I think we’ll spend some money for a meal downtown Cincinnati next month as a way to celebrate my son’s Geography and Urban and Regional Planning degree from Miami University. He will graduate next month and has spent quite a bit of time working and studying revitalization projects downtown (he does have his gown … […]

Domestica and Rachel Kirkwood highlighted on WVXU

| January 26, 2013

It is great to see the entrepreneurial spirit alive and well in the niche publishing of local “paper-based” magazine, Domestica (Domestica Magazine). This venture is somewhat close to home seeing that it is local … and edited by Rachel Kirkwood, a friend of our family. She started the community oriented publication using Kickstarter last year […]

Will politicians Rise Above or send us over the financial cliff?

| November 17, 2012

There is a Rise Above movement afoot and it is being promoted by business news network CNBC. Supporters and business leaders from both political parties agree that politicians must work together to focus on the financial health of our country and rise above partisan politics. We have yet to see progress and the stock market […]

Kudos to a well run Cincinnati area airport taxi service

| June 27, 2012

A change in schedules had me flying into CVG (Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky Airport) on Tuesday and stuck without a way home. I didn’t park my car this trip and expected that “someone” would be available to pick me up and drive me home – NOPE! Anyway this gave me an excuse to look for another way […]

Congestion on I-75 some of worst in U.S.

| November 28, 2011

No wonder I instinctively avoid I-75 downtown Cincinnati during rush hour. Two stretches of I-75 in the Cincinnati area have been identified as being among the 328 most seriously congested in the country in a recent report by the Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M University. The single most congested stretch of highway in the […]

The Ides of March opens in theaters this weekend

| October 7, 2011

Southwestern Ohio movie goers are anxious for the opening of George Cloney’s “The Ides of March” since the Cincinnati and the small college town of Oxford Ohio are notable in the film. The political drama starring Ryan Gosling used Miami University’s Hall Auditorium and the Farmer School of Business in the film, particularly in the […]

We’re having a cold and snowy December this year

| December 17, 2010

Palm Pre photo after clearing the driveway on Thursday I’ve had to put the snowblower on my old John Deere 330 a bit early for SW Ohio this year since we’ve had significantly more snow and colder weather this entire month. In years past I remember crossing our fingers that some snow would whiten the […]

First cold weekend of the year here in Cincinnati

| November 7, 2010

While behind on my autumn chores, I was shocked to see my gutters iced over when cleaning them out on Saturday. I didn’t realized that the temperature dropped so much and was actually shocked to see 21 degrees this morning. No wonder the furnace is running so much already! Palm Pre smartphone video posted to […]

Cincinnati Bengals and Reds are full of mistakes

| October 10, 2010

While driving home from New York I listened with frustration as the Bengals suffered another loss with a performance that was full of mistakes. Although they had the game wrapped up with a 7 point lead with only 2 minutes left in the game, their veteran players ‘bungled’ the lead and gave way for a […]

First 4 days of Baseball playoff times announced

| October 3, 2010

Major League Baseball has announced its schedule for the first four days of division series. The Reds will play the Phillies for game one late on October 6th (5:07 PM EST) – it’s going to be a challenging match-up. Game two will be early on Friday evening – 6:07 PM EST. Sunday afternoon for me […]

The Cincinnati Reds clinch the NL Central

| September 29, 2010

Thanks to a season long team effort and last night’s ninth inning homerun from Jay Bruce, the Cincinnati Reds clinched a playoff berth for 2010 post season baseball … next goal, home field advantage. The excitement happened late on Tuesday night in a dramatic fashion, when Bruce blasted a walk-off home run for a 3-2 […]

Bengals – Ravens and tackling the quarterback

| September 20, 2010

During a football follow-up discussion this morning, a client and I debated a call that penalized the Baltimore Ravens during Cincinnati’s 15-10 win yesterday. As a Bengals fan wanting to keep quarterback Carson Palmer healthy, I’m sensitive as to how aggressively he is driven to the ground, but can also sympathize with those believing Sunday’s […]

Police chase: Will the judge go easy on this driver?

| July 30, 2010

There is a part of me feeling sorry for this driver and for her regard for safety in stopping at lights, but since we once had our car hit by an uninsured driver with a suspended license and had to pay 100% of the repairs, I don’t want them getting off easy either; the judge […]

Enjoyed the Reds/Rockies game with two great guys

| July 18, 2010

Although the Cincinnati Reds came up short in Sunday’s Ohio Northern University alumni baseball outing against the Colorado Rockies (final 0-1), I enjoyed spending the day at the Great American Ballpark with my my son and my close friend Jeff from ONU dorm days. Jeff Pitts is someone who has been there through thick and […]

Chris Henry and CTE : Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy

| July 7, 2010

July 7, 2010 An autopsy has shown that Chris Henry, the young Cincinnati Bengal who died a few months ago, suffered what is called CTE –– chronic traumatic encephalopathy –– which means, more simply, that his brain had been traumatized. CTE can be diagnosed only in the brain tissue of cadavers, and 22 deceased former […]

Enjoyed the Reds/Indians Ohio Cup ballgame in Cincinnati

| June 27, 2010

Thank you Taylor for taking me to the Great American Ball Park where we baked on a hot summer Sunday afternoon with excellent right field seats. The Ohio Cup is a favorite game of mine,  pitting my old American League Cleveland Indians (lived there 13 years) against my hometown team the Cincinnati Reds. It really […]

Valiant effort for USA World Cup soccer ends in defeat

| June 26, 2010

I was drawn into World Cup soccer like most Americans after following their recent advancement … so Brenda, Taylor and I tuned in to watch Saturday’s USA – Ghana from South Africa. Although I’m not a big soccer fan, I did coach a few years and enjoyed playing on an intramural team, still I’ve never […]

American sized all-electric vehicles by AMP Electric Vehicles

| May 1, 2010

A few years ago when I posted about the opening of AMP Electric Vehicles in my backyard of Blue Ash, Ohio (Cincinnati), the company company was in the planning stages of electrifying two place vehicles like the Pontiac Solace and Saturn Sky. As technology and battery technology improved, so did their vision in building useful […]

Nearing February snowfall records in SW Ohio

| February 15, 2010

The El Niño as certainly brought it share of precipitation this year, although I’m not sure where the warmer weather is? Here in Cincinnati we’re surpassing our February snowfall averages and nearing records, so I have been hearing – WCPOWeather Tweet. We’ve already past last year for snow for this time of year (21.5”) by […]

End of the rainbow for Bengals receiver Chris Henry

| December 17, 2009

The Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry at age 26 died Thursday morning in Charlotte, North Carolina from injuries he sustained falling on Wednesday from a moving truck. He was hospitalized and died at 6:36 a.m. after being on life support. According to reports, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers responded to a call shortly after noon on […]

NPR news story on remembering Capt. David “Seth” Mitchell

| November 2, 2009

Although most of my conservative friends would be appalled I listed to National Public Radio, they produced an appreciated story reflecting on the life of Capt. David “Seth” Mitchell, 1 of 14 Marines killed on October 27th and played the story nationally (MP3 Link). It was good to hear how the community of Loveland (NE […]

Smaller Cincinnati Homearoma for 2009, but enjoyable

| September 19, 2009

We stopped over at the Cincinnati area Homearoma this year in Mason, Ohio even though it was smaller … five homes between $550K to 850K as I recall, compared to the 18 homes mostly over a million or so dollars in  previous years. Brenda and I still had a good time and enjoyed check on […]

Red Stewart Airshow & EAA Chapter 284 Tail Dragger Fly In

| September 7, 2009

The weekend was busy as usual with the annual Red Stewart Airshow and my Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter’s (EAA284) Tail Dragger Fly In and Pancake breakfast. Set up was smooth on Saturday afternoon and most of us enjoy relaxing for the evening on the field as the temperature cooled and the airshow started. I can […]

What is your favorite Cincinnati style Chili

| March 17, 2009

Here’s a fun poll focused on Cincinnati-style Chili I’m running on Twitter … and the results have been rather surprising so far. Take a look at the results after you vote.

Cincinnati Auto Expo ’09 February 19th – 22nd

| February 12, 2009

I’ve enjoyed the Cincinnati Auto Expo in the past although am unsure if I’ll find the time to head down this year. The Duke Energy Center (Cinergy) will have the filled floorplan set up as unusual and I’ve even heard that the Volkswagen booth is going to be much larger than in previous years (according […]

Another slick day of driving in southwestern Ohio

| February 3, 2009

Here’s hoping that everyone who lives in my neck of the woods, from Dayton to Cincinnati Ohio,  made it home safely?  The roadways on Tuesday afternoon were about as slick as they can get without being sheets of ice. That was evident by the very slow going and significant number of vehicle either in the […]

Strong 70+ mph winds do damage in Ohio

| September 14, 2008

Hurricane Ike didn’t just come ashore and disappear after the Texas and Louisiana landfall, but continued to leave damage in its path. On Sunday here in Ohio, the strong winds arrived and were gusting over 70 mph between 2 and 6 PM. Here in the Cincinnati area, power outages were widespread — 650,000 in the […]

TDIFest OH8 Road Rally Video

| September 1, 2008

I’m back dating a couple of blog entries so I can include a few photos and video from this past weekend — TDIFest OH8. Here’s a great video by TDIClub member “TeDeEye1” of the “timed drive” Road Rally: TDIFest OH8 Road Rally from Fred on Vimeo.

Cincinnati’s first real snow of the year

| January 21, 2007

Here’s a quick look out the window this morning (Palm Treo photo) as residents of Southwestern Ohio received their first real taste of winter. Saturday night brought a surprise blanket of white snow that few were expecting, everyone I talked to was surprised. This was evident by only a handful of plows were spotted on […]

Congratulations to Madison and Nathan

| December 31, 2006

It has been a busy holiday week which included Christmas, New Year’s Eve, football and my niece’s wedding. I also wanted to ‘archive‘ at least one photo from from the wedding. (and what a wedding it was!) Here’s wishing both Madison and Nathan congratulations as they begin married life together. Oh … and thank you […]

Fireworks – Riverfest Cincinnati 2006

| September 3, 2006

If you’ve ever been around Cincinnati, Ohio on Labor Day weekend you most likely have seen (or at least heard of) the annual fireworks display. This year was the 30th year and the display was better than ever. It was 45 minutes of mind-boggling color, smoke and noise. In Cincinnati, you know what fireworks are […]

Cincinnati in the national spotlight again

| April 13, 2006

Violence with an uncomfortable reminder once again erupts in recovering Cincinnati. Just when residents seemed to be working together to mend the real and perceived problems in this racially sensitive city gunfire is heard on the steps of city hall (actually record ‘in’ city hall). Citizens, neighborhoods, city hall and the police department have all […]

Rugby: Is it being played wrong?

| March 26, 2006

I’ve waited a week to post my concerns about the sport of rugby which is growing quickly in the United States. (far more popular in other countries) My son is a sophomore and this is his first year on the team which is comprised of students from a couple different local high schools. Rugby is […]

Cincinnati Auto Expo 2006

| February 26, 2006

The Cincinnati Auto Expo was busy on Saturday afternoon when my 16 year old son and I visited. We spent about 2-1/2 hours checking out the new and seasoned vehicles each auto maker had on displayed. As auto shows go, it seemed very well attended, and in my opinion, of an appropriate size for a […]

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.
My Desultory Blog