RichC | October 31, 2012
The campaign mailings haven’t stopped coming, yet we’re already seeing holiday catalogs filling the mailbox each day. No less than five were in the mail yesterday … and don’t even know how many political flyers? They just head for the trash or get put in my newspaper recycling pile. If I were not in the […]
RichC | October 31, 2012
This week I parted with a set of VW TDI A4 injectors that I had been holding back for my daughter’s Volkswagen Jetta 1.9 turbo diesel. A fellow TDIClub member was in need of them so decided to sell them. He is planning to put them in his WVO converted “old” New Beetle (I think […]
RichC | October 30, 2012
The Tesla S could be the car which convince a few more anti-EVers to give electric vehicles a second look. I’m not saying that I’m given up gas and diesel cars or hybrid options, but I can see that the future for EV is bright. When car guys like Jay Leno can justify having an […]
RichC | October 30, 2012
RichC | October 29, 2012
An animation of satellite observations from Oct. 26-29, 2012 (below), shows Hurricane Sandy move along the U.S. East coast and into the Mid-Atlantic and northeastern U.S. Sandy had still not made landfall by the end of this animation. This visualization was created by the NASA GOES Project at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., […]
RichC | October 29, 2012
It sure has been nice to see my daughter on weekends the last couple of months as her residency schedule has been somewhat gentler. Unfortunately she knows it will not last and the rotations will eventually be more challenging and stressful in a couple more weeks. She went to a wedding show near Kings Island […]
RichC | October 29, 2012
Hurricane Sandy is still hours away from coming ashore in the northeastern U.S. but the winds, waves, rains and surge are already making an impact. Officials and residents are taking no chances and predictions are triggering evacuation orders for hundreds of thousands of residents, the cancellation of more than 7,700 airline flights. Schools and mast […]
RichC | October 28, 2012
Give some serious thought about the direction you see our country going before voting in November. No offense intended towards those desiring a compassionate federal government that oversees the care of its people, but socialism is a slippery slope that we’ve seen fail throughout history … and are witnessing in Europe today. Below is minute […]
RichC | October 27, 2012
It was a cool and rainy morning as I waited to meet with a businessman from China interested in talking with me about homebuilt airplanes, and so I experimented with the new iPhone5’s panorama feature to kill some time … this time trying a close up panorama. I was more curious to see how it […]
RichC | October 27, 2012
This past week offered up the last of Indian summer unless something in the forecast changes and Brenda and I have appreciated the warmer weather, beautiful sunsets (driving by VOA park above) and evenings to work on projects. Besides finishing the downspout and sump pump drain lines, I’ve also replaced and grouted the broken […]
RichC | October 26, 2012
Read an artcle about Brad Kelley in the WSJ about owning a million acres … which started me wondering just how many acres some individual acquire — a lot. #4 Brad Kelley. Owns: 1.7 million acres in Texas, New Mexico and Florida. This Nashville, Tenn., farmer’s son sold his Commonwealth Brands cigarette company for $1 […]
RichC | October 26, 2012
Since the Little Red Riding Hood classic has been modified a few times through history, my “what big teeth you have” alteration of the tale is hardly a stretch for those near the water rather than a wolf in the woods for living on boats or an island. These impressive photos are from Australian […]
RichC | October 25, 2012
Volkswagen has been receiving accolades from all directions after building the new VW Passat in Chattanooga Tennessee … and with that success the company is planning to do the same with a new SUV. One wonders if it will look like last years concept (above) or be entirely new? The reports are that it will […]
RichC | October 24, 2012
It looks as if we at least have one more hurricane for the 2012 season. Sandy has reached the hurricane wind threshold and is moving north. The projected path has the weak side of the storm passing east of Florida but over Jamaica, Cuba and the Bahamas. The beach erosion churn and rough weather will […]
RichC | October 24, 2012
The final presidential debate was held at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida on Monday night (a college visit there in 2007) and the sit down face-to-face capped off the campaign season – I don’t think most Americans could take any more. I personally found it interesting, but assume most were bored with the foreign […]
RichC | October 23, 2012
Watching the Apple news trickle in this Tuesday afternoon after munching down my small but FREE piece of pizza from Dominos (National Sampling Day) … and that’s a lot cheaper than the starting price of $329 for the 7.9” iPad Mini. Price aside, it looks like another great Apple product and leave a little room […]
RichC | October 22, 2012
I planned visiting my mom and home projects (and football watching) perfectly around the weather this past weekend. Saturday was a bit gloomy with a few sprinkles for my nursing home visit with my mom. She is doing pretty well considering she is being turned every couple hours and bedridden. Her mind is sharp and […]
RichC | October 21, 2012
Too good to pass up … sharing from a Facebook post. Posted via email from RichC’s posterous
RichC | October 20, 2012
Why is it that I question installing and using software some pretty impressing “debluring software” from a guy named Vladimir Yuzhikov? Am I being overly paranoid or worse … prejudice. Anyway take a look at SmartDeblur and what Gizmodo has to say about this windows only (for now) software … although with smartphones getting some […]
RichC | October 19, 2012
After receiving plenty of election oriented phone calls this year, it is time to purge all my phone numbers from the public roles … something I thought I had been doing for years — obviously not! An area overlooked my some is the increasingly popular way to share address and phone number data with contacts […]
RichC | October 19, 2012
… but please close your mouth. 🙂
RichC | October 18, 2012
Projects are getting done one at a time before winter arrives, but seems as soon as I can check one off the list, two more need to be done. I’ve been repairing the tiles on the pool before closing for the season and on Wednesday evening sealed the new front porch pavers since I’m in […]
RichC | October 17, 2012
Over the lunch hour today, I reviewed a few articles and opinions regarding last night’s debate, as well as skimmed through my Twitter feed. What stood out were Romney supporters focused on the content and ideas clearly stated by Mitt Romney. He was focused on the economy and jobs which requires a direction change. This […]
RichC | October 17, 2012
In one corner, wearing a dark suit is the undefeated President of the United States Barack Obama! [cheers and jeers] In the other corner also in a dark suit is the challenger, Salt Lake City Olympics rescuer, Governor Mitt Romney! [more cheers and jeers] Neither man wore gloves, but should have, as they at times […]
RichC | October 16, 2012
Once again, our tax dollars were squandered on another failed green energy company. This time the once promising A123 Systems Inc. (AONE -74.67%) has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. A123 was one of the Obama Administrations’ handpicked companies to be given a handout … free money … and took nearly $250 million taxpayer dollars […]
RichC | October 16, 2012
It is that time of year again … time to make sure the crack are sealed and doors stay closed. The mice in our backyard are doing the usual and looking for a warm place to hideout as winter looms. I happened to find this very little guy stuck to a glue trap near my […]
RichC | October 15, 2012
I’m not sure I would put a lot of faith in polling this year, especially following 2008 which saw a turnout unique in our recent history. Who knows if the motivation and base for either party will vote in the same numbers … and who knows if it even matters with the electoral college vote? […]
RichC | October 14, 2012
I spent the weekend working of autumn chores in in the company of my wife and daughter (Katelyn is home for wedding planning).Besides working on repairing pool tiles and digging downspout/sump pump drain pipes (grr), I swapped my 4-wheeled refrigerator of a Honda Pilot for Katelyn’s VW TDI; oh how I have forgotten how much […]
RichC | October 13, 2012
If you buy books from Amazon for your eReader, you might be in for a small refund … well small for the individual book buyer, but pretty larger if you’re Amazon and have to start the refund process. Book publishers and the Department of Justice reached a settlement regarding that whole eBook-price fixing scheme last […]
RichC | October 12, 2012
You know those scary campfire stories that we’ve all told or heard while growing up? Well here’s one that could be adapted for beachgoers along the Atlantic coast of Florida – Jaws was getting old anyway. I’m going to ask a good friend who’s daughter is a marine biologist … but until then, the […]
RichC | October 12, 2012
Some are having difficultly getting beyond mannerisms — Laughin’ Joe. 🙂 Ralston Report’s Jon Ralston: “Biden’s facial expressions guarantee he will have a talk show after his elected career, but may not be good for a debate.” (Jon Ralston, Twitter Feed, 10/11/12) NBC News’ David Gregory: “Biden’s smile is out of control.” (David Gregory, Twitter […]
RichC | October 11, 2012
After years of sanding/grinding paint off of boat bottoms, I've opted to have Encore stripped by professional soda blasted. In part due to limited time and the need to open up some gel coat blistering … and in part due to the hassle with the environmental prep requirements involved with stripping the paint on my […]
RichC | October 10, 2012
Knowing that email links can be dangerous isn’t always enough to prevent even a relatively experience Internet user from occasionally being suckered into clicking embedded links in emails. It happened to me yesterday morning with a bogus Skype Voicemail notification (below). Emails can seem legitimate and be over looked if you’re not paying close attention […]
RichC | October 9, 2012
Seriously folks, are we really suppose to see an economic recovery with incomes down $4000/year for the average family over the past 4 years and the cost of fuel and food up? At least with over the board inflation peoples paychecks rise a little along with prices … but not in this Obamaconomy. The latest […]
RichC | October 8, 2012
I think I may have spotted my next boat country. If you have a few bucks to spare, let’s have one built as their might be a spare room or two.
RichC | October 8, 2012
Last week I started testing the new wireless Internet being offered by FreedomPop.com. The service is interesting because light data users can connect and use the Internet basically for “free.” Higher data use plans are available for those needing more, but requires paying for it, helping to build out the user base or completing offers […]
RichC | October 7, 2012
It has been a positive weekend for our extended family as my nephew Justin Howard and his wife Keity (Katie Vogel) had their second child … a boy, Evan Mark Howard. I’d offer up the normal details – size, weight, deliver issues – but figure linking to Keity’s blog would be more appropriate – LINK. […]
RichC | October 7, 2012
Vintage Converse All-Stars from 1977 – note the untied shoelace before it became the style! I was a “geek” before there were “geeks” … if being a photographer for my hometown newspaper and for my high school yearbook counts? Friday nights were spent shooting games and then zipping to the darkroom to “soup” the film […]
RichC | October 6, 2012
RichC | October 5, 2012
RichC | October 5, 2012
The unemployment numbers were released this Friday morning and looked 4 tenths better than August (7.8% from 8.2%) drawing suspicion from those who suspect a political conspiracy. Since the numbers are generated in questionable ways including phone polls, who knows? This is still good news for President Obama who will who will point to economic […]
RichC | October 4, 2012
I started a post on the Presidential Debate last night, but figured if I’m tired of tweeting, reading and hearing about it, others may be too … so will pass on opining. I will say that Mitt Romney looked well prepared and was able to comfortably manhandle President Obama on the subject of the economy, […]
RichC | October 3, 2012
Most of America is waiting to hear from President Obama and his challenger Mitt Romney tonight for the first Presidential Debate. The president must defend his 4 years of leadership and stop offering excuses or pointing at Republicans; he needs to either convince the majority that his policies are working or that the changes that […]
RichC | October 3, 2012
Large-scale wet plate photography video (below). SILVER & LIGHT from Ian Ruhter / Alchemist on Vimeo.
RichC | October 3, 2012
When I was a teenager and others guys were dreaming of a Camaro, Firebird, Mustang or Barracuda, I ogled the Datsun Lil’ Hustler. I dreamt about crisscrossing he country with a sleeping bag in the bed while it’s 4-cylinder engine sipped 50 cent gasoline (Whoa … 25 mpg!). I suppose I should have been […]
RichC | October 2, 2012
Ok Vice President Biden … I understand you are upset and angry from the tone of your voice. I also understand that you are campaigning for re-election … but how do comments pointing out that the middle class has been "buried for the last four years" convince Americans that the Obama administration deserves another term? […]
RichC | October 2, 2012
Maybe I’m just looking for an excuse to play with the panorama feature on my new iPhone 5, but decided to take a photo before digging to find the lid of the septic tank. The photo above is current October 2012 and the photo below was as we built the house in 1995 and put […]
RichC | October 1, 2012
A “Hypermiling” friend of mine posted a graph to his forum after driving a 2013 Volkswagen Passat TDI with a 6-speed and the realistic above 50mpg results being returned by this mid-sized car are impressive. I sure wish VW had a TDI 4motion wagon! Click for larger graph Temps were 57 – 59 degrees F […]