Cellphones possibly linked to cancer according to WHO

| May 31, 2011

The World Health Organization is now classifying cellphones in category 2B – possibly carcinogenic to humans. An international panel of experts evaluated hundreds of scientific articles focusing on electromagnetic radiation, which emanates from radar, microwaves and cellphones (mobile phones). Category 2B includes gasoline engine exhaust, glass wool, styrene, lead and DDT. In a communiqué, WHO […]

Memorial Day 2011 – Remembering …

| May 30, 2011

I’m remembering the honor trip I took with my father and brother to Washington DC with WWII and Korea veterans last year this Memorial Day weekend. I hope you all enjoy a safe holiday and remember those who died protecting and defending our freedoms and this great nation. I’m including a little video below from […]

“We choose to go to the moon” speech is 50 years old

| May 29, 2011

Amazingly … President John F. Kennedy’s speech setting the goal for the United States to “go to the moon”  was given 50 years ago. Most in this country has heard parts of this speech and JFK’s delivery is burned into memory of many of my generation. For those too young to have heard the entire […]

VW’s new Chattanooga, TN environmental friendly plant

| May 28, 2011

The new Chattanooga, Tennessee Volkswagen plant opened this past week (May 24, 2011) and is an example of how VW incorporates its trademarked ThinkBlue initiative. Here’s hoping the trend continues to the cars they build in America … the new 2012 Volkswagen Passat and Passat TDI clean diesel. Below is a chart from the ThinkBlue […]

Algae based biofuel company Solazyme goes public

| May 27, 2011

I’ve been watching (but not participating) in the initial public offering of Solazyme (SZYM), one of the first algae based biofuel companies to come to the market. Although they haven’t been trading for much more than an hour, the price well well above their $10 target and $19.70 open. As I post this over my […]

My personal twist on summer tech oriented Dogs of the Dow

| May 26, 2011

Has anyone back-tested Dog of the Dow technology stocks as a second half of the year purchase? Most of the technology upgrade cycles and business purchases happen during the second half of the year … and with CSCO (1.5% dividend yield) and  MSFT (2.6% dividend yield) at the bottom of the Dow 30, they certainly […]

2012 VW Passat TDI pricing starts at $26,765 | CinciTDI.com

| May 26, 2011

Priced too high, too low, just right? Perhaps we’ll have to see how well the American built Passat is equipped and how well it drives? Check out the Car and Driver article. The Passat TDI, which has VW’s outstanding 2.0-liter four-cylinder diesel, making 140 hp and 236 lb-ft, starts at $26,765. At that price, buyers […]

Looking forward to hearing more about diesel hybrids

| May 26, 2011

  With the recent overseas photos of a TDI (Volkswagen) with the “hybrid” badge, the Peugeot 3008 Hybrid4 and indications that Mercedes is planning a 2012 E300 Bluetec diesel hybrid … then I’m getting pretty excited. As someone sure to take a bit of heat from my diesel and biodiesel oriented friends, I’m still going […]

Will the US get more fuel sipping European diesels?

| May 26, 2011

Great article in the WSJ talking about European diesels … Coming to America: European Gas Sippers Luxury Car Makers to Launch in the U.S. Fuel-Efficient Variations of Popular Models Previously Found Only Overseas European luxury-car makers are going to give U.S. consumers some tastes of the forbidden fruit they have been keeping to themselves. Joe […]

Finally registered the domain name: mydesultoryblog.com

| May 25, 2011

After 6 years and over 2600 posts to My Desultory Blog, I’ve finally decided to use a few dollars from my Google’s Adsense earnings (small as it is) to register the domain name mydesultoryblog.com. For the time being I’ll still post under my originally richc.myarchive.us (and probably will continue); this myarchive.us site was intended to […]

CNBC anchor Mark Haines dies at age 65

| May 25, 2011

Although I’ve never been a big Mark Haines fan, he was part of my routine for the 22 years he was on as on CNBC as one of the founding faces. I saw him the way many watchers and coworkers did, as a “crusty curmudgeon” on Squawkbox. I  would often catch myself “squawking” back at […]

Greenberg vs. Cramer: Sodastream challenge on CNBC

| May 25, 2011

Herb Greenberg and Jim Cramer took the Sodastream challenge on CNBC Tuesday … I’m not so sure it’s the best option for those who enjoy Coke or Pepsi … or other brand named soft drinks? The beef for me is still the relatively high cost, limited availability and smallish CO2 canisters. Give me a small […]

CNBC’s Phil LeBeau interviews VW’s Jonathan Browning

| May 24, 2011

Volkswagen Group’s Jonathan Browning, President and CEO (Volkswagen of America, Inc) gave a quick interview on an important day for VW’s new Chattanooga Tennessee facility. It is exciting to American workers building what hopefully will be a great mid sized car: 2012 VW Passat. CNBC: Phil LeBeau‘s interview with VW’s Jonathan Browning

EV tax credit could become a cash rebate in 2012

| May 24, 2011

How about a quicker way for car buyers willing to invest in the latest green automotive technology to get their tax credit? If Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood gets his way those purchasing an EV could apply it to the price of the vehicle. He’s suggesting that instead of a tax credit when filing income […]

Storms, rain and more unusually severe weather continues

| May 23, 2011

I worked my way home west to east in southwestern Ohio either pursuing or being pursued by the severe thunderstorms passing through Monday night. I had to clear a tree and branches in our lane before I could safely get my car into the garage (photo below). The wind was blowing ‘straight-lined’ so hard that […]

The world may not have ended this weekend, but …

| May 23, 2011

European financial markets were down and Wall Street is sliding as well (11AM). The talk around the water cooler regarding the false prediction of May 21st being the beginning of the “end times” may be good for a smile, but one look at the S&P 500 Heat Map quickly removes the smile (at least for […]

Congratulations Dr. Katelyn Corbett, MD – You are a physician!

| May 22, 2011

The day arrived and disappeared in an instant … with a wonderful ceremony, I might add! On Saturday, May 21st my daughter Katelyn officially became Dr. Katelyn Corbett, M.D. She was presented the degree of Doctor of Medicine at the commencement ceremony from NEOUCOM (now NEOMED – Northeast Ohio Medical University). We had a perfect […]

Paul Newman owned 1963 300HP V8 Volkswagen Beetle

| May 20, 2011

If you a a Volkswagen Beetle lover, this bug’s for you … for a mere $250,000 from what I hear. As the legend is told… back in 1963 Paul Newman bought a VW…the little red Convertible seen in this late 60’s VW ad. Not so long after this advertisement came out…the car was taken to […]

Checking your engine oil with Lubricheck … hopefully

| May 20, 2011

I’m posting Kickstarter link for a device designed to check the quality of engine oil. It is called Lubricheck and I’m hoping that someone reading this with engineering thoughts on how realistically accurate the device might be? I’m a mileage oriented oil changer, but with the price of synthetic oil, diesel oils and just plain […]

Uniquely traveling over Indian Ocean reefs

| May 19, 2011

Who needs a dinghy … fly instead! Nice views … (Check out PercyMichael’s  YouTube clips of the Krucker amphib)

Catch up post – Enjoying Encore, but the Love Bugs not so much

| May 18, 2011

  Brenda and I made a multipurpose trip to Florida to enjoy a little sailing with our soon graduate from medical school daughter Katelyn and two of her graduating friends Laura and Ashley; we also planned to do a little work on our boat Encore (projects and maintenance will never end). Besides the personal recreation, we […]

Moonlight over Encore

| May 17, 2011

Spending a quiet night aboard Encore under a full moon during a still evening and high tide.

I am not complaining, but it is kind of toasty today

| May 17, 2011

I’m trying to work through my checklist this afternoon on the boat since Brenda is off on her way driving her parent north for the summer. They will soon find out how well my son has been managing the house, feeding pets and knocking off the short chores list we have given him after his […]

Buggin’ me …

| May 16, 2011

  In keeping with short blog posts, I’m picking up a few bugs over the miles and know I’m going to be griping when it’s time to get the WD-40 out and start my cleaning. The windshield isn’t much better! EDIT: On my return trip I added bugs to bugs!

Pre 3 autofocus camera supports up-close macro shots

| May 15, 2011

Although my next smartphone may be an Android, I still like what I’m seeing from the slow to market HP Palm 3 … the camera improvement and speedy processor are just too of the great features for a “pockatable” cloud-synced smartphone. Apart from the bigger screen and wicked fast processor, one of the things we’re […]

Cooler air and rain under the awning

| May 14, 2011

Thankfully I’m feeling much better and was able to spend the day working on the boat. The sun has been hot so attempted to set up a Shadetree branded awning with many broken parts. I was at least successful enough to have weathered the first wave of wind and rain squalls Saturday night. Besides taking […]

Hanging on with too many irons in the fire

| May 14, 2011

As with everybody I know, there are times we all put a little to much on our plates and have too little time in order to get everything done. I believe … no, I know … that I’ve been pinching my schedule a little too tight and didn’t allow for any disruptions in schedule. Of […]

Sorry for not posting

| May 12, 2011

Been sick the last couple of days. (old TootsieTootsie photo) Posted via email from RichC’s posterous

What a muddy mess I have made of the backyard

| May 9, 2011

With the amount of rain we have been having this spring, we’ve had constant grass growth without hardly a day of dry weather in order to mow. I finally had to cut the soggy backyard for fear of never being able to cut it without a brush hog. After making the decision to cut it, […]

Having another birthday is better than NOT having one

| May 8, 2011

It was nice to have my son home and finished with finals … and to have him think about me on my birthday. Thanks for the Miami Alum license plate surround, Taylor. My aging first generation Palm Pre is still taking some pretty decent photos (above) Of course he wasn’t the only one to wish […]

Atlas 5 launch and Jetman scrub flights on Friday

| May 7, 2011

On Friday I was streaming the Atlas 5 rocket countdown on my computer while waiting for Yves Rossy to fly his jet wing across the Grand Canyon (see previous posts). NASA’s red anvil rule scrubbed the launch of the Atlas 5 (clouds) and according to an EAA article, Rossy felt he needed a bit more […]

Tech Friday ideas: Sumatra PDF and Foxit Reader

| May 6, 2011

Who doesn’t struggle with the bloated Adobe PDF Reader or the pricey full-featured Adobe Acrobat Pro PDF products? I’ve used both products over the years and have been frustrated by the cumbersome Adobe software. Although I still use an older full version of Acrobat upon occasion, I have fund Foxit Reader and more recent lightweight […]

SEAL Team Six: Memoirs of an Elite Navy SEAL Sniper

| May 5, 2011

With the fascination of Seal Team Six’s operation in taking down Osama bin Laden, the timing of former Seal Team Six member’s Howard Wasdin’s new book couldn’t be better. He was interviewed by WSJ’s Lee Hawkins after the successful mission in Pakistan on Sunday and offers a little bit of detail one what it takes […]

Either prepay or bring your rental car back with a full tank

| May 4, 2011

For those of us that regularly rent cars, we’ve always known that it is costly to bring a car back to the rental agency with less than a full tank. This lesson is doubly important with the higher prices at the pump nowadays. Some car companies are now charging over $9/gallon “if you bring the […]

Live Tweeting the Osama raid – without knowing it

| May 2, 2011

Hours before the world knew that U.S. Navy Seals helicoptered into Abbottabad, Pakistan, Twitter blogger @ReallyVirtual (Sohaib Athar) fired off a tweet after hearing helicopters at 1 AM. He continued to post comments not fully realizing what was going on … just that he was annoyed by the noise of the helicopters in the wee […]

Archive: Osama bin Laden dead

| May 1, 2011

11:36PM Sunday night: President Obama announced tonight that the world’s number one terrorist Osama bin Laden was killed today and his body is in United States possession. For Immediate Release May 1, 2011 REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT ON OSAMA BIN LADEN East Room 11:35 P.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT: Good evening. Tonight, I can report to […]

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