RichC | September 30, 2010
While stopping for lunch today I shared some sailing highlights from the MedCup in September 2010 with my son who loves extreme ‘go-fast’ sailing. Although my interest in ‘racing’ wind powered machines has dimmed as technology plays a significantly larger role in decisionmaking aboard very today’s sophisticated boats, I’m still intrigued with those who do […]
RichC | 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 […]
RichC | September 29, 2010
There are two opposing mindsets when dealing America’s deficit and correcting America’s struggling economy; it is pretty black and white when it comes to opinions. There’s the liberal Democrats position, expressed by the Nobel Prize winning New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, who recommends dealing with our deficit by raising taxes and continuing to increase […]
RichC | September 28, 2010
So far I’m not convinced drivers are big fans of the new complex intersections being constructed on many of today roads and highways – referred to as Superstreets. The handful of completed projects that I’ve traveled on recently seem overly complex and tailored to create accidents. A couple of examples that come to mind would […]
RichC | September 27, 2010
How do you keep all of your online passwords safe and secure? I’ll admit, I wasn’t all that smart about managing mine. About a month or so ago, a technology friend of mine shared his method of using the stand alone KeyPass Password Safe on his PC and explained how he then plop the encrypted […]
RichC | September 26, 2010
After digging into the dry rot that has plagued our garage utility door for a number of years, it was determined that although the steel door was still good (as was much of the surrounding frame), that repairing the frame was out of the question. So I as my demolition ergs took over … I […]
RichC | September 25, 2010
We live in a changing area, not as much in 2009 or 2010 as a few years ago, pre-recession, but growth is still happening. I’ve been pondering the idea of including an occasional archived photo or two from the West Chester/Liberty Township Ohio area. The thinking is that it might be nice to have a […]
RichC | September 24, 2010
Although I may offend some of my hardcore conservative Tea Party friends, I’m in agreement with Charles Krauthammer and enjoy his his columns and commentary (“offend” – in reference to his comments regarding Tea Party favorite Christine O’Donnell) I appreciate his bright and intelligent arguments … from a conservative point of view … and was […]
RichC | September 24, 2010
I was somewhat irritated to hear that comedian Steven Colbert was invited to speak to a congressional subcommittee… in character… about illegal aliens living, working, committing crimes and and basically leeching off US citizens. It did sound like a ridiculous way to spend taxpayer dollars (estimated at $125,000/hr), but in retrospect might be an effective […]
RichC | September 23, 2010
Nothing like a union lunch break – see video below. Let me get this straight — American automakers were bailed out by taxpayers and President Obama endorsed the workers at this Chrysler plant … yet the still overpaid union American workers aren’t appreciative enough to put in a decent day’s work? Instead according to this […]
RichC | September 23, 2010
There comes a time when many of us are faced with the decision of whether to pull the plug on one’s … [pause] CAR. (admit it, you were thinking ‘spouse’) Brenda and I have been struggling over this issue for some time now and have nursed a beloved first generation 1998 Toyota Rav4 for over […]
RichC | September 22, 2010
Here’s hoping that “the little things” remain in the 2011 Volkswagen Jetta TDI model. It must have an uplevel of trim since the base pricing will be $23,755 for the diesel compared to the much lower gasoline powered base car. With over three months and 5,342 miles on our Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup Street Edition […]
RichC | September 22, 2010
Having worked with ink and paper for most of my working life, I pay attention to counterfeiting with a bit more interest than most. An article in the local Pulse Journal reported on businesses finding “washed” small denomination bills being counterfeited and passed as larger bills. These fake bills are often used in drug deals […]
RichC | 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 […]
RichC | September 19, 2010
The last weekend of summer was a little muscle taxing as Brenda and I worked around the house on a few overdue yard and home projects. Along with the yard work, we also pick up a few new perennial plants that were marked down as well as a new tree. This year’s tree is a […]
RichC | September 18, 2010
Although I can’t admit to being a political supporter of Mike Huckabee last go around, I do enjoy his commentary and occasionally his television program – Huckabee. In a recent email he shared his frustration with our out of control bureaucracy — he writes that it “made my blood boil.” (and it does the same […]
RichC | September 17, 2010
We are all getting older and inevitably our human bodies give way to age. Some are blessed with good health for 70 or 80 years, but eventually become dependent on others. Learning to adjust is not something most are quick to accept. The days of our years are three score years and ten; and if […]
RichC | September 16, 2010
Let me know if you are interested in movies, documentaries and TV programs from Netflix and I’ll forward the first ten names for ONE month of FREE … so as long as you are not currently a Netflix member. Netflix’s offers a decent mail delivery program and movie/archived TV shows streaming over the Internet to […]
RichC | September 15, 2010
When I drove my Volkswagen diesel, I regularly filled at this renewable fuel Sunoco station on I-71 in mid-Ohio. I haven’t stopped for a while and opted to fill my Honda Pilot (regular unleaded) there today and checked biodiesel pricing. Although diesel is a few cents more than other stations around the state, biodiesel has […]
RichC | September 15, 2010
Earlier this month, the folks at TFLcar ran a non-scientific test where they compared three different fueling options in three different cars. All three vehicles are known to offer good fuel economy … but only one is fun to drive. 🙂 Unfortunately, the test doesn’t offer any high degree of accuracy due to the small […]
RichC | September 14, 2010
Why don’t politicians understand that uncertainty is a primary deterrent to planning for the future, for an individual or a business … but especially for businesses. In order for small business owners and managers to reinvest and expand … and hire new employees … the political environment needs to be one where the prospect for […]
RichC | September 13, 2010
The American Airlines video brought back the memory of our “bus” Honor trip to Washington DC earlier this year. Great to know they support our heroes in this way. Thank to AA as well for their appearance at EAA Airventure and getting Gary Sinise and the Lt. Dan Band to and from his tribute shows […]
RichC | September 13, 2010
In this weekend’s WSJ, Dan Neil’s full page article on the 2011 Volkswagen Jetta highlighted design changes, some for “for pedestrian safety.” (see video below) The “safety” comments apply to more brands than the Volkswagen as design changes will apply to all new vehicle designs. Personally I see the “pedestrian impact” even more critical since […]
RichC | September 12, 2010
A couple CinciTDI guys stopped over on Sunday afternoon and we installed a Dieselgeek Panzer plate on Tim Hunter‘s Volkswagen Golf TDI. He waited a bit too long (in my opinion) as his TDI is now over 180,000 miles, but his VW is still a solid little commuter. His little hatchback certainly doesn’t fit his […]
RichC | September 11, 2010
List of World Trade Center Victims (not including plane crews or passengers) Gordon M. Aamoth, Jr. Edelmiro Abad Maria Rose Abad Andrew Anthony Abate Vincent Abate Laurence Christopher Abel William F. Abrahamson Richard Anthony Aceto Jesus Acevedo Rescand Heinrich Bernhard Ackermann Paul Acquaviva Donald LaRoy Adams Patrick Adams Shannon Lewis Adams Stephen George Adams Ignatius […]
RichC | September 10, 2010
I’ve used Mozilla’s Thunderbird email client for quite a few years now and as it is with most software, it all in what one get use to using. Recent upgrades have required me to make adjustments to my set-up and I grumbled a bit … but for the most part upgrading to 3.1.3 has been […]
RichC | September 10, 2010
While still not quite ready to buy another gadget, I’m thinking a better time to adjust to using an eReader, iPad or tablet device might be winter? 😀 [flv:Newsday_and_the_iPad_app.flv 490 265]
RichC | September 10, 2010
A couple sailing friends currently spending time cruising northwestern Madagascar are enjoying the area around Nosy Be. While doing a little map checking on the area, I ran across a couple interesting photos with someone doing some maintenance on a different kind of tourist oriented watercraft (click for larger image). Having just returned from Bermuda, […]
RichC | September 9, 2010
Governor Christie does a pretty good job of justifying his budget cutting measures to a in New Jersey teacher when it comes to dealing with sharing the economic pain. His state (like many others) have taxed and spent their way into insolvency and has agreed to contracts that will strangle taxpayer unless something is done. […]
RichC | September 8, 2010
Better late than never. I promised a few people that I would post some photos from my EAA Chapters annual TDFI (Taildragger Fly-in) which happens every Labor Day weekend at Red Stewart Airfield in Waynesville Ohio. The tradition is enjoyed by airplane-loving-types that build, restore and fly airplanes with their nose held high (the airplanes […]
RichC | September 7, 2010
When I heard about a radical church protesting at US soldiers funerals 4 or 5 years ago (Westboro Baptist Church), it pained me having to think about families having to endure such cruelty. I wondered, “just what they were hoping to accomplish by this action?” Now, another radical church called Dove World Outreach Center in […]
RichC | September 7, 2010
I’m noticing a few glitches from the weekend’s updates to the servers … posts and delayed posts. Hopefully this ‘test post’ will appear at noon on Tuesday and that I’ll get a few photos from my EAA chapters Taildragger Fly-in and Pancake breakfast posted this evening too. Adding an old 1977 Jackson Browne song just […]
RichC | September 6, 2010
A blogging friend from New Zealand shared a photo that helped me visualize what impact of Saturday’s earthquake had on the island country. He mentioned that some of his neighbors had the walls of their ‘newly constructed’ cement slab homes crumble and that another has “a pool of water 6 inches deep around their house […]
RichC | September 5, 2010
A story Tweeted by a friend of mine in Wired highlights a Washington to Mexico one tank trip of 1478 miles and returned a “stunning 119.1. mpg.” We might hit 60 mpg in our VW TDI sometimes, but seeing someone double that is impressive. (thanks for the link Scott) From Washington to Mexico on 12.4 […]
RichC | September 4, 2010
As the Labor Day holiday weekend kicks off, I did some light technology housekeeping chores on my Palm Pre smartphone. Besides finally getting around to smoothing out my app card screen order, I updated my UberKernel and the Govnah app to include a 1gHz screen-on mode. The doubling of clock speed may be pushing things […]
RichC | September 3, 2010
Listen to the short audio clip (below) of William Shatner on his “communicator” during a New York Times Magazine interview; see if you can figure out what kind of cellphone he is using? 🙂
RichC | September 3, 2010
Although I have nothing against an all electric vehicle for running around town or commuting in the city, one has to wonder about the components being mined, transported and produced for batteries (or the eventual waste/recycling), as well as just how the power is generated in order to charge an all-electric vehicle – Edmunds ‘Swiss […]
RichC | September 3, 2010
I’ve been contemplating this week how to comment on last weekend’s gathering in Washington DC promoted by FoxNews commentator Glenn Beck, but I couldn’t figure out how to do it justice until reading a blog post by Lexington Green. I Think I See What Glenn Beck is Doing described the event, the purpose and […]
RichC | September 1, 2010
In keeping with yesterday’s post of how law enforcement deals with challenging situations, police in California seemed a bit too aggressive in the case below. Perhaps they followed procedure … but if innocent, an incident like this can be frightening. Should police have handled John and Martha King differently? John King shared his “guns drawn/detained […]
RichC | September 1, 2010
Hopefully listening, reading and keeping an open mind to a variety of opinions — Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians and even Socialists — will give me informed opinions when I head to the polls to elect a representative. Last night an interesting statistic was toss out by self-professed Libertarian John Stossel – it was a statistic that […]