Bureaucratic pet peeve – selecting Ohio utility energy providers

| September 30, 2014

Residents and businesses in Ohio “choose” which companies provide the energy used by their utility company, which can in most cases reduce their bills. This competition should be a good thing, one would think, but each year consumers go through a multi-step process to confirm our energy provider choice … and each year it is […]

Dashcams in Russia make almost all U.S. drivers seem sane

| September 29, 2014

You might want to think twice before criticizing drivers in your neck of the woods … and be glad you are not driving in Russia (YouTube video below).

A busy and productive weekend ended with a beautiful sunset

| September 28, 2014

I hate thinking it is an Indian summer, but the weather in SE Ohio has been beautiful. Besides working around our yard (many projects) I was up to Sidney and helping my brother work on dad’s out-building. The combination workshop/garage/barn is showing its age with a few areas under the rear west-facing eves decaying. Ron […]

Learn to read books again – slow down to pre-gadget habits

| September 27, 2014

The WSJ printed an interesting article by Jeanne Whalen earlier this month listing the benefits of s-l-o-w-e-r reading.  A Wellington, New Zealand book club calling itself the Slow Reading Club consists of members who “miss old-school reading” and may be on to something. They get together at a café and spend an hour reading in […]

TechFriday: Contemplating an iPad2 to iPad Air2 upgrade

| September 26, 2014

As a iPhone, iPad and iMac Apple customer, it is challenging to know what products to upgrade and at what time. As much as I would like an iPhone6 or 6plus, I’ve opted to stick with the current iPhone 5s (and 5) in order to save a few dollars on our cellphone plan as we […]

Video: The Apple iPhone 6 plus and #bendgate

| September 25, 2014

One can help but chuck at the excessive talk and coined term #bendgate regarding damage being hyped in the media regarding bending iPhones (there were 6 user complaints officially reported to Apple). The video below has been used around the world on news programs … who does this with their phones? Anyway, after the 23+ […]

Giphy.com or Gfycat and an emergency carry technique

| September 25, 2014

Here’s another Giphy.com test after using it for a Facebook share yesterday. I’ve found it a little be better than gfycat.com that I’ve used before since the purpose was to post to a social network.  Besides, I thought this was an interesting demo: A technique for carrying a person/body quickly in an emergency.

Sailing knives and using animated GIFs on Facebook

| September 25, 2014

I posted a question on a Facebook group today for liveaboard sailors regarding sailing knives using Giphy.com’s animated GIF to Facebook posting. I’m not sure how many other GIF hosting services are out there for Facebook but Giphy worked well. There are times on a rolling sailboat where using both hands to open a folding […]

Westport $WPRT poised for growth when energy prices rise

| September 24, 2014

With the lower cost of domestic natural gas here in North America, the next couple of decades will continue opening the doors of opportunity for innovative  companies who finding better ways to utilize this domestic and abundant clean fuel. Westport Technologies (WPRT), a leader in advanced natural gas engines and vehicles, has fallen flat as […]

More wood to split as summer ends and autumn begins

| September 23, 2014

It is hard to believe that we spent all summer mowing and denting our heavy-duty Kubota on stumps … and now that summer is over I’m finally getting around to hiring a guy with a stump grinder. I’m only doing the stumps in the front yard at this time, but nine are enough for now […]

Video: Do drag racers wear seatbeats? Unbelievable!

| September 22, 2014

Music variety: Listening to and enjoying Jesus and Jones

| September 22, 2014

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Our 2014 drainage repair projects are finally finished

| September 21, 2014

It has been a beautiful weekend to work on a few yard projects as the weather was warm, but not hot. A new drain has been on the list for a while, but the trigger stimulated the repair was when I hit the old plastic components with the lawn mower, shattering the grate and the […]

Acro Sport II airplane crashes in Liberty Twp neighborhood

| September 20, 2014

   A aerobatic bi plane, an Acro Sport II, crashed in a friend’s neighborhood a few mile to my north towards Monroe, OH but still in Liberty Township (thanks Tim). There were two people on board and there was an immediate fire on impact.  Damage can be seen to a house and yard (click for […]

Down the Drain – The downspout and sump drain project

| September 20, 2014

Way back in May I hired a company to fix our downspout and sump pump drains that more than likely have been invaded by roots (also possible to have been crushed?) The company I hired, with a substantial deposit … I’m nicknaming them “Down the Drain” … made excuse after excuse as the summer months […]

Whoops! The first iPhone6 in Perth, Australia

| September 19, 2014

Apple’s much anticipated iPhone6 went on sale today as folks in line finally get a chance to own a blemish and scratch free smartphone their own … and here’s what happened to Jack, the first to walk out of the Apple store in Perth, Australia with one.

TechFriday: Date set for Ting welcoming the iPhone 5s and 5c

| September 19, 2014

Ting.com sent out an email blast update letting interested potential customers know that the new “older” iPhone 5s and 5c will be supported on September 29, 2014. I’m still weighing leaving Sprint, but they aren’t doing much to keep their long time customers in their Framily.They change their plans, promos, CEOs and marketing slogans way […]

A long evening with Apple iDevices and iOS8 software updates

| September 18, 2014

Most of Wednesday evening was spent backing up and cleaning up … and then downloading and installing Apple’s iOS8 release on a couple iPhones and an iPad (if full iCloud functionality is desired, then prepare for Mac OSX Yosemite install). Once finished, then the app update fun began and so as a reminder to those […]

Learning about Dinghy-Tow – an option to towing or davits

| September 17, 2014

A small Canadian company called Davron Marine Products has an innovative stainless steel, block and line option for half lifting and half towing an inflatable dinghy for boating. Their Dinghy-Tow system looks simple and do-able. I’ve been pondering adding davits that would work with our Cape Horn self-steering gear for Encore since 2012. What ever […]

Mishmash of goings-on and photos from the last few days

| September 16, 2014

We had a quick but great week with Taylor and his friends. He was home for a scheduled weeks vacation from Williston, North Dakota primarily and for his long time friend Kara and Simon’s wedding. We had a great time Saturday as the weather was perfect for the outdoor wedding and for the many guest […]

CNBC talks boom growth with North Dakota Sen Heidi Heidcamp

| September 15, 2014

Since visiting my son Taylor a couple times in northwestern (Williston) North Dakota, I pay closer attention to what is happening in his area and the boom growth as well as the politics around moving energy. Unless someone sees the train tanker cars lined up or drive on the roads which are packed with truck […]

Continuing Bull Market, Deflation fear or is Inflation coming?

| September 14, 2014

There was a spirited debate this past week concerning the Federal Reserves’ exit strategies and what will happen when the Fed balance sheet is deleveraged. The equity bulls continue to believe the U.S. will see economic grow as interest rates remain low and continued tame inflation numbers (some like Wilbur Ross are more concerned about […]

Video: The Zipper Merge vs the polite Midwestern Early Merge

| September 13, 2014

What do Minnesotans (and a few others) know that Ohio drivers haven’t figured out yet? They realized that the “Zipper Merge” is better than the polite “Early Merge.”   According to traffic experts, the “Zipper Merge” reduces construction congestion, improves highway speeds in work zones and helps to reduce accidents (Sue Groth, MnDOT traffic safety […]

TechFriday: Pondering switching from Sprint to Ting

| September 12, 2014

While waiting on the discount cellphone carrier Ting (my daughter’s referral) to welcome my Sprint-based iPhone 5s, I’m also weighing Sprint’s new promos (iPhone for life, etc). Since Ting is only approved as a month-to-month reseller for non-current iPhone models, switching to them requires waiting a few more days or weeks until my second-hand “s” […]

Remembering 9/11 – The all important slurry wall

| September 11, 2014

While thinking about those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001 in 2014, I thought about symbols of strength and endurance that are highlighted in displays at the 9/11 Memorial Museum. One such unseen design element was that of underground “slurry walls” built in 1964. Thanks to the engineers and architects who designed the […]

Are Bull Sharks the most dangerous at popular beaches?

| September 10, 2014

Mention Great White, Tiger and Hammerhead to most people at the beach and they will usually bristle with concern or at least know you are talking about “dangerous” sharks. Mention the Bull Shark and NOT many realize that IF the minuscule chance of a shark attacked occurred, the Bull Shark would very likely be the […]

The AppleEvent was successful, but the bar was high

| September 9, 2014

Tim Cook lead another #AppleEvent in the age of social media and I both watched and "tweeted" along with the tech interested across the country and world. The event was "as expected" in that Apple launched the new iPhone6 and 6plus … larger phones. They will be offering up their new iOS8 on September 19th […]

Watching $AAPL as the buzz is all about Apple today

| September 9, 2014

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The power of nature on display in Papua New Guinea

| September 9, 2014

Tavurvur is an active volcano and the current eruption on August 29, 2014 sent ash clouds into the atmosphere disrupting flights to Australia. Rabaul residents have been advised to remain indoor to avoid ash. The video demonstrates the power within our planet and the silent danger when and where pressures are released. We humans seem […]

The Volkswagen Golf TDI looks to be delivering smiles for 2015

| September 8, 2014

New York Times auto guy Lawrence Ulrich seemed to be please with Volkswagen’s new 2015 Golf TDI … But no crossover, and no hybrid for that matter, can do what I managed in the new diesel-power Golf TDI: 60.6 miles per gallon over 75 highway miles along the Jersey Shore. That’s my personal highway m.p.g. […]

My 2006 Honda Pilot hasn’t looked this good in years

| September 8, 2014

It is not that I’m thinking about replacing my 2006 Honda Pilot just yet, but I was curious this past weekend if the “slightly aggressive” Meguiars polishing compound I used on the old Mercedes-Benz 300D would help return a shine and more importantly remove a few scratches on the Pilot. It definitely improved the shine […]

Desultory tidbits: Africa, pre-1938 child labor and satisfaction

| September 7, 2014

Most of us see a few posts or images that seem interesting, thought provoking or just surprising. The Desultory tidbit title is a way to toss those collect bits into a miscellaneous post. This week a “size of Africa” map caught my attention as did an post titled “Money can by happiness” in The Economist. […]

Weigh the cost of college and your field of study carefully

| September 6, 2014

A very telling graph discloses three things (see story in Fortune) : A college graduate will on average make $1 million more than a worker with a high school degree over the course of his lifetime … even though the cost of education has gone higher. Wages across the board, adjusted for inflation to 2013 […]

Spectacular images from NASA and the Hubble Space Telescope

| September 5, 2014

Having an interest and studying a little bit of astronomy with my daughter when she was a teenager, I can’t help but share this spectacular Hubble Space Telescope image from NASA Goddard’s pix feed showing the galaxy PGC 54493 in the constellation of Serpens (The Serpent). Click for larger as its definitely worth seeing full […]

Update Benny bring WordPress 4.0 to MyDesultoryBlog

| September 5, 2014

Now running WordPress 4.0,  “Benny” (for Benny Goodman) … send me a message if there is a problem on my site.

Next week is a make or break moment for Apple CEO Tim Cook

| September 5, 2014

Apple’s CEO Tim Cook had a rough week on Wall Street as investors seemed a bit nervous ahead of next week’s “product offensive.” The tech giant will announce their updated iPhone 6 which will at minimum have a larger screen (rumored photo right). Secretly I’m more interested in what the operation software might bring to […]

Sleek and innovative gravity fed water saving faucet idea

| September 4, 2014

Here’s an idea that came from one of those “pagination” oriented list sites … which has become the bane of Internet reading; I’m talking about those sites with multiple pages of photos or news sites requiring a bunch of page clicks in order to read an article – in my opinion the practice needs a […]

Polyester rope for halyards is not suppose to be this stiff

| September 3, 2014

One of the reasons, besides age and appearance, that I replaced the halyards on our sailboat this year was due to the stiffness of the double braided line. Here’s me holding up the line demonstrating just how “stiff” this old mainsail halyard was. Question: Is there a way to find out what kind of rope […]

The mighty little Bobcat and the talented operator

| September 2, 2014

Since I’ve owned a variety of tractors and yard implements over the years with my favorite being the multi-function Bobcat branded skidsteer, I knew that I would want to share this little video gem (a friend shared on Facebook).

Coming around to the idea of an Elio

| September 2, 2014

My wife is slowly coming around to the idea of an Elio as a commuter car. The PR swing they have been making around the country seems to have others showing interest too … but can they keep the quality up in order to sell it for $6800???

Looks like another wedding … congratulations Jackie and Ben!

| September 1, 2014

The big news this Labor Day 2014 weekend was that my niece Jackie’s boyfriend Ben proposed her while on military leave. The announcement made for big excitement and the thought of another family wedding. Long time My Desultory Blog followers (those who follow the personal and family posts) might remember Jax from events like her […]

Who doesn’t love a good end of summer shark video?

| September 1, 2014

Here’s a “large, hungry” Hammerhead Shark feeding in the clear “shallow” waters in Destin Florida … as viewed from a balcony.

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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