RichC | June 30, 2008
Too lazy to post from in the house tonight as the cool quiet evening out on the backporch is far more desirable. I did get a second primer coat of paint o new repair, but that was about the extent of the evening. It has been an exceeding nice couple of days temperature wise for […]
RichC | June 28, 2008
PRESS RELEASE – Sagunto, Spain, 27 June 2008, 13.24 GMT: Earthrace, the world’s fastest eco-boat, has smashed the world speed record for a powerboat to circumnavigate the globe, knocking almost 14 days off the previous record. The boat crossed the finish line in Sagunto at 13.42 GMT on Friday 27 June having traveled around 24,000 […]
RichC | June 27, 2008
As oil rises the stock markets fall creating double the pain for those who are invested in the stock market as investors, college planning or retiring. Those hoping real estate is safer, think again as housing continues to get pinched in most U.S. cities. All in all the economy is suffering and with it, almost […]
RichC | June 26, 2008
Do Astronauts play with dolls? If Buzz Lightyear is a “doll” … then the answer would be “yes.” 🙂
RichC | June 25, 2008
Let’s say you live along the Mexican border and know that fuel is subsidized to your south (diesel is half the price), so you’re tempted to fill up a spare tank in Mexico and drive back to the U.S. Illegal? Yes and no, depending if the tank is “connected” to your fuel line … according […]
RichC | June 24, 2008
A friend passed along a USAToday article with Google’s Matt Cutts. He didn’t unveil any shocking secrets from the search giant, but offered up some pretty common sense advice: If you haven’t “optimized” your site, here’s how: 1. Spotlight your search term on the page. “Think about what people are going to type in to […]
RichC | June 23, 2008
Its not like the subject headline is a big surprise to anybody that drives? Duh … but $4 and near $5 fuel prices do get one thinking about where our citizens are getting the extra money to buy fuel? According to AAA, the national average price for gasoline is $4.07 and diesel at $4.77. (a […]
RichC | June 22, 2008
I’ve been pretty lax at making entries in my “diurnal journal” this past week while on vacation. Nevertheless, my family and I enjoyed the ‘rest and relaxation’ and during our last day on the beach were treated to an enjoyable swim in the ocean with a couple curious Manta Rays. The pair of them would […]
RichC | June 21, 2008
Yes … but only by a small percentage says French automotive magazine Autoplus. (slightly more from diesel vehicles) Their winner was Michelin, which are made in France, and remained highway safe (handling and stopping distances) while offering fuel savings of 1 percent with gasoline and 3.8 for diesel vehicles. This translates from a few miles […]
RichC | June 21, 2008
Athough the Earthrace boat is having technical difficulties with their progress mapping equipment, Captain Pete Bethune’s log places them in the risky pirate prone waters off the coast of Somalia. (my plot below) I’m not sure if the log entry that comments, “It’s been playing on my mind for a few days now. We seem […]
RichC | June 20, 2008
Ok, so I used ChaCha.com to figure out the spider in this post, but its a bit more challenging for a ‘non-snake’ loving guy to figure out what this snake is? We’re in south Florida if that is any help, but I wasn’t going to inch close enough to this fellow/lady to try and figure […]
RichC | June 19, 2008
Although I’ve reported on the EPA fuel economy numbers for the soon to be available 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI in a previous post, I’ve not seen a window sticker in person or in photo yet. Another report from the third party certifier AMCI has tested and has come up with new numbers more inline with […]
RichC | June 18, 2008
My own family has ganged up on me in a ‘vacation’ game of Risk. Its been an enjoyable few days on vacation and we’re all getting plenty of sun — although it has been raining on and off here in Delray Beach, Florida. Today was particularly nice as we topped off the day with a […]
RichC | June 17, 2008
If you drive a diesel car (or perhaps E85?), check out the Meijer stores price on biodiesel fuel — and verify here if you get the chance. A couple Ohio Meijer store stations carry biodiesel and Chris, a VW TDI driver in the Columbus Ohio area, indicated that they were selling biodiesel at $4.129 and […]
RichC | June 16, 2008
Enjoying some R & R and a semi 19th birthday trip with Taylor … although any downtime is spent by my son Taylor in getting comfortable with his new notebook Macintosh computer. One would think it would be easy to pull him from the computer to go to the beach, but pretty focused on updating […]
RichC | June 14, 2008
Today was a fine day to travel, unfortunately I forgot my cellphone. (I’m hearing “age” jokes!) I’ll call and check with Sprint to see if I can come up with a way to transfer to another phone?
RichC | June 13, 2008
Tim Russert, the moderator of “Meet the Press,†and respected NBC Washington news bureau chief died Friday after a sudden heart attack. He was working at the NBC news bureau on voice-overs according to news reports and collapsed. The Russerts had just returned from a trip to Italy where the family celebrated the graduation of […]
RichC | June 12, 2008
Our EAA chapter (EAA284) had an enjoyable Sunday afternoon meeting this past weekend at the Lebanon, Ohio home of one of our members, Ivan Reznor. Our gracious host let us check out his Zenithair Zodiac 601 taildragger project taking over part of his garage and half the basement. (his wife must be one of a […]
RichC | June 11, 2008
I continue to find more uses for the FREE Jott.com cellphone to email/reminder service. Today I tinkered with the new RSS “listening” feed reader (in audio on your cellphone) while waiting for an appointment. I set up the feed in my Jott control panel to include a daily sailing blog from friends who are cruising […]
RichC | June 10, 2008
It was a nice evening to sit outside with my daughter as the breeze cooled off the 90+ degree day as we discussed the ‘goings on’ of the day. She adjusted her cushion on the Adirondack chair and off jumped a large but fuzzy spider. Yikes! 🙂 As we discussed what kind of spider it […]
RichC | June 9, 2008
I was asking a question about raccoons in my prior post and figure it might be the perfect opportunity to talk about an interesting cellphone/text messaging service — ChaCha. The FREE service requires that you register your email address and cellphone number with ChaCha and uses “human” researchers, called “guides,” to text back an answer […]
RichC | June 8, 2008
The challenge of removing raccoons from our attic continues as varmit number 5 has been trapped today. (click above ‘texturized’ image for real photo) I’ll continue to reset the trap, but wonder just how many babies are in this litter. There have been three babies so far, plus two adults. See earlier post. I’m beginning […]
RichC | June 7, 2008
Dave Vanderwerp reviewed the 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI in a recent article of Car and Driver and concludes that its the “cheapest 40+mpg sedan.” His June 2008 review follows a Jared Gall “first drive” article in February of 2007 — its been a long wait for TDI lovers. Just when you thought there wasn’t a […]
RichC | June 6, 2008
Crude oil is trading up more than $11/barrel to a record high on a weak dollar do to surprising U.S. unemployment numbers. The number had the strongest rise in 2 decades and analysis at Morgan Stanley suggests prices may reach $150 within a month. Oil is “being used as a hedge by speculative buyers for […]
RichC | June 5, 2008
Although it wasn’t a close call in remembering our 26th wedding anniversary, I wasn’t exactly plotting weeks in advance either … but Brenda and I had an enjoyable time going to the movies — Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. For us the Indiana Jones movie brought back fond memories as the […]
RichC | June 4, 2008
Tuesday night we had a series of severe storms make their way through our area (north of Cincinnati) and spawn rotational winds as well as 90 mph straight-line blasts. Thankfully there was significant warning and we was able to get a few things put away at home to prevent damage … but we did head […]
RichC | June 3, 2008
U.S auto companies have been suffering and even the ‘rising sun’ of Toyota has had sales pains. Most of the pain has been felt by U.S. automakers as consumers don’t want gasoline thirsty pickups and sport utility vehicles in the face of $4.00/gallon pump prices. General Motors, Ford Motor and Chrysler LLC have depended on […]
RichC | June 2, 2008
Prop problem for Earthrace … here’s an update from the log: “Having made a swift 3 hours 15 minutes turnaround in Palau, Earthrace encountered some sea debris, which has damaged the port prop. The boat returned to port where the prop was removed and the drive shaft tested. The shaft has been put out of […]
RichC | June 1, 2008
It has been a busy few days getting ready for a well attended open house, family for the weekend and my son’s high school graduation ceremonies. (baccalaureate and graduation) The good weather held and everything went very well, thanks to my wife’s planning … and we even have some left over food! Since I’m traveling […]