My Desultory Blog

Posted By RichC on June 5, 2026

As usual, there are a couple of odds and ends photos left in MyCubby 2026’s May folder that I need to either toss or stick in a filler blog post. So today I’ll add them here.

Last month I toiled … and I mean toiled overtime … with Brenda’s older Samsung Pro Chromebook while attempting to convert some perfectly good Intel m3 hardware to a Linux OS. I knew it would need to be a lighter build and so tossed around a few versions … finally deciding on Linux Mint. BUT … I’m getting ahead of myself. 

After updating my MacBook Air M2 to the M5 in April in order to gain a bit more memory (too many tabs and spaces), I set up the M2 for Brenda … since her Chromebook is no longer getting updates from Google. That was too bad since she was very comfortable with the small touchscreen Chromebook (more on that in a minute). So that opened the door to play around with and “try” to get  Linux on the Samsung Pro. Frankly I recall that same struggle when she moved from a smaller non-touchscreen Samsung Chromebook that she had prior to that. 

First, it wasn’t easy. There is a Write-Protect screw buried under the backside of the “copper” heatsink that is only accessible by removing the entire board and unscrewing all the screws holding down the heatsink. After that little metal screen washer and screw was removed, I added a little electrical tape just to be safe. Buttoned everything back up, installed the MrChromebox boot loader and then flashed a USB (actually microSD card) with Linux and rebooted the Samsung Pro. What a mess trying to get everything working … and a big problem with the Intel WiFi .. something has limited the range???

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Category: AI, Computer, Software, Technology | No Comments »
Tags: bushisms, chromebook, chromeflex, claude.ai, linux, linuxmint, macbook air, moom, samsung pro, thegoogle, update, upgrade

Posted By RichC on June 4, 2026

Recently I’ve been working on Brenda’s Samsung Pro notebook computer and hoping Linux can bring it back to life … since Google is no longer supporting older Chromebooks – more on that tomorrow. For now, it is fun to look at the old gear … and smile. 😊 

After years now of using the oversized multitouch trackpad on Apple MacBook Air notebook computers, seeing my old Apple PowerBook Duo’s miniature pad makes me chuckle (see PowerBook Duo). There was a day when I thought the MacBook’s trackpad was way too big, but now looking at the Duo has me thinking the MacBook’s are just about right and the old laptops were way too small. 

Category: Apple, Computer, TBT | No Comments »
Tags: #TBT Throwback Thursday, apple duo, chromebook, Computer, macbook, notebook, powerbook duo, TBT, trackpad

Posted By RichC on June 3, 2026

Wednesday morning rolled around and when glancing at MDB, it occurred to me that I forgot to add a daily “desultory” post last night. Truth be told, I was tinkering with scripting, automating some computer archiving and a new Red Sweater app called FastScripts … which I tried once before, but never got around to efficiently using.

For now, here’s one of the cute baby rabbits that I almost ran over with the mower. Whew! 

Category: Nature, Personal, Photography, Photos, Productivity, Software | No Comments »
Tags: app, bunny, deer, fastscripts, Rabbit, red sweater

Posted By RichC on June 2, 2026

Most investors these days are likely following the herd and enjoying strong returns in their portfolios — much of it due to the weaker dollar vs asset classes in my opinion. That said, it is hard not to be smiling when the market hits new market highs.

BUT … history has taught us (or at least me) that the party doesn’t go on forever and that the more rapid and “exuberant” the rallies, the more rapid and severe the decline “could” be. Jonathan Hoenig of The Capitalist Pig shared some comments on Fox Business about the CAPE Ratio and an article with me on X.com, hinting at a statistic that does give pause to the wondering just how long the promise of AI productivity gains will continue?

Synopsis
Stock Market CAPE Ratio hits 40, a rare level last seen before the 1929 crash and the 1999 dot-com bubble burst, raising fresh Wall Street valuation fears. The S&P 500 is trading at extreme overvaluation levels, driven by strong but expensive tech-led gains. Investors are watching stock market crash signals, rising interest rates, and weak sentiment closely. Historical CAPE ratio data suggests lower future returns when valuations stretch this far. Analysts warn that high stock market CAPE ratio conditions often lead to sharp corrections if earnings fail to keep pace with prices.

Read more at: LINK

Category: Business, Financial, Human Interest, Social Media | No Comments »
Tags: artificial intelligence, cape ratio, economy, fox business, indiatimes.com, investing, investopedia, stock market

Posted By RichC on June 1, 2026

It would be challenging to have come of age in the 1970s and not have enjoyed the music of Fleetwood Mac. As evidenced by several of my Music Monday posts mentioning their music or bands who build their careers around playing their music. 

Another “at the time in 2020” young talented musician did the same. A young woman from North Carolina, Lanie Gardner, “got her start” as they say by utilizing social media (TikTok, YouTube, etc) eventually receiving millions of views. A few years ago in 2021, she posted this about the sudden fame.  

Since I enjoyed the Stevie Nicks voice and Rumours of Fleetwood Mac  … Gardner’s music appealed to me as well.

Category: Music, Social Media, Video | No Comments »
Tags: dreams, fleetwood mac, lanie gardner, media, music monday, musicmonday, stevie nicks, tiktok, youtube

Posted By RichC on May 31, 2026

Ignore this, it’s yet another RANT about health care and billing after losing a long battle with hospital billing and insurance companies from a few years ago. We once thought an appearance of extra bills from Brenda’s hospital stay back in early 2023 were “negotiated,” but unfortunately they found their way to court in 2026. 

We have learned (from our own and our parents experiences) to wait about 6 months before  paying “our part” after insurance claims are settled so we know exactly how much out of pocket to either pay or dispute. For Brenda’s 2023 very successful hip replacement surgery  (“Praise the Lord” as MomH would say), we did exactly that … knowing that it takes a while for all billing to work its way through the system. Eventually Brenda made the call and negotiated “our” finally out-of-pocket payment (still significant) and washed our hands of the shockingly high over charges. Well at least we thought it was behind us.  

In 2025 she started to get recurring calls from the hospital’s collection people and forcefully tells them this was fully paid. They “claimed” that some additional bills came in after our payment and that we still owed another $3500. Eventually Brenda butted heads with these collection annoyances and received only letters. Fast forward to the spring of 2026 (likely while we were in Florida) – an lawfirm took over the collections and filed with the local courts. So … we were now either going to be faced with going to court (and those costs) … or be done with it by settling with the law firm and have the case dismissed. 

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Category: Audio, Financial, Health, Human Interest, Medical, Personal | No Comments »
Tags: amazon polly, aws, bills, courts, frustration, Health, health care, hip replacement, insurance, lawyers, legal, medical, text to speech

Posted By RichC on May 30, 2026

This article could have been saved for Music Monday … BUT, since I’m highlighting the Covid Era social media musician Lanie Gardner in a couple days, this AP Business article on “Why your co-worker might be listening to music tuned to 432 hertz” had me wondering what “tuning” music to 432 hertz was all about? 

According to the article, it is “taking off on social media platforms.”

Many proponents assert that 432 hertz is aligned with nature. Others assign the frequency healing properties or the power to reduce blood pressure. So far, there’s no robust scientific evidence to support those claims.

For the fun of it, I gave a George Strait song a 432 hertz tweak.
 

You be the judge and just “check yes or no” if you’ll be listening to music at 432 hertz anytime soon. 😉 
 

Category: Human Interest, Music, News | No Comments »
Tags: 432 hertz, associated press, encoding, george strait, Music, youtube