RichC | December 31, 2013
The LSSU List of Banished Words and Phrases for 2013 comes as no surprise to me as the top two should definitely be retired … after my New Year’s Resolution post goes live tomorrow morning. The comments in the 39th annual list article are more enjoyable than the actual list of words. Here are the […]
RichC | December 30, 2013
Offering up a reminder to those running Windows (or any OS really) without or with ”OUTDATED” virus protection — questionable links, website and emails are plentiful. Most of them, from what I have read, still target the Microsoft Windows users, but we should assume most popular operating systems are at risk as well. Do your […]
RichC | December 29, 2013
My cousin Diane and I exchanged Christmas greetings and updated each other with the goings-on of our families on Friday night. While talking about gifts, I realized that I didn’t have a photo of the “Tool Stools” that I made for Taylor and Drew. Since one of them was still at home, I took a […]
RichC | December 28, 2013
2013 introduced us to the pain of what sold to America as the Affordable Health Care for America Act by the 2008 Democrats during President Obama’s first term. Instead of “affordable,” Obamacare launched with high premiums, high deductibles and far more frustrations for those who were already insured by their employers or paying for health […]
RichC | December 27, 2013
It has been both a wonderful and unsettling year of change for our family. We’ve had the highs of a wedding (Katelyn and Drew) and a college graduation (Taylor), AND the emotional lows with the passing of parents. The above events were as they should be and in keeping with the human condition … but […]
RichC | December 25, 2013
What a wonderful time we had over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day this year. We were happy to have Taylor, Katelyn and Drew home together with us for a couple days holidays (photo above) … and thankful some in the Corbett side of our family with us for dinner. It was a great to be […]
RichC | December 24, 2013
A Cambridge Online Survey included in the Sunday NYTimes was both fun and interesting. In my case, it was amazingly accurate considering I grew up near Toledo (it was even highlighted on “my” map above) and lived in several distinct areas of Ohio. It would be interesting to know how the Chameleon types, who move […]
RichC | December 23, 2013
Mikhail Kalashnikov, inventor of the world’s most popular assault rifle, the AK-47, a simple and durable weapon of war used by tens of millions in about 100 countries, has died. He was 94.
RichC | December 22, 2013
Who says spending time on social networking sites like Twitter is a waste of time? Here’s a tip that makes perfect sense in theory (mind you, I have not tried it). I don’t often have headaches, but if I do, it would be nice not to resort to taking Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid), Tylenol (Acetaminophen) or […]
RichC | December 21, 2013
Archiving a bit of text (Chapter 5 in Miss Your Lovin by Ann Elizabeth Pfau) in researching some WWII Pacific history. See the Gutenberg link above but text saved below. American veterans of the Pacific war still remember Tokyo Rose. She was the most dangerous and seductive of the enemy radio announcers who broadcast propaganda […]
RichC | December 21, 2013
RichC | December 20, 2013
I listened to the president answer questions in today’s long news conference and it was interesting to hear reporters finally drill down on the Obama administrations’ blunders and shortcomings. For the past five years most network reporters in the Whitehouse press corps have been pretty gentle with questions and all but a few seemed to […]
RichC | December 19, 2013
Gold dropped to a six-month low on Thursday selling off as the Federal Reserve’s pulled back in the U.S. monetary stimulus. It closed down 2% to $1,196.31/ounce which is the lowest since June 2013. Give credit or blame the Fed which took its first step in winding down the easy money policies which helped to […]
RichC | December 18, 2013
When needing to make precise cuts or dadoes on the table saw, I have found that making them from the marine material Starboard is the best (shop around for price). Most likely the experts in woodworking have found other stock that would just as well, like the self-healing cutting board material, but since I had […]
RichC | December 17, 2013
It feels better to get WordPress updated to the current 3.8 version, as well as updating all the plug ins. This latest version is named “Parker” in honor of Charlie Parker, but don’t ask me what bebop has to do with blogging? Along with getting WP updated, a database optimization and backup was in order […]
RichC | December 17, 2013
It has been a busy year with weddings, graduations and new jobs … and they would have been enjoyed A LOT by my mom, especially if she had better health. Unfortunately her last year of life was difficult — with constant pain, reliance on mind numbing pain medication and the inability to do even relatively […]
RichC | December 16, 2013
Merry Christmas to those who regularly read my “desultory” daily posts or may have just stumbled onto my blog. It has been a busy year and although my Google Analytics stats are no longer growing (they are actually down), the AdSense revenue is up? That aside, I am including more archival information “for me” than […]
RichC | December 15, 2013
We’re closing in on Christmas and it is beginning to look a little more festive around our house. I still have a few things to do, but at least the tree is up and decorated. It is a bit smaller this year but I didn’t have someone twisting my arm! This is the first year […]
RichC | December 14, 2013
My older SCS PTC-IIe Pactor modem came back from Farallon Electronics after being updated with a new electronic serial number and Pactor III update – faster speeds using the HF radio (still very slow by modern Internet standards). A Winlink account is now active and seems to be working over Telnet, so the step is […]
RichC | December 13, 2013
As the big tech companies look for ways to push the use of their products, some of us are looking for ways to keep them from taking over our computers. I welcome having the option (easy option) to disregard the intrusions, but often spend too much time ignoring, opting out or disabling something […]
RichC | December 12, 2013
The more delays and longer the flight, the more cranky passengers are bound to get. Now imagine sitting in the middle seat of modified Airbus A320 as the scrunched seats get smaller and give up 3 more inches to the aisle seats? Oh, I’m sure those fortunate enough to book the wider seats, will be […]
RichC | December 12, 2013
Winter arrived and autumn lasted only a week or two this year — at least that’s the way it seems to me. I’m generally slow to give up on warm weather, but this year the switch was literally overnight. Thankfully I took advantage of one nice weekend to close the pool (barely) … but the […]
RichC | December 11, 2013
The other day in sorting through my email inbox (need to work on a few more filters), I ran across a personal story about medical care overseas … in this case Bangkok, Thailand. For some of us, including the author, there is a preconceive notion that going into a hospital in southeast Asia is dangerous […]
RichC | December 10, 2013
And I thought my son Taylor’s stretch of below zero temperatures in North Dakota were cold? Brrr, Antarctica has been putting up some cold “Mars polar region” numbers of its own. Maybe we should be “pro” global warming and add some more CO2 to the atmosphere? Newly analysed Nasa satellite data from east Antarctica shows […]
RichC | December 9, 2013
As a conservative, government intrusion into the private sector is something I have difficulty in supporting. Unfortunately in the United States we’ve at least partially embraced the idea that government will regulate crucial areas of our economy in order to keep prices affordable for the masses. Utilities and food items come to mind and the […]
RichC | December 8, 2013
Have you ever purchase items from overseas that you thought were a great deal? Well, buyer beware since there can be glitches when it comes to jumping online and “importing or exporting” (the key words) to and from the U.S. when it come to customs … besides the inherent risk involved in exchanging money. I […]
RichC | December 7, 2013
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” – George Santayana Photograph from a Japanese plane of Battleship Row at the beginning of the attack. The explosion in the center is a torpedo strike on the USS Oklahoma. Two attacking Japanese planes can be seen: one over the USS Neosho and […]
RichC | December 6, 2013
Tried posting a photo to the blog on my way home from Cleveland on Thursday night, but the WordPress Postie plug-in failed to cooperate. The thursday night rain (left) gave way to ice and now snow (below the break). Forecast: A Winter Storm Warning remains in effect until 1 am EST Saturday for SW Ohio. […]
RichC | December 6, 2013
Thought this photo would make an interesting animated GIF, so I tweaked it as a filler for today’s blog post. And in order to make this a “Tech Friday” post I’ll share a tweet that I haven’t confirmed works just yet: @LifeProAdvices: When you’re at an airport simply add ‘?.jpg’ at the end of any […]
RichC | December 5, 2013
I purchased a new 12 watt LED bulb for reading(larger bulb in left of photo) that promised to offer a few more “soft but bright” lumens from my chair side lamp. I “was” using two Cree LED bulbs (smaller bulb in left photo), but the light output still wasn’t comparable to a good three-way incandescent […]
RichC | December 4, 2013
We are anxiously waiting to find out where Drew and Katelyn will be living next year, but more importantly … I suppose [grin] … which Hematology fellowship program my son-in-law will be in. After talking with him about each of the interviews, there are pluses for each medical program (of course he’s a positive guy). […]
RichC | December 3, 2013
An early Christmas present to myself. I’ll probably never need an impeller puller for the boat again, but now I have one.
RichC | December 2, 2013
While messaging my friend Scott last night, I realized just how painful relationships amongst humans can be … be they casual friendships (caring for one another) or intimate bonds between family members (parents, spouses, children). In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray […]
RichC | December 1, 2013
Charles Krauthammer is one political analyst I always enjoy listening to, be he a regular panelist commenting on the nightly news (Special Report with Bret Baier), or as a guest on many Fox News programs. His columns at The Weekly Standard are always excellent and his intellectual prowess is even respected by those who politically […]