Besides costly higher education and health care … buying and owning a home is now unaffordable for many in America

| March 17, 2024

Going to college after high school has always seemed expensive, but by working, borrowing and getting help from parents … it was do-able, and by today’s standards, seemed affordable. I can’t help but smile noticing that when I finally paid off my student loan that I could start saving to put my kids through college. […]

The passing of Toby Keith makes for a sad Music Monday

| February 12, 2024

The passing of a great American patriot and country music singer/songwriter Toby Keith Covel last week from stomach cancer at age 62 was depressing. Surprisingly I have not posted about Toby Keith in the past on the blog or for Music Monday, but really should have considering his impressive career and devotion our military and […]

And then there were 4: The NFL Playoffs continue this weekend

| January 27, 2024

Brenda and I have been enjoying the NFL playoffs in late January from Florida this year and are looking forward to watching the final two games before Super Bowl LVIII on February 11, 2024. This weekend America will be watching the Detriot Lions vs the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC and the Kansas City […]

Living vicariously thru a friend’s international business travel

| January 24, 2024

Although the time difference makes instant text communication a little more challenging than usual in staying in touch with my buddy Jeff, I’m still enjoying the interesting business travel he is starting early in 2024.  I lost track of the number of countries will be in while making cybersecurity audits of client plants, but it […]

Music Monday: “Lola” by The Kinks

| January 8, 2024

Took a screenshot of my iPhone’s Sirius XM app last month while listening to an old Casey Kasem‘s American Top 40 countdown on the 70’s channel. There’s always something that catches my ear on the weekends when it comes to 1970s songs and thought it was a good choice for Music Monday. The song was […]

Music Monday: The Grass Roots and their hit “Sooner or Later”

| November 20, 2023

The Grass Roots was an American rock band that achieved significant success between 1965 and 1975. The band’s origins trace back to the collaboration of songwriter duo P. F. Sloan and Steve Barri, along with the involvement of Lou Adler.  For Music Monday, here is their 1971 hit “Sooner of Later” from “Their 16 Greatest […]

Israel’s 9/11: Hamas terrorist viciously attacked innocent civilians

| October 10, 2023

Hatred runs deep in the middle-east as many in the Arab world have never accepted the State of Israel … which is probably an understatement. I haven’t posted on the “war” (as declared on Saturday by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu) at this point since so much is unknown, but television news coverage is 24/7. […]

Searching MDB: Current blog calendar navigation tip

| October 3, 2023

Let’s just call this a PSA since I’ve been busy rethinking My Desultory Blog themes after updating to PHP 8.2 and how at least use the thousands of old blog entries for reference … or more precisely, remembering things! Anyway, the monthly “Archives” section is the same (select a previous month), but the “Calendar” was […]

Visual of why Jim Brown exemplifies the Cleveland Browns 😊

| August 30, 2023

Jim Brown played for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL) from 1957 through 1965. Considered to be one of the greatest running backs of all time, as well as one of the greatest players in NFL history. (Link)

Music Monday: “Lido Shuffle” – Boz Scaggs (Silk Degrees 1976)

| August 21, 2023

William Royce “Boz” Scaggs “recalled: “Lido Shuffle” was a song that I’d been banging around. I … took the idea of the shuffle [from] a song that Fats Domino did called “The Fat Man” that had a kind of driving shuffle beat that I used to play on the piano, and I just started kind […]

Music Monday: “Make Your Own Kind of Music” – Cass Elliot

| November 14, 2022

About a week ago while watching television, the song “Make Your Own Kind of Music” in a Volkswagen commercial caught my ear. It triggered a “Can you dig it?” psychedelia thought that I thankfully only knew from observing the “far out” subculture during the 1960s. Still, a lot of the music and memories are from […]

Idioms: The whole – or full – nine – six – yards phrase

| October 30, 2022

Although the meme floating around social networks (the one at the bottom of this post) is probably not correct, I enjoyed it enough to do a little digging. Personally I’ve always thought that “the whole (or full) nine (six) yards” had to do with the innings in a baseball game (old article below), so I […]

Who knew? Prairie dogs used the Bernoulli principle

| September 24, 2022

In order to ensure sufficient oxygen within their burrow, prairie dogs use the Bernoulli’s principle. One of the entrances is built with a raised mound of dirt, while the other is not. This determines different wind velocities and different pressures. (Massimo – @Rainmaker1973) Bernoulli flow and viscous entrainment were identified by the researchers as the […]

Pyramid of Giza in Egypt from above

| August 31, 2022

The largest of the Egyptian pyramids is the Great Pyramid of Giza., one of The Seven Wonders of the World.  It was the tomb of the Fourth Dynasty pharaoh Khufu and was build in the early 26th century BC. It stands 481 feet and is normally seen from a horizon view as in Wikipedia  (photo […]

Kiribati: Located in 4 hemispheres and unique GMT+14 timezone

| 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 […]

Number of shots or gun salute for Independence Day celebration?

| July 4, 2022

According to a little American Revolutionary War reading this past year, our Declaration of Independence was celebrated on July 4, 1777 with a 13-gun salute in the morning and 13-gun salute in the evening (13 for the 13 colonies). Interestingly, many historians suggest that the Declaration of Independence was actually signed on July 2, 1776 and […]

Music Monday: “Hold On” from 1990 by Wilson Phillips

| March 28, 2022

Once again, in looking to get out of the 1970’s Music Monday rut, I pulled out a music memory from my trusty Apple iPod and Shuffle … mine is filled with Jack Johnson tunes (right – see Wikipedia list of iPods). The one I used most often was clipped to the back of a cap […]

A new-to-me Arabica Bean Coffee and a family photo to save to the 2022 Valentine’s Day blog archive

| February 16, 2022

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Tech Friday: The overused Hamburger Menu for desktop apps

| September 6, 2019

Perhaps it is just me, but I’m growing tired of the software development trend to make every piece of software resemble a smartphone app. I spend a significant amount of time using a desktop computer with plenty of display real estate, yet apps and webpages are all trying to make their mobile apps, notebook computer […]

What makes the Mississippi River important and so big?

| May 5, 2019

Every student learns just how big and important the Mississippi River is in our country. From transporting materials from the America’s breadbasket to markets throughout the country and beyond … to draining the snowmelt and rainfall off the land so it can be cultivated (was reminded of this with all the flooding this spring). It […]

Music Monday Obit: Aretha Franklin, The Queen of Soul

| August 20, 2018

Last week we lost the singer and pianist Aretha Franklin at age 76 who’s trailblazing career began in the turbulent 1960s when America was being torn apart (sounds eerily familiar). I was in grade school when her R and B records were popping on the charts and being played on AM radio; I didn’t really […]

Random: A couple random things I learned this week

| July 21, 2018

As a filler post, a couple random or desultory tidbits crossed my path this week; I found them mildly interesting: The "bison," which can weigh as much as a ton, can "race up to 40 mph, jump up to 6 feet vertically and quickly pivot," so don’t try to out run them. The "peloton" is […]

Doppelgänger time with Google Arts and Culture app

| January 16, 2018

Ok … this Google app is a bit personal … but curiosity and some appreciation for art has me interested enough to forgo my privacy concerns. Google updated their Art and Culture app that compares a persons selfie with their huge archive of art from museums and other institutions. The computer-vision technology compares points on […]

A great photo that gives meaning to whales being gentle giants

| December 26, 2017

California Gray Whale watching is on most ocean lovers "want to do list" but few have up close and personal opportunities like this. Part of me wants whales to "fear" humans and keep their distance (for their own protections and survival), where another part of me loves seeing the bond between mammals and knowing the […]

Thoughts on Rolling Coal

| October 10, 2017

Although I’m the last person to criticize folks for tweaking their diesel engines for performance and efficiency, I cringe when I see modifications that purposely over fuel and pump a bunch of black smoke when it is unnecessary (not under load). There has to be a commonsense balance between neutering diesel engines with excessively costly […]

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