Thinking about New Orleans 4 years after Katrina

| August 31, 2009

Watching the tropical storms and hurricane firing up this season in both Pacific and Atlantic, I noticed that my posts 4 years ago reflected on Hurricane Katrina as it first came ashore on the east coast of Florida and then returned to power its way into New Orleans (my blog posts 1, 2, 3, 4 […]

Are these bite marks from a snapping turtle?

| August 30, 2009

Some kind of  hungry varmint has been biting through an aerator cable in the lake in front of my house. We dredged it up today and replace it with a new cable, but a second thought has me thinking we need to invest in about 200 feet of conduit? The electrician believes the damage is […]

EAA284 TailDragger Fly-In September 6, 2009

| August 28, 2009

Be sure to fly — or drive — in for breakfast on Sunday morning September 6th for our Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter 284’s Annual Taildragger Fly-In Pancake Breakfast. Better yet, spend the night camping under your plane at Red Stewart Field on Saturday and enjoy the late afternoon/evening airshow. It is a good time for […]

Server and database are working again

| August 28, 2009

For those of you who occasionally check My Desultory Blog, the database server for this WordPress install was is suffering significant slowdowns. I’m unsure if it was is load related or something else, but my complaint was finally heard and addressed … although ever so slowly. The discount host that I use for this personal […]

The state of the biofuel industry in the U.S.

| August 27, 2009

When oil prices doubled not too long ago, many along with our government saw expanding clean, renewable and domestic biofuels as one component that could help our nation become more self sufficient. Just as many pointed out that an agricultural based source would not provide real solutions to the problem in part due to the […]

Senator Ted Kennedy succumbs to brain cancer at age 77

| August 26, 2009

Senator Ted Kennedy, the “liberal lion” of the Senate as he has been described, passed away at the age of 77 after a a battle with brain cancer in his home. He was an icon for many favoring liberal politics in the U.S. and served the state of Massachusetts for 9 terms after being elected […]

Samoa drivers order to drive on left instead of right

| August 24, 2009

An odd article today in the Wall Street Journal that has drivers of the island nation of Samoa ordered to switch from driving on the right  to the left.  The prime minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, has pushed for the change and is refusing to back down even with a significant push from resident, including a […]

The comments of David William Hedrick need to be heard

| August 23, 2009

As the August recess for our congressional representatives draws to a close, the concerns of many Americans have been clearly and forcefully expressed in townhall meeting across the country. One such American expressed the growing opinion of many citizens regarding the change in government happening in our country.  David William Hedrick, a USMC veteran, expressed […]

Evening clouds photo using Palm Pre camera

| August 22, 2009

While buzzing around Liberty Township, the evening sky was pretty dramatic so I poke my Palm Pre phone out the window on Butler-Warren County road and included it. (Panoramio Location)

Intellichoice survey reviews 2009 hybrid and diesel cars

| August 21, 2009

A 2009 Intellichoice survey compared the cost of ownership beyond the sticker price by factoring in depreciation, financing, fuel, Insurance, maintenance, repairs and state fees. By doing this, consumers should have a better idea of what a vehicle’s long-term ownership costs might be and better be able to decide which vehicle is a better overall […]

Smart ForTwo looks good in roof-strength crash test

| August 20, 2009

One has to think twice before grimacing  when seeing those tiny Smart ForTwo car(t)s rolling down the highway … especially if you’re in a bow-tied import like the Chevrolet Aveo (Daewoo Korean built Chevrolet). A recent report issued by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) found that the Smart ForTwo performed the best in […]

Earthrace and Pete Bethune thinking Antarctica

| August 19, 2009

August must be the month for reminiscing, as I recently posted on what I remember 40 years ago (Woodstock festival) and I also just clicked a ‘Years ago on this date’ link from 2006. I had a good smile remembering what it was like to be at 13,796 feet on Mt. Mauna Kea in Hawaii; […]

The Great American Ballpark and Biodiesel

| August 18, 2009

Not only has the Cincinnati been a pioneer in using biodiesel in their city buses (PDF), but the Great American Ballpark is being praised as one of the greenest Major League Baseball facilities in the nation. The ballpark composts its grass clippings and convert all the cooking oil in the consession stands to biodiesel fuel […]

Pondering the value of a Spanish Siesta

| August 17, 2009

While visiting Spain last month I was surprised that even in the 21th century that there were towns along the Mediterranean coast (tourist area) who still enjoy a mid-day ‘siesta’ and have little problem with the loss of business  For American who have grown accustomed to workplace praise for productivity or have been cultured in […]

Enjoying a hot summer weekend at the pool

| August 15, 2009

Just in case you’re enjoying a weekend at the pool, here’s something to think about … video removed

Woodstock – trying to remember 40 years ago

| August 14, 2009

The word — the place — the music — the festival called Woodstock still evokes passion either ‘positive’ or ‘negative’ and the music, politics and lifestyle branded the generation who came of age in the 1960s.  The 40th anniversary of the three day concert in Bethel, New York takes place this weekend marking the event […]

A Nervous Bull and Healthcare thoughts

| August 13, 2009

As U.S. Congressional representatives sweat over whether to have townhall meetings in their states to talk healthcare during the August recess, I sweat over how to plan financial security for my family‘s future, of which health insurance is a part. Years ago it seemed logical to just keep plunking away a few dollars into a […]

230mpg: tAhe EPA needs to modify its calculations

| August 11, 2009

After reading and commenting on an article in the Wall Street Journal this morning regarding the upcoming Chevrolet Volt boasting 230 mpg, about all I can say is we (the EPA) needs to create a new system of calculating fuel economy. It’s a bit misleading for a family sized sedan to be able to claim […]

Roz Savage nears 1 million oar strokes on another leg

| August 10, 2009

Although I’m not going to refer to myself as a “Rozling” (followers of Roz Savage’s adventure), I do check on her progress and follow the blog of the ocean rowing British adventurer Roz Savage. She is currently 78 days into the second of three legs of a Pacific Ocean crossing after completing the first leg […]

Catch up post: Driving by the Waco Field and Museum

| August 9, 2009

Last week while trekking through Ohio I detoured off of I-75 in Troy, Ohio to swing by Waco Field (1WF) and the Waco Museum (pronounced “wah-co”). Fortunately the museum wasn’t open or my detour off the interstate would have been significantly longer. It was a nice day though to take a few minutes to walk […]

MyTether app for Palm Pre – a worthwhile ‘donated’ $10

| August 8, 2009

I’ve spent the morning finally getting around to tinkering beyond the norm with my Palm Pre. I’ve installed a couple functional ‘homebrew’ apps that really improves my ‘like’ for the smartphone device. First, I learned how to root and use developer mode on the Pre and installed a great little app that improves screen and […]

It was past time for a new USB Flash/Thumbdrive

| August 6, 2009

I’ve been thinking about buying a new USB ThumbDrive/FlashDrive for some time now, primarily for backups, transfer and storage when a  Buy.com email hit my inbox and triggered my impulse purchase — 64GB Kingston DataTraveler. A few years ago when I was traveling more often, I purchase my first and only ThumbDrive which has served […]

Apple iTunes and the Palm Pre with WebOS

| August 5, 2009

In the business world, dominating a market has long been the practice of corporations. Some of it is justifiable since research, development and marketing cost companies a significant amount of money, but eventually most large corporations flirt with anti-trust laws. In the early 20th century and with hindsight it is easy to spot (ie. Standard […]

WordPress 2.8.3 upgrade made easy

| August 4, 2009

Once again another incremental upgrade of WordPress moving my install to the 2.8.3 release … and thanks to Keith Dsouza‘s open source plug-in — WordPress incremental backup, it’s a painless and pretty easy step by step process (perhaps 5 minutes with database backups and all). Speaking of open source, one of the other projects that […]

Michelle Malkin promoting her new book on “The View”

| August 3, 2009

I have a new found respect for Michelle Malkin as I watched her handle “The View” ladies and audience; she was better than most while promoting her book, in my opinion. (EDIT: thanks Scott) For those into heavy political reading (right wing oriented), Culture of Corruption: Obama and His Team of Tax Cheats, Crooks, and […]

Dictionary.com’s word of the day: desultory

| August 3, 2009

A friend … and regular reader of my blog … sent me a message mentioning that the  “Word of the Day” over at Dictionary.com was none other than desultory. Thanks Scott.

Palm Pre GPS and Sprint Navigation application tip

| August 2, 2009

I was traveling to western NY this weekend and “had” planned to use the Sprint Navigation app with GPS on my Palm Pre, but the GPS on the apps wouldn’t load correctly. I tried a reboot and switching the GPS on and off, along with multiple app reloads of both Sprint Navigation and Google Maps […]

Archives: A trip 2005 trip to Calgary with my son

| August 1, 2009

While updating my blog for yet another day from our recent vacation, I noticed that backdating vacation posts was more the norm than an exception. I glanced at the “Years ago on this date” right sidebar and re-enjoyed my blog archive about summer of 2005 trip to Calgary, Alberta, which was posted in August after […]

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.
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